One of Val's biggest challenges as the leader of a sales team is getting team members to fill out and file their paperwork properly at the end of the day. He has tried in a number of ways to get them to comply, but nothing seems to work. He does know that no one likes to lead the daily sales meeting, which is a task that revolves among the team members on a regular basis, and that gives him an idea. The best way to achieve the result he desires is to announce that employees who
A) are last to file their paperwork each day will be required to lead the sales meeting the following day, and if their paperwork is filled out incorrectly, they will have to lead the meeting the day after that, as well.
B) comply with guidelines for filing their paperwork every day for a month will be exempted from leading the sales meeting at some point in the near future.
C) file their paperwork correctly and on time five days in a row will be exempted from leading the sales meeting the next time their turn comes around.
D) turn in their paperwork as directed every day for a two-week period will be exempted from leading the sales meeting for the next two months.
E) fail to file their paperwork correctly and on time five days in a row will be required to lead the sales meeting two times in a row.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Val's issue with the sales team is a matter both of contingencies and schedules of reinforcement. In terms of contingencies, positive reinforcement and extinction should be the most common forms of reinforcement used by managers to create learning among their employees, but extinction would not apply in this situation since leading the sales meeting is considered to be an undesirable result. Therefore Val's best bet is positive reinforcement-that is, exempting the employee from leading the sales meeting as a reward for complying with guidelines. For positive reinforcement to be successful, employees need to see a direct link between their behaviors and desired outcomes, and this is where schedules of reinforcement apply. The desirable result should follow the desirable action as closely as possible, but as in many instances, a continuous schedule of reinforcement would not be practical. Therefore Val's best choice is a variable ratio schedule, which is linked with the highest potential level of performance. All of the other choices involve negative reinforcement, a less effective schedule of reinforcement, and/or an unclear link between desirable behavior and reward.

One of Val's Biggest Challenges as the Leader of a Sales