I’m studying for my Management class and need an explanation.
2 page discussion response needed
The purpose of this discussion assignment is for you to define the role of communication in group-decision making.
In your response to a class peer, identify a communication practice, etc. that they have presented in their examples, and explain how this might also work in the music industry
APA formatting, proper in-text citations, and references are required as applicable.
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In 1957, B.F. Skinner published Verbal Behavior, a book detailing a function based analysis of language. By function, it is meant that any verbal behavior functions to gain access to some kind of reinforcer.
Jargon warning: a reinforcer is any stimulus change that increases the likelihood that behavior will occur again in the future in similar contexts. If you do something good at work, and your coworker gives you a high five, and then the next day you do that same thing, the high five likely functioned as a reinforcer. If you have an itch, you scratch it. Later, when you get another itch, you scratch more. This means that removing the itchy feeling functioned as a reinforcer, increasing the scratching behavior.
As it relates to verbal behavior, suppose you ask a coworker when a shipment of materials will be arriving. Your behavior is functioning to gain access to a specific reinforcer (i.e. information). When you tell a coworker to “watch out†in an unsafe work environment, your verbal behavior is functioning to gain access to praise or other social reinforcement (e.g. “thank youâ€).
When a behavior functions to gain access to a reinforcer, it is said to be part of a contingency. The reinforcer is contingent on the behavior occurring; if the behavior doesn’t occur, then reinforcer also does not occur. Contingencies serve as the basis for two behavioral phenomena in group dynamics, including decision making.
The first of which is a meta-contingency, which is made up of interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBC) (Houmanfar et al., 2009). An IBC is when reinforcement is contingent on the behavior of another individual, and vice versa. For example, imagine you were to ask your counterpart in marketing what the marketing spend was. Your behavior functions to gain access to information and is part of a contingency. Your peer responds by asking “what quarter?†Their behavior also now functions to gain access to information, and the reinforcer your behavior is contingent on cannot be delivered until you deliver the information your peer’s behavior functions for. Multiple IBC’s form the basis of a meta-contingency, which define how groups interact with other groups. Meta-contingencies are named as such because, as an individual’s behavior functions to gain access to reinforcement, a group or organization’s behavior functions (or should function) to benefit the organization.
Recently, a new meta-contingency formed within my organization when the number of supervisors was increased. As a result of new supervisors, more instructional programs could be written, but they required insight from other team members. IBC’s such as the following developed:
Supervisor: “I’d like to write a program for [increasing a child with autism’s appropriate requests per hour]. Where can I find information on that?â€
Supervisor 2: “What [developmental] level is the child at?
These IBC’s formed the basis for a meta-contingency that is defined by technical information sharing that determines programming for the services provided to our clients.
Another behavioral phenomena that emerges from a function based analysis is that of rule governed behavior (Skinner, 1957). Though rules do not act as part of actual contingencies, they do describe other contingencies. For example, a manager suggests that if extra units are shipped, then an operator will receive a bigger yearly bonus. The bonus is never part of a contingency related to the work that produces extra units because it occurs far too long after the target behavior has occurred (months to even a year). If the operator cuts an extra 10 pieces of sheet metal per day, that behavior is never directly followed with the bonus. However, the rule does describe how another behavior, such as checking the mailbox, can be met with the contingency of receiving a bonus in the form of a letter.
Houmanfar et al. (2009) suggest managers in groups would do well to carefully define rules, as ambiguous roles can lead to undesirable verbal products amongst employees, such as gossip and rumors. The advantage of explicitly defining rule governed behavior within a group is the likelihood of producing specificity of rules through the collective brainstorming process; more people means more thoughts on how a rule should and shouldn’t function.
As part of the team that determines, writes, and enforces policy, it is mine and my peers responsibilities to carefully determine rules that determine what behaviors will be met with reinforcement (e.g. performance bonuses) and which will be met with punitive measures.
Last week, however, I was supplied with some strong evidence that we did a poor job determining rules.
There’s a rumor going around that I’m having an affair with another member of the group. True story.
References
Houmanfar, R., Rodrigues, N.J., & Smith, G.S. (2009) Role of Communication Networks in Behavioral Systems Analysis, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 29:3-4, 257-275, DOI: 10.1080/01608060903092102
Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Croft
Discussion Post Réponse to Communication
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