Organizational
  Behavior
    Management

What is Organizational Behavior Management?

OBM

is a science-based approach to improving human performance systems in organizations.

OBM

modifies and adapts organizational systems, structures and processes to enable high levels of human performance and competitive business performance.

OBM

practitioners:

  • Identify process and system changes necessary for improved performance
  • Determine the causes of productive and non-productive employee work behavior
  • Redesign systems and processes so they elicit high levels of discretionary effort

OBM

has developed a research base of methods and applications with proven effectiveness in the areas of:

  • Employee job performance
  • Supervisory effectiveness
  • Leadership and executive coaching
  • Injury reduction
  • Quality improvement
  • Change Management
  • Incentive and reward systems
  • Many others!

OBM

has demonstrated human performance improvements in safety, quality, cycle times, customer service and profitability in many industries, including:

  • Chemical and petro-chemical
  • Financial
  • Human services
  • Manufacturing
  • Paper
  • Transportation
  • Utilities
  • Many others!
Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) began as the application of behavior analysis to organizational settings and retains the philosophical and methodological principles of behavior analysis (Bucklin, Alvero, Dickinson, Austin, & Jackson, 2000). This discipline’s main focus is on the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations. Organizational behavior follows the same principles as individual behavior in other settings.

In other words, practitioners should view behavior as naturally–occurring, scientific subject matter, and understand that orderly relations between behavior and the environment allow for the prediction and control of behavior. In addition to a theoretical understanding, knowledge of the experimental principles of behavior (e. g., reinforcement, punishment, stimulus control, discrimination and generalization) is necessary for successful application of behavior analysis to organizational problems. Analyses of work behavior in terms of the principles of behavior analysis are provided in many sources (e.g., Brown, 1982; Daniels, 1989; O’Brien & Dickinson, 1982; Mawhinney, 1984). For particularly detailed analyses, including the role of rules and establishing operations, readers are referred to Johnson, Redmon, and Mawhinney (in press), Mawhinney and Mawhinney (1982), Mawhinney and Fellows-Kuber (1999), and Poling and Braatz (in press).

The goal of this section of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies’ website is to more fully explore the contributions of OBM to the field of performance improvement. Through articles in press and original works from the field of behavior analysts, book reviews, consultant case studies, questions, comments, other website references, we hope to bring the importance of OBM to a larger audience. Please contribute your work to be published on this website.

The following references provide valuable background on Organizational Behavior Management:

Brown, P. L. (1982). Managing behavior on the job. New York: John Wiley.

Bucklin, B. R., Alvero, A. M, Dickinson, A. M., Austin, J., & Jackson, A. K. (2000). Industrial-organizational psychology and organizational behavior management: An objective comparison. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20(2), 27-75

Daniels, A. C. (1989). Performance management (3rd ed.). Tucker, GA: Performance Management Publications.

Johnson, Redmon, & Mawhinney (in press). Introduction to Organizational Performance: Behavior Analysis and Management. In Johnson, C. M., Redmon, W. K., & Mawhinney, T. C. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational performance:Behavior analysis and management. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.

Mawhinney, T. C. (1984). Philosophical and ethical aspects of organizational behavior management: Some evaluative feedback. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 6, 5-31.

Mawhinney, T. C., & Fellows-Kubert, C. (1999). Positive contingencies versus quotas: Telemarketers exert countercontrol. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 19, 35-57.

Mawhinney, T. C., & Mawhinney, R. R. (1982). Operant terms and concepts applied to industry. In R. M. O’Brien, A. M. Dickinson, & M. Rosow (Eds.), Industrial behavior modification (pp. 115-134). New York: Pergamon Press.

O’Brien R. M., & Dickinson, A. M. (1982). Introduction to Industrial Behavior Modification. In R. M. O’Brien, A. M. Dickinson, & M. P. Rosow (Eds.), Industrial Behavior Modification (pp. 7-34). New York: Pergamon Press.

Poling, A. & Braatz, D. (in press). Principles of learning: Respondent and operant conditioning and human behavior. In Johnson, C. M., Redmon, W. K., & Mawhinney, T. C. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational performance: Behavior analysis and management. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.

We are very interested in hearing from you. Please send your questions, feedback about this site, or other comments to the OBM Network through email at OBMNetwork@excite.com.

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