Reinforcement Theory for Behavioral Management

Discussion essay of the topic to include 2 peer-reviewed articles (no books, book reviews, magazines, or Internet sites not having peer-reviewed articles). this only needs to be 2 paragraphs long.

ANSWER

Reinforcement theory suggests that building behaviour can be attained by setting controls on the behaviour either by reward or punishment. Wei et al., (2014) explain the fundamental importance of personnel performance in any organisation and one way to achieve this is motivation through reward. Through this process, good behaviour is strengthened through positive consequences either through extrinsic such as salary bonuses or intrinsic reward such as praise. Positive reinforcement according to Wei (2014), does not only encourage good behaviour but also eliminates negative behaviour and through that enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of employees. For instance, the awarding of end of year bonuses for staff that hit their targets not only motivates them to work as hard in the following year bit also encourage those that do not get the reward to work hard with the objective to attain a reward as well. Similarly, laziness is eliminated in this process.

Luthans et al., (1999) describe reinforcement theory through pay for performance as the most practical solution implemented by human resources globally to reinforce the behaviour. However, the article describes a series of criticisms to the theory but seeks to solve the controversy. The principle of the discussion is that “you get what you reinforce, but you do not necessarily get what you pay for” (Luthans et al., 1999). The difference between pay is essentially the difference between a salary and a bonus. An organisation may be prompt to pay salaries but not enough to get the employees efficient and effective in their duties. However, a salary bonus is out of an organisation’s own volition and with it contains an ability to enforce positive behaviour.

References

Luthans, F., & Stajkovic, A. D. (1999). Reinforce for performance: The need to go beyond pay and even rewards. Academy of Management Perspectives, 13(2), 49-57.

Wei, L. T., & Yazdanifard, R. (2014). The impact of positive reinforcement on employees’ performance in organizations. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 2014.