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6 LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER SCAN
This chapter is the second chapter on motivation and behavior, and examines external influences
on behavior and their relationship to performance. 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. Later sections in
the chapter deal with goal setting, the definition and measurement of performance, rewarding
performance, and correcting poor performance.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES PPT Slides 2, 3
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
1. Define learning.
2. Distinguish between classical and operant conditioning.
3. Explain the use of positive and negative consequences of behavior in strategies of
reinforcement and punishment.
4. Define reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.
5. Define goal setting and identify the purposes of goal setting and five characteristics of
effective goals.
6. Describe 360-degree feedback.
7. Compare individual and team-oriented reward systems.
8. Describe strategies for correcting poor performance.
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123
124 Chapter 6: Learning and Performance Management
KEY TERMS
Chapter 6 introduces the following key terms:
classical conditioning negative consequences

consensus operant conditioning
consistency performance appraisal
distinctiveness performance management
extinction positive consequences
goal setting punishment
learning reinforcement
management by objectives (MBO) task-specific self-efficacy
mentoring 360-degree feedback
THE CHAPTER SUMMARIZED
I. THINKING AHEAD: QuikTrip – Learning the Business
II. LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS PPT Slide 4
Learning and motivation are related because learning changes behavior as it is acquired through
experience. Learning helps guide and direct motivated behavior. Henry Ford once said,
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning
stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
A. Classical Conditioning PPT Slide 5
The first theory of learning developed in the early 1900s. Classical conditioning is
modifying behavior so that a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus
and elicits an unconditioned response. Over time, the conditioned stimulus results in a
conditioned response (e.g., salivation in response to a bell). Most students have heard of
Pavlov's research with dogs. They may not be aware that the collaborative efforts between
the Pavlov and Walter Cannon led to the application of the ideas in the United States.
B. Operant Conditioning PPT Slide 5
Operant conditioning is the process of modifying behavior through the use of positive or
negative consequences following specific behaviors. In other words, it is based on the
notion that behavior is a function of its consequences.
C. The Strategies of Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction

Figure 6.1; PPT Slides 6
Chapter 6: Learning and Performance Management 125
Positive consequences are results that individuals find attractive or pleasurable. In

contrast, negative consequences are results that individuals find unattractive or
aversive.
1. Reinforcement Table 6.1; PPT Slides 7
Reinforcement is the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behavior by either

bestowing positive consequences or withholding negative consequences. Positive
reinforcement results from applying positive consequences when desired behavior
occurs. Negative reinforcement results from withholding negative consequences
when desired behavior occurs. Schedules for reinforcement are either continuous or
intermittent. Intermittent schedules can be fixed or variable ratio, or fixed or variable
interval.
2. Punishment PPT Slide 7
Punishment is the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior. There are

two approaches to punishment: applying negative consequences or withholding
positive consequences both motivate individuals to discontinue undesirable behavior.
Punishment can sometimes have unintended outcomes such as negative
psychological, emotional, performance, or behavioral consequences.
3. Extinction PPT Slide 7
Extinction is the attempt to weaken an undesirable behavior by attaching no

consequences to it. It is equivalent to ignoring the behavior. Extinction is most
successful when combined with positive reinforcement of desired behavior.
PPT Slides 8, 9
D. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory PPT Slides 10, 11
Bandura’s social learning theory adds a component of interaction as a learning approach.

This theory states that people learn by modeling their behavior through the observation of
others. Bandura’s theory also emphasizes the importance of task-specific self-efficacy, or
the belief in one’s ability to satisfactorily perform a particular task, as a positive force for
learning.
E. Learning and Personality Differences Table 6.2; PPT Slides 12, 13
According to Jung’s theory of personality differences, not all approaches are appropriate
for all personalities. For example, introverts learn better with quiet, concentrated periods
of time for reflection, while extraverted individuals learn through expressing themselves
and exchanging ideas with others. Preferences for information gathering and decision
making differ with personality as well.
III. GOAL SETTING AT WORK PPT Slide 14
The process of establishing desired results that guide and direct behavior is goal setting.
A. Characteristics of Effective Goals PPT Slides 15, 16
To be effective, goals should be specific, challenging, measurable, time-bound, and

prioritized. Specific and challenging goals focus a person’s attention on exactly what is to
be accomplished and arouse the person to peak performance. Measurable goals are useful
as a basis for feedback about goal progress. Time-bound goals enhance measurability.
Prioritizing goals allows for effective decision making about resource allocation.
The Real World 6.1: The Goal is 100 Percent Recyclable
Starbucks held its 2008 annual meeting in New Orleans where the company could contribute to
the city’s continuing clean up, too. At the meeting, Howard Schultz set the goal for 100 percent
of Starbucks’ cups being recyclable by 2012. Starbucks introduced paper cups in 1984 and has a
history of positive environmental contributions and responsible initiatives. In 2008, Starbucks
switched its plastic cups from polyethylene to polypropylene because the polypropylene cups
required 45 percent less greenhouse gases to produce. Unfortunately, not every cup that is
biodegradable or compostable ends up in a place where it can break down and become a reused
element in the environment. Nevertheless, this environmentally friendly goal keeps positively
shaping the company’s environmental impact behaviors.
B. Increasing Work Motivation and Task Performance Figure 6.2; PPT Slide 17
Goals can be used to increase employee effort and motivation, which in turn improve task
performance. Three important behavioral aspects of enhancing performance motivation
through goal setting are employee participation, supervisory commitment, and useful
performance feedback.
C. Reducing Role Stress, Conflict, and Ambiguity PPT Slide 18
A second function of goal setting is to reduce the role stress associated with conflicting and
confusing expectations. This is done by clarifying the task−role expectations
communicated to employees. The resulting improved role clarity may be attributable to
improved communication between supervisors and employees.
D. Improving Performance Evaluation PPT Slide 19
The third major function of goal setting is to improve the accuracy and validity of
performance evaluation. One of the best-known methods is management by objectives,
(MBO), which is a goal-setting program based on interaction and negotiation between
employees and managers.
IV. PERFORMANCE: A KEY CONSTRUCT PPT Slide 20
Performance is closely associated with the concept of task accomplishment. Good

performance depends on both effort and outcomes.
A. Performance management PPT Slide 21
Performance management is a process of defining, measuring, appraising, providing

feedback on, and improving performance.
B. Defining Performance PPT Slide 22
Employees must understand exactly what is expected of them if they are to perform well.
Consequently, organizations must first accurately define what they mean by excellent
performance, set standards for that performance, and then communicate that information
clearly to employees. Organizational citizenship behavior is a dimension of individual
performance that spans many jobs. Performance appraisal is the evaluation of a person's
performance.
C. Measuring Performance Figure 6.3; Table 6.3; PPT Slide 23
Ideally, actual performance and measured performance are the same. In practice, this is
seldom the case. Measuring operational performance is easier than measuring managerial
performance because of the availability of quantifiable data. Performance appraisal
systems should include analyses of the reliability and validity of the instrument chosen for
measurement.
Science: The Effects of Positive and Negative Performance Feedback
Positive performance feedback is not always good, and negative performance feedback is not
always bad. A recent study found that students with performance goals performed better
following positive performance feedback, and students who were assigned learning goals
improved their performance more than those who were assigned performance goals after
receiving negative feedback. Those assigned performance goals performed even worse after
negative feedback than did students assigned no goals. Researchers concluded that the type of
goals interacts with the valence (positive or negative direction) of the feedback in influencing
task performance. Negative feedback can lead to improved performance, and positive feedback
can lead to worse performance, depending on the goal and the individual.
D. Performance Feedback: A Communication Challenge PPT Slide 24
Communicating useful performance feedback that employees will accept and learn from
poses a difficult challenge for nearly all managers. Focusing on specific statements and
changeable behaviors enhances the likelihood of constructive feedback experiences for
both supervisor and employees.
E. 360-Degree Feedback PPT Slide 25
360-degree feedback is a process of self-evaluation and evaluations by a manager, peers,

direct reports, and possibly customers. This practice has received some criticism for the
lack of agreement among perspectives, but the lack of agreement also adds strength to the
process by providing a more well-rounded picture of the employee.
F. Developing People and Enhancing Careers PPT Slide 26
A key function of a good performance appraisal system is to develop people and enhance
careers. Performance appraisals should emphasize individual growth needs and future
performance. Mutual trust is essential. The supervisor must be a skilled, empathetic
listener who encourages the employee to talk about hopes and aspirations. The employee
must be able to take active responsibility for future development and growth.
G. Key Characteristics of an Effective Appraisal System PPT Slide 27
There are five characteristics related to effectiveness of performance appraisal – validity,

reliability, responsiveness, flexibility, and equitability.
V. REWARDING PERFORMANCE
A. A Key Organizational Decision Process PPT Slide 28
Individuals pay close attention to how others are treated in reward and punishment
decisions. These decisions affect the organizational culture, as well as the motivation and
performance of people throughout the organization.
B. Individual versus Team Reward Systems PPT Slide 29
Many organizations are conscious of the competition between individual rewards and
group efforts. Individual incentives can improve motivation and performance, but may
generate excessive or unwanted internal competition. Team reward systems solve
problems caused by individual competitive behavior, but often do not account for
individual contributions.
C. The Power of Earning PPT Slide 30
The purpose behind both individual and team reward systems is to shape productive
behavior. Performance management and reward systems assume a demonstrable
connection between performance and rewards. Organizations get the performance they
reward, which may differ from the performance they say they want. The concept of
earning assumes a performance-reward link.
The Real World 6.2: Google’s Pay for Performance
Newly returned Google CEO Larry Page is making changes in the company he ran as chief
executive over a decade ago. Page wants people engaged during meetings, senior leaders to
be available for questioning, and data to be the ultimate decision maker within Google. Page
is connecting bonus pay to performance in the realm of social media. He understands
everyone in the company has a stake in the success of Google’s social media success and he
believes that the bonus multiplier is the best way to reflect that. Depending on Google’s
performance in the social media arena, employee bonuses could increase, or decrease, as
much as 25 percent.
VI. CORRECTING POOR PERFORMANCE PPT Slides 31, 32
If poor performance is not attributable to work design or organizational process problems, then
attention should be focused on 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.
A. Performance and Kelley’s Attribution Theory Figure 6.4; Figure 6.5

PPT Slides 33-35
Attribution is related to performance measurement because supervisors attribute behavior
and performance to either internal or external causes. Kelley proposed that individuals
make attributions based on information gathered in the form of three informational cues:
consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Consensus is the extent to which peers in the
same situation behave the same way. Distinctiveness is the degree to which the person
behaves the same way in other situations. Consistency refers to the frequency of a
particular behavior over time.
B. Coaching, Counseling, and Mentoring PPT Slide 36
Important supervisory responsibilities include mentoring, coaching and counseling.

Mentoring is a work relationship that encourages development and career enhancement for
people moving through the career cycle. Executive coaching is increasingly being used as
a way of outsourcing the business mentoring functions.
VII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Performance Management is a Key Task
VIII. LOOKING BACK: QuikTrip – Bonds, Brand, and Performance
YOU
6.1 Task−Goal Attribute Questionnaire
This exercise is designed to give students insight into their goals for 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 with goal setting with the class as part of a discussion centered
on the exercise.
6.2 Correcting 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 similarly 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.
DIVERSITY DIALOGUE
Race and Rewards at the Harlem Patrol Borough
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 promoting 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 at the same time easing tensions
among the local populace.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
• Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience.

• The operant conditioning approach to learning states that behavior is a function of positive
and negative consequences.
• Reinforcement is used to develop desirable behavior; punishment and extinction are used to
decrease undesirable behavior.
• Bandura's social learning theory suggests that task-specific self-efficacy is important to
effective learning.
• Goal setting improves work motivation and task performance, reduces role stress, and
improves the accuracy and validity of performance appraisal.
• Performance management and 360-degree feedback can lead to improved performance.
• Making accurate attributions about the behavior of others is an essential prerequisite to
correcting poor performance.
• High-quality performance should be rewarded, and poor performance should be corrected.
• Mentoring is a relationship for encouraging development and career enhancement for
people moving through the career cycle.
REVIEW QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. Define the terms learning, reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.
Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience. Reinforcement is the bestowing

of positive consequences or withholding of negative consequences to develop desired behavior.
Punishment, in contrast, bestows negative consequences or withholds positive consequences to
eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior. Extinction is the attempt to weaken a behavior by
attaching no consequences 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 useful positive and negative reinforcement strategies to assist
employees in their pursuit of goals in the workplace. Consequence-related strategies should be
matched to the specific personalities and situations involved. Extinction is a low intrusion
approach to behavior modification, and an appropriate strategy for situations that allow for
patience and time.
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?
Task-specific self-efficacy can be enhanced through (1) performance accomplishments, (2)

vicarious experiences, (3) verbal persuasion, or (4) emotional arousal. Introverts need quiet time
to study, concentrate, and reflect on what they are learning. They think best when they are alone.
Extraverts need to interact with other people, learning through the process of expressing
themselves and 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, challenging, measurable, time-bound, and prioritized.

Goal acceptance is thought to lead to goal commitment and then to goal accomplishment.
Feedback helps employees assess how well their efforts are leading to goal accomplishment.
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. The major
functions of performance appraisals are to give employees feedback on performance, to identify
the employees' developmental needs, to make promotion and reward decisions, to make
demotion and termination decisions, and to develop information relevant to the organization's
selection and placement decisions. 360-degree feedback provides performance appraisal
information from multiple sources including supervisor, self, peers, and subordinates, resulting
in a more well-rounded view of the person being evaluated.
6. What are the two possible attributions of poor performance? What are the implications
of each?
Poor performance may be attributed to the person or the situation. If poor performance is
attributed to the person, interventions such as training, counseling, or disciplinary action may be
appropriate. If poor performance is attributed to the situation, an intervention designed to
remove situational constraints on performance may be appropriate.
7. How can managers and supervisors best provide useful performance feedback?
Feedback should be specific and based on observed behavior. The behavior in question should
be controllable by the individual, and both leader and follower should have ample time to
prepare for the feedback session.
8. How do mentors and peers help people develop and enhance their careers?
Both provide information sharing, career strategizing, job-related feedback, emotional

support, and friendship. The key in both mentor and peer relationships is mutual trust.
DISCUSSION AND COMMUNICATION QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. Which learning approach, the behavioral approach or Bandura's social learning theory,
do you find more appropriate for people?
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.
Students can be encouraged 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 will often be able to determine what they don't 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 NTs, who use a particular
style. 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?
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
period?
The key is to gather as much information as possible about the other's position. A key in
approaching differing views is preparation. It might be useful to suggest that students 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?
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. The
alternative experiential exercise at the end of Chapter 10, Who Works Saturday Night, compares
rewards and how badly individuals want rewards versus balance in their lives.
6. Prepare a memo detailing the consequences of behavior in your work or university

environment, e.g., grades, awards, suspensions, and scholarships. In your memo, include
your classification of these consequences as positive or negative. Should your
organization or university change the way it applies these consequences?
In response to the final question (Should your organization or university change how it applies
these consequences?) students should provide support, based on material from the chapter, for
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.
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.
This is also a good opportunity for students to share experiences (both positive and negative)
that they have had as employees being appraised. The contrasting perspectives of the
managers/supervisors and the students (as employees) should provide for some interesting
discussion.
ETHICAL DILEMMA
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 they are currently using.
The choice is to implement a new, more time consuming process that is more accurate but
eliminates the “extra money” they are accustomed to getting or to leave the current process in
place even though it is less accurate and not the process the company wants them to use.
Consequential – Using the new process will likely be unpopular with the sales team because it is
more time consuming and eliminates the extra money they have been getting by using the old
process. However, it will bring Margaret and her sales team into compliance with the company’s
desired process for expense reports, thus saving the company money. Continuing with the old
process will be popular with the sales team and will enable them to keep getting extra money, but
will keep Margaret and the sales team from complying with management’s wishes.
Rule-based – Margaret’s obligation is to comply with the company’s desired method for
completing expense reports. She has no obligation to appease her sales team by continuing to
use the old method.
Character – According to the scenario, the only reason Margaret has been using the current
method for completing expense reports is that it is the method she learned when she was new to
the company. In other words, she does not seem to be keeping the old system out of any
particular loyalty to her sales team. She does seem to care about pleasing her supervisors, as
evidenced by her insistence that the sales team complete expense reports on time and her
gratification that they do so. Using the new method would also please her boss, whereas not
doing so 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 and it would clearly 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.
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. You may want to take care in selecting the volunteers.
Discussion Questions:
• 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.
• What were the emotional reactions of the volunteers to the different kinds of
reinforcement?
One of the ways to give the 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.
• 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
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, though you have heard rumors there is some discontent among the center's
customers.
Role Descriptions
University Committee Members
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 a M.S. degree in information
systems and some prior computing and information systems experience prior to going back to
graduate school. She has been the director for about seven months, and 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 who 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.
ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
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.
In class, divide into five groups that will discuss this topic with the speaker when he visits
campus. Each group will submit, within 20 minutes, what their issue and discussion question
will be, and who is their designated debater. 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
reference the book for their support.
(1) decide who in your group will be the five students to debate this topic
(2) decide which particular point you wish to refute
(3) back up you argument with specific references to this chapter
(4) prepare your group by defining what you believe Samuelson means by the following words:
pseudo skills
all-purpose executives
general managers
skills
(5) What would Mr. Samuelson say about the concepts in this chapter?
* SOURCE: Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek, May 10, 1993, 55.
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
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 MBA (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 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 MBA degree. Most
contributors agreed it is not very useful. MBA 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 MBA graduate said it better, "My main reason for obtaining an MBA, "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:
(1) decide who in your group will be the five students to debate this topic
(2) decide which particular point you wish to refute
(3) back up your argument with specific references to this chapter
(4) prepare your group by defining what you believe he means by the following words:
pseudo skills
all-purpose executives
general managers
skills
EXTRA EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
The following alternative exercise to supplement the material in the textbook can be obtained
from:
Marcic, Dorothy, Seltzer, Joseph, & Vaill, Peter. Organizational Behavior: Experiences and
Cases, 6th Ed. South-Western College Publishing Company, 2001.
The Learning Model Instrument. p. 35-41. Time: 30 minutes.

Purpose: To help students understand learning style preferences and to determine their
own learning style preference.
TAKE 2
BIZ FLIX: Take the Lead PPT Slide 37

Organizations Discussed: A South Bronx High School
Dance academy owner and instructor Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) offers to help troubled
detention students in a South Bronx high school. His formal ballroom style sharply differs from
their hip-hop moves. After watching a hot tango sequence between Pierre and instructor Morgan
(Katya Virshilas), the students begin to warm up to Pierre’s approach. His work with the students
proves successful and they compete in the 25th Annual Grand Ballroom Competition.
Behavior Modification: Learning Ballroom Dancing
This film sequence has two parts with a title screen between them. The first part starts with
Pierre saying, “So, as your principal has made me your executioner, you will report to me every
morning here at 7:30 A.M.” This part ends after Pierre sings, “You’re dancing, you’re
dancing...”
The second part begins with Pierre saying “The waltz. It cannot be done without trust between
partners.” This sequence ends with Rock (Rob Brown) and LaRhette (Yaya DaCosta) continuing
with their practice.
What to Watch for and Ask Yourself PPT Slide 35
1. Rock and LaRhette are trying to learn the waltz. Which of the two approaches to learning
described earlier in this chapter best apply to this film sequence? Do you see examples of
classical conditioning or operant conditioning? Why?
Dulaine’s opening statement is an antecedent to behavior—he sets a clear start time for each day.
He also states an antecedent about working out their interpersonal problems. LaRhette and Rock
quickly resist (behavior), but Dulaine does not let them persist (consequence). Dulaine continues
with his instructions (antecedent) to LaRhette about the man leading the dance. Other
antecedents appear in the dance position instructions and walking forward and backward.
2. This chapter discussed strategies of reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. Which of

those strategies appear in the film sequence? Give examples from the film sequence to
support your answer.
Dulaine uses repeated positive reinforcement (“Here you go.”) as Rock and LaRhette simply
learn to walk. Students might think it is extremely mild positive reinforcement and does not have
a strong effect. You can note to students that the entire film sequence shows the effects of such
mild but repeated positive reinforcement. They waltz and Dulaine closes by saying, “You’re
dancing, you’re dancing...,” as a final positive reinforcement.
3. Apply the concepts described in the earlier section of this chapter, “Performance: A Key
Construct,” to the film sequence. Which performance concepts do you see? Give specific
examples of the concepts from the film sequences.
Dulaine clearly states a goal of developing trust between partners. Rock is to take LaRhette on a
journey. LaRhette gives a correction (negative reinforcement) and leads to Rock’s improved
behavior (desired behavior). They each guide the other to a successful, slow waltz.
WORKPLACE VIDEO: Barcelona Restaurant Group
Video Case Synopsis

“We're a chain that's not a chain,” Andy Pforzheimer says of Barcelona Restaurant Group, a
collection of seven wine and tapas bars located throughout Connecticut and Georgia. Launched
in 1995 by Pforzheimer and business partner Sasa Mahr-Batuz, Barcelona is the restaurant of
choice for diners who crave flavorful European tapas, sophisticated modern ambience, and the
largest collection of Spanish wines of any restaurant group in the country.
Barcelona is about more than food: it’s about an experience. According to Pforzheimer, 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. “Quality in a restaurant is about lots of tiny details,” Pforzheimer says. The Barcelona
owner explains that managing restaurant performance means managing food quality, wait times,
hospitality, bussing, restrooms, prices, and more. 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. In this
program, undercover restaurant reviewers make unannounced visits each month to dine in and
rate Barcelona on 120 points of service. Next, the restaurant solicits comments from regular
patrons, and every comment card and email goes straight to Pforzheimer. Finally, managers
monitor activities through restaurant surveillance cameras and by walking the floors to interact
with customers. According to Pforzheimer, the tactic of “management by walking around” has
led to improvements in menu choices, recipes, background music, décor, and more. Although
Barcelona’s various feedback loops provide useful data, the owners and managers are the eyes
and ears of the company—and nothing escapes Pforzheimer’s watchful eye.
In an industry littered with mediocrity, Barcelona stands out for aesthetic and culinary
excellence. As Pforzheimer sees it, there’s a lot at stake if Barcelona fails to control its
performance; failure involves losing money and losing face. “What’s at stake is my business and
my self-respect,” the restaurateur explains. “Making people happy is what motivates chefs.”
Discussion Questions and Solutions
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.
CASE SOLUTION: 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, 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 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 therefor needs to learn. Failure helps to define one’s current
limits and identify 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.
2. How can the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes contribute to performance

improvement?
As indicated in the suggested response to discussion Question 1, making mistakes enables a

person to discover first-hand what works and what does not work. Direct experience with
making mistakes is a more powerful learning force than is observing others making 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.
Avoiding risk-taking, innovation and experimentation may make a person feel safer, but are
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 stress two things: (a) be willing to make mistakes and learn from
them, and (b) 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 for 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 also can draw on his experience with making mistakes.
Clearly, persisting despite making over 5,000 mistakes is a powerful lesson in perseverance. So
is the insight that Dyson shares regarding his childhood passion for running. 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 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 would 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. Secondly, he would 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.
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—Oui, monsieur le marquis, dit le vieux valet en essuyant les
gouttes de sueur qui chargeaient son front ridé. Mais, si vous ne
voulez pas voir de belles femmes, comment ferez-vous ce soir aux
Italiens? Une famille anglaise qui repart pour Londres m’a cédé le
reste de son abonnement, et vous avez une belle loge. Oh! une loge
superbe, aux premières.
Tombé dans une profonde rêverie, Raphaël n’écoutait plus.
Voyez-vous cette fastueuse voiture, ce coupé simple en dehors,
de couleur brune, mais sur les panneaux duquel brille l’écusson
d’une antique et noble famille? Quand ce coupé passe rapidement,
les grisettes l’admirent, en convoitent le satin jaune, le tapis de la
Savonnerie, la passementerie fraîche comme une paille de riz, les
moelleux coussins, et les glaces muettes. Deux laquais en livrée se
tiennent derrière cette voiture aristocratique; mais au fond, sur la
soie, gît une tête brûlante aux yeux cernés, la tête de Raphaël, triste
et pensif. Fatale image de la richesse! Il court à travers Paris comme
une fusée, arrive au péristyle du théâtre Favart, le marchepied se
déploie, ses deux valets le soutiennent, une foule envieuse le
regarde.
—Qu’a-t-il fait celui-là pour être si riche? dit un pauvre étudiant
en droit, qui, faute d’un écu, ne pouvait entendre les magiques
accords de Rossini.
Raphaël marchait lentement dans les corridors de la salle; il ne
se promettait aucune jouissance de ces plaisirs si fort enviés jadis.
En attendant le second acte de la Semiramide, il se promenait au
foyer, errait à travers les galeries, insouciant de sa loge dans
laquelle il n’était pas encore entré. Le sentiment de la propriété
n’existait déjà plus au fond de son cœur. Semblable à tous les
malades, il ne songeait qu’à son mal. Appuyé sur le manteau de la
cheminée, autour de laquelle abondaient, au milieu du foyer, les
jeunes et vieux élégants, d’anciens et de nouveaux ministres, des
pairs sans pairie, et des pairies sans pair, telles que les a faites la
révolution de juillet, enfin tout un monde de spéculateurs et de
journalistes, Raphaël vit à quelques pas de lui, parmi toutes les
têtes, une figure étrange et surnaturelle. Il s’avança en clignant les
yeux fort insolemment vers cet être bizarre, afin de le contempler de
plus près. Quelle admirable peinture! se dit-il. Les sourcils, les
cheveux, la virgule à la Mazarin que montrait vaniteusement
l’inconnu, étaient teints en noir; mais, appliqué sur une chevelure
sans doute trop blanche, le cosmétique avait produit une couleur
violâtre et fausse dont les teintes changeaient suivant les reflets plus
ou moins vifs des lumières. Son visage étroit et plat, dont les rides
étaient comblées par d’épaisses couches de rouge et de blanc,
exprimait à la fois la ruse et l’inquiétude. Cette enluminure manquait
à quelques endroits de la face et faisait singulièrement ressortir sa
décrépitude et son teint plombé; aussi était-il impossible de ne pas
rire en voyant cette tête au menton pointu, au front proéminent,
assez semblable à ces grotesques figures de bois sculptées en
Allemagne par les bergers, pendant leurs loisirs. En examinant tour
à tour ce vieil Adonis et Raphaël, un observateur aurait cru
reconnaître dans le marquis les yeux d’un jeune homme sous le
masque d’un vieillard, et dans l’inconnu les yeux ternes d’un vieillard
sous le masque d’un jeune homme. Valentin cherchait à se rappeler
en quelle circonstance il avait vu ce petit vieux sec, bien cravaté,
botté en adulte, qui faisait sonner ses éperons et se croisait les bras
comme s’il avait toutes les forces d’une pétulante jeunesse à
dépenser. Sa démarche n’accusait rien de gêné, ni d’artificiel. Son
élégant habit, soigneusement boutonné, déguisait une antique et
forte charpente, en lui donnant la tournure d’un vieux fat qui suit
encore les modes. Cette espèce de poupée pleine de vie avait pour
Raphaël tous les charmes d’une apparition, et il le contemplait
comme un vieux Rembrandt enfumé, récemment restauré, verni, mis
dans un cadre neuf. Cette comparaison lui fit retrouver la trace de la
vérité dans ses confus souvenirs: il reconnut le marchand de
curiosités, l’homme auquel il devait son malheur. En ce moment, un
rire muet échappait à ce fantastique personnage, et se dessinait sur
ses lèvres froides, tendues par un faux râtelier. A ce rire, la vive
imagination de Raphaël lui montra dans cet homme de frappantes
ressemblances avec la tête idéale que les peintres ont donnée au
Méphistophélès de Goëthe. Mille superstitions s’emparèrent de
l’âme forte de Raphaël, il crut alors à la puissance du démon, à tous
les sortiléges rapportés dans les légendes du moyen âge et mises
en œuvre par les poètes. Se refusant avec horreur au sort de Faust,
il invoqua soudain le ciel, ayant, comme les mourants, une foi
fervente en Dieu, en la vierge Marie. Une radieuse et fraîche lumière
lui permit d’apercevoir le ciel de Michel-Ange et de Sanzio d’Urbin:
des nuages, un vieillard à barbe blanche, des têtes ailées, une belle
femme assise dans une auréole. Maintenant il comprenait, il adoptait
ces admirables créations dont les fantaisies presque humaines lui
expliquaient son aventure et lui permettaient encore un espoir. Mais
quand ses yeux retombèrent sur le foyer des Italiens, au lieu de la
Vierge, il vit une ravissante fille, la détestable Euphrasie, cette
danseuse au corps souple et léger, qui, vêtue d’une robe éclatante,
couverte de perles orientales, arrivait impatiente de son vieillard
impatient, et venait se montrer, insolente, le front hardi, les yeux
pétillants, à ce monde envieux et spéculateur pour témoigner de la
richesse sans bornes d’un marchand dont elle dissipait les trésors.
Raphaël se souvint du souhait goguenard par lequel il avait accueilli
le fatal présent du vieux homme, et savoura tous les plaisirs de la
vengeance en contemplant l’humiliation profonde de cette sagesse
sublime, dont naguère la chute semblait impossible. Le funèbre
sourire du centenaire s’adressait à Euphrasie qui répondit par un
mot d’amour; il lui offrit son bras desséché, fit deux ou trois fois le
tour du foyer, recueillit avec délices les regards de passion et les
compliments jetés par la foule à sa maîtresse, sans voir les rires
dédaigneux, sans entendre les railleries mordantes dont il était
l’objet.
—Dans quel cimetière cette jeune goule a-t-elle déterré ce
cadavre? s’écria le plus élégant de tous les romantiques.
Euphrasie se prit à sourire. Le railleur était un jeune homme aux
cheveux blonds, aux yeux bleus et brillants, svelte, portant
moustache, ayant un frac écourté, le chapeau sur l’oreille, la repartie
vive, tout le langage du genre.
—Combien de vieillards, se dit Raphaël en lui-même, couronnent
une vie de probité, de travail, de vertu, par une folie. Celui-ci a les
pieds froids et fait l’amour.
—Hé bien! monsieur, s’écria Valentin en arrêtant le marchand et
lançant une œillade à Euphrasie, ne vous souvenez-vous plus des
sévères maximes de votre philosophie?
—Ah! répondit le marchand d’une voix déjà cassée, je suis
maintenant heureux comme un jeune homme. J’avais pris
l’existence au rebours. Il y a toute une vie dans une heure d’amour.
En ce moment, les spectateurs entendirent la sonnette de rappel
et quittèrent le foyer pour se rendre à leurs places. Le vieillard et
Raphaël se séparèrent. En entrant dans sa loge, le marquis aperçut
Fœdora, placée à l’autre côté de la salle précisément en face de lui.
Sans doute arrivée depuis peu, la comtesse rejetait son écharpe en
arrière, se découvrait le cou, faisait les petits mouvements
indescriptibles d’une coquette occupée à se poser: tous les regards
étaient concentrés sur elle. Un jeune pair de France l’accompagnait,
elle lui demanda la lorgnette qu’elle lui avait donnée à porter. A son
geste, à la manière dont elle regarda ce nouveau partenaire,
Raphaël devina la tyrannie à laquelle son successeur était soumis.
Fasciné sans doute comme il l’avait été jadis, dupé comme lui,
comme lui luttant avec toute la puissance d’un amour vrai contre les
froids calculs de cette femme, ce jeune homme devait souffrir les
tourments auxquels Valentin avait heureusement renoncé. Une joie
inexprimable anima la figure de Fœdora, quand, après avoir braqué
sa lorgnette sur toutes les loges, et rapidement examiné les toilettes,
elle eut la conscience d’écraser par sa parure et par sa beauté les
plus jolies, les plus élégantes femmes de Paris; elle se mit à rire
pour montrer ses dents blanches, agita sa tête ornée de fleurs pour
se faire admirer, son regard alla de loge en loge, se moquant d’un
béret gauchement posé sur le front d’une princesse russe, ou d’un
chapeau manqué qui coiffait horriblement mal la fille d’un banquier.
Tout à coup elle pâlit en rencontrant les yeux fixes de Raphaël; son
amant dédaigné la foudroya par un intolérable coup d’œil de mépris.
Quand aucun de ses amants bannit ne méconnaissait sa puissance,
Valentin, seul dans le monde, était à l’abri de ses séductions. Un
pouvoir impunément bravé touche à sa ruine. Cette maxime est
gravée plus profondément au cœur d’une femme qu’à la tête des
rois. Aussi, Fœdora voyait-elle en Raphaël la mort de ses prestiges
et de sa coquetterie. Un mot, dit par lui la veille à l’Opéra, était déjà
devenu célèbre dans les salons de Paris. Le tranchant de cette
terrible épigramme avait fait à la comtesse une blessure incurable.
En France, nous savons cautériser une plaie, mais nous n’y
connaissons pas encore de remède au mal que produit une phrase.
Au moment où toutes les femmes regardèrent alternativement le
marquis et la comtesse, Fœdora aurait voulu l’abîmer dans les
oubliettes de quelque Bastille, car malgré son talent pour la
dissimulation, ses rivales devinèrent sa souffrance. Enfin sa dernière
consolation lui échappa. Ces mots délicieux: je suis la plus belle!
cette phrase éternelle qui calmait tous les chagrins de sa vanité,
devint un mensonge. A l’ouverture du second acte, une femme vint
se placer près de Raphaël, dans une loge qui jusqu’alors était restée
vide. Le parterre entier laissa échapper un murmure d’admiration.
Cette mer de faces humaines agita ses lames intelligentes et tous
les yeux regardèrent l’inconnue. Jeunes et vieux firent un tumulte si
prolongé que, pendant le lever du rideau, les musiciens de
l’orchestre se tournèrent d’abord pour réclamer le silence; mais ils
s’unirent aux applaudissements et en accrurent les confuses
rumeurs. Des conversations animées s’établirent dans chaque loge.
Les femmes s’étaient toutes armées de leurs jumelles, les vieillards
rajeunis nettoyaient avec la peau de leurs gants le verre de leurs
lorgnettes. L’enthousiasme se calma par degrés, les chants
retentirent sur la scène, tout rentra dans l’ordre. La bonne
compagnie, honteuse d’avoir cédé à un mouvement naturel, reprit la
froideur aristocratique de ses manières polies. Les riches veulent ne
s’étonner de rien, ils doivent reconnaître au premier aspect d’une
belle œuvre le défaut qui les dispensera de l’admiration, sentiment
vulgaire. Cependant quelques hommes restèrent immobiles sans
écouter la musique, perdus dans un ravissement naïf, occupés à
contempler la voisine de Raphaël. Valentin aperçut dans une
baignoire, et près d’Aquilina, l’ignoble et sanglante figure de Taillefer,
qui lui adressait une grimace approbative. Puis il vit Émile, qui,
debout à l’orchestre, semblait lui dire:—Mais regarde donc la belle
créature qui est près de toi! Enfin Rastignac assis près d’une jeune
femme, une veuve sans doute, tortillait ses gants comme un homme
au désespoir d’être enchaîné là, sans pouvoir aller près de la divine
inconnue. La vie de Raphaël dépendait d’un pacte encore inviolé
qu’il avait fait avec lui-même, il s’était promis de ne jamais regarder
attentivement aucune femme, et pour se mettre à l’abri d’une
tentation, il portait un lorgnon dont le verre microscopique
artistement disposé, détruisait l’harmonie des plus beaux traits, en
leur donnant un hideux aspect. Encore en proie à la terreur qui
l’avait saisi le matin, quand, pour un simple vœu de politesse, le
talisman s’était si promptement resserré, Raphaël résolut fermement
de ne pas se retourner vers sa voisine. Assis comme une duchesse,
il présentait le dos au coin de sa loge, et dérobait avec impertinence
la moitié de la scène à l’inconnue, ayant l’air de la mépriser,
d’ignorer même qu’une jolie femme se trouvât derrière lui. La voisine
copiait avec exactitude la posture de Valentin. Elle avait appuyé son
coude sur le bord de la loge, et se mettait la tête de trois quarts, en
regardant les chanteurs, comme si elle se fût posée devant un
peintre. Ces deux personnes ressemblaient à deux amants brouillés
qui se boudent, se tournent le dos et vont s’embrasser au premier
mot d’amour. Par moments, les légers marabouts ou les cheveux de
l’inconnue effleuraient la tête de Raphaël et lui causaient une
sensation voluptueuse contre laquelle il luttait courageusement;
bientôt il sentit le doux contact des ruches de blonde qui garnissaient
le tour de la robe, la robe elle-même fit entendre le murmure
efféminé de ses plis, frissonnement plein de molles sorcelleries;
enfin le mouvement imperceptible imprimé par la respiration à la
poitrine, au dos, aux vêtements de cette jolie femme, toute sa vie
suave se communiqua soudain à Raphaël comme une étincelle
électrique; le tulle et la dentelle transmirent fidèlement à son épaule
chatouillée la délicieuse chaleur de ce dos blanc et nu. Par un
caprice de la nature, ces deux êtres désunis par le bon ton, séparés
par les abîmes de la mort, respirèrent ensemble et pensèrent peut-
être l’un à l’autre. Les pénétrants parfums de l’aloës achevèrent
d’enivrer Raphaël. Son imagination irritée par un obstacle, et que les
entraves rendaient encore plus fantasque, lui dessina rapidement
une femme en traits de feu. Il se retourna brusquement. Choquée
sans doute de se trouver en contact avec un étranger, l’inconnue fit
un mouvement semblable; leurs visages, animés par la même
pensée, restèrent en présence.
—Pauline!
—Monsieur Raphaël!
Pétrifiés l’un et l’autre, ils se regardèrent un instant en silence.
Raphaël voyait Pauline dans une toilette simple et de bon goût. A
travers la gaze qui couvrait chastement son corsage, des yeux
habiles pouvaient apercevoir une blancheur de lis et deviner des
formes qu’une femme eût admirées. Puis c’était toujours sa
modestie virginale, sa céleste candeur, sa gracieuse attitude. L’étoffe
de sa manche accusait le tremblement qui faisait palpiter le corps
comme palpitait le cœur.
—Oh! venez demain, dit-elle, venez à l’hôtel Saint-Quentin, y
reprendre vos papiers. J’y serai à midi. Soyez exact.
Elle se leva précipitamment et disparut. Raphaël voulut suivre
Pauline, il craignit de la compromettre, resta, regarda Fœdora, la
trouva laide; mais ne pouvant comprendre une seule phrase de
musique, étouffant dans cette salle, le cœur plein, il sortit et revint
chez lui.
—Jonathas, dit-il à son vieux domestique au moment où il fut
dans son lit, donne-moi une demi-goutte de laudanum sur un
morceau de sucre, et demain ne me réveille qu’à midi moins vingt
minutes.
—Je veux être aimé de Pauline, s’écria-t-il le lendemain en
regardant le talisman avec une indéfinissable angoisse. La peau ne
fit aucun mouvement, elle semblait avoir perdu sa force contractile,
elle ne pouvait sans doute pas réaliser un désir accompli déjà.
—Ah! s’écria Raphaël en se sentant délivré comme d’un
manteau de plomb qu’il aurait porté depuis le jour où le talisman lui
avait été donné, tu mens, tu ne m’obéis pas, le pacte est rompu! Je
suis libre, je vivrai. C’était donc une mauvaise plaisanterie. En disant
ces paroles, il n’osait pas croire à sa propre pensée. Il se mit aussi
simplement qu’il l’était jadis, et voulut aller à pied à son ancienne
demeure, en essayant de se reporter en idée à ces jours heureux où
il se livrait sans danger à la furie de ses désirs, où il n’avait point
encore jugé toutes les jouissances humaines. Il marchait, voyant,
non plus la Pauline de l’hôtel Saint-Quentin, mais la Pauline de la
veille, cette maîtresse accomplie, si souvent rêvée, jeune fille
spirituelle, aimante, artiste, comprenant les poètes, comprenant la
poésie et vivant au sein du luxe; en un mot Fœdora douée d’une
belle âme, ou Pauline comtesse et deux fois millionnaire comme
l’était Fœdora. Quand il se trouva sur le seuil usé, sur la dalle
cassée de cette porte où, tant de fois, il avait eu des pensées de
désespoir, une vieille femme sortit de la salle et lui dit:—N’êtes-vous
pas monsieur Raphaël de Valentin?
—Oui, ma bonne mère, répondit-il.
—Vous connaissez votre ancien logement, reprit-elle, vous y êtes
attendu.
—Cet hôtel est-il toujours tenu par madame Gaudin? demanda-t-
il.
—Oh! non, monsieur. Maintenant madame Gaudin est baronne.
Elle est dans une belle maison à elle, de l’autre côté de l’eau. Son
mari est revenu. Dame! il a rapporté des mille et des cents. L’on dit
qu’elle pourrait acheter tout le quartier Saint-Jacques, si elle le
voulait. Elle m’a donné gratis son fonds et son restant de bail. Ah!
c’est une bonne femme tout de même! Elle n’est pas plus fière
aujourd’hui qu’elle ne l’était hier.
Raphaël monta lestement à sa mansarde, et quand il atteignit les
dernières marches de l’escalier, il entendit les sons du piano.
Pauline était là modestement vêtue d’une robe de percaline; mais la
façon de la robe, les gants, le chapeau, le châle, négligemment jetés
sur le lit, révélaient toute une fortune.
—Ah! vous voilà donc! s’écria Pauline en tournant la tête et se
levant par un naïf mouvement de joie.
Raphaël vint s’asseoir près d’elle, rougissant, honteux, heureux;
il la regarda sans rien dire.
—Pourquoi nous avez-vous donc quittées? reprit-elle en baissant
les yeux au moment où son visage s’empourpra. Qu’êtes-vous
devenu?
—Ah! Pauline, j’ai été, je suis bien malheureux encore!
—Là! s’écria-t-elle tout attendrie. J’ai deviné votre sort hier en
vous voyant bien mis, riche en apparence, mais en réalité, hein!
monsieur Raphaël, est-ce toujours comme autrefois?
Valentin ne put retenir quelques larmes, elles roulèrent dans ses
yeux, il s’écria:—Pauline!... je... Il n’acheva pas, ses yeux
étincelèrent d’amour, et son cœur déborda dans son regard.
—Oh! il m’aime, il m’aime, s’écria Pauline.
Raphaël fit un signe de tête, car il se sentit hors d’état de
prononcer une seule parole. A ce geste, la jeune fille lui prit la main,
la serra, et lui dit tantôt riant, tantôt sanglotant:—Riches, riches,
heureux, riches, ta Pauline est riche. Mais moi, je devrais être bien
pauvre aujourd’hui. J’ai mille fois dit que je paierais ce mot: il
m’aime, de tous les trésors de la terre. O mon Raphaël! j’ai des
millions. Tu aimes le luxe, tu seras content; mais tu dois aimer mon
cœur aussi, il y a tant d’amour pour toi dans ce cœur! Tu ne sais
pas? mon père est revenu. Je suis une riche héritière. Ma mère et lui
me laissent entièrement maîtresse de mon sort; je suis libre,
comprends-tu?
En proie à une sorte de délire, Raphaël tenait les mains de
Pauline, et les baisait si ardemment, si avidement, que son baiser
semblait être une sorte de convulsion. Pauline se dégagea les
mains, les jeta sur les épaules de Raphaël et le saisit; ils se
comprirent, se serrèrent et s’embrassèrent avec cette sainte et
délicieuse ferveur, dégagée de toute arrière-pensée, dont se trouve
empreint un seul baiser, le premier baiser par lequel deux âmes
prennent possession d’elles-mêmes.
—Ah! s’écria Pauline en retombant sur la chaise, je ne veux plus
te quitter. Je ne sais d’où me vient tant de hardiesse! reprit-elle en
rougissant.
—De la hardiesse, ma Pauline? Oh! ne crains rien, c’est de
l’amour, de l’amour vrai, profond, éternel comme le mien, n’est-ce
pas?
—Oh! parle, parle, parle, dit-elle. Ta bouche a été si longtemps
muette pour moi!
—Tu m’aimais donc?
—Oh! Dieu, si je t’aimais! combien de fois j’ai pleuré, là, tiens, en
faisant ta chambre, déplorant ta misère et la mienne. Je me serais
vendue au démon pour t’éviter un chagrin! Aujourd’hui, mon
Raphaël, car tu es bien à moi: à moi cette belle tête, à moi ton cœur!
Oh! oui, ton cœur, surtout, éternelle richesse! Eh! bien, où en suis-
je? reprit-elle après une pause. Ah! m’y voici: nous avons trois,
quatre, cinq millions, je crois. Si j’étais pauvre je tiendrais peut-être à
porter ton nom, à être nommée ta femme mais, en ce moment, je
voudrais te sacrifier le monde entier, je voudrais être encore et
toujours ta servante. Va, Raphaël, en t’offrant mon cœur, ma
personne, ma fortune, je ne te donnerai rien de plus aujourd’hui que
le jour où j’ai mis là, dit-elle en montrant le tiroir de la table, certaine
pièce de cent sous. Oh! comme alors ta joie m’a fait mal.
—Pourquoi es-tu riche, s’écria Raphaël, pourquoi n’as-tu pas de
vanité? je ne puis rien pour toi. Il se tordit les mains de bonheur, de
désespoir, d’amour. Quand tu seras madame la marquise de
Valentin, je te connais, âme céleste, ce titre et ma fortune ne
vaudront pas...
—Un seul de tes cheveux, s’écria-t-elle.
—Moi aussi, j’ai des millions; mais que sont maintenant les
richesses pour nous? Ah! j’ai ma vie, je puis te l’offrir, prends-la.
—Oh! ton amour, Raphaël, ton amour vaut le monde. Comment,
ta pensée est à moi? mais je suis la plus heureuse des heureuses.
—L’on va nous entendre, dit Raphaël.
—Hé! il n’y a personne, répondit-elle en laissant échapper un
geste mutin.
—Hé! bien, viens, s’écria Valentin en lui tendant les bras.
Elle sauta sur ses genoux et joignit ses mains autour du cou de
Raphaël:—Embrassez-moi, dit-elle, pour tous les chagrins que vous
m’avez donnés, pour effacer la peine que vos joies m’ont faite, pour
toutes les nuits que j’ai passées à peindre mes écrans.
—Tes écrans!
—Puisque nous sommes riches, mon trésor, je puis te dire tout.
Pauvre enfant! combien il est facile de tromper les hommes d’esprit!
Est-ce que tu pouvais avoir des gilets blancs et des chemises
propres deux fois par semaine, pour trois francs de blanchissage par
mois? Mais tu buvais deux fois plus de lait qu’il ne t’en revenait pour
ton argent. Je t’attrapais sur tout: le feu, l’huile, et l’argent donc? Oh!
mon Raphaël, ne me prends pas pour femme, dit-elle en riant, je
suis une personne trop astucieuse.
—Mais comment faisais-tu donc?
—Je travaillais jusqu’à deux heures du matin, répondit-elle, et je
donnais à ma mère une moitié du prix de mes écrans, à toi l’autre.
Ils se regardèrent pendant un moment, tous deux hébétés de joie
et d’amour.
—Oh! s’écria Raphaël, nous paierons sans doute, un jour, ce
bonheur par quelque effroyable chagrin.
—Serais-tu marié? cria Pauline. Ah! je ne veux te céder à aucune
femme.
—Je suis libre, ma chérie.
—Libre, répéta-t-elle. Libre, et à moi!
Elle se laissa glisser sur ses genoux, joignit les mains, et regarda
Raphaël avec une dévotieuse ardeur.
—J’ai peur de devenir folle. Combien tu es gentil! reprit-elle en
passant une main dans la blonde chevelure de son amant. Est-elle
bête, ta comtesse Fœdora! Quel plaisir j’ai ressenti hier en me
voyant saluée par tous ces hommes. Elle n’a jamais été applaudie,
elle! Dis, cher, quand mon dos a touché ton bras, j’ai entendu en moi
je ne sais quelle voix qui m’a crié: Il est là. Je me suis retournée, et
je t’ai vu. Oh! je me suis sauvée, je me sentais l’envie de te sauter
au cou devant tout le monde.
—Tu es bien heureuse de pouvoir parler, s’écria Raphaël. Moi,
j’ai le cœur serré. Je voudrais pleurer, je ne puis. Ne me retire pas ta
main. Il me semble que je resterais, pendant toute ma vie, à te
regarder ainsi, heureux, content.
—Oh! répète-moi cela, mon amour!
—Et que sont les paroles, reprit Valentin en laissant tomber une
larme chaude sur les mains de Pauline. Plus tard, j’essaierai de te
dire mon amour, en ce moment je ne puis que le sentir...
—Oh! s’écria-t-elle, cette belle âme, ce beau génie, ce cœur que
je connais si bien, tout est à moi, comme je suis à toi.
—Pour toujours, ma douce créature, dit Raphaël d’une voix
émue. Tu seras ma femme, mon bon génie. Ta présence a toujours
dissipé mes chagrins et rafraîchi mon âme; en ce moment, ton
sourire angélique m’a pour ainsi dire purifié. Je crois commencer
une nouvelle vie. Le passé cruel et mes tristes folies me semblent
n’être plus que de mauvais songes. Je suis pur, près de toi. Je sens
l’air du bonheur. Oh! sois là toujours, ajouta-t-il en la pressant
saintement sur son cœur palpitant.
—Vienne la mort quand elle voudra, s’écria Pauline en extase,
j’ai vécu.
Heureux qui devinera leurs joies, il les aura connues!
—Oh! mon Raphaël, dit Pauline après quelques heures de
silence, je voudrais qu’à l’avenir personne n’entrât dans cette chère
mansarde.
—Il faut murer la porte, mettre une grille à la lucarne et acheter la
maison, répondit le marquis.
—C’est cela, dit-elle. Puis, après un moment de silence:—Nous
avons un peu oublié de chercher les manuscrits?
Ils se prirent à rire avec une douce innocence.
—Bah! je me moque de toutes les sciences, s’écria Raphaël.
—Ah! monsieur, et la gloire!
—Tu es ma seule gloire.
—Tu étais bien malheureux en faisant ces petits pieds de
mouche, dit-elle en feuilletant les papiers.
—Ma Pauline...
—Oh! oui, je suis ta Pauline. Eh bien?
—Où demeures-tu donc?
—Rue Saint-Lazare. Et toi?
—Rue de Varennes.
—Comme nous serons loin l’un de l’autre, jusqu’à ce que... Elle
s’arrêta en regardant son ami d’un air coquet et malicieux.
—Mais, répondit Raphaël, nous avons tout au plus une quinzaine
de jours à rester séparés.
—Vrai! dans quinze jours nous serons mariés! Elle sauta comme
un enfant. Oh! je suis une fille dénaturée, reprit-elle, je ne pense plus
ni à père, ni à mère, ni à rien dans le monde! Tu ne sais pas, pauvre
chéri? mon père est bien malade. Il est revenu des Indes, bien
souffrant. Il a manqué mourir au Havre, où nous l’avons été
chercher. Ah! Dieu, s’écria-t-elle en regardant l’heure à sa montre,
déjà trois heures. Je dois me trouver à son réveil, à quatre heures.
Je suis la maîtresse au logis: ma mère fait toutes mes volontés, mon
père m’adore, mais je ne veux pas abuser de leur bonté, ce serait
mal! Le pauvre père, c’est lui qui m’a envoyée aux Italiens hier. Tu
viendras le voir demain, n’est-ce pas?
—Madame la marquise de Valentin veut-elle me faire l’honneur
d’accepter mon bras?
—Ah! je vais emporter la clef de cette chambre, reprit-elle. N’est-
ce pas un palais, notre trésor?
—Pauline, encore un baiser?
—Mille! Mon Dieu, dit-elle en regardant Raphaël, ce sera toujours
ainsi, je crois rêver.
Ils descendirent lentement l’escalier; puis, bien unis, marchant du
même pas, tressaillant ensemble sous le poids du même bonheur,
se serrant comme deux colombes, ils arrivèrent sur la place de la
Sorbonne, où la voiture de Pauline attendait.
—Je veux aller chez toi, s’écria-t-elle. Je veux voir ta chambre,
ton cabinet, et m’asseoir à la table sur laquelle tu travailles. Ce sera
comme autrefois, ajouta-t-elle en rougissant.—Joseph, dit-elle à un
valet, je vais rue de Varennes avant de retourner à la maison. Il est
trois heures un quart, et je dois être revenue à quatre. Georges
pressera les chevaux.
Et les deux amants furent en peu d’instants menés à l’hôtel de
Valentin.
—Oh! que je suis contente d’avoir examiné tout cela, s’écria
Pauline en chiffonnant la soie des rideaux qui drapaient le lit de
Raphaël. Quand je m’endormirai, je serai là, en pensée. Je me
figurerai ta chère tête sur cet oreiller. Dis-moi, Raphaël, tu n’as pris
conseil de personne pour meubler ton hôtel?
—De personne.
—Bien vrai? Ce n’est pas une femme qui...
—Pauline!
—Oh! je me sens une affreuse jalousie. Tu as bon goût. Je veux
avoir demain un lit pareil au tien.
Raphaël, ivre de bonheur, saisit Pauline.
—Oh! mon père, mon père! dit-elle.
—Je vais donc te reconduire, car je veux te quitter le moins
possible, s’écria Valentin.
—Combien tu es aimant! je n’osais pas te le proposer...
—N’es-tu donc pas ma vie?
Il serait fastidieux de consigner fidèlement ces adorables
bavardages de l’amour auxquels l’accent, le regard, un geste
intraduisible donnent seuls du prix. Valentin reconduisit Pauline
jusque chez elle, et revint ayant au cœur autant de plaisir que
l’homme peut en ressentir et en porter ici-bas. Quand il fut assis
dans son fauteuil, près de son feu, pensant à la soudaine et
complète réalisation de toutes ses espérances, une idée froide lui
traversa l’âme comme l’acier d’un poignard perce une poitrine, il
regarda la Peau de chagrin, elle s’était légèrement rétrécie. Il
prononça le grand juron français, sans y mettre les jésuitiques
réticences de l’abbesse des Andouillettes, pencha la tête sur son
fauteuil et resta sans mouvement les yeux arrêtés sur une patère,
sans la voir. Grand Dieu! s’écria-t-il. Quoi! tous mes désirs, tous!
Pauvre Pauline! Il prit un compas, mesura ce que la matinée lui avait
coûté d’existence. Je n’en ai pas pour deux mois, dit-il. Une sueur
glacée sortit de ses pores, tout à coup il obéit à un inexprimable
mouvement de rage, et saisit la Peau de chagrin en s’écriant: Je suis
bien bête! il sortit, courut, traversa les jardins, et jeta le talisman au
fond d’un puits: Vogue la galère, dit-il. Au diable toutes ces sottises!
Raphaël se laissa donc aller au bonheur d’aimer, et vécut cœur à
cœur avec Pauline, qui ne conçut pas le refus en amour. Leur
mariage, retardé par des difficultés peu intéressantes à raconter,
devait se célébrer dans les premiers jours de mars. Ils s’étaient
éprouvés, ne doutaient point d’eux-mêmes, et le bonheur leur ayant
révélé toute la puissance de leur affection, jamais deux âmes, deux
caractères ne s’étaient aussi parfaitement unis qu’ils le furent par la
passion; en s’étudiant ils s’aimèrent davantage: de part et d’autre
même délicatesse, même pudeur, même volupté, la plus douce de
toutes les voluptés, celle des anges; point de nuages dans leur ciel;
tour à tour les désirs de l’un faisaient la loi de l’autre. Riches tous
deux, ils ne connaissaient point de caprices qu’ils ne pussent
satisfaire, et partant n’avaient point de caprices. Un goût exquis, le
sentiment du beau, une vraie poésie animait l’âme de l’épouse;
dédaignant les colifichets de la finance, un sourire de son ami lui
semblait plus beau que toutes les perles d’Ormus, la mousseline ou
les fleurs formaient ses plus riches parures. Pauline et Raphaël
fuyaient d’ailleurs le monde, la solitude leur était si belle, si féconde!
Les oisifs voyaient exactement tous les soirs ce joli ménage de
contrebande aux Italiens ou à l’Opéra. Si d’abord quelques
médisances égayèrent les salons, bientôt le torrent d’événements
qui passa sur Paris fit oublier deux amants inoffensifs; enfin, espèce
d’excuse auprès des prudes, leur mariage était annoncé, et par
hasard leurs gens se trouvaient discrets; donc, aucune méchanceté
trop vive ne les punit de leur bonheur.
Vers la fin du mois de février, époque à laquelle d’assez beaux
jours firent croire aux joies du printemps, un matin, Pauline et
Raphaël déjeunaient ensemble dans une petite serre, espèce de
salon rempli de fleurs, et de plain-pied avec le jardin. Le doux et pâle
soleil de l’hiver, dont les rayons se brisaient à travers des arbustes
rares, tiédissait alors la température. Les yeux étaient égayés par les
vigoureux contrastes des divers feuillages, par les couleurs des
touffes fleuries et par toutes les fantaisies de la lumière et de
l’ombre. Quand tout Paris se chauffait encore devant les tristes
foyers, les deux jeunes époux riaient sous un berceau de camélias,
de lilas, de bruyères. Leurs têtes joyeuses s’élevaient au-dessus des
narcisses, des muguets et des roses du Bengale. Dans cette serre
voluptueuse et riche, les pieds foulaient une natte africaine colorée
comme un tapis. Les parois tendues en coutil vert n’offraient pas la
moindre trace d’humidité. L’ameublement était de bois en apparence
grossier, mais dont l’écorce polie brillait de propreté. Un jeune chat
accroupi sur la table où l’avait attiré l’odeur du lait se laissait
barbouiller de café par Pauline; elle folâtrait avec lui, défendait la
crème qu’elle lui permettait à peine de flairer afin d’exercer sa
patience et d’entretenir le combat; elle éclatait de rire à chacune de
ses grimaces, et débitait mille plaisanteries pour empêcher Raphaël
de lire le journal, qui, dix fois déjà, lui était tombé des mains. Il
abondait dans cette scène matinale un bonheur inexprimable
comme tout ce qui est naturel et vrai. Raphaël feignait toujours de
lire sa feuille, et contemplait à la dérobée Pauline aux prises avec le
chat, sa Pauline enveloppée d’un long peignoir qui la lui voilait
imparfaitement, sa Pauline les cheveux en désordre et montrant un
petit pied blanc veiné de bleu dans une pantoufle de velours noir.
Charmante à voir en déshabillé, délicieuse comme les fantastiques
figures de Westhall, elle semblait être tout à la fois jeune fille et
femme; peut-être plus jeune fille que femme, elle jouissait d’une
félicité sans mélange, et ne connaissait de l’amour que ses
premières joies. Au moment où, tout à fait absorbé par sa douce
rêverie, Raphaël avait oublié son journal, Pauline le saisit, le
chiffonna, en fit une boule, le lança dans le jardin, et le chat courut
après la politique qui tournait comme toujours sur elle-même. Quand
Raphaël, distrait par cette scène enfantine, voulut continuer à lire et
fit le geste de lever la feuille qu’il n’avait plus, éclatèrent des rires
francs, joyeux, renaissant d’eux-mêmes comme les chants d’un
oiseau.
IMP. S RAÇON
PAULINE.
Un jeune chat accroupi sur la table
se laissait barbouiller de café
par Pauline; elle folâtrait avec lui,
défendait la crème qu’elle lui permettait
à peine de flairer...
(LA PEAU DE CHAGRIN.)
—Je suis jalouse du journal, dit-elle en essuyant les larmes que

son rire d’enfant avait fait couler. N’est-ce pas une félonie, reprit-elle
redevenant femme tout à coup, que de lire des proclamations russes
en ma présence, et de préférer la prose de l’empereur Nicolas à des
paroles, à des regards d’amour?
—Je ne lisais pas, mon ange aimé, je te regardais.
En ce moment le pas lourd du jardinier dont les souliers ferrés
faisaient crier le sable des allées retentit près de la serre.
—Excusez, monsieur le marquis, si je vous interromps ainsi que
madame, mais je vous apporte une curiosité comme je n’en ai
jamais vu. En tirant tout à l’heure, sous votre respect, un seau d’eau,
j’ai amené cette singulière plante marine! La voilà! Faut, tout de
même, que ce soit bien accoutumé à l’eau, car ce n’était point
mouillé, ni humide. C’était sec comme du bois, et point gras du tout.
Comme monsieur le marquis est plus savant que moi certainement,
j’ai pensé qu’il fallait la lui apporter, et que ça l’intéresserait.
Et le jardinier montrait à Raphaël l’inexorable Peau de chagrin
qui n’avait pas six pouces carrés de superficie.
—Merci, Vanière, dit Raphaël. Cette chose est très-curieuse.
—Qu’as-tu, mon ange? tu pâlis! s’écria Pauline.
—Laissez-nous, Vanière.
—Ta voix m’effraie, reprit la jeune fille, elle est singulièrement
altérée. Qu’as-tu? Que te sens-tu? Où as-tu mal? Tu as mal! Un
médecin! cria-t-elle. Jonathas, au secours!
—Ma Pauline, tais-toi, répondit Raphaël qui recouvra son sang-
froid. Sortons. Il y a près de moi une fleur dont le parfum
m’incommode. Peut-être est-ce cette verveine?
Pauline s’élança sur l’innocent arbuste, le saisit par la tige et le
jeta dans le jardin.
—Oh! ange, s’écria-t-elle en serrant Raphaël par une étreinte
aussi forte que leur amour et en lui apportant avec une langoureuse
coquetterie ses lèvres vermeilles à baiser, en te voyant pâlir, j’ai
compris que je ne te survivrais pas: ta vie est ma vie. Mon Raphaël,
passe-moi ta main sur le dos? J’y sens encore la petite mort, j’y ai
froid. Tes lèvres sont brûlantes. Et ta main?... elle est glacée, ajouta-
t-elle.
—Folle! s’écria Raphaël.
—Pourquoi cette larme? dit-elle. Laisse-la-moi boire.
—Oh! Pauline, Pauline, tu m’aimes trop.
—Il se passe en toi quelque chose d’extraordinaire, Raphaël?
Sois vrai, je saurai bientôt ton secret. Donne-moi cela, dit-elle en
prenant la Peau de chagrin.
—Tu es mon bourreau, cria le jeune homme en jetant un regard
d’horreur sur le talisman.
—Quel changement de voix! répondit Pauline qui laissa tomber le
fatal symbole du destin.
—M’aimes-tu? reprit-il.
—Si je t’aime, est-ce une question?
—Eh bien, laisse-moi, va-t’en!
La pauvre petite sortit.
—Quoi! s’écria Raphaël quand il fut seul, dans un siècle de
lumières où nous avons appris que les diamants sont les cristaux du
carbone, à une époque où tout s’explique, où la police traduirait un
nouveau Messie devant les tribunaux et soumettrait ses miracles à
l’Académie des Sciences, dans un temps où nous ne croyons plus
qu’aux paraphes des notaires, je croirais, moi! à une espèce de
Mané, Thekel, Pharès? Non, de par Dieu! je ne penserai pas que
l’Être-Suprême puisse trouver du plaisir à tourmenter une honnête
créature. Allons voir les savants.
Il arriva bientôt, entre la Halle aux vins, immense recueil de
tonneaux, et la Salpétrière, immense séminaire d’ivrognerie, devant
une petite mare où s’ébaudissaient des canards remarquables par la
rareté des espèces et dont les ondoyantes couleurs, semblables aux
vitraux d’une cathédrale, pétillaient sous les rayons du soleil. Tous
les canards du monde étaient là, criant, barbotant, grouillant, et
formant une espèce de chambre canarde rassemblée contre son

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Organizational Behavior Science The

Real World and You 8th Edition Nelson

LEARNING OBJECTIVES PPT Slides 2, 3

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

Chapter 6 introduces the following key terms:

classical conditioning negative consequences

THE CHAPTER SUMMARIZED

I. THINKING AHEAD: QuikTrip – Learning the Business

II. LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS PPT Slide 4

A. Classical Conditioning PPT Slide 5

B. Operant Conditioning PPT Slide 5

C. The Strategies of Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction

Positive consequences are results that individuals find attractive or pleasurable. In

1. Reinforcement Table 6.1; PPT Slides 7

Reinforcement is the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behavior by either

2. Punishment PPT Slide 7

Punishment is the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior. There are

3. Extinction PPT Slide 7

Extinction is the attempt to weaken an undesirable behavior by attaching no

Bandura’s social learning theory adds a component of interaction as a learning approach.

E. Learning and Personality Differences Table 6.2; PPT Slides 12, 13

III. GOAL SETTING AT WORK PPT Slide 14

A. Characteristics of Effective Goals PPT Slides 15, 16

To be effective, goals should be specific, challenging, measurable, time-bound, and

The Real World 6.1: The Goal is 100 Percent Recyclable

C. Reducing Role Stress, Conflict, and Ambiguity PPT Slide 18

D. Improving Performance Evaluation PPT Slide 19

IV. PERFORMANCE: A KEY CONSTRUCT PPT Slide 20

Performance is closely associated with the concept of task accomplishment. Good

A. Performance management PPT Slide 21

Performance management is a process of defining, measuring, appraising, providing

B. Defining Performance PPT Slide 22

C. Measuring Performance Figure 6.3; Table 6.3; PPT Slide 23

Science: The Effects of Positive and Negative Performance Feedback

D. Performance Feedback: A Communication Challenge PPT Slide 24

E. 360-Degree Feedback PPT Slide 25

360-degree feedback is a process of self-evaluation and evaluations by a manager, peers,

F. Developing People and Enhancing Careers PPT Slide 26

G. Key Characteristics of an Effective Appraisal System PPT Slide 27

There are five characteristics related to effectiveness of performance appraisal – validity,

A. A Key Organizational Decision Process PPT Slide 28

B. Individual versus Team Reward Systems PPT Slide 29

C. The Power of Earning PPT Slide 30

The Real World 6.2: Google’s Pay for Performance

VI. CORRECTING POOR PERFORMANCE PPT Slides 31, 32

A. Performance and Kelley’s Attribution Theory Figure 6.4; Figure 6.5

B. Coaching, Counseling, and Mentoring PPT Slide 36

Important supervisory responsibilities include mentoring, coaching and counseling.

VII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Performance Management is a Key Task

VIII. LOOKING BACK: QuikTrip – Bonds, Brand, and Performance

6.1 Task−Goal Attribute Questionnaire

6.2 Correcting Poor Performance

Race and Rewards at the Harlem Patrol Borough

• Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience.

REVIEW QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS

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

Learning is a change in behavior acquired through experience. Reinforcement is the bestowing

Task-specific self-efficacy can be enhanced through (1) performance accomplishments, (2)

Well-developed goals are specific, challenging, measurable, time-bound, and prioritized.

Both provide information sharing, career strategizing, job-related feedback, emotional

DISCUSSION AND COMMUNICATION QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS

6. Prepare a memo detailing the consequences of behavior in your work or university

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