Download Organizational Behavior_Chapter 5

Understanding
and
Managing
Organizational
Behavior
Chapter 5:
Learning and
Creativity
4th Edition
JENNIFER GEORGE
& GARETH JONES
5-1
©2005 Prentice Hall
Chapter Objectives
 Describe what learning is and why it is so
important for all kinds of jobs and
organizations
 Understand how to effectively use
reinforcement, extinction, and punishment
to promote the learning of desired
behaviors and curtail ineffective behaviors
 Describe the conditions necessary to
determine if vicarious learning has taken
place
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Chapter Objectives
 Appreciate the importance of self control
and self efficacy for learning on your own
 Describe how learning takes place
continuously through creativity, the nature
of the creative process, and the
determinants of creativity
 Understand what it means to be a learning
organization
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Opening Case: Continuous Learning
at Seagate Technologies
 Why is continuous learning a necessity in
today’s business environment?
 Seagate Technologies has shown how
continuous learning can put organizations
and their members in charge of their own
fate
 Seagate decided to learn from multiple
sources including its customers’ customers.
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Learning in Organizations
 A relatively permanent change in
knowledge or behavior that results from
practice or experience
– With learning comes change
– Change must be relatively permanent
– Learning takes place as a result of
practice or through experience
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
 Learning that takes place when the learner
recognizes the connection between a
behavior and its consequences
– Individuals learn to operate on their
environment, to behave in certain ways to
achieve desirable consequences or avoid
undesirable consequences
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Reinforcement in Operant
Conditioning
 The process by which the probably that a
desired behavior will occur is increased by
applying consequences that depend on the
behavior in question
– Step 1: identify desired behaviors to be
encouraged
– Step 2: decide how to reinforce the
behavior
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Positive Reinforcement
 Increases the probability that a behavior will occur
by administering positive consequences to
employees who perform the behavior
 Potential positive reinforcers
– Pay
– Bonuses
– Promotions
– Job titles
– Verbal praise
– Awards
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Negative Reinforcement
 Increases the probability that a desired
behavior will occur by removing a negative
consequence when an employee performs
the behavior
 Subordinates experiencing negative
reinforcement learn the connection between
a desired organizational behavior and a
consequence
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Reinforcement Schedules
 Continuous Reinforcement: Occurs after every
occurrence of a behavior
 Partial Reinforcement: Occurs only a portion of
the time that behavior occurs
 Differences:
– Continuous reinforcement can result in faster
learning of desired behaviors
– Behaviors learned using partial reinforcement
are likely to last longer
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Reinforcement Schedules
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Fixed-Interval Schedule
Variable-Interval Schedule
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
Variable-Ratio Schedule
©2005 Prentice Hall
Extinction and Punishment
 Extinction: Removing a consequence that is
currently reinforcing an undesirable behavior in an
effort to decrease the probability that the behavior
will occur again in the future
 Punishment: Administering negative
consequences to workers who perform
undesirable behaviors in an effort to decrease the
probability that the behavior will occur again in the
future
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment
 Punishment reduces the probability of an
undesired behavior
 Negative reinforcement increases the
probability of a desired behavior
 Punishment involves administering a negative
consequence when an undesired behavior
occurs
 Negative reinforcement entails removing a
negative consequence when a desired
behavior occurs
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Organizational Behavior Modification
 The systematic application of the principles
of operant conditioning for teaching and
managing organizational behaviors
 OB Mod
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The Basic Steps of OB Mod
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Identify the behavior to be learned
Measure the frequency of the behavior
Perform a functional analysis
Develop and apply a strategy
Measure the frequency of the behavior
©2005 Prentice Hall
Social Cognitive Theory
 A learning theory that takes into account the
fact that thoughts and feelings influence
learning.
 Necessary components include
– Vicarious learning
– Self-control
– Self-efficacy
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Vicarious Learning
 Learning that occurs when one person
(the learner) learns a behavior by
watching another person (the model)
perform the behavior
 Learners can also learn from situations in
which models get punished
 Role models can be positive or negative
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Conditions Required for
Vicarious Learning
 Learner observes the model when the
model is performing the behavior
 Learner accurately perceives model’s
behavior
 Learner must remember the behavior
 Learner must have the skills and abilities to
perform the behavior
 Learner must see that the model receives
reinforcement for the behavior in question
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Conditions Indicating Use of
Self-Control
 Individual must engage in a low-probability
behavior
 Self-reinforcers must be available
 Learner must set goals that determine when
self-reinforcement takes place
 Learner must administer the reinforcer when
the goal is achieved
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Self-Efficacy
 A person’s belief about his or her ability
to perform a particular behavior
successfully
– Not the same as self-esteem
 Self-efficacy affects learning via
– Activities
– Effort
– Persistence
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Sources of Self-Efficacy
 Past performance
 Vicarious experience or observation of
others
 Verbal persuasion
 Individuals’ readings of their internal
physiological states
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The Learning Organization
 Organizational learning: the process
through which managers instill a desire to
find new ways to improve organizational
effectiveness
 Knowledge management: the ability to
capitalize on the knowledge possessed by
organizational members which is not
necessarily written down anywhere or
codified in formal documents
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©2005 Prentice Hall
Central Activities in a Learning
Organization
 Encouragement of personal mastery or high
self-efficacy
 Development of complex schemas to
understand work activities
 Encouragement of learning in groups and
teams
 Communicating a shared vision for the
organization as a whole
 Encouraging systematic thinking
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©2005 Prentice Hall