Organizational Behavior Management

Organisational Behaviour Management (OBM) is the scientific approach of management that puts behaviour first. Every student brings in their own performance improvement case that s/he will analyse and improve with OBM. The steps of OBM for realising change are: Pinpoint the performance, baseline measure of the performance, functional (ABC-) analysis, feedback of measures, goal setting of performance and reinforcement when (sub)goals are met.

You will learn the principles and techniques of applied behaviour analysis (ABA): using systematic interventions derived from learning theory to improve socially significant behaviours, then demonstrating that those interventions are indeed responsible for the improvement. Amongst topics covered are the ABC model (antecedent-behaviour-consequence), the four behavioural consequences and a protocol for shaping new behaviours. You also learn to use the OBM Optimizer, a practical tool for enhancing organisational performance, including such factors as quantity, quality, safety and attendance.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the basics of human behaviour and acquire tools for sharing this understanding with others in organisations.
- Present a paper and have the tools for changing organisational behaviour with positive reinforcement as the central element.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course. CEA's recommended credits are based on the contact hours assigned by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam): 15 contact hours equals 1 U.S. credit