5-1©2005 Prentice Hall Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior 4th Edition 5: Learning and Creativity Chapter 5: Learning and Creativity JENNIFER GEORGE & GARETH JONES

5-2 ©2005 Prentice Hall Chapter Objectives  Describe what learning is and why it is so important for all kinds of jobs and organizations  Understand how to effectively use reinforcement, extinction, and punishment to promote the learning of desired behaviors and curtail ineffective behaviors  Describe the conditions necessary to determine if vicarious learning has taken place

5-3 ©2005 Prentice Hall Chapter Objectives  Appreciate the importance of self control and self efficacy for learning on your own  Describe how learning takes place continuously through creativity, the nature of the creative process, and the determinants of creativity  Understand what it means to be a learning organization

5-4 ©2005 Prentice Hall Opening Case: Continuous Learning at Seagate Technologies  Why is continuous learning a necessity in today’s business environment?  Seagate Technologies has shown how continuous learning can put organizations and their members in charge of their own fate  Seagate decided to learn from multiple sources including its customers’ customers.

5-5 ©2005 Prentice Hall Learning in Organizations  A relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that results from practice or experience –With learning comes change –Change must be relatively permanent –Learning takes place as a result of practice or through experience

5-6 ©2005 Prentice Hall Operant Conditioning  Learning that takes place when the learner recognizes the connection between a behavior and its consequences –Individuals learn to operate on their environment, to behave in certain ways to achieve desirable consequences or avoid undesirable consequences

5-7 ©2005 Prentice Hall Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning  The process by which the probably that a desired behavior will occur is increased by applying consequences that depend on the behavior in question –Step 1: identify desired behaviors to be encouraged –Step 2: decide how to reinforce the behavior

5-8 ©2005 Prentice Hall Positive Reinforcement  Increases the probability that a behavior will occur by administering positive consequences to employees who perform the behavior  Potential positive reinforcers –Pay –Bonuses –Promotions –Job titles –Verbal praise –Awards

5-9 ©2005 Prentice Hall Negative Reinforcement  Increases the probability that a desired behavior will occur by removing a negative consequence when an employee performs the behavior  Subordinates experiencing negative reinforcement learn the connection between a desired organizational behavior and a consequence

5-10 ©2005 Prentice Hall Reinforcement Schedules  Continuous Reinforcement: Occurs after every occurrence of a behavior  Partial Reinforcement: Occurs only a portion of the time that behavior occurs  Differences: –Continuous reinforcement can result in faster learning of desired behaviors –Behaviors learned using partial reinforcement are likely to last longer

5-11 ©2005 Prentice Hall Reinforcement Schedules  Fixed-Interval Schedule  Variable-Interval Schedule  Fixed-Ratio Schedule  Variable-Ratio Schedule

5-12 ©2005 Prentice Hall Extinction and Punishment  Extinction  Extinction: Removing a consequence that is currently reinforcing an undesirable behavior in an effort to decrease the probability that the behavior will occur again in the future  Punishment  Punishment: Administering negative consequences to workers who perform undesirable behaviors in an effort to decrease the probability that the behavior will occur again in the future

5-13 ©2005 Prentice Hall Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment  Punishment reduces the probability of an undesired behavior  Negative reinforcement increases the probability of a desired behavior  Punishment involves administering a negative consequence when an undesired behavior occurs  Negative reinforcement entails removing a negative consequence when a desired behavior occurs

5-14 ©2005 Prentice Hall Organizational Behavior Modification  The systematic application of the principles of operant conditioning for teaching and managing organizational behaviors  OB Mod

5-15 ©2005 Prentice Hall The Basic Steps of OB Mod  Identify the behavior to be learned  Measure the frequency of the behavior  Perform a functional analysis  Develop and apply a strategy  Measure the frequency of the behavior

5-16 ©2005 Prentice Hall Social Cognitive Theory  A learning theory that takes into account the fact that thoughts and feelings influence learning.  Necessary components include –Vicarious learning –Self-control –Self-efficacy

5-17 ©2005 Prentice Hall Vicarious Learning  Learning that occurs when one person (the learner) learns a behavior by watching another person (the model) perform the behavior  Learners can also learn from situations in which models get punished  Role models can be positive or negative

5-18 ©2005 Prentice Hall Conditions Required for Vicarious Learning  Learner observes the model when the model is performing the behavior  Learner accurately perceives model’s behavior  Learner must remember the behavior  Learner must have the skills and abilities to perform the behavior  Learner must see that the model receives reinforcement for the behavior in question

5-19 ©2005 Prentice Hall Conditions Indicating Use of Self-Control  Individual must engage in a low-probability behavior  Self-reinforcers must be available  Learner must set goals that determine when self-reinforcement takes place  Learner must administer the reinforcer when the goal is achieved

5-20 ©2005 Prentice Hall Self-Efficacy  A person’s belief about his or her ability to perform a particular behavior successfully –Not the same as self-esteem  Self-efficacy affects learning via –Activities –Effort –Persistence

5-21 ©2005 Prentice Hall Sources of Self-Efficacy  Past performance  Vicarious experience or observation of others  Verbal persuasion  Individuals’ readings of their internal physiological states

5-22 ©2005 Prentice Hall The Learning Organization  Organizational learning: the process through which managers instill a desire to find new ways to improve organizational effectiveness  Knowledge management: the ability to capitalize on the knowledge possessed by organizational members which is not necessarily written down anywhere or codified in formal documents

5-23 ©2005 Prentice Hall Central Activities in a Learning Organization  Encouragement of personal mastery or high self-efficacy  Development of complex schemas to understand work activities  Encouragement of learning in groups and teams  Communicating a shared vision for the organization as a whole  Encouraging systematic thinking