Sonia M. Goltz

Teaching Teamwork and Problem Solving Concurrently

Teamwork and problem-solving skills have frequently been identified by business leaders as being key competencies; thus, teaching methods such as problem-based learning and team-based learning have been developed. However, the focus of these methods has been on teaching one skill or the other. A key argument for teaching the skills concurrently is that the ability to solve an unstructured real-world problem within teams is what is needed outside the classroom and that this requires the use of both sets of skills simultaneously. Thus, the authors describe the design and implementation of a group problem-solving skills course for undergraduates, in which they engage in real creative problem-solving work together over a semester while learning and developing skills appropriate to their current stages in the team development and problem-solving processes. This method offers the potential to address criticisms by business leaders that new graduates often are technically proficient yet ill prepared to solve everyday organizational problems.

Using the Operant and Strategic Contingencies Models of Power to Understand Resistance to Change

Abstract This paper discusses the joint implications of the operant and strategic contingencies models of power for understanding and decreasing resistance to change in organizations. In particular, resistance is expected when the organizational change being introduced either intentionally or unintentionally results in changes in who has direct or indirect control over reinforcing and aversive stimuli in the organization. Power holders and leaders can be expected to resist changes that decrease their ability to obtain responses in, and rewards for, their work groups. Workers can be expected to respond negatively to changes that affect the availability of positive consequences or the ability to obtain those consequences. Change efforts that minimize these problems are predicted to be more successful.

Political Empowerment, Rule of Law, and Women's Entry into Entrepreneurship

Womens political leadership may contribute to womens entrepreneurship by removing existing constraints on the economic behavior of women, assuming these changes are then enforced. We examine the association of womens political power and a countrys rule of law with womens entrepreneurial entry, using the lobal ntrepreneurship onitor dataset combined with other indicators. Both variables are positively associated with womens entry into entrepreneurship, and the association between political empowerment. Entry into entrepreneurship is moderated by rule of law, with higher levels of womens political power having greater effects in countries with higher levels of rule of law. Implications are discussed.

Toward an operant model of power in organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that behavior analysis can help to explain social power. In this approach, an individual’s potential for influence is thought to be partially a function of his or her access to stimuli that can be used as consequences. This access can occur either through direct authority or indirectly through social networks and exchanges. Social power is also thought to be a function of an individual’s skill in delivering the stimuli in ways that will have the most impact on behavior. A number of predictions about power based on an operant approach are offered.

Women’s appeals for equity at American universities

Statistics indicate that sex discrimination is still very evident at American universities. To explore whether inadequate university responses when individuals complain of inequities may be a factor, a qualitative study was conducted using individual interviews with 14 students and faculty who experienced sex discrimination. Results indicated the women first made attempts to address their situations informally and were hopeful that changes would result. Although changes sometimes occurred, responses to these informal appeals were generally characterized by non-response, denial of responsibility, or retaliation. Fewer of the women reported hopes for the formal processes they used following the informal ones and many had difficulty accessing these processes. For the most part, the universities responded to the formal complaints in the same way as they had responded to the informal ones, stimulating the women to seek justice outside the university.

Spiritual power: the internal, renewable social power source

Models of social power have not included spirituality as a source of power, which may miss an important dynamic in organizations. A definition of spiritual power is proposed based on empirically demonstrated effects of spiritual practice. Unlike other sources of power, spiritual power is independent of external resources, does not deplete as it is spent, and stimulates transcendent responses. The article discusses how the concept of spiritual power contributes to the existing literatures on workplace spirituality and social power.

Using Challenge Course Activities to Teach Organizational Ethics

Few learning experiences give students immediate feedback on ethical and unethical behaviors and provide opportunities to repeatedly practice effective behaviors. This article describes how the authors have used challenge course activities to stimulate students to observe their own and others’ ethical and unethical behaviors. Specifically, these exercises are used to (a) increase student engagement; (b) illustrate how culture emerges, particularly ethical or unethical norms; (c) generate discussion of pressures that lead to unethical behavior; (d) offer suggestions for creating groups with ethical norms; (e) develop students’ abilities to apply concepts and analyze behavior; and (f) increase student retention of organizational ethics concepts.

Escalation research: providing new frontiers for applying behavior analysis to organizational behavior.

Decision fiascoes such as escalation of commitment, the tendency of decision makers to “throw good money after bad,” can have serious consequences for organizations and are therefore of great interest in applied research. This paper discusses the use of behavior analysis in organizational behavior research on escalation. Among the most significant aspects of behavior-analytic research on escalation is that it has indicated that both the patterns of outcomes that decision makers have experienced for past decisions and the patterns of responses that they make are critical for understanding escalation. This research has also stimulated the refinement of methods by researchers to better assess decision making and the role reinforcement plays in it. Finally, behavior-analytic escalation research has not only indicated the utility of reinforcement principles for predicting more complex human behavior but has also suggested some additional areas for future exploration of decision making using behavior analysis.

From Academics to Change Agents in a Gender Equity Initiative

Firsthand experience offers a valuable perspective on the lived complications of change initiatives. We describe how we suddenly found ourselves in charge of a university-wide gender equity initiative. Despite our experience with campus issues of gender bias and larger discussions about implicit bias, we were unprepared for the personal, community, and institutional implications of taking on such a widespread and very visible initiative. We reflect on the complexities of our struggles to reframe our own assumptions, to engage with the campus community, to respond to multiform resistances, and to ensure institutional accountability. Our reflections have implications both for equity initiatives in workplaces and for women’s work as organizational change agents.

Simulating the variability of actual outcomes

A method is described for simulating the variability of outcomes encountered in a variety of settings. Outcome values falling within a specified range are randomly generated and presented across subjects and trials, so that, over time, the average values seen by all subjects in a condition are the same. Randomly varying reinforcement dimensions (such as magnitude) over trials for each subject is recommended to enhance both the internal and the external validity of laboratory results. In addition, it can be used to study the effects of the variability or uncertainty of outcome dimensions such as magnitude and duration in investigations of behaviors such as matching, melioration, and behavioral momentum.