Orgb 5th Edition Nelson Solutions Manual

ORGB 5th Edition Nelson Solutions
Manual
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Chapter 6: Learning and Performance Management
Chapter 6
Learning and Performance Management
In This Chapter, You’ll Find:
Chapter Overview
Learning Outcomes
Key Terms
PowerPoint Guide
Review Questions and Answers
Discussion and Communication Questions and Suggested Answers
Ethical Dilemma
Self-Assessments—What about You?
Issues in Diversity
Experiential Exercises
Additional Examples
Case Study and Suggested Responses: Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success
Video: Profile on Barcelona Restaurant Group
Student Handouts:
Ethical Dilemma
What About You?: Task Goal Attribute Questionnaire
What About You?: How do you Correct Poor Performance?
Issues in Diversity: Race and Rewards at the Harlem Police Department
Experiential Exercise: Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Experiential Exercise: Correcting Poor Performance (Instructor’s Guidelines for the Exercise)
Experiential Exercise: Correcting Poor Performance
Experiential Exercise: Correcting Poor Performance
Experiential Exercise: The Death of Management
Case Study: Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success
Chapter Overview
This chapter begins by describing the behavioral theories of learning such as classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, and reinforcement theory. The chapter discusses learning in
organizations as facilitated through reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. Bandura’s social
learning theory and Jung’s personality approach to learning are also discussed. Next, the chapter
deals with goal setting at work, defining and measuring performance, rewarding performance,
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and correcting poor performance. The next section defines performance and identifies the tools
used to measure it. This is followed by a discussion on the importance of performance feedback
and how it can be effectively delivered. The last two sections of the chapter discuss ways through
which managers can reward performance and strategies for correcting performance.
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, students should be able to do the following:
1 Describe behavioral theories of learning.

The behaviorist approach to learning assumes that observable behavior is a function of its
consequences. Behaviorists argue that learning stems from classical and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning is the process of modifying behavior by pairing a conditioned stimulus
with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit an unconditioned response. Operant conditioning is the
process of modifying behavior by following specific behaviors with positive or negative
consequences. Reinforcement theory holds that reinforcement enhances desirable behavior,
whereas punishment and extinction diminish undesirable behavior.
2 Describe social and cognitive theories of learning.

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory offers a complementary alternative to Pavlov’s and
Skinner’s behaviorist approaches. Bandura asserts that learning occurs when people observe
other people and model their behavior. Central to Bandura’s social learning theory is the notion
of task-specific self-efficacy, an individual’s internal expectancy to perform a specific task
effectively. The cognitive approach to learning is based on the Gestalt school of thought and
draws on Jung’s theory of personality differences. The personality functions of intuition, sensing,
thinking, and feeling all have learning implications. Each person has a preferred mode of
gathering information and a preferred mode of evaluating and making decisions about that
information.
3 Explain how goal setting can be used to direct learning and performance.
Goal setting is the process of establishing desired results that guide and direct behavior. Goal
setting can serve three functions:
• It can increase work motivation and task performance.
• It can reduce stress caused by conflicting or confusing expectations.
• It can improve the accuracy and validity of performance evaluation.
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4 Define performance and identify the tools used to measure it.

Performance is most often called task accomplishment, the term task coming from Fredrick W.
Taylor’s conception of a worker’s required activity. Performance management is a process of
defining, measuring, appraising, providing feedback on, and improving performance.
Performance appraisals give employees feedback on performance, identify their developmental
needs, and influence promotion, demotion, termination, selection and placement decisions. Many
performance-monitoring systems use modern electronic technology to measure the performance
of vehicle operators, computer technicians, and customer service representatives. Goal setting
and MBO are results-oriented performance appraisal methods that do not necessarily rely on
modern technology.
5 Explain the importance of performance feedback and how it can be delivered effectively.
Good performance appraisal systems develop people and enhance careers. They should explore
individual growth needs and future performance. However, in order to coach and develop
employees successfully, the supervisor must establish mutual trust. This means she must be
vulnerable and open to challenge from the subordinate while maintaining responsibility for the
subordinate’s best interests. Good supervisors are skilled, empathetic listeners who encourage
employees to discuss their aspirations. Effective performance appraisal systems have five key
characteristics: validity, reliability, responsiveness, flexibility, and equitability.
6 Identify ways managers can reward performance.

While pay and rewards for performance have value, so too do trust, fun, and meaningful work.
Individual reward systems foster independent behavior and encourage creativity, problem
solving, and distinctive contributions to the organization. Individual reward systems directly
affect individual behavior and encourage competition within a work team. Too much
competition, however, may create a dysfunctional work environment. Team reward systems solve
the problems caused by individual competitive behavior in that they encourage cooperation, joint
efforts, and the sharing of information and expertise. Some organizations have experimented
with individual and group alternative reward systems. At the individual level, these include skill-
based and pay-for-knowledge systems that emphasize skills or knowledge possessed by an
employee beyond the requirements for the basic job. At the group level, gain-sharing plans
emphasize collective cost reduction by allowing workers to share in the gains achieved by
reducing production costs.
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7 List several strategies for correcting poor performance.

According to Harold Kelley’s attribution theory, managers make attributions, or inferences,
concerning employees’ behavior and performance. The attributions may not always be
accurate. Supervisors and employees who share perceptions and attitudes tend to evaluate
each other highly. Those who do not share perceptions and attitudes are more likely to blame
each other for performance problems. Kelley’s attribution theory proposes that individuals
make attributions based on information gathered in the form of three informational cues:
consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Certain combinations of cues suggest an internal
attribution, while other combinations suggest that the cause of the poor performance is
external. On the basis of the informational cues, the supervisor makes either an internal
(personal) attribution or an external (situational) attribution. Internal attributions might
include low effort, lack of commitment, or lack of ability. External attributions are outside
the employee’s control and might include equipment failure or unrealistic goals. Figure 6.5
presents an attribution model of supervisors’ responses to poor performance. Supervisors
may choose from a wide range of responses. They can, for example, express personal
concern, reprimand the employee, or provide training. Supervisors and coworkers are often
more effective guides than formally assigned mentors from higher up in the organizational
hierarchy. Consequently, they have important coaching, counseling, and mentoring
responsibilities to their subordinates. In either case, supervisors can play a helpful role in
employee problem-solving activities without accepting responsibility for the employees’
problems. They may also refer the employee to trained professionals.
Key Terms
Learning (p. 85)

Classical conditioning (p. 85)
Operant conditioning (p. 85)
Positive consequences (p 86)
Negative consequences (p. 86)
Reinforcement (p. 86)
Punishment (p. 87)
Extinction (p. 88)
Task-specific self-efficacy (p. 88)
Goal setting (p. 89)
Management by objectives (MBO) (p. 90)
Performance management (p. 92)
Performance appraisal (p. 92)
360-degree feedback (p. 94)
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Consensus (p. 97)

Distinctiveness (p. 97)
Consistency (p. 97)
Mentoring (p. 98)
PowerPoint Guide
Introduction
Slide 2—Learning Outcomes
LO1 Describe behavioral theories of learning.

Slide 3—LO - 6.1
Slide 4—Behavioral Models of Learning in Organizations
Slide 5—Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction
Slide 6—Figure 6.1: Reinforcement and Punishment Strategies
LO2 Describe social and cognitive theories of learning.

Slide 7—LO - 6.2
Slide 8—Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Slide 9—Table 6.2: Personality Functions and Learning
Slide 10—Beyond the Book: Innovation in Education
LO3 Explain how goal setting can be used to direct learning and performance.
Slide 11—LO - 6.3
Slide 12—Goal Setting at Work
Slide 13—Figure 6.2: Goal Level and Task Performance
LO4 Define performance and identify the tools used to measure it.
Slide 14—LO – 6.4
Slide 15—Evaluating Performance
LO5 Explain the importance of performance feedback and how it can be delivered
effectively.
Slide 17—360-Degree Feedback
Slide 18—Effective Appraisal Systems
LO6 Identify ways managers can reward performance.

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Slide 20—Individual or Team Rewards

Slide 21—Power of Earning
LO7 List several strategies for correcting poor performance.

Slide 23—Kelley’s Attribution Theory
Slide 24—Figure 6.5: Attribution Model
Slide 25—Mentoring
Slide 26—Beyond the Book: Mentoring in the White House
Slide 27—Barcelona Restaurant
Key Terms
Slide 28—Key Terms
Summary
Slide 29–31—Summary
Review Questions and Answers
1. Define the terms learning, reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.
Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience. Reinforcement is a strategy to

cultivate desirable behavior by either bestowing positive consequences or withholding
negative ones. By contrast, punishment is a strategy to discourage undesirable behavior by
either bestowing negative consequences or withholding positive consequences following an
undesirable behavior. Extinction is a strategy to weaken a behavior by attaching no
consequences (either positive or negative) to it.
2. What are positive and negative consequences in shaping behavior? How should they be
managed? Explain the value of extinction as a strategy.
Managers have access to positive and negative reinforcement strategies to assist employees
in their pursuit of goals in the workplace. Positive consequences are the results that the
person finds attractive or pleasurable. Negative consequences are the results that the person
finds unattractive or aversive. The recipient of the consequences defines them as positive or
negative. Therefore, individual personality differences as well as gender and cultural
differences may be important in their classification. Extinction is a strategy to weaken a
behavior by attaching no consequences (either positive or negative) to it. This strategy may
require time and patience, but the absence of consequences eventually weakens a behavior.
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3. How can task-specific self-efficacy be enhanced? What are the differences in the way
introverted and extraverted and intuitive and sensing people learn?
There are four sources of task-specific self-efficacy: prior experiences, behavioral models
(witnessing the success of others), persuasion from other people, and assessment of current
physical and emotional capabilities. Prior success can also enhance one’s self-efficacy.
Introverts need time to study, concentrate, and reflect on what they are learning. They think
well when they are alone. Extraverts need to interact with other people and learn best by
exchanging ideas with others. An intuitive thinker prefers to analyze data and information,
looking for the meaning behind the analysis and focusing on the big picture. A sensing feeler
prefers to learn through interpersonal involvement and focuses on details and practical
applications.
4. What are the five characteristics of well-developed goals? Why is feedback on goal
progress important?
Well-developed goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Goal
acceptance is thought to lead to goal commitment and then to goal accomplishment.
Feedback helps employees assess how well their efforts lead to the accomplishment of their
goals.
5. What are the purposes of conducting performance appraisals? What are the benefits of
360-degree feedback?
Accurate appraisals help supervisors fulfill their dual roles as evaluators and coaches.
Performance appraisals give employees feedback on performance; identify their
developmental needs; and influence promotion, demotion, termination, selection, and
placement decisions. 360-degree feedback is based on multiple sources of information to
improve the accuracy of performance appraisals. The 360-degree feedback provides a well-
rounded view of performance from supervisors, peers, followers, and customers.
6. How can managers and supervisors best provide useful performance feedback?
Both supervisor and employee should try to make performance feedback a constructive
learning experience, since feedback has long-term implications for the employee’s
performance and for the supervisor–employee working relationship. American Airlines
follows three guidelines for providing evaluative feedback. First, supervisors refer to
specific, verbatim statements and specific, observable behaviors displayed by the employee.
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This specificity enhances the acceptance of the feedback while discouraging denial. Second,
the feedback focuses on changeable behaviors, not intrinsic or personality-based attributes.
Third, the session is planned ahead of time and the person who will receive the feedback is
notified so that both parties can be ready.
Supervisors should start coaching and counseling sessions with something positive. Once the
session is under way and rapport is established, the evaluator can introduce more difficult
and negative material. No one is perfect, so everyone can learn and grow through
performance feedback and review sessions. Critical feedback is the basis for improvement.
Managers should be aware, however, that although specific feedback can improve initial
performance, it may also undermine the learning needed for later, more independent
performance.
7. What are the two possible attributions of poor performance? What are the implications of
each?
A number of problems trigger poor performance. These include poorly designed work
systems, poor selection processes, inadequate training and skills development, lack of
personal motivation, and personal problems intruding on the work environment.
If the poor performance can’t be attributed to work design or organizational process

problems, then supervisors should examine the employee. The problem may lie in (1) some
aspect of the person’s relationship to the organization or supervisor, (2) some area of the
employee’s personal life, or (3) a training or developmental deficiency. In the latter two
cases, poor performance can be treated as a symptom rather than as a motivated
consequence. In such cases, identifying financial problems, family difficulties, or health
disorders may help the employee solve problems before they become too extensive.
Poor performance may also stem from an employee’s displaced anger or conflict with the
organization or supervisor. In such cases, the employee may be unaware of the internal
reactions causing the problem. Such angry motivations can generate sabotage, slowdown
work, and cause work stoppages. The supervisor might be attributing the cause of the
problem to the employee while the employee is attributing it to the supervisor or
organization. Supervisors must treat the poor performance as a symptom with a deeper cause
and resolve the underlying anger or conflict.
8. How do mentors and peers help people develop and enhance their careers?
Success in the mentoring relationship depends on openness and trust. This relationship may
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help address performance-based deficiencies or personal problems. Mentoring offers

protégés many career benefits. The relationship can significantly enhance the early
development of a newcomer and the midcareer development of an experienced employee.
Peer relationships can also enhance career development. Executive coaching is increasingly
used to outsource the business mentoring functions. Informational, collegial, and special
peers aid the individual’s development by sharing information, career strategies, job-related
feedback, emotional support, and friendship.
Discussion and Communication Questions and Suggested Answers
1. Which learning approach—the behavioral approach or Bandura’s social learning

theory—do you find more appropriate for people?
Students’ answers will vary. This answer may have to do with how much importance
students place on the task-specific self-efficacy aspect of Bandura’s theory. It is obviously a
more complex set of dynamics to consider. Instructors should encourage students to consider
the type of learning (e.g., level of complexity) as another variable.
2. Given your personality type, how do you learn best? Do you miss learning some things
because of how they are taught?
Students’ answers will vary. Students will often be able to determine what they do not like
about learning opportunities more readily than they can identify how they would learn more
comfortably. It is interesting to ask students whether grading completely through group
grades would change their view of individual studying and learning. Many college classes
are taught by Intuitive-Thinking (NT) instructors, who use a particular style. Instructors
should have students discuss what the NT teaching/learning style is and how it affects other
learning styles.
3. What goals do you set for yourself at work? In your personal life? Will you know if you
achieve them?
Students’ answers will vary. Instructors should encourage students to discuss this question
beyond the obvious, “complete a business degree.” They can evaluate their goals using the
characteristics of effective goals, and discuss how they get feedback on their goal progress.
4. If a conflict occurred between your self-evaluation and the evaluation given to you by
your supervisor or instructor, how would you respond? What, specifically, would you
do? What have you learned from your supervisor or instructor during the last reporting
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period?
Students’ answers will vary. The key is to gather as much information as possible about the
other’s position. A key in approaching differing views is preparation. Instructors should
suggest to students that they respond only after thinking through the information for a day or
so. Students can use their knowledge of the perceptual process to analyze this question.
5. What rewards are most important to you? How hard are you willing to work to receive
them?
Students’ answers will vary. Instructors should encourage students to develop a gradual
rating of the rewards. Not all of the rewards are necessarily worth the cost. They may have
some ethical issues related to high performers.
6. Have students prepare a memo detailing the consequences of behavior in their work or
university environment (e.g., grades, awards, suspensions, and scholarships). Their
memos should include their classification of these consequences as positive or negative.
Tell students to be prepared to discuss whether the organization or university should
change the way it applies these consequences.
Students’ answers will vary. In response to the final question (Should your organization or
university change how it applies these consequences?), students should provide supporting
evidence, based on material from the chapter, why changes should or should not occur.
7. Develop an oral presentation about the most current management practices in employee
rewards and performance management. Find out what at least four different companies
are doing in this area. Be prepared to discuss their fit with the text materials.
Students’ answers will vary. Based on the fit between current management practices
identified and text materials, students can discuss how successful they believe the various
management practices will be.
8. Interview a manager or supervisor who is responsible for completing performance

appraisals on people at work. Ask the manager which aspects of performance appraisal
and the performance appraisal interview process are most difficult and how he or she
manages these difficulties.
Students’ answers will vary. This is also a good opportunity for students to share experiences
(both positive and negative) that they have had as employees being appraised. The
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contrasting perspectives of the managers/supervisors and the students (as employees) should
provide for some interesting discussion.
Ethical Dilemma
The purpose of Ethical Dilemmas is to encourage students to develop their awareness of ethical
issues in the workplace and the managerial challenges they present. The dilemmas are set up to
present situations in which there is no clear ethical choice. The goal of the instructor is to guide
students through the process of analyzing the situation and examining possible alternative
solutions. There are no “right” answers to the questions at the end of each scenario, only
opportunities to explore alternative generation and generate discussion of the appropriateness of
each alternative. The student portion of the activity is provided on a handout at the end of this
chapter guide.
1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Margaret’s options.
Margaret’s options are to insist that her sales team use the company’s preferred process for
completing expense reports or allow them to continue with the process that they are currently
using. In other words, Margaret should use a new, more time-consuming process that is more
accurate but eliminates the “extra money” that they are accustomed to getting, or she should
leave the current process in place even though it is less accurate and not the process that the
company wants them to use.
Consequential Theory
The sales team might not prefer to use the new process because it is more time consuming
and eliminates the extra money that they receive when the old process is employed.
However, it will make Margaret and her sales team comply with the company’s desired
process for expense reports, thus saving the company money. Margaret and her sales team
might still prefer to employ the old process as it will enable them to keep receiving extra
money, but it might keep Margaret and the sales team from complying with the
management’s wishes.
Rule-Based Theory
Margaret’s obligation is to comply with the company’s desired method of completing

expense reports. She has no obligation to appease her sales team by continuing to use the old
method.
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Character Theory
According to the scenario, Margaret has employed the current method of completing
expense reports because it is the method that she learnt when she was new to the company.
In other words, she has not employed the old method out of any particular loyalty toward her
sales team. But she does seem to care about pleasing her supervisors, and this can be
observed by her insistence that the sales team complete expense reports on time and her
gratification that they do so. If she employs the new method, it would also please her boss,
but if she does not do it, she may damage her relationship with her boss.
2. What should Margaret do? Why?
Based largely on the rule-based theory but also to some extent on the consequential and
character theories, Margaret should switch to the new method for completing expense
reports. Her sole obligation in this scenario is to comply with the company’s desired method
for completing expense reports. Moreover, it would be unethical for her to continue using a
method that results in employees getting more money than they are entitled to in travel
reimbursements. Additionally, she can save the company money by changing to the new
method, which benefits the entire company, and her desire to please her bosses will be best
met by changing to the new method.
Self-Assessments—What about You?
6.1 Task Goal Attribute Questionnaire
This exercise is designed to give students an insight into their goals at work or school by
examining the importance they place on the task-goal attributes of participation in goal setting,
feedback on goal effort, peer competition, goal specificity, and goal difficulty. It provides a
useful introduction to the topic of goal setting and once completed allows students to share
results and personal experiences of goal setting with the class. The student portion of the activity
is provided on a handout at the end of this chapter guide.
6.2 Do You Learn From The Consequences Of Behavior?
Reinforcement and punishment represent the positive and negative consequences of behavior.
Positive consequences are the results that the person finds attractive or pleasurable. They might
include a pay increase, bonus, promotion, transfer to a more desirable geographic location, or
praise from a supervisor. Negative consequences are the results that the person finds unattractive
or aversive. They might include disciplinary action, an undesirable transfer, a demotion, or harsh
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criticism from a supervisor. The recipient of the consequences defines them as positive or
negative. Therefore, individual personality differences as well as gender and cultural differences
may be important in their classification.
For this exercise, students should create two lists. One for the positive consequences of behavior
that they have experienced and the other for the negative consequences of behavior that they have
experienced. Students should compare these two lists and explain why a behavior was connected
to a consequence. Then, students should suggest ways to modify their behavior such that their
behavior attracts more positive consequences than negative consequences. The student portion of
the activity is provided on the review card in the student edition of ORGB.
6.3 How Do You Correct Poor Performance?
The experience of poor performance is universal; everyone has performed poorly at one time or
another. The real significance of poor performance is found in correcting it—understanding why
the poor performance occurred and developing plans to prevent similar poor performance in the
future. The first step is describing the event in detail, including an assessment of how the
performance came to be labeled as “poor”. The second step involves listing all the possible
contributing causes of the poor performance. In doing so, students should consider internal as
well as external factors. The rest of the process is largely useless if no plan is developed to ensure
better performance in the future. This exercise can be followed up later in the semester by asking
students to discuss the effectiveness of their plans, once they have had the opportunity to
implement them.
As students list contributing factors to their poor performance, it is important that they consider
internal as well as external factors. As a follow-up to this challenge, instructors should ask
students to summarize the effectiveness of their plan once they implement it. The student portion
of the activity is provided on the review card in the student edition of ORGB and on a handout at
the end of this chapter guide.
Issues in Diversity
Race and Rewards at the Harlem Police Department
Off-duty police officer Omar J. Edwards was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer on
May 28, 2009. Edwards was chasing a suspected car thief in East Harlem, New York and had
drawn his gun when the incident occurred. While accidents such as this are unfortunate, they are
not unusual, especially in the line of police work. This particular accident, however, would affect
rank-and-file minority police officers in a very significant way. After the accident, Police
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Commissioner Raymond Kelly vowed to increase the number of minority officers in top-level
Harlem police department positions. By all accounts, Commissioner Kelly is “a fair-minded
leader of a hierarchical organization,” so why the emphasis on promoting minority officers, and
why now?
For one thing, the off-duty police officer was black and the shooter was white. This fact
“resurrected the volatile cross section of race, politics, and the use of deadly force by police
officers.” Conventional wisdom suggests that public servants should represent the community in
which they serve so that they might have a better understanding of the residents and vice versa.
While the number of blacks and Hispanics at the rank of captain or higher has risen significantly
since 2001, whites make up the majority of the Harlem Police department’s executive corps.
Harlem Police department’s reward system operates in almost the same way as it does in all
police departments. Promotion of rank-and-file officers to captain depends on their performance
in the civil service exams. Promotions above the captain rank are discretionary. While
Commissioner Kelly admits that minority officers have enjoyed a quicker promotion than white
officers of the same rank, Roy Richter, the president of the Captain’s Endowment Association,
points out that “[T]his police commissioner rewards performance regardless of race or gender.”
1. How will Commissioner Kelly’s vow to increase minority representation in the top
command affect the rank-and-file officers?
Given the statement that Commissioner Kelly is widely regarded as fair-minded, in the
absence of blatant discrimination, rank-and-file officers are likely to perceive his efforts to
increase minority representation in top levels simply as an effort to make his organization
better reflect the community. If discrimination becomes apparent, rank-and-file officers will
probably become frustrated and motivation will decline within the organization.
2. Should service organization managers consider their “market” when promoting employees to
higher levels? Why or why not?
Service organization managers should consider their market when they promote employees
to higher levels; EEOC guidelines require that organizations’ workforces reflect the
populations in which they are located as much as possible with regard to diversity. However,
managers must also avoid not only blatant discrimination but also the perception of
discriminatory practices. Managers have a very fine line to walk in accomplishing the kinds
of things Commissioner Kelly wants to accomplish—not violating EEOC guidelines while
easing tensions among the local populace.
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Experiential Exercises
6.1 Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Instructor’s Notes:
The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate the effects of positive and negative reinforcement on
behavior change. This exercise is useful when a class seems unruly and needs a change of pace. It
is similar to the childhood game most students have played. Students will become very vocal and
typically animated. Instructors may want to take care in selecting the volunteers. A description of
the steps of the exercise are provided on student handouts at the end of this chapter guide.
Discussion Questions:
1. What were the differences in behavior of the volunteers when different kinds of
reinforcement (positive, negative, or both) were used? Most of the time the individual
receiving positive reinforcement will have a number of gestures and nonverbal indicators of
success.
2. What were the emotional reactions of the volunteers to the different kinds of reinforcement?
3. One of the ways to give volunteers time to reflect and to get out of the spotlight for a
moment is to have them go to a board or flip chart and list a series of words that described
how they felt. Typical for volunteer #1 will be embarrassment, frustration, quit, etc.
Volunteer #3 may have feelings like confusion, frustration, and ambiguity.
4. Which type of reinforcement—positive or negative—is most common in organizations?

What effect do you think this has on motivation and productivity? Students’ responses will
depend on their exposure to specific instances.
6.2 Correcting Poor Performance
Purpose: This exercise provides an opportunity for students to engage in a performance diagnosis
role-play as either the assistant director of the Academic Computing Service Center or as a
member of a university committee appointed by the president of the university at the request of
the center director.
Group Size: Form the class into groups of five or six students, and either ask the group to select
who is to be the assistant director or assign one group member to be the assistant director.
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A description of the steps and the roles are provided on student handouts at the end of this
chapter guide.
Performance diagnosis, especially where some poor performance exists, requires making
attributions and determining causal factors as well as formulating a plan of action to correct any
poor performance.
Role Descriptions:
Assistant Director, Academic Computing Service Center
You are the assistant director of the university’s Academic Computing Service Center. You are a
skilled information systems software engineer with twenty years of experience at two different
universities. You assumed your current job about three years ago. Within the first year you
became very familiar with the entire information systems infrastructure at the university and
developed a highly successful relationship with all of the technicians and support staff under your
supervision.
With a notable downturn in enrollment since you came, it has been a struggle to obtain the
financial resources necessary to complete all of the upgrades you think are required for a first rate
center and to procure all the latest hardware sought by the faculty, research, and teaching staff
across campus. The center services a wide variety of university customers, such as the hard
science requirements in engineering, physics, and chemistry for massive data analysis and
networking with other universities; the social science requirements in psychology, business, and
social work for specific types of statistical analysis packages; the administrative requirements of
the registrar and financial services offices; and finally the unique needs of the medical school.
Because of the differing needs of these customers, the center experiences conflicting pressures
and demands. These customers are not information systems experts, and you take a lead role in
attempting to educate them about the competing demands and limitations the center faces.
You report directly to the new director of the ACS Center who has been on the job for about
seven months. Although the director appears friendly, she also does not seem to be a real
information systems expert with the technical expertise you would like a director to have. You
are scheduled to meet with a university committee of faculty and staff, although you are not
exactly sure why, you have heard rumors there is some discontent among the center’s customers.
University Committee Members
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You are members of a university committee of faculty and staff that the new director of the
Academic Computing Service Center has asked the president to form. You understand that the
new director is a rather new graduate of an eastern university with an M.S. degree in information
systems and some prior computing and information systems experience, going back to graduate
school. She has been the director for about seven months, and the declines in enrollment which
preceded her arrival by several years have taken a toll on the financial and human resources of
the university. At the same time, advances in information systems technology have increased
demand for system upgrades and advances across campus.
The assistant director of the ACS Center has been in the vice of these forces for several years.
The assistant director is a talented, highly proficient information systems expert who grew up
through the technical ranks after getting an undergraduate business degree in information systems
and management science. His technically superior attitude is apparently evident to the diverse
disciplines across campus that see him as increasing the tensions and conflicts flowing from
declining resources and increasing demand. The new director seems a little puzzled as to how to
sort out all the issues and make appropriate attributions to the behavior and actions of the various
parties involved. A key responsibility for her is getting a clear picture of the performance of her
assistant director, who does seem to have some poor performance problems.
6.3 The Death of Management
Instructor’s Notes:
Since this is an editorial page, this is a logical assignment for students to read as homework. A
technique that works to aid in getting to the issues quickly in class is to have the students
highlight the most important issues for their position. A student handout is provided at the end of
this chapter guide.
Divide the class into five groups that will discuss this topic with the speaker when he visits the
campus. Each group will submit, within 20 minutes, what their issue and discussion question will
be and who their designated debater is. The instructor takes the position of the editorial writer,
Robert Samuelson*. (You may want to let 5 students take his position and debate for him).
During the debate, students may request assistance from their group, and they will need to refer
the book for their support.
• Decide who in your group will be the five students to debate this topic.
• Decide which particular point you wish to refute.
• Back up you argument with specific references to this chapter.
• Prepare your group by defining what you believe Samuelson means by the following
18
words:
o Pseudo skills
o All-purpose executives
o General managers
o Skills
• What would Mr. Samuelson say about the concepts in this chapter?
* SOURCE: Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek, May 10, 1993, 55.
Additional Examples
Aggressive Goal Setting…And More
The history of the Korean automotive industry has been a “rags to riches” story beginning with
the establishment of Hyundai Motor Company in 1967 to assemble American designed cars for
local consumption. By 2005, it had become the sixth largest automobile producer in the world
and a major competitor to GM, Ford, and Toyota. The company used a practice of internally
generated crises as a catalyst for organizational resilience, rebounding from failures and using
aggressive goal setting. HMC also set demanding production targets as goals for its
manufacturing workforce and set stringent quality benchmarks as goals for its vehicles. Learning
from experience became a key enabling mechanism for the aggressive goal setting and the
ultimate success of the company.
The Effects of Accuracy in Performance Evaluations
Studies involving both laboratory and field research on performance evaluations that included
self-evaluations and, in some cases, evaluations from an external authority, produced an
interesting pattern of results that showed the effects of accuracy in performance evaluation on
subsequent task performance. The main finding was that when individuals more accurately
evaluated their performance on a task, the better was their performance on a subsequent task. In
addition, the first study found that for those individuals who overestimated their performance on
a task, the lower their performance on the next task. Interestingly, underestimating performance
on a task had no apparent effect on performance of the subsequent task. The second study found
that these effects were dampened by the presence of an external authority. Specifically, when
individuals received feedback from an external authority, the effects of the inaccuracy of their
own self-performance evaluations had a reduced effect on subsequent performance. Therefore,
accuracy in self-performance evaluation has a positive effect on the next task performance, and
overestimation in self-performance evaluation has a negative effect on the task performance that
19
follows. However, both of these effects are reduced, though not eliminated, when there is an
external authority engaged in the role of performance evaluation.
SOURCE: S. Ellis, R. Mendel, and M. Aloni-Zohar, “The Effect of Accuracy of Performance Evaluation on
Learning from Experience: The Moderating role of After-Event Reviews,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology
39(3) (2009): 541–563.
Tri-Mentoring: New Spin, Old Practice
Tri-mentoring is a formalized peer-mentoring system that recognizes implicit learning in

organizations. Employees can and do learn from each other in the normal performance of
daily tasks. Tri-mentoring formalizes this experience with a process in which three
employees get together and share their tacit and implicit knowledge to build organizational
capability. The trio offers flexibility, healthy discussion, and covers overlaps. Managers
provide direction and experts assess outcomes.
20
Case Study and Suggested Responses
Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success
Linkage of Case to Chapter Material
This case describes James Dyson’s unusual and challenging path to entrepreneurial success with
the design and marketing of the vacuum cleaner bearing his name. Dyson’s life journey is one
based on a desire to solve problems and learn from mistakes and to persevere and excel. In the
late 1970s, Dyson began developing a vacuum cleaner based on the belief that “people actually
wanted to see the dirt that they were collecting.” [I]nspired by an industrial cyclone at a timber
mill,…[Dyson] created a vacuum that used centrifugal force to separate the dust and dirt. No bag,
no clogging, no loss of suction. It didn’t look great, but it worked. After five years of testing,
tweaking, fist banging, cursing, and more than 5,000 mistakesor prototypes, as engineers call
themit was there.” Dyson says, “[e]ach iteration of the vacuum came about because of a
mistake I needed to fix. What’s important is that I didn’t stop at the first failure, the 50th, or the
5,000th…I love mistakes.” Dyson’s life experiences in being willing to experiment and run the
risk of making mistakes, to learn from those mistakes, to persevere in light of daunting
circumstances, and to achieve excellence relates very directly to the learning and performance
management concepts discussed in Chapter 6.
Suggested Answers for Discussion Questions
1. Why is the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes crucial to learning?
Although success is positively reinforcing and therefore helps people in learning, failure can
play a valuable role as well. Success demonstrates what a person does well; failure identifies
what an individual does not do well and therefore needs to learn. Failure helps to define
one’s current limits and identifies the areas where further competency development is
needed. People who do not experience failure are not fully aware of their developmental
needs.
James Dyson was well aware of the value of making mistakes and learning from them. This
was made clear to him in his first job. Dyson recalls that his first boss, Jeremy Fry, taught
him that if people are allowed to make mistakes, they will learn very quickly. Fry also taught
Dyson to mistrust experience, especially the experience of entrenched individuals and
organizations because they tend to loathe innovation. Often innovation comes about as a
consequence of failuresometimes repeated failures.
21
2. How can the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes contribute to performance

improvement?
Making mistakes enables a person to discover firsthand what works and what does not work.
Direct experience with making mistakes is a more powerful learning force than observing
others make mistakes. It can also provide for more powerful learning than perpetual success.
Making mistakes also serves to identify one’s developmental needs. If people are fearful of
making mistakes, they will not take risks, they will not innovate, and they will not
experiment. By avoiding risk-taking, innovation and experimentation may make a person
feel safe, but he or she is unlikely to improve performance substantially. However, risk
taking, innovation, and experimentation are more likely to create the potential for sustained
performance improvements.
James Dyson, reflecting on his arduous, mistake-laden development of the Dyson vacuum’s
dirt collection system, states, “[e]veryone said that the clear bin would repulse people. By
that point I’d stopped listening to everyone and went with my instinct. I’m particularly adept
at making mistakesit’s a necessity as an engineer. Each iteration of the vacuum came
about because of a mistake I needed to fix. What’s important is that I didn’t stop at the first
failure, the 50th, or the 5,000th…I love mistakes.”
3. What advice do you think James Dyson would give to a recent college graduate who is just
starting his/her career?
James Dyson probably would emphasize two things:

• Be willing to make mistakes and learn from them
• Persevere, even when the conditions or odds are unfavorable
With regard to learning from mistakes, the students could cite case information that has
already been brought up in the suggested responses to Questions 1 and 2. First, Dyson recalls
that his first boss taught him that if people are allowed to make mistakes, they will learn very
quickly. Second, in recalling the arduous development process of his vacuum cleaner,
Dyson, states, “By that point I’d stopped listening to everyone and went with my instinct.
I’m particularly adept at making mistakesit’s a necessity as an engineer. Each iteration of
the vacuum came about because of a mistake I needed to fix. What’s important is that I
didn’t stop at the first failure, the 50th, or the 5,000th…I love mistakes.”
The advice regarding perseverance can also be drawn from his experience with making
mistakes. Clearly, persisting despite making over 5,000 mistakes is a powerful lesson in
22
perseverance and so is the insight that Dyson shares regarding his childhood passion for
running. Quoted on the company’s website, Dyson recalls, “I wanted to give up almost every
day. But one of the things I did when I was young was long distance running, from a mile up
to ten miles. They wouldn’t let me run more than ten miles at schoolin those days they
thought you’d drop down dead or something. And I was quite good at it, not because I was
physically good but because I had more determination. I learned determination from it.”
Dyson also says, “A lot of people give up when the world seems to be against them, but
that’s the point when you should push a little harder. I use the analogy of running a race. It
seems as though you can’t carry on, but if you just get through the pain barrier, you’ll see the
end and be okay. Often, just around the corner is where the solution will happen.”
4. What advice do you think James Dyson would give to someone who is in charge of training
people and evaluating their performance?
The response to this question should build on the suggested response to the preceding
question. Most importantly, James Dyson would likely advise trainers and evaluators to give
people the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them. He would also advise trainers
and evaluators to encourage people to work hard and to persist in developing their
competencies and achieving their goals.
SOURCE: This case solution was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of
Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business, Valparaiso University.
Video
Profile on Barcelona Restaurant Group
At Barcelona Restaurant Group it’s about more than food: it’s about an experience. Cuisine is
only 50 percent of the total Barcelona experience; the other half is made up of intangibles such as
lighting, clientele, atmospherics, background music, and conversation with managers and wait
staff. For Barcelona to be successful, each employee must deliver the European tapas ambience
night after night. To achieve consistent quality, Barcelona gauges its performance with the help
of multiple feedback loops. First, the establishment participates in a Secret Shoppers program.
Next, the restaurant solicits comments from regular patrons, and every comment card and e-mail
goes straight to the owner. Finally, managers monitor activities through restaurant surveillance
cameras and by walking the floors to interact with customers.
Discussion Questions and Solutions
23
1. According to Barcelona owner Andy Pforzheimer, why do so many restaurants go out of

business?
Andy Pforzheimer says that restaurants go out of business because they fail to effectively
and accurately measure their own performance. They fail to define success, and they fail to
appraise themselves in a thorough, ongoing manner. Quantifying service is especially
important in the restaurant industry where customer satisfaction depends on intangibles such
as pleasant servers, food preparation, and short wait times.
2. What tactics do leaders at Barcelona use to help measure and control the restaurant’s
financial performance?
In the video, Barcelona uses multiple methods of controlling financial performance. First,
managers hold weekly meetings in which chefs and general managers review key financial
data. Group members review P&L numbers for the restaurants, and owner Andy Pforzheimer
confronts managers if they let food costs rise above 25 percent. Second, each of Barcelona’s
seven restaurants generates monthly financial statements, and managers track their financial
progress against the financials of the other Barcelona restaurants. Competition between
Barcelona restaurants motivates managers to improve food and service while maintaining
low overhead costs.
3. How does Barcelona reward managers and chefs?
In the video, Chief Operating Officer Scott Lawton says that Barcelona managers receive a
financial bonus for achieving profitability. In fact, Barcelona offers a 12 percent bonus on
annual restaurant sales earned above the company’s base operating profit. The bonus money
is significant and can be adjusted upward or downward slightly to reflect the scores from
Secret Shopper reports. Lawton says the company does not provide financial bonuses to
chefs because chefs would inadvertently compromise quality by having to pinch pennies.
During group meetings, Barcelona’s owners offer praise to employees that stand out for
good performance as measured by customer feedback and meeting financial targets.
24
Student Handouts
Ethical Dilemma
Margaret Dawson supervises a team of six salespeople within Smith & Yardley, Inc., and she’s
been with the company for five years. As her team was assembled, Margaret worked assertively
to make sure everyone was clear on how to complete the sometimes complicated expense report
forms. Since her sales force was on the road for approximately 60 percent of the time, filling out
expense reports completely was essential. The sales people were dependent on getting
reimbursements quickly for living expenses and the extensive mileage accrued; the accounting
team needed to process the forms quickly in order to avoid a critical back-log of debt. Margaret’s
team consistently submits their reports on time, a fact that pleases both Margaret and her boss.
The team receives their reimbursements promptly, which meets their needs.
For her entire time with Smith & Yardley, Inc., Margaret has used a rounding system to make the
numbers reconcile more easily when inputted into the excel spreadsheet expense report. She has
consistently shared this procedure with her salespeople as a method of reconciliation that also
quickens the process. Margaret is also aware that when her subordinates complete their reports
this way, they often get a little extra money in their reimbursement check. Since that’s the
procedure Margaret was taught when she was new to the company, she feels comfortable passing
that information on.
At the last managers’ meeting, Margaret’s supervisor, Henry, reviewed the correct procedures for
completing expense reports. She learned that the rounding system that she was taught and has
consequently taught to her sales force isn’t exactly the way the company would like outstanding
expenses reconciled. The way in which Margaret and her team complete their reports isn’t
specifically wrong, but it does err in favor of awarding the employees extra money. Margaret has
to decide if she should gather her team and inform them that expense reports have to be
completed in a new, more time-consuming manner, or if she should simply allow the team to
keep submitting the forms in the way in which they’ve all become accustomed.
Questions
1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Margaret’s options.

2. What should Margaret do? Why?
25
What about You?
Task Goal Attribute Questionnaire
Listed below is a set of statements that may or may not describe the job or school objectives
toward which you are presently working. Please read each statement carefully and rate each on a
scale from 1 (agree completely) to 7 (disagree completely) to describe your level of agreement or
disagreement with the statement. Please answer all questions.
_____ 1. I am allowed a high degree of influence in the determination of my work/school

objectives.
_____ 2. I should not have too much difficulty in reaching my work/school objectives; they
appear to be fairly easy.
_____ 3. I receive a considerable amount of feedback concerning my quantity of output on the
job/in school.
_____ 4. Most of my coworkers and peers try to outperform one another on their assigned
work/school goals.
_____ 5. My work/school objectives are very clear and specific; I know exactly what my
job/assignment is.
_____ 6. My work/school objectives will require a great deal of effort from me to complete them.
_____ 7. I really have little voice in the formulation of my work/school objectives.
_____ 8. I am provided with a great deal of feedback and guidance on the quality of my work.
_____ 9. I think my work/school objectives are ambiguous and unclear.
_____ 10. It will take a high degree of skill and know-how on my part to attain fully my
work/school objectives.
_____ 11. The setting of my work/school goals is pretty much under my own control.
_____ 12. My boss/instructors seldom let(s) me know how well I am doing on my work toward
my work/school objectives.
_____ 13. A very competitive atmosphere exists among my peers and me with regard to attaining
our respective work/school goals; we all want to do better than anyone else in attaining our goals.
_____ 14. I understand fully which of my work/school objectives are more important than others;
I have a clear sense of priorities on these goals.
_____ 15. My work/school objectives are quite difficult to attain.
_____ 16. My supervisor/instructors usually ask(s) for my opinions and thoughts when
determining my work/school objectives.
Scoring:
Place your response (1 through 7) in the space provided. For questions 7, 12, 9, and 2, subtract
26
your response from 8 to determine your adjusted score. For each scale (e.g., participation in goal
setting), add the responses and divide by the number of questions in the scale.
Participation in Goal Setting:

Question 1 _____
Question 7 (8 – _____) = _____
Question 11 _____
Question 16 _____
Total divided by 4 =
Feedback on Goal Effort:

Question 3 _____
Question 8 _____
Question 12 (8 – _____) = _____
Peer Competition:
Question 4 _____
Question 13 _____
Goal Specificity:
Question 5 _____
Question 9 (8 – _____) = _____
Question 14 _____
Goal Difficulty:
Question 2 (8 – _____) = _____
Question 6 _____
Question 10 _____
Question 15 _____
Interpreting your average scale scores: 6 or 7 is very high on this task–goal attribute. 4 is a
moderate level on this task–goal attribute. 1 or 2 is very low on this task–goal attribute.
SOURCE: Adapted from R. M. Steers, “Factors Affecting Job Attitudes in a Goal-Setting Environment,” Academy of
Management Journal 19 (1976): 9. Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
27
What about You?
How do you Correct Poor Performance?
At one time or another, each of us has had a poor performance of some kind. It may have been a
poor test result in school, a poor presentation at work, or a poor performance in an athletic event.
Think of a poor performance event that you have experienced and work through the following
three steps.
Step 1. Briefly describe the specific event in some detail. Include why you label it a poor
performance (bad score? someone else’s evaluation?).
Step 2. Analyze the poor performance.
a. List all the possible contributing causes to the poor performance. Be specific, such as the room
was too hot, you did not get enough sleep, you were not told how to perform the task, etc. You
might ask other people for possible ideas, too.
1. _________________________
2. _________________________
3. _________________________
4. _________________________
5. _________________________
6. _________________________
7. _________________________
b. Is there a primary cause for the poor performance? What is it?
Step 3. Plan to correct the poor performance.
Develop a step-by-step plan of action that specifies what you can change or do differently to
improve your performance the next time you have an opportunity. Include seeking help if it is
needed. Once your plan is developed, look for an opportunity to execute it.
28
Issues in Diversity
Race and Rewards at the Harlem Police Department
Off-duty police officer Omar J. Edwards was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer on
May 28, 2009. Edwards was chasing a suspected car thief in East Harlem, New York and had
drawn his gun when the incident occurred. While accidents such as this are unfortunate, they are
not unusual, especially in the line of police work. This particular accident, however, would affect
rank-and-file minority police officers in a very significant way. After the accident, Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly vowed to increase the number of minority officers in top-level
Harlem police department positions. By all accounts, Commissioner Kelly is “a fair-minded
leader of a hierarchical organization,” so why the emphasis on promoting minority officers, and
why now?
For one thing, the off-duty police officer was black; the shooter is white. This fact “resurrected
the volatile cross section of race, politics, and the use of deadly force by police officers.”
Conventional wisdom suggests that public servants should represent the community in which
they serve so that they might have a better understanding of the residents and vice versa. While
the number of blacks and Hispanics at the rank of captain or higher has risen significantly since
2001, whites make up the majority of the Harlem Police department’s executive corps.
Harlem Police department’s reward system operates almost the same way as it does in all police
departments. Promotion of rank-and-file officers to captain depends on their performance in the
civil service exams. Promotions above the captain rank are discretionary. While Commissioner
Kelly admits that minority officers have enjoyed a quicker promotion than white officers of the
same rank; Roy Richter, the president of the Captain’s Endowment Association, points out that
“[T]his police commissioner rewards performance regardless of race or gender.”
Questions
1. How will Commissioner Kelly’s vow to increase minority representation in the top
command affect the rank-and-file officers?
2. Should service organization managers consider their “market” when promoting employees to
higher levels? Why or why not?
SOURCE: A. Baker, “Police Commissioner Plans to Put More Minority Officers in Top Posts,” The New York Times
(June 26, 2009); A. Gendar, E. Pearson, B. Paddock, and L. Standora, “Black Cop Killed by White Officer: Horror
in East Harlem as Off-Duty Rookie Is Shot Pursuing Suspect,” New York Daily News (May 29, 2009).
29
Experiential Exercise
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Purpose: To examine the effects of positive and negative reinforcement on behavior change.
1. Select two or three volunteers to receive reinforcement from the class while performing a
particular task. Ask the volunteers to leave the room.
2. Identify an object for the student volunteers to locate when they return to the room. (The
object should be unobtrusive but clearly visible to the class. Some that have worked well
are a small triangular piece of paper that was left behind when a notice was torn off a
classroom bulletin board, a smudge on the chalkboard, and a chip in the plaster of a
classroom wall.)
3. Specify the reinforcement contingencies that will be in effect when the volunteers return to
the room. For negative reinforcement, students should hiss, boo, and throw things
(although they should not throw anything harmful) when the first volunteer is moving away
from the object; students should cheer and applaud when the second volunteer is getting
closer to the object; and if a third volunteer is used, use both negative and positive
reinforcement.
4. Assign a student to keep a record of the time it takes each of the volunteers to locate the
object.
5. Ask Volunteer #1 to come back to the room, and instruct him or her as follows: “Your task
is to locate and touch a particular object in the room, and the class has agreed to help you.
You may begin.”
6. Volunteer #1 continues to look for the object until it is found while the class assists by
giving negative reinforcement.
You may begin.”
giving positive reinforcement.
You may begin.”
giving both positive and negative reinforcement.
11. In a class discussion, have students answer the following questions:
a. How did the behavior of the volunteers differ when different kinds of reinforcement
(positive, negative, or both) were used? Most of the time the individual receiving
positive reinforcement will have a number of gestures and nonverbal indicators of
30
success.
b. What were the emotional reactions of the volunteers to the different kinds of
reinforcement? One of the ways to give volunteers time to reflect and to get out of the
spotlight for a moment is to have them go to a board of a flip chart and list a series
of words that describe how they felt. Typical for Volunteer #1 would be
embarrassment, frustration, quit, etc. Volunteer #3 may have feelings like confusion,
frustration, and ambiguity.
c. Which type of reinforcement—positive or negative—is most common in
organizations? What effect do you think this has on motivation and productivity?
Students’ responses will depend on their exposure to specific instances.
31
Correcting Poor Performance
This exercise provides an opportunity for you to engage in a performance diagnosis role-play as
either the assistant director of the Academic Computing Service Center or as a member of a
university committee appointed by the president of the university at the request of the center
director. Instructors will divide the class into groups of five or six students and either ask the
group to select a person who will be the assistant director or assign one group member to be the
assistant director.
Performance diagnosis, especially where some poor performance exists, requires making
attributions and determining causal factors as well as formulating a plan of action to correct any
poor performance.
Step 1. (5 minutes) Once the class is formed into groups, instructors should provide the assistant
director with a copy of the role description and each university committee member with a copy of
the role context information. Group members are to read through the materials provided.
Step 2. (15 minutes) The university committee has to call in the assistant director of the
Academic Computing Service Center for a performance diagnostic interview. This is an
information-gathering interview, not an appraisal session. The purpose is to gather information
for the center director.
Step 3. (15 minutes) The university committee has to agree on a statement that reflects their
understanding of the assistant director’s poor performance and to include a specification of the
causes. Based on this problem statement, the committee is to formulate a plan of action to correct
the poor performance. The assistant director is to do the same, again ending with a plan of action.
Step 4. (10–15 minutes, optional) Instructors may ask the groups to share the results of their
work in Step 3 of the role-play exercise.
32
Assistant Director, Academic Computing Service Center
You are the assistant director of the university’s Academic Computing Service Center. You are a
skilled information systems software engineer with twenty years of experience at two different
universities. You assumed your current job about three years ago. Within the first year you
became very familiar with the entire information systems infrastructure at the university and
developed a highly successful relationship with all of the technicians and support staff under your
supervision.
With a notable downturn in enrollment since you came, it has been a struggle to obtain the
financial resources necessary to complete all of the upgrades you think are required for a first rate
center and to procure all the latest hardware sought by the faculty, research, and teaching staff
across campus. The center services a wide variety of university customers, such as the hard
science requirements in engineering, physics, and chemistry for massive data analysis and
networking with other universities; the social science requirements in psychology, business, and
social work for specific types of statistical analysis packages; the administrative requirements of
the registrar and financial services offices; and finally the unique needs of the medical school.
Because of the differing needs of these customers, the center experiences conflicting pressures
and demands. These customers are not information systems experts, and you take a lead role in
attempting to educate them about the competing demands and limitations the center faces.
You report directly to the new director of the ACS Center who has been on the job for about
seven months. Although the director appears friendly, she does not seem to be a real information
systems expert with the technical expertise you would like a director to have. You are scheduled
to meet with a university committee of faculty and staff; although you are not exactly sure why,
you have heard rumors there is some discontent among the center’s customers.
33
University Committee Members
You are member of a university committee of faculty and staff that the new director of the
Academic Computing Service Center has asked the president to form. You understand that the
new director is a rather new graduate of an eastern university with an M.S. degree in information
systems and some prior computing and information systems experience. She has been the
director for about seven months. The declines in enrollment which preceded her arrival by
several years have taken a toll on the financial and human resources of the university. At the
same time, advances in information systems technology have increased demand for system
upgrades and advances across campus.
The assistant director of the ACS Center has been in the vice of these forces for several years.
The assistant director is a talented, highly proficient information systems expert who grew up
through the technical ranks after getting an undergraduate business degree in information systems
and management science. His technically superior attitude is apparently evident to the diverse
disciplines across campus that see him as increasing the tensions and conflicts flowing from
declining resources and increasing demand. The new director seems a little puzzled as to how to
sort out all the issues and make appropriate attributions as to the behavior and actions of the
various parties involved. A key responsibility for her is getting a clear picture of the performance
of her assistant director, who does seem to have some poor performance problems.
34
The Death of Management
We are now witnessing the death of management. By management, I mean the peculiarly
American idea (still taught at many business schools) that a “good manager” should be able to
manage any enterprise, anywhere, any time. Through incisive analysis and decisive action, our
supermanagers supposedly could make any company productive and profitable. The idea has
collapsed with failures at companies that once symbolized U.S. management prowess—Sears,
Westinghouse, and IBM.
With hindsight, we can see the absurdity. We don’t imagine a winning football coach switching
to basketball, nor a concert pianist becoming a symphony violinist. We don’t think an orthopedic
surgeon would automatically make a good psychiatrist. We recognize that differences in talent,
temperament, knowledge, and experience make some people good at some things and not at
others. Somehow, managers were supposed to be immune to this logic.
They aren’t, of course. Indeed, the people who have created great businesses in recent decades
typically confirm the logic. They have not been all-purpose executives, casually changing jobs
and succeeding on the strength of dazzling analysis. Instead, they have been semi-fanatics who
doggedly pursued a few good ideas. People like Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Ray Kroc
(McDonald’s), William McGowan (MCI), and Bill Gates (Microsoft).
What seems astonishing is how such a bad idea survived so long. Our infatuation with it partly
reflected American’s optimism that all problems are amenable to reason. In 1914, Frederick
Winslow Taylor’s “The Principles of Scientific Management” appeared and set a tone. Taylor
pioneered time-and-motion studies, which analyzed how specific jobs might be done more
efficiently. But his larger purpose was to “prove that the best management is a true science,
resting upon clearly defined laws...”
Up to a point, who can quarrel with the resort to reason? The trouble is that it was taken too far
and became self-destructive. The problem was not that freelance managers constantly jumped
between companies, although that happened. The problem was that the style of running big
companies changed for the worse. The belief that all problems could be solved by analysis
favored the rise of executives who were adept with numbers and making slick presentations.
Huge staffs of analysts served these executives, who created conglomerates on the theory that a
good manager could manage anything.
With bigger bureaucracies, companies couldn’t respond quickly to market changes—new
35
technologies, competitors, or customer needs. The more powerful top executives became, the less
they knew. Their information was filtered through staff reports and statistical tables. Some
executives developed what consultant Mel Stuckey calls a phobia of manufacturing—they didn’t
know what happened in factories and feared exposing their ignorance.
Roger Smith, GM’s chairman between 1981 and 1990, exemplified this sort of know-nothing
executive. When asked by Fortune to explain what went wrong, he answered, “I don’t know. It’s
a mysterious thing.” To fathom what went wrong, Smith truly had to understand how
automobiles are designed and made; he apparently never did, despite a career at GM. As a
society, we have spent the past decade paying for mistakes like Smith’s. Inept management,
though not the only cause of corporate, turmoil, has been a major contributor. “Downsizing” and
“restructuring” are but the catch phrases for the harsh process by which companies seek to regain
their edge.
Truly dead?
Consider General Electric. A decade ago, it was “choking on its nit-picking systems of formal
reviews...which delayed decisions...and often made GE a laggard at bringing new products to
market,” write Noel Tichy and Stratford Sherman in a new book. The “mastery of arduous
procedures had become an art form” necessary for executive advancement. GE chairman John
Welch Jr. fired thousands and sold 19 major businesses. Profits rose from $1.7 billion in 1981 to
$4.7 billion in 1992, but GE's payroll shrank from 404,000 to 268,000.
Such have been the ultimate social consequences of a bad idea. But is the muddled notion of
“management” truly dead? You can object on two grounds. First, some generalists still ascend to
the top of big companies, the naming of Louis Gerstner—who knows little of computers—to
head IBM is a case in point. Well, maybe. But these executives are often specialists of a different
sort; they specialize in dismantling conglomerates or top-heavy bureaucracies. Welch played
precisely this role at GE; and Christopher Steffen intended to do the same at Kodak.
The second objective is more serious—it is that business schools still aim to produce general
managers. The present notion of the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration) is foolish. It is
impossible to take people in their mid-20s—without much business experience—and educate
them as “managers.” Yet business schools cling to the notion, because to do otherwise would
jeopardize their tuition revenues. What’s lost is the opportunity for these bright young people to
learn something of value—a specific business, a foreign language, an engineering skill—instead
of the pseudo skills taught in business school.
Until this changes, we shall miseducate a large part of the talent pool for America’s business
36
leadership. The one hopeful sign is that the subject now seems open for discussion. Indeed, the
Harvard Business Review recently conducted a debate about the M.B.A. degree. Most
contributors agreed it is not very useful. M.B.A. graduates are “glib and quick-witted”, wrote
Henry Mintzberg of McGill University, but are not committed to “particular industries...but to
management as a means of personal advancement.”
A recent M.B.A. graduate said it better, “My main reason for obtaining an M.B.A.,” she
admitted, “was not necessarily to improve my business skills but because the degree is required
to ‘get in the door’.” When the Harvard Business School can acknowledge that—and act upon
it—American management will have taken a huge stride forward.
Mr. Samuelson has been asked to your campus to debate the Phi Beta Kappa honorary business
fraternity about the accusations presented in this editorial. Your responsibility as a member of the
business school is to practice the question and answer portion of the upcoming event with the
individuals selected to talk with him at the open forum. In order to assist your friends, you must:
• Decide who in your group will be the 5 students to debate this topic
• Decide which particular point you wish to refute
• Back up your argument with specific references to this chapter
• Prepare your group by defining what you believe he means by the following words:
o Pseudo skills
o All-purpose executives
o General managers
o Skills
37
Case Study
Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success
James Dyson, knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 2006, rose to success and fame via an
unusual and challenging path. Dyson’s life journey is one based on a desire to solve problems
and learn from mistakes, to persevere and excel.
His father’s death in 1956 when he was nine years old had a profound impact on Dyson’s future.
Dyson says, “[n]ot having a father, particularly at that time, was very unusual. I felt different. I
was on my own. I can’t quite explain it, but I think subconsciously I felt a need to prove myself.”i
When Dyson entered the work world, his first boss, Jeremy Fry, also had a profound influence on
his development. Dyson recalls, “[w]hen I went to work for him, I’d never designed a product.
I’d never sold anything. And he put me in charge of a company manufacturing a high-speed
landing craft. So he taught me that someone doesn’t have to grow into a job. If you allow them to
make mistakes, they’ll learn extremely quickly. He also taught me to mistrust experience. He was
far happier to have people working around him who had freshness and an unsullied approach.”ii
In the late 1970s, Dyson began developing a vacuum cleaner based on the belief that “people
actually wanted to see the dirt that they were collecting.”iii In recalling the beginning of this
venture, Dyson observes, “I started with an idea: a vacuum with no bag. The bag was a problem.
The bag clogs with dust, the machine wheezes, losing its puff. So, inspired by an industrial
cyclone at a timber mill, I created a vacuum that used centrifugal force to separate the dust and
dirt. No bag, no clogging, no loss of suction. It didn’t look great, but it worked. After five years
of testing, tweaking, fist banging, cursing, and more than 5,000 mistakesor prototypes, as
engineers call themit was there.”iv
Over the ensuing 15-year period, Dyson produced 5,127 prototypes of his Dual Cyclone bagless
vacuum cleaner before developing the model that would ultimately make him a billionaire.v
Dyson persevered in spite of the mistakes, disappointments, and frustrations, conditions that
might have caused many other people to give up.
Dyson attributes his perseverance against the odds to an important childhood realization. Quoted
on the company’s Web Site, Dyson recalls: “I wanted to give up almost every day. But one of the
things I did when I was young was long distance running, from a mile up to ten miles. They
wouldn’t let me run more than ten miles at schoolin those days they thought you’d drop down
dead or something. And I was quite good at it, not because I was physically good but because I
had more determination. I learned determination from it.” Dyson continues: “A lot of people give
up when the world seems to be against them, but that’s the point when you should push a little
38
harder. I use the analogy of running a race. It seems as though you can’t carry on, but if you just
get through the pain barrier, you’ll see the end and be okay. Often, just around the corner is
where the solution will happen.”vi
Regarding the Dyson vacuum’s dirt collection system, Dyson recalls, “[e]veryone said that the
clear bin would repulse people. By that point I’d stopped listening to everyone and went with my
instinct. I’m particularly adept at making mistakes: it’s a necessity as an engineer. Each iteration
of the vacuum came about because of a mistake I needed to fix. What’s important is that I didn’t
stop at the first failure, the 50th, or the 5,000th. I never will. Believing that big companies would
choose good technology, progress, over short-term profit was a big mistake. I love mistakes.”vii
Dyson tried to interest existing manufacturers of vacuum cleaners in his invention, but with no
success. So he pursued manufacturing the Dyson vacuum cleaner on his own. Although the
venture nearly bankrupted him,viii here too he persevered. Within 18 months, the Dual Cyclone
bagless model became the number one selling vacuum cleaner in the United Kingdom,ix and now
sells more than four times as many vacuums in the U.K. than does its closest competitor.x
Jennifer Harris, writing in Management Today, ponders why the so-called experts, like the
established vacuum cleaner manufacturers that refused to produce Dyson’s machine, are
sometimes loathe to innovation. Her answer is that these “experts” have become so successful
that “they start to see success as their right, rather than a privilege earned continuously through
hard work and fresh thinking.”xi Sir James Dyson, quite the contrarian, became an expert and
successful through hard work and fresh thinking.
Discussion Questions
1. Why is the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes crucial to learning?

2. How can the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes contribute to performance
improvement?
3. What advice do you think James Dyson would give to a recent college graduate who is just
starting his/her career?
4. What advice do you think James Dyson would give to someone who is in charge of training
people and evaluating their performance?
SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian
Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University.
i
A. Beard, “Life’s Work,” Harvard Business Review 88(7/8) (July/August 2010): 172.
ii
A. Beard, “Life’s Work,” Harvard Business Review 88(7/8) (July/August 2010): 172.
39
iii
M. Barrett and M Simmonds, “Dyson: Creativity on Tap,” Training Journal (January 2009): 34 (5 pages).
iv
Anonymous, “My Favorite Mistake: James Dyson; James Dyson on his 5,000 missteps while inventing his famous
vacuum cleaner,” Newsweek 157(23): 64.
v
A. Beard, “Life’s Work,” Harvard Business Review 88(7/8) (July/August 2010): 172. Anonymous, “Dyson,”
Marketing (April 13, 2011): 13.
vi
RealiseMyProduct.co.uk, “James Dyson: How to successfully develop and launch a new product invention,”
http://www.realisemyproduct.co.uk/james-dyson-successfully-develop-launch-new-product-invention/ accessed Feb
16, 2014).
vii
viii
Anonymous, “Britain’s Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2009,” Management Today (January 2009): 37 (8 pages).
ix
x
J. Harris, “Why Business is Like … Doubting Doctors,” Management Today (October 2009): 20 (2 pages).
xi
J. Harris, “Why Business is Like … Doubting Doctors,” Management Today (October 2009): 20 (2 pages). J.
Harris, “Why Business is Like … Doubting Doctors,” Management Today (October 2009): 20 (2 pages).

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In This Chapter, You’ll Find:

After reading this chapter, students should be able to do the following:

1 Describe behavioral theories of learning.

2 Describe social and cognitive theories of learning.

4 Define performance and identify the tools used to measure it.

6 Identify ways managers can reward performance.

7 List several strategies for correcting poor performance.

Learning (p. 85)

Consensus (p. 97)

LO1 Describe behavioral theories of learning.

LO2 Describe social and cognitive theories of learning.

LO6 Identify ways managers can reward performance.

Slide 20—Individual or Team Rewards

LO7 List several strategies for correcting poor performance.

Review Questions and Answers

1. Define the terms learning, reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.

Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience. Reinforcement is a strategy to

If the poor performance can’t be attributed to work design or organizational process

help address performance-based deficiencies or personal problems. Mentoring offers

Discussion and Communication Questions and Suggested Answers

1. Which learning approach—the behavioral approach or Bandura’s social learning

8. Interview a manager or supervisor who is responsible for completing performance

1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Margaret’s options.

Margaret’s obligation is to comply with the company’s desired method of completing

2. What should Margaret do? Why?

Self-Assessments—What about You?

6.1 Task Goal Attribute Questionnaire

6.2 Do You Learn From The Consequences Of Behavior?

6.3 How Do You Correct Poor Performance?

Race and Rewards at the Harlem Police Department

6.1 Positive and Negative Reinforcement

4. Which type of reinforcement—positive or negative—is most common in organizations?

6.2 Correcting Poor Performance

Assistant Director, Academic Computing Service Center

University Committee Members

6.3 The Death of Management

* SOURCE: Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek, May 10, 1993, 55.

Aggressive Goal Setting…And More

The Effects of Accuracy in Performance Evaluations

Tri-Mentoring: New Spin, Old Practice

Tri-mentoring is a formalized peer-mentoring system that recognizes implicit learning in

Case Study and Suggested Responses

Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success

Linkage of Case to Chapter Material

Suggested Answers for Discussion Questions

1. Why is the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes crucial to learning?

2. How can the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes contribute to performance

James Dyson probably would emphasize two things:

Profile on Barcelona Restaurant Group

Discussion Questions and Solutions

1. According to Barcelona owner Andy Pforzheimer, why do so many restaurants go out of

3. How does Barcelona reward managers and chefs?

1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Margaret’s options.

What about You?

Task Goal Attribute Questionnaire

_____ 1. I am allowed a high degree of influence in the determination of my work/school

Participation in Goal Setting:

Feedback on Goal Effort:

What about You?

How do you Correct Poor Performance?

Step 2. Analyze the poor performance.

b. Is there a primary cause for the poor performance? What is it?

Step 3. Plan to correct the poor performance.