Answer to Question #270596 in Management for Aakanksha

Question

3. Nikita is a Change Manager with Nelson & Murdock. In the view of the way the business landscape is evolving with more reliance on technology, she intends to bring about many new initiatives which require employees to unlearn certain aspects and learn many new approaches. Many learning theories have been prevalent which organizations use from time to time.

a. If employees need to learn certain model behaviors demonstrated by leaders, which learning theory should Nikita select for faster results?

b. How does learning through reinforcement bring about behavior modification in employees? 

Answer 1

a) Cognitive psychology

b) It is impossible to overestimate the role of reinforcement in the learning process. According to the law of effect, reinforcement is anything that increases the strength of a response while simultaneously encouraging repeat of the behavior that preceded the reinforcement. Reinforcement can also be defined in terms of function: something is reinforcing if it strengthens and causes the previous response to be repeated. Reinforcement is a method that involves quickly providing or removing a stimulus following a behavior to help increase the likelihood that it will occur again.