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| The Behavior Analyst and the Apple Crop: A Parable for Organizational Behavior Management |
| Sunday, May 30, 2010 |
| 9:00 AM–9:50 AM |
| Ballroom A (CC) |
| Area: OBM; Domain: Theory |
| PSY/BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Ann Filer, M.Ed. |
| Chair: Heather M. McGee (Western Michigan University) |
| Presenting Authors: : DWIGHT HARSHBARGER (Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia Un) |
| Abstract: In China “villages of dunces”—small towns full of mentally disabled people—give testimony to decades of environmental toxins; Szechwan province’s honey bees are extinct. In India, each day one person dies from the long-term effects of methyl isocyanate (MIC) released in the 1984 MIC Bhopal disaster that killed 20,000. In America, potential chemical disasters loom over communities; morning ozone reports are often as important as the weather itself. Worldwide, rising temperatures pose significant threats to ecosystems.
For decades scientists have accepted fees to build product defenses for tobacco, toxic chemicals, including Bhopal-sized threats to communities, and the Big Kahuna: global warming. Today, public opinion polls reveal widespread doubt about the environmental impact of increasing levels of (you fill in the blank). And every day, 50 species become extinct. Will we be the first generation to become a modern Noah and save the last pairs of species threatened with extinction?
The contingencies that surround the practice of OBM as “business as usual” are comfortable, and the financial rewards attractive. But time has grown short. I will discuss decisions by OBM’s applied behavior analysts to address and avoid important health, safety, and environment challenges, the ethics of those decisions, and suggest positive steps leading to a greener OBM. I will begin with the parable of the behavior analyst and the apple crop. |
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| DWIGHT HARSHBARGER (Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia Un) |
 Dwight Harshbarger, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and former Executive Director. The Center’s mission is to advance the scientific study of behavior and its humane applications. His personal interests are in strengthening quality and safety performance in organizations. Dwight has headed human resources in two corporations – as a corporate senior vice president for Reebok International, Ltd., and corporate vice president of Sealy, Inc. He served as a consultant in RHR International’s Chicago office and later as director of strategic consulting and vice president at Aubrey Daniels International. He heads The Browns Group, Inc., and has successfully implemented behavior-based performance improvement programs in the United States and Asia. Prior to entering corporate work, he completed post-graduate study at Harvard and then joined the faculty of West Virginia University where he became a tenured professor of psychology. He later served as CEO of a community mental health center in the southern West Virginia coal fields. He has edited and authored books and articles on organizational performance. His work in behavioral sciences has earned him the respect and acknowledgement of his peers he is an elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Psychological Society. In 2006 he received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Psychology Department at the University of North Dakota. Following his retirement from the Cambridge Center in 2008, Dwight returned to Morgantown, West Virginia, to focus on his fiction writing and to teach. He serves as Adjunct Professor of Community Medicine in the WVU Health Sciences Center. In 2009, he published a historical fiction novel focused on the Hawks Nest industrial disaster, titled Witness at Hawks Nest (Publisher’s Place; Huntington, WV). |
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| Using Metacontingencies to Plan and Manage Strategic Growth of Organizations |
| Sunday, May 30, 2010 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| Ballroom A (CC) |
| Area: CSE/OBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Jason Bourret, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Ramona Houmanfar (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Presenting Authors: : MARIA E. MALOTT (Association for Behavior Analysis International) |
| Abstract: The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1974. In the last 20 years, ABAI has grown significantly. Membership has increased 164% (from 2,009 members in 1989 to 5,299 in 2009); affiliated chapters, 172% (from 25 to 68 chapters, now with nearly 14,000 members); special interest groups, 107% (from 15 to 31 groups); annual convention registration, 267% (from 1,257 to 4,594 attendees); and participation in its boards and committees, 360% (from 91 to over 328 volunteer participants). In addition, ABAI has diversified its products and services and continues to develop new ones every year; for instance, it now produces three journals, conducts specialized events and international conferences, and offers a variety of web-based services. The administrative staff has increased from 1 to 20 and ABAI recently purchased and moved into new headquarters, its second building in the past seven years. This presentation will use the growth experience of ABAI to illustrate how metacontingencies can be used to successfully plan and manage strategic growth of organizations. The demonstration is based on the organizational management approach presented in the book Paradox of Organizational Change (Malott, M. E., 2003). |
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| MARIA E. MALOTT (Association for Behavior Analysis International) |
 Maria Malott entered the graduate program in applied behavior analysis at Western Michigan University, obtaining her Ph.D. in 1987. In 1989 she was hired as Production Manager at Ronningen Research & Development and within two years was Vice-President of manufacturing for that company. In 1993, she began a consulting career, and has consulted in advertising, restaurants, retail, manufacturing, hotels, banks, government, and institutions. Her clients have included General Motors Corporation; Meijer, Inc.; Kellogg's; Pharmacia & Upjohn; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and the Cancer Prevention Research Institute at the University of Arizona. In all of this work, Dr. Malott combines systems analysis with the analysis of individual behavior within systems and, in the process, has taught dozens of corporate executives to appreciate the power of behavioral principles. Dr. Malott has been a visiting scholar at 32 universities in 17 different countries and has served as an affiliated faculty member at five universities. She has served on four editorial boards and is the author of a book on organizational change, published in Spanish and in English, and co-author of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of one of the most widely used and often-translated textbooks in behavior analysis: Elementary Principles of Behavior. Dr. Malott was the recipient of the 2003 Award for International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis and the 2004 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Organizational Behavior Management. In 1993, she agreed to serve as part-time Executive Director of the Association for Behavior Analysis and is now its CEO. Within a few short years, the association rose from near-bankruptcy to a financially stable scientific and professional organization. Her organizational behavior management skills have been applied to every aspect of the operation of ABAI, which serves over 5,200 members and as the parent organization of 68 affiliated chapters. |
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| The Practical Utility of Behavioral Economics: A "How-To" Session |
| Sunday, May 30, 2010 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| 103AB (CC) |
| Domain: Theory |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Kerri Milyko, M.A. |
| Chair: Amy Odum (Utah State University) |
| Presenting Authors: : GREGORY J. MADDEN (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: In the last year or so, behavioral economists have frequently appeared on radio and television news outlets; particularly during the economic recession. Who are these people and why are they talking about things that seem related to what behavior analysts study? This tutorial is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners who have little-to-no prior knowledge of behavioral economics. The session will begin with a brief, approachable overview of this field of study and some of its major findings. How these findings have and might be integrated into applied settings will be discussed. Those in attendance will walk away with practical and usable information about the science of behavioral economics. |
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| GREGORY J. MADDEN (University of Kansas) |
 Dr. Gregory J. Madden received his M.S. degree from the University of North Texas in 1992 and his Ph.D. degree from West Virginia University in 1995. He began his study of behavioral economics during his post-doctoral years at the University of Vermo received the Don Hake Award in 1995. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of North Texas. At WVU, Greg was known for his broad knowledge of the psychological literature and keen analytic skills. His independence and creativity in research were complemented by uncommon technical skills in experimental design, data analysis, and computer programming. Greg was successful in obtaining research grants from Sigma Xi, and in publishing his work in high-quality journals. Greg also provided significant service to the Department of Psychology, as a teacher and as a member of several important committees. Greg’s first position was as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Vermont, where he was involved in research in the area of human behavioral pharmacology. He currently is an Assistant Professor of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. |
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