Abstract: There is some debate within the field of organizational behavior management as to whether feedback is a consequential manipulation (Daniels & Bailey, 2014) or an antecedent manipulation that functions as goal setting (Locke et al., 1981). One aspect of feedback that has not been studied as extensively is how well feedback generalizes to pinpointed behaviors not associated with the contingency. The present study examined the effects of an antecedent intervention alone, and an antecedent intervention paired with feedback, on increased morning tasks completed by 15 behavior technician employees at a private school. We also measured generalization effects, from the intervention for tasks completed, to the pinpoints of tardiness and latency to work. Results indicate that the antecedent intervention slightly improved completion of morning tasks, before decreasing to near-baseline levels. The most notable effects on the completion of morning tasks occurred when employees received feedback in combination with the antecedent intervention. These results did not generalize to the pinpoints of tardiness and latency. |
Abstract: In organizational behavior management (OBM), Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) has been advocated as a complementary approach combining principles from general systems theory with operant contingencies governing at the level of individual behavior, leading to improved results in organizational interventions beyond what might be achieved using either approach in exclusion. Numerous researchers have suggested that effective organizational interventions must account for higher-level and often delayed consequences for behavior stemming, for example, from contingencies associated with the selection of a product by external consumers, and from organizational strategies, goals, and policies. Similar suggestions have recently been observed in discussions of metacontingent analysis and the role that behavioral interventions may play in affecting cultural change. Mattaini (2004; 2006) cautioned that recent developments in a particular area of systems theory, specifically related to self-organizing systems, may ultimately limit the efficacy of interventions that might stem from either behavioral systems or metacontingent analyses. Self-organizing systems, for example, construct their own boundaries and have much of their behavior determined by internal dynamics rather than external contingencies, potentially thwarting the effectiveness of designed interventions. Krispin (submitted for review) outlined necessary and sufficient conditions that have been defined for the emergence of self-organization and extrapolated them to cultural systems. The present paper first considers the impact that these conditions may have on the design of organizational interventions, and secondly highlights principles and criteria for increasing the effectiveness of such interventions through the application of these conditions, potentially leading to enhanced adaptive capabilities within organizations. |