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| Data Driven Applications in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| Liberty B |
| Area: OBM; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Timothy D. Ludwig (Appalachian State University) |
| Discussant: E. Scott Geller (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Examining the Effects of Peer Verbal and Graphed Feedback in a Food and Drinking Industry Setting |
| SIGURDUR OLI SIGURDSSON (Western Michigan University), John Austin (Western Michigan University), Judy Gipper (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The effects of a package intervention including safety-related and behaviorally relevant verbal feedback delivered by peers and weekly posted graphed feedback in a food and drinking industry were evaluated using an A-B design. A checklist containing safety-related behaviors and conditions was created, and a subsample of the worker population was trained in conducting observations and delivering feedback. During baseline, 19.00% of all full-time unionized employees and 15.82% of student employees were observed by trained undergraduate research assistants as being 100% safe for all task-related behaviors. Safety performance increased to 51.37% for full-time employees during intervention, and to 33.93% for student employees. An improvement in safety conditions was not observed during the study. Safety behaviors and conditions in two other units of the organization were concurrently observed in order to evaluate experimental control. No changes in safety were observed over the course of the study in the control sites. |
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| Presenting Performance Norms of Group Members: Do Names Matter? |
| JOSHUA LIVESEY (Appalachian State University), Jessica McKinney (Appalachian State University), Timothy D. Ludwig (Appalachian State University) |
| Abstract: Grocery distribution truck drivers make 3-10 daily deliveries to grocery stores. During these routes drivers were assigned a specific time to arrive at designated grocery stores to deliver their food products. Deliveries made 30 minutes after the designated time were considered late. In the current study, truck drivers for a southeast region food distribution facility were tracked for a period of 29 weeks. Drivers who completed an informed consent form (n=138) were randomly assigned to three groups. All three groups were provided weekly individualized feedback on memos reporting the percentage of time they were late (% late). One group received their personal feedback in the context of the group mean. The second group received their personal feedback with a list of other employee’s confidential I.D. numbers and individual % late feedback. The final group received their personal feedback with a list of other employee’s names and individual % late feedback. Both groups who received their feedback in the context of other employee’s feedback decreased their % late deliveries (confidential ID group: from 10.8% to 6% late; named group: 12.5% to 8.2% late). However, there was no difference as a function of the use of employee names. |
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| Improving the Human Dynamics of an Organization: From Culture Assessment to Behavior-Based Intervention |
| MATTHEW HARGROVE (Virginia Tech), Joanne Dean (Virginia Tech), Joshua H. Williams (Virginia Tech), E. Scott Geller (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: OBM consultants often implement standard behavior-based interventions without assessing the culture first. This research explored the development and application of a culture-assessment tool for customizing interventions to improve the human dynamics of an organization. This paper will describe the culture-assessment process which was tested at three organizations, and will explain how the assessment process for one organization led to the customization of a leadership workshop and the exploration of organization-based interventions to improve the culture. The culture assessment device is simple but informative. It asks the respondent to rate themselves and their work group according to fourteen bipolar dimensions, e.g. from underwhelmed to overwhelmed, from independent to interdependent, from efficient communication to effective communication, from ineffective to effective use of talent, and low trust to high trust. The responses from a participant yield a culture profile that demonstrates a visual gap between one’s perceptions of self versus the workgroup. This offers clear direction for the operational definition of target behaviors and intervention development that enables organizational consultants to help make marked improvements in an organization’s safety culture. |
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