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Results of a primary meta-analysis indicated a significant main effect of the organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod.) approach on task performance (d. = .51; a 17 percent increase) and a significant treatment-by-study interaction. To account for within-group heterogeneity of effect sizes, we conducted a two-level theory-driven moderator analysis by partitioning the sample of studies first into manufacturing and service groups and then into seven classes of reinforcement interventions. Results indicated a stronger average effect of O.B. Mod. in manufacturing organizations, moderation by the type of contingent interventions, and "pairwise" differences among average effect sizes in both organizational types. The practical implications of these findings for solving the challenge of improving performance without adding cost are discussed.
Although the operant theoretical foundation for the application of behavioral analysis or behavior modification was established in the 1950s (Rogers & Skinner, 1956; Skinner, 1953), it has only been within the last 25 years that the basic reinforcement paradigm has been introduced to the study of organizational behavior and applied to human resource management (HRM) (Adam & Scott, 1971; Luthans & White, 1971; Nord, 1969). Among several application models proposed within this conceptual framework (e.g., Brethower, 1972; Gilbert, 1978; Komaki, 1986; Miller, 1978; Scott & Podsakoff, 1985), the organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod.) model, first presented by Luthans (1973) and fully developed by Luthans and Kreitner (1975, 1985), has received considerable attention from both organizational behavior researchers (e.g., Andrasik, Heimberg, & McNamara,1981; Frederiksen, 1982a, 1982b; Frederiksen & Johnson,1981; O'Hara, Johnson, & Beehr, 1985) and HRM practitioners (cf. Andrasik, McNamara, & Edlund, 1981; Frederiksen & Lovett, 1980).
Based on the conceptual premises of classical behaviorism (Pavlov, 1927; Watson, 1913), reinforcement theory (Ferster & Skinner, 1957; Skinner, 1938, 1966, 1969), and the principles and techniques of applied behavioral analysis or behavior modification (Bandura, 1969; Ferster & Perrott, 1968; Kazdin, 1975; Wenrich, 1970), the O.B. Mod. model represents a behavioral approach to the management of human resources in organizational settings. Specifically, the model provides a five-step application framework for identifying, measuring, analyzing, contingently intervening in, and evaluating employees' task-related behaviors aimed at performance improvement (Luthans & Kreitner, 1975,1985). Figure 1 presents the O.B. Mod. model.
Development of the O.B. Mod. model has generated a number of studies that have tested its...