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Positive Reinforcement in Business

Enlightened corporate America is shedding its once dictatorial image for one that is less autocratic and hierarchical: as a result, negative reinforcement, or "punishment," is being used less frequently as a tool for modifying employee performance. Instead, positive reinforcement has shown to be far more effective in increasing worker satisfaction and, thus, productivity.

A checklist of rewards and punishments of potential use in a job setting includes the following as rewards: praise and encouragement, approval, recognition, and comradeship. A list of negative reinforcers, or "punishments," includes criticism, withdrawal of privileges, undesirable assignment, probation, suspension, firing, and, naturally, withholding any of the rewards already listed.

Assessing this system of rewards and punishments, Andrew J. DuBrin gives a critic's description of reinforcement theory: "a system of manipulating defenseless people by dangling carrots in front of them (or sticks in back of them)" (DuBrin, 1980, pp. 185-186). The author indicates that when reinforcement theory is truly effective, good work itself becomes rewarding. If this assessment appears too unrealistic, a look at some examples of this principle in action will prove otherwise. Traditional organizational theory, relying more on the stick than the carrot, encouraged countermeasures, minimal performance, and open rebellion (202); even so, the old method still persists to some extent, and its history and rationale will be examined later.

Sydney Pollack, director of such popular films as Tootsie and Out of Africa, describes the leader's need to have people on his side. Conversely, he creates an analogy to describe the result of using power as a manipulative or punitive tool:

Up to a point I think you can lead out of fear or intimidation, as awful as that sounds. But the problem is that you're creating obedience with a residue of resentment. If you want to make ...

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Positive Reinforcement in Business. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 17:17, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682852.html