Showing papers in "IEEE Engineering Management Review in 1978"

On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B

Abstract: Whether dealing with monkeys, rats, or human beings, it is hardly controversial to state that most organisms seek information concerning what activities are rewarded, and then seek to do (or at least pretend to do) those things, often to the virtual exclusion of activities not rewarded. The extent to which this occurs of course will depend on the perceived attractiveness of the rewards offered, but neither operant nor expectancy theorists would quarrel with the essence of this notion. Nevertheless, numerous examples exist of reward systems that are fouled up in that behaviors which are rewarded are those which the rewarder is trying to discourage, while the behavior he desires is not being rewarded at all. In an effort to understand and explain this phenomenon, this paper presents examples from society, from organizations in general, and from profit making firms in particular. Data from a manufacturing company and information from an insurance firm are examined to demonstrate the consequences of such reward systems for the organizations involved, and possible reasons why such reward systems continue to exist are considered.

A Longitudinal Study of Technological Obsolescence

Abstract: (1975). A Longitudinal Study of Technological Obsolescence. Research Management: Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 22-28.

Job Search Success of Middle-Aged Managers and Engineers

Abstract: DURING the recent economic downturn, a number of articles in newspapers and business periodicals described the reemployment problems of displaced middle-aged managers and professionals.' These articles consistently suggested that such job seekers face serious obstacles in the labor market, often experiencing long periods of joblessness and accepting jobs decidedly inferior to those previously held. While such assertions are provocative, they must be regarded with. some caution, based as they are on selected anecdotal evidence. There have been no attempts to systematically study the reemployment ex-

Guidelines for Combining the Judgments of Individual Members in Decision Conferences

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the problem of obtaining judgments from individual group members and combining these individual judgments to arrive at a group decision according to a process which min...

Age and Experience as Determinants of Managerial Information Processing and Decision Making Performance

Abstract: Differences in managerial decision making performance due to age and decision making experience were investigated. Age was found to influence performance more than did prior decision making experie...

Meeting the Threat of Managerial Obsolescence

Abstract: Growing organizational complexity and the increasing pace of technological change involving computerization and production automation have created the ferment touching managerial, professional and technical manpower. Approaches to coping programs are described in terms of various company detection systems.