Using Scorecards and a Lottery to Improve the Performance of Behavior Technicians in Two Autism Treatment Clinics

ABSTRACT

Performance scorecards are tools that measure staff performance across multiple criteria to produce a single, overall performance score, which can be used as feedback for employees. While scorecards are considered a low-cost and effective approach to improve performance, published research demonstrating the effectiveness of scorecards is limited. The current study attempted to first demonstrate the effectiveness of scorecard feedback to improve performance, then, evaluate the added effects of linking the scorecard feedback to a lottery. Current results suggest scorecard feedback can modestly improve average employee performance, and linking the scorecard to a lottery may result in further performance improvements.     

Involving Families and Staff in Service Improvement

This study was designed to improve an important service for severely mentally retarded adolescents and adults. The overall objective was to investigate the effect on client and staff behavior of implementing procedures designed to achieve change in three priority service areas selected by the families and staff. The experimental design was a three phase time series design. In the final phase, three procedures designed to achieve change in the selected areas were introduced sequentially. The service areas selected were staff organization, staff-family communication and clients' recreational activities. The setting supervisors monitored staff use of the procedures by means of a structured checklist and gave staff direct feedback on their performance. Checklists used by the researchers revealed consistent use of the procedures by staff. Observational measures showed marked changes in the behavior of both staff and their clients. Comparisons of interviews with staff and families conducted prior to and following the interventions revealed general satisfaction with changes achieved and increased staff emphasis on client teaching. This study demonstrated the feasibility and desirability of involving staff and families in making plans for service improvement.     

Consumer Behaviour and Order Fulfilment in Online Retailing: A Systematic Review

This paper provides a systematic review of consumer behaviour and order fulfilment in online retailing. The objective of this review is threefold: first, to identify elements of order‐fulfilment operations that are relevant to online consumer behaviour (purchase, repurchase, product return); second, to understand the relationship between order‐fulfilment performance and consumer behaviour; and third, to inspire future research on developing consumer service strategies that takes account of these behavioural responses to order‐fulfilment performance outcomes. The paper is based on a systematic review of literature on online consumer behaviour and order‐fulfilment operations, mainly in the fields of marketing and operations, published in international peer‐reviewed journals between 2000 and September 2015. This study indicates that the current literature on online consumer behaviour focuses mainly on the use of marketing tools to improve consumer service levels. Very little research has been conducted on the use of consumer service instruments to steer consumer behaviour or, consequently, to manage related order‐fulfilment activities better. The study culminates in a framework that encompasses elements of order‐fulfilment operations and their relationship to online consumer behaviour. This paper is the first comprehensive review of online consumer behaviour that takes aspects of order‐fulfilment operations into account from both marketing and operations perspectives.     

A Comparison of Lecture Versus Role-Playing in the Training of the Use of Positive Reinforcement

Managers of organizations, often in coordination with personnel departments, create training programs for their staff. The emphasis in human service organizations is to train staff to use behavior modification techniques, especially to reinforce appropriate client behavior. Unfortunately, published research evaluating the quality of this training has been almost nonexistent (Kazdin & Moyer, 1976). Two different instructional formats of training were compared in this study: two groups received a lecture on reinforcing appropriate behavior and two groups role-played the act of reinforcing appropriate behavior. Follow-up observations of the staff showed that the performance of the lecture-trained staff was stable or declined after an initial improvement. The performance of staff who role-played, however, continued to improve. Feedback and physical action may be the reasons for the superiority of role-playing over a lecture format.     

电子商务环境下的消费者行为研究

本文首先分析了电子商务环境下消费者行为相对于传统的商业模式所表现的特点:消费市场的细分化、服务需求的主流化、选择范围的扩大化和购买行为的理性化、生产和流通循环的直接化;然后分析了影响消费者网上购买行为的宏观和微观因素,最后建立了电子商务环境下的基于计划行动理论的消费者行为模型。     

考虑需求端和产出端不确定性的服务平台定价和商业模式研究

同时考虑平台需求端和供给端不确定性,分析此时服务平台的产品定价、最优激励、商业模式和效率损失传导。通过将委托代理理论和平台理论结合的方法进行分析,研究表明：（1）需求端和产出端的不确定性越高,平台对消费端的定价越低;随着需求端自网络外部性增强,需求端不确定对消费端的影响减弱;随需求端交叉网络外部性增强,需求端不确定对消费端的定价影响增强。（2）需求或产出不确定性越大,分成报酬占总报酬比例越低,平台商业模式更接近于雇佣或自营模式;反之接近纯平台模式。（3）产出端不确定性带来的效率损失在平台两端之间传导。当服务端存在不确定性,服务端报酬和需求端定价同时上升,服务提供端的报酬升高幅度大于需求端产品价格升高幅度。同时,平台将部分效率损失内化,平台承担的效率损失与需求端交叉网络外部性成正比。     

A Review of Procedural Acceptability in Organizational Behavior Management

ABSTRACT

Despite the documented benefits Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) applications can have on service provision for people with developmental disabilities, OBM is not widely practiced in service systems. One variable that may impact the utilization of OBM is how acceptable the associated procedures are to staff. The research on procedural acceptability in OBM is summarized in terms of two primary methods for determining consumer satisfaction with management procedures-rating scales and discrete choices. Results of acceptability assessments utilizing ratings scales have repeatedly indicated high degrees of staff acceptance for virtually all OBM procedures. However, when staff have been asked to choose among management procedures, clear and consistent differences in acceptability have been apparent. Suggested directions for future research focus on improving acceptability assessment methodology, developing guidelines for implementing effective OBM procedures in a manner that is most acceptable to staff, and involving supervisory and professional staff in acceptability evaluations.     

服务补救方式对消费者情绪和行为意向的影响

本文采用情景模拟方法,以饭店服务失误和补救为例,分别测评了主动补救和被动补救对消费者情绪和行为意向的影响,结果发现,服务补救方式对消费者情绪和行为意向的影响存在显著差别,其中主动补救对消费者正面情绪、口碑传播和重购意向的影响显著高于被动补救,而对消费者负面情绪的影响显著低于被动补救;获得服务补救消费者的正面情绪与口碑传播和重购意向呈显著正相关,而消费者负面情绪与口碑传播和重购意向呈显著负相关。     

员工情绪表现结构维度及对感知服务质量影响初探

根据文献总结,情绪劳动分为员工和消费者视角,对员工视角的情绪劳动已经有了相当丰富的研究,而对消费者视角情绪表现研究还处于起步阶段。文章通过日记观察法和问卷调查法来探讨:(1)情绪表现的结构;(2)情绪表现对感知服务质量的影响。在25篇观察日记和564份有效问卷的基础上,采用SPSS和SmartPLS进行数据处理。结果显示,情绪表现分为负向情绪表现,包括假装表情、冷漠表情、轻视表情;正向情绪表现包括持久表情、真诚表情和自然表情共六个维度;基于总体数据,负向表情对感知服务质量的负向作用不显著,正向表情对感知服务质量的正向作用显著;基于不同背景样本之间的路径作用存在差异,学生样本的显著路径远远多于在职样本,男性样本的显著路径多于女性样本,专科样本的显著路径远远多于本科和硕士样本,小于30岁样本的显著路径远远多于大于30岁样本。     

History and Contribution of Organizational Behavior Management to Services for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

This article traces the development of the field of organizational behavior management (OBM) from its origins in early behavior modification studies, the development of a technology for modifying staff behavior, to recent developments in the evolution of cultures. An ecological model of staff behavior is outlined using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model of human development. The technology used to modify staff behavior is briefly reviewed. In the final section recommendations for managers and researchers are made. Managers should be aware that there is an effective technology for modifying a wide range of staff behaviors that can be implemented both in response to crises and during routine management. Future research on OBM should address three major concerns. First, OBM should broaden the scope of its enquiry beyond the immediate staff and consumer dyad to include analysis of and intervention upon the entire ecosystem within which the consumer's behavior occurs. Second, the issue of integrating theory with practice should be pursued more vigorously through fundamental research on supervisor behavior and through basing interventions on an analysis of the variables maintaining current supervisory behavior. Third, greater attention should be paid to developing training for middle managers as general ist users of the principles of OBM.     

服务不满意情境下的消费者反应类型测评及高阶因子分析

过去对于消费者不满意的研究主要关注的是服务失误和消费者抱怨.在消费者抱怨的相关研究中,学者们提出了消费者抱怨行为(CCB)、消费者反应预测(CRE)以及消费者抱怨反应(CCR)来解释消费者的抱怨行为,但对于消费者不满意之后的其它反应类型研究较少.本研究基于学者们对抱怨类型的研究以及组织行为理论中雇员反应类型(EVLN)模型的研究,探讨在消费者行为研究中,消费者对于不满意的反应类型.通过探索性因子分析和验证性因子分析,我们确定了五种消费者在不满意情景下可能有的反应类型.我们希望企业能够认识到不同的反应类型,从而提高服务质量和服务补救的有效性.     

A Model for Planning Resource Requirements in Health Care Organizations

In this paper we present a general model and solution methodology for planning resource requirements (i.e., capacity) in health care organizations. To illustrate the general model, we consider two specific applications: a blood bank and a health maintenance organization (HMO). The blood bank capacity planning problem involves determining the number of donor beds required and determining the size of the nursing and support staff necessary. Capacity must be sufficient to handle the expected number of blood donors without causing excessive donor waiting times. Similar staff, equipment, and service level decisions arise in the HMO capacity planning problem. To determine resource requirements, we develop an optimization/queueing network model that minimizes capacity costs while controlling customer service by enforcing a set of performance constraints, such as setting an upper limit on the expected time a patient spends in the system. The queueing network model allows us to capture the stochastic behavior of health care systems and to measure customer service levels within the optimization framework.     

IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The utility of organizational behavior management (OBM) for improving the delivery of special education and related services in public school districts was investigated in three experimental studies. Each study employed a multiple baseline design to judge the efficacy of an OBM intervention on service delivery problems common to most public school organizations. The problems and OBM interventions were: (1) expanding the range of functioning of school psychologists through performance feedback; (2) training special service teams to develop valuable individual education programs (IEPs) with a behavioral, in-service training program; and (3) ensuring the implementation of a special education resource room program by means of program consultation. All interventions were implemented by public school program managers and staff. In each study, the particular intervention resulted in improvement in service delivery performance. Results of the studies are discussed within the context of the recently enacted legislation for the education of handicapped children and in terms of generality to mental health, business, and industrial settings.     

Improving the Quality of Hotel Banquet Staff Performance

The banquet staff at a north Texas hotel were responsible for setting up 11 different functions for conferences and meetings. The functions were often set up late and items were often omitted. An analysis suggested that performance problems were Ihe result of weak antecedents, inefficient work procedures, inadequate training, and weak performance contingencies. A treatment package consisting of task checklists, feedback, goal setting, monetary bonuses for quality performance, training and job aids was designed to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of function setups. Performance increased from an average of 68.8% on a quality measure (accuracy plus timeliness of setups) in baseline to 99.7% during the treatment phase. Performance decreased to 82.3% during a second baseline phase in which the intervention was discontinued by hotel management. Performance increased to 99.3% with the reintroduction of the treatment package. Customer satisfaction ratings of banquet setups and service were high during the interventions. Treatment effects are discussed with respect to rule-governed behavior.     

A Comparison of Two Data Analysis Training Methods for Paraprofessionals in an Educational Setting

Analyzing and using student educational data to guide instructional programming is a critical staff skill to ensure quality programming based on applied behavior analysis. We compared two training methods to teach staff to use rules to analyze graphed educational data to enact program changes: didactic instruction and behavioral skills training using direct practice. Participants showed improvements in verbally identifying data patterns using simulated data; however, participants in the latter group were also effective using actual student data. The lack of correspondence between rule identification and rule following challenges the assumption that an individual’s ability to identify rules predicts actual performance.     

金融控股公司整合并购对消费者态度影响研究

为了了解金融控股公司在资源扩大后不同策略基础下消费者态度的改变状况,本研究首先运用文献讨论与推演对台湾十几个金融控股公司的资料进行分析,识别出金融控股公司实施购并的策略基础与群组;进而运用问卷调查和多变量分析方法,研究消费者态度的变化。研究结果发现,消费者在服务质量、品牌印象、忠诚度等方面在企业购并前后有明显差异而且受到购并后策略的影响;结果还表明,理性购并(基于差异化、低成本与集中化策略基础的购并)会对消费者认知产生正面影响,而非理性购并(无策略或策略模糊的购并)会对消费者认知产生负面影响。     

多渠道零售环境下消费者渠道选择意愿形成机理研究——产品类别特征的调节作用

传统与网络结合的多渠道正成为零售业的标准模式,多渠道零售环境下,消费者渠道决策发生了根本变化,在不同购买决策过程阶段运用不同渠道的行为日益普遍,但尚未有文献基于搜索信息和产品购买两个阶段,引入产品类别特征对消费者渠道选择意愿形成机理展开研究。运用感知价值理论、信任转移理论构建了消费者搜索意愿和购买意愿形成机理概念模型,分析了渠道属性、渠道内锁定、渠道间协同对消费者搜索与购买意愿的影响及产品搜索性与风险性对其的调节作用,运用联立方程建模并求解发现：渠道属性、渠道内锁定、渠道间协同显著影响消费者搜索意愿和购买意愿;购买高风险搜索产品（如计算机、手机）、低风险搜索产品（如书、文具）、高风险体验产品（如服装、化妆品）、低风险体验产品（如玩具、零食）时,渠道属性、渠道内锁定、渠道间协同对消费者渠道选择意愿的影响存在明显差异;渠道搜索属性如信息有效性、搜索便利性、品种丰富性、社会互动性正向影响消费者搜索意愿,搜索努力负向影响消费者搜索意愿,渠道购买属性如服务质量、购买便利性、享乐性正向影响消费者购买意愿,购买努力、购买风险负向影响消费者购买意愿;传统渠道具有锁定性,网络渠道缺乏锁定性,但购买低风险搜索产品时,网络渠道具有锁定性;购买高风险产品时,传统渠道与网络渠道存在协同性,对于高风险搜索产品,消费者网络渠道搜索意愿正向影响其传统渠道购买意愿,而对于高风险体验产品,还存在消费者传统渠道搜索意愿正向影响其网络渠道购买意愿的协同性,但对于低风险产品,传统渠道与网络渠道缺乏协同性。     

Harnessing Customer Mindset Metrics to Boost Consumer Spending: A Cross-Country Study on Routes to Economic and Business Growth

The relationship between customer mindset metrics (CMMs) and consumer spending has been extensively investigated at the consumer and firm level, but little is known about it at the national level, nor about how it differs between countries. Drawing on five publicly available datasets gathered in 10 European countries over 20 years, our study traces the connections between three CMMs – customer satisfaction, perceived service quality and loyalty intentions – and consumer spending, as well as examining the moderating cross-country effects of culture, socioeconomic factors, economic structure and political–economic elements. The results show that the CMMs significantly influence consumer spending in all the countries studied, with the effects most pronounced in societies with relatively low education levels, a dominant service sector, fewer barriers to business and international trade and a foundation of survival values rather than self-expressive values. Our findings suggest that CMMs can be used to boost not just business performance but also economic growth, and therefore have significant implications for policymakers as well as practitioners and companies.     

线上线下融合模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链协调研究

在移动电商高速发展和移动支付日益便捷的时代,线上线下融合商务模式正日益成为传统零售、电子商务甚至快递物流企业转型升级的重要方向,影响着供应链运营管理及其优化决策。线上线下融合模式下的战略顾客行为不同于传统模式,其对于供应链运营管理及其优化决策的影响也不同于传统模式。基于O2O运作模式特征,运用战略顾客行为理论、供应链优化与协调理论,本文分别构建了"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1、"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2、纯线下模式和纯线上模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链集中决策模型和契约协调模型,并进行了相应的数值分析,在此基础上,提出了相应的管理启示。研究结果表明：（1）无论是"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1还是"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2,收益分享契约机制可以有效地实现战略顾客行为下的供应链协调。（2）对比两种O2O模式和两种非O2O模式,O2O模式1和O2O模式2能给供应链及其成员带来更多的利润,而纯线上模式和纯线下模式能给战略顾客带来更高的效用。（3）O2O模式下,制定较高的自提补贴和较低的折扣价格,有利于提高供应链及其成员的运营绩效。（4）O2O模式下,增强产品及其相关服务的实际体验效用,有利于提高供应链整体及其成员的运营绩效,有利于提高战略顾客的净效用。     

Real-time schedule adjustment decisions: a case study

Service capacity management has been extensively studied and successfully applied in many industries, with an emphasis on tour/shift scheduling and assignment decisions. However, few studies have addressed real-time work schedule adjustment decisions made necessary by demand uncertainty and/or labor supply disruption. This case study deals with the real-time work schedule adjustment decision and investigates the association of managerial experience, workforce mix (full- and part-time staff), and information accuracy with managers’ adjustment decisions. We designed an experiment that involved practicing service managers from a McDonald's franchise who provided their adjustment decisions for a given set of test scenarios. Their decisions were analyzed and evaluated via a controlled experiment. Using profitability as the primary performance measure, the study identifies the following outcomes: First, senior managers of a store with a higher proportion of part-time staff made more adjustments and attained slightly higher profitability than junior managers, when all employees accepted adjusted schedules. Second, managers of a store with a higher proportion of part-time staff were able to make slightly higher profits, particularly when capacity shortages occurred. And third, to achieve the majority of the benefits from schedule adjustments, it is sufficient to search for information that correctly identifies the direction of demand changes, rather than identifying the exact magnitude of the changes.