12
Jake Brazinski
I really appreciate the historical perspective taken. Need to link to words/phrases like deliberative democracy. Outstanding personal statement. Need to fix the supplementary videos…aren’t open access.
Introduction
Times of war and global pandemics leave a lasting impact on economies and society as a whole. These impacts can transition into industries that initially seemed untouchable, such as professional baseball. Both World War II and COVID-19 brought a similar level of uncertainty about the future of baseball, but the way the games resumed differed.
Connection to STS Theory
The theory of deliberate democracy deals with the decision-making of topics foregoing “fair and reasonable discussion” that affect society as a whole. Leaders and officials gather together to make decisions in the best interests of citizens or those that may be affected. In WWII, the President and other leaders decided to have baseball leagues continue playing for the benefit of the citizens. They felt as though baseball would help with the mental health of those back home and keep them in a more positive mood with everything else going on in the world. During COVID-19, league officials and health experts decided to postpone baseball. They reasoned that it was unsafe for players, team faculty, and fans if the games were to continue. It was an unpopular decision that received backlash from both the fans and players, but they had the best interests of health and safety in mind. When the league officials and health experts decided it was safe for the games to resume and fans could return, they took extra precautions for the players and fans to social distance.
Baseball during World War II
WWII’s effect spread into industries that one might not originally think of, such as baseball. The President said that baseball must continue during the war because it was essential to society. Baseball was a source of entertainment, and most importantly, it provided an escape from the harsh realities that were happening in the world at the time.
This attracted large amounts of people to attend the games. Families and fans were eager to enter the stadiums to watch the game. Many major or minor league baseball players left the baseball diamond to serve in the war overseas (Bowen, 2020). As a result, sometimes, women joined the teams with fewer players to keep that team functioning and playing (LoProto et al., 2018). This evidence shows how there was no hesitation to keep baseball playing, even if it meant temporarily changing the dynamics of baseball.
Voices of Clemson Undergraduate Students
Since I was a kid, I watched as many St. Louis Cardinal baseball games as I could. I supported them whether they were good or bad, although at times it was hard to watch. When I found out the season was postponed and then shortened, I was shocked. My daily routine was affected; I found myself struggling to find things to do during the times I usually watched baseball. If me, a fan, was affected in this way, I could not imagine how the players were impacted. This led me to research just how much impact COVID-19 had on baseball.
COVID-19 and Baseball
COVID-19 impacted baseball at multiple levels and in a variety of ways. Spring training and the start of the MLB season were postponed, resulting in a much shorter season (ESPN, 2020). Some teams were exposed to COVID-19 and had to quarantine. As a result, those teams had to play multiple games in one day to make up for the games they missed while in quarantine. For college baseball, the season was cut short before the College World Series. Many college players were preparing for the MLB draft, but there was uncertainty about what would happen with everything going on. Additionally, younger players had to wonder if they lost a year of eligibility (Padron et al., 2020).
Comparing and Contrasting The Baseball Experience Between WWII and COVID-19
In some ways, baseball was affected the same way during WWII as it was during COVID-19, and in other ways, the impacts differed. During WWII, there was no delay to the start of the season, unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, fans were encouraged to go to the games during WWII. In contrast, the only fans allowed in the stadium during COVID-19 were virtual or cardboard cutouts. Towards the end of the season, a small number of fans were allowed in the stadium, but they had to social distance from one another. During both time periods, some of the players had to make sacrifices. These sacrifices may have been serving in the war, taking a pay cut, or donating money to support the faculty who worked at the stadium. This evidence shows how the resumption of baseball was a longer and more complicated process during COVID-19 than WWII because there was numerous protocol and guidelines the league had to follow.
Conclusion
Many people rely on baseball for employment or business, whether team staff, stadium faculty, local hotels, or restaurants. Baseball and sports, in general, are essential to society, which is why the leagues continue to play during times of war or a global pandemic.
Chapter Questions
- List some things leaders consider when making decisions in the best interest of the people
- Name one social change that started from a global event, like WWII or the Great Depression
Supplementary Materials
League of Their Own streaming on HBO Max
Sort the Court by Graebor – A decision making game
References
Bowen, Fred. “Perspective | During World War II, Baseball Players Wore Two Kinds of Uniforms.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 29 Apr. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/world-war-ii-affected-the-sports-world-but-baseball-games-didnt-stop/2020/04/29/e75022b6-805a-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html.
“List of Sporting Events Canceled Because of the Coronavirus.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 23 Mar. 2020, www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/28824781/listsporting- events-canceled-coronavirus
LoProto, Mark, and Name *. “American Sports During World War II.” Visit Pearl Harbor, 28 Feb. 2018, visitpearlharbor.org/american-sports-during-world-war-ii/.
-, Kaylee Padron, et al. “Kaylee Padron.” South Florida Media Network, 19 Aug. 2020, sfmn.fiu.edu/how-covid-19-ended-college-baseball-in-2020/.
Images
Image 1: “WW2 Navy baseball (maybe Adak, Alaska) no date” by army.arch is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Image 2: “Empty Stadium” by Citoyen du Monde Inc is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0


Stress, Lifestyle, and Health
Introduction to Regulating Stress and Pursuing Happiness
What you’ll learn to do: describe methods to cope with stress and explain ways to increase happiness
As you learned in the previous section, stress—especially if it is chronic—takes a toll on our bodies and can have enormously negative health implications. When we experience events in our lives that we appraise as stressful, it is essential that we use effective coping strategies to manage our stress. Coping refers to mental and behavioral efforts that we use to deal with problems relating to stress, including its presumed cause and the unpleasant feelings and emotions it produces.
Happiness is conceptualized as an enduring state of mind that consists of the capacity to experience pleasure in daily life, as well as the ability to engage one’s skills and talents to enrich one’s life and the lives of others. Although people around the world generally report that they are happy, there are differences in average happiness levels across nations. Although people have a tendency to overestimate the extent to which their happiness set points would change for the better or for the worse following certain life events, researchers have identified a number of factors that are consistently related to happiness. In recent years, positive psychology has emerged as an area of study seeking to identify and promote qualities that lead to greater happiness and fulfillment in our lives. These components include positive affect, optimism, and flow.
Learning Objectives
- Define coping and differentiate between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping
- Describe the importance of perceived control in our reactions to stress
- Explain how social support is vital in health and longevity
- Identify common stress reduction techniques
- Define and discuss happiness, including its determinants and how to increase it
- Describe the field of positive psychology and identify the kinds of problems it addresses
- Give examples of flow
Licenses and Attributions (Click to expand)
CC licensed content, Original
- Modification, adaptation, and original content. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
CC licensed content, Shared previously
- Regulation of Stress and the Pursuit of Happiness. Authored by: OpenStax College. Located at: https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/14-4-regulation-of-stress. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction
- Happy couple. Authored by: Unsplash. Provided by: Pixabay. Located at: https://pixabay.com/en/couple-african-happy-man-woman-1030744/. License: CC0: No Rights Reserved


150 O.03: Section 1 Part 2
Compound-model application 2: Determining the contents of a mixture of radioisotopes
Materials with small amounts of radioactivity can be used in medical diagnosis and treatment. The way these are made (irradiation in a nuclear reactor) often results in a mixture of different radioisotopes. Each type of radioisotope has an exponential decay pattern with a specific decay rate. Thus the best model for the overall radioactivity of the material at each time is the sum of two or more basic exponential models. Fitting the data with such a compound model will then show the decay rates and the relative amounts of each radioisotope formed. Since scientists have identified the decay rates of all the different radioisotopes, the fitting results usually are enough to identify them.
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Example 2: The data to the right show radioactivity measurements taken at one-hour intervals. Even though the data graph (the solid dots in graph below) has a shape similar to that of a decaying exponential, a single exponential-decay model (the circles in the graph below) does not fit the data well. Test whether the data could be fit well by the sum of two exponential models. If so, report the two decay rates and the relative activity of the two components. Solution: To fit the data to a model based on the sum of two basic exponential-decay models, four parameters will be needed (the initial value and growth/decay rate for each of the basic models), so the formula placed in C3 will be “=$G$3*(1+$G$4)^A3+$G$5*(1+$G$6)^A3”, which will be spread down column C beside all the data values. Set the initial-value parameters G3 and G5 to about 600 (half the first data value). Set the growth-rate parameters G4 and G6 to different negative values (such as –10% and –30%) that make the model roughly match the data. Then use Solver to minimize the sum of squared deviations in H12 by changing the G3:G6 range of parameters. This produces the results below: |
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Clearly, the sum-of-two-exponentials model fits this data much better than the one-exponential model. The best-fit parameters show that the measured radioactivity is produced by a fast-decaying component (a decay rate of 47.4% per hour) that starts out producing 83% of the activity, as well as by a slower-decaying component (a decay rate of 5.1% per hour) that starts out producing 17% of the activity.
If the model had not fit the data well, this would imply that there are more than two radioactive components, either in the initial mixture or because one or both of the components are decaying to a additional radioisotope. Such a situation would require a more sophisticated analysis to fully understand, but the analysis process above would still be enough to determine whether a two-radioisotope explanation is adequate.
If the oversimplified one-exponential model had been used, it could lead to some dangerous decisions, even though the values of that model were moderately close to the data over much of its range. The danger is because one of the most important issues about radioisotopes is how long a radioactive sample needs to be shielded before it is safe. The best-fit single-exponential model for this data has a decay rate of 30% per hour, which will predict about the true level of activity at 5 hours, but at 24 hours will predict an activity level that is over 300 times smaller than the actual one, since by that time the activity is almost completely due to the component whose decay rate is only 5.1% (99.99999% of the other component has already decayed by that time). Even at 18 hours (the last data point), the actual activity is more than 50 times the level predicted by the single-exponential model.


6 Chapter 6: Progressivism
This chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of Progressivism. This philosophy of education is rooted in the philosophy of pragmatism. Unlike Perennialism, which emphasizes a universal truth, progressivism favors “human experience as the basis for knowledge rather than authority” (Johnson et. al., 2011, p. 114). By focusing on human experience as the basis for knowledge, this philosophy of education shifts the focus of educational theory from school to student.
In order to understand the implications of this shift, an overview of the key characteristics of Progressivism will be provided in section one of this chapter. Information related to the curriculum, instructional methods, the role of the teacher, and the role of the learner will be presented in section two and three. Finally, key educators within progressivism and their contributions are presented in section four.
Characteristics of Progressivim
6.1 Essential Questions
By the end of this section, the following Essential Questions will be answered:
- In which school of thought is Progressivism rooted?
- What is the educational focus of Progressivism?
- What do Progressivist believe are the primary goals of schooling?
Progressivism is a very student-centered philosophy of education. Rooted in pragmatism, the educational focus of progressivism is on engaging students in real-world problem- solving activities in a democratic and cooperative learning environment (Webb et. al., 2010). In order to solve these problems, students apply the scientific method. This ensures that they are actively engaged in the learning process as well as taking a practical approach to finding answers to real-world problems.
Progressivism was established in the mid-1920s and continued to be one of the most influential philosophies of education through the mid-1950s. One of the primary reasons for this is that a main tenet of progressivism is for the school to improve society. This was supposed to be achieved by engaging students in tasks related to real-world problem-solving. As a result, Progressivism was deemed to be a working model of democracy (Webb et. al., 2010).
6.2 A Closer Look
Please read the following article for more information on progressivism: Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find.
As you read the article, think about the following Questions to Consider:
- How does the author define progressive education?
- What does the author say progressive education is not?
- What elements of progressivism make sense, according to the author?Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find
Curriculum
6.3 Essential Questions
By the end of this section, the following Essential Questions will be answered:
- How is a Progressivist curriculum best described?
- What subjects are included in a Progressivist curriculum?
- Do you think the focus of this curriculum is beneficial for students? Why or why not?
As previously stated, Progressivism focuses on real-world problem-solving activities. Consequently, the Progressivist curriculum is focused on providing students with real-world experiences that are meaningful and relevant to them rather than rigid subject-matter content.
Dewey (1963), who is often referred to as the “father of progressive education,” believed that all aspects of study (i.e., arithmetic, history, geography, etc.) need to be linked to materials based on students every- day life-experiences.
However, Dewey (1938) cautioned that not all experiences are equal:
The belief that all genuine education comes
about through experience does not mean that
all experiences are genuinely or equally
educative. Experience and education cannot
be directly equated to each other. For some
experiences are mis-educative. Any experience
is mis-education that has the effect of arresting
or distorting the growth or further experience
(p. 25).
An example of miseducation would be that of a bank robber. He or she many learn from the experience of robbing a bank, but this experience can not be equated with that of a student learning to apply a history concept to his or her real-world experiences.
Features of a Progressive Curriculum
There are several key features that distinguish a progressive curriculum. According to Lerner (1962), some of the key features of a progressive curriculum include:
-
- A focus on the student
- A focus on peers
- An emphasis on growth
- Action centered
- Process and change centered
- Equality centered
- Community centered
To successfully apply these features, a progressive curriculum would feature an open classroom environment. In this type of environment, students would “spend considerable time in direct contact with the community or cultural surroundings beyond the confines of the classroom or school” (Webb et. al., 2010, p. 74). For example, if students in Kansas were studying Brown v. Board of Education in their history class, they might visit the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. By visiting the National Historic Site, students are no longer just studying something from the past, they are learning about history in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them today, which is essential in a Progressive curriculum.
- In what ways have you experienced elements of a Progressivist curriculum as a student?
- How might you implement a Progressivist curriculum as a future teacher?
- What challenges do you see in implementing a Progressivist curriculum and how might you overcome them?
Instruction in the Classroom
6.4 Essential Questions
By the end of this section, the following Essential Questions will be answered:
- What are the main methods of instruction in a Progressivist classroom?
- What is the teachers role in the classroom?
- What is the students role in the classroom?
- What strategies do students use in a Progressivist classrooms?
Within a Progressivist classroom, key instructional methods include: group work and the project method. Group work promotes the experienced-centered focus of the Progressive philosophy. By giving students opportunities to work together, they not only learn critical skills related to cooperation, they are also able to engage in and develop projects that are meaningful and have relevance to their everyday lives.
Promoting the use of project work, centered around the scientific method, also helps students engage in critical thinking, problem solving, and deci- sion making (Webb et. al., 2010). More importantly, the application of the scientific method allows Progressivists to verify experience through investigation. Unlike Perennialists and Essentialists, who view the scientific method as a means of verifying the truth (Webb et. al., 2010).
Teachers Role
Progressivists view teachers as a facilitator in the classroom. As the facilitator, the teacher directs the students learning, but the students voice is just as important as that of the teacher. For this reason, progressive education is often equated with student-centered instruction.
To support students in finding their own voice, the teacher takes on the role of a guide. Since the student has such an important role in the learning, the teacher needs to guide the students in “learning how to learn” (Labaree, 2005, p. 277). In other words, they need to help students construct the skills they need to understand and process the content.
In order to do this successfully, the teacher needs to act as a collaborative partner. As a collaborative partner, the teachers works with the student to make group decisions about what will be learned, keeping in mind the ultimate out- comes that need to be obtained. The primary aim as a collaborative partner, according to Progressivists, is to help students “acquire the values of the democratic system” (Webb et. al., 2010, p. 75).
Some of the key instructional methods used by Progressivist teachers include:
- Promoting discovery and self-directly learning.
- Engaging students in active learning.
- Integrating socially relevant themes.
- Promoting values of community, cooperation, tolerance, justice, and democratic equality.
- Encouraging the use of group activities.
- Promoting the application of projects to enhance learning.
- Engaging students in critical thinking.
- Challenging students to work on their problem solving skills.
- Developing decision making techniques.
- Utilizing cooperative learning strategies. (Webb et. al., 2010).
6.5 An Example in Practice
Watch the following video and see how many of the bulleted instructional methods you can identify! In addition, while watching the video, think about the following questions:
- Do you think you have the skills to be a Constructivist teacher? Why or why not?
- What qualities do you have that would make you good at applying a Progressivist approach in the classroom? What would you need to improve upon?
Based on the instructional methods demonstrated in the video, it is clear to see that progressivist teachers, as facilitators of students learning, are encouraged to help their students construct their own understanding by taking an active role in the learning process. Therefore, one of the most com- mon labels used to define this entire approach to education today is: Constructivism.
Students Role
Students in a Progressivist classroom are empowered to take a more active role in the learning process. In fact, they are encourage to actively construct their knowledge and understanding by:
- Interacting with their environment.
- Setting objectives for their own learning.
- Working together to solve problems.
- Learning by doing.
- Engaging in cooperative problem solving.
- Establishing classroom rules.
- Evaluating ideas.
- Testing ideas.
The examples above clearly demonstrate that in the Progressive classroom, the students role is that of an active learner.
6.6 An Example in Practice
Mrs. Espenoza is an 6th grade teacher at Franklin Elementary. She has 24 students in her class. Half of her students are from diverse cultural backgrounds and are receiving free and reduced lunch. In order to actively engage her students in the learning process, Mrs. Espenoza does not use traditional textbooks in her classroom. Instead, she uses more real-world resources and technology that goes beyond the four walls of the classroom. In order to actively engage her students in the learning process, she seeks out members of the community to be guest presenters in her classroom as she believes this provides her students with an way to interact with/learn about their community. Mrs. Espenoza also believes it is important for students to construct their own learning, so she emphasizes: cooperative problem solving, project-based learning, and critical thinking.
6.7 A Closer Look
For more information about Progressivism, please watch the following videos. As you watch the videos, please use the “Questions to Consider” as a way to reflect on and monitor your own learnings.
- What are two new insights you gain about the Progressivist philosophy from the first video?
- What is the role of the Progressivist teacher according to the second video? Do you think you would be good in this role? Why or why not?
- How does Progessivism accommodate different learning styles? Give at least one specific example. What is the benefit of making this accommodation for the student?
- Can you relate elements of this philosophy to your own educational experiences? If so, how? If not, can you think of an example?
Key Educators
6.8 Essential Questions
By the end of this section, the following Essential Questions will be answered:
- Who were the key educators of Progressivism?
- What
impact did
each of the
key educators
of Progressivism have
on this philosophy
of education?
The father of progressive education is considered to be Francis W. Parker. Parker was the superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts, and later became the head of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago (Webb et. al., 2010). John Dewey is the American educator most commonly associated with progressivism. William H. Kilpatrick also played an important role in advancing progressivism. Each of these key educators, and their contributions, will be further explored in this section.
Francis W. Parker (1837 – 1902)
Francis W. Parker was the superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts (Webb, 2010). Between 1875 – 1879, Parker developed the Quincy plan and implemented an experimental program based on “meaningful learning and active understanding of concepts” (Schugurensky, 2002, p. 1). When test results showed that students in Quincy schools outperformed the rest of the school children in Massachusetts, the progressive movement began.
Based on the popularity of his approach, Parker founded the Parker School in 1901. The Parker School
“promoted a more holistic and social approach, following Francis W. Parker’s beliefs that education should include the complete development of an individual (mental, physical, and moral) and that education could develop students into active, democratic citizens and lifelong learners” (Schugurensky, 2002, p. 2).
Parker’s student-centered approach was a dramatic change from the prescribed curricula that focused on rote memorization and rigid student disciple. However, the success of the Parker School could not be disregarded. Alumni of the school were applying what they learned to improve their community and promote a more democratic society.
John Dewey (1859 – 1952)
John Dewey’s approach to Progressivism is best articulated in his book: The School and Society
(1915). In this book, he argued that America needed new educational systems based on “the larger whole of social life” (Dewey, 1915, p. 66). In order to achieve this, Dewey proposed actively engaging students in inquiry-based learning and experimentation to promote active learning and growth among students.
As a result of his work, Dewey set the foundation for approaching teaching and learning from a student-driven perspective. Meaningful activities and projects that actively engaging the students’ interests and backgrounds as the “means” to learning were key (Tremmel, 2010, p. 126). In this way, the students could more fully develop as learning would be more meaningful to them.
6.9 A Closer Look
For more information about Dewey and his views on education, please read the following article titled: My Pedagogic Creed. This article is considered Dewey’s famous declaration concerning education as presented in five key articles that summarize his beliefs.
William H. Kilpatrick (1871-1965)
Kilpatrick is best known for advancing Progressive education as a result of his focus on experience-centered curriculum. Kilpatrick summarized his approach in a 1918 essay titled “The Project Method.” In this essay, Kilpatrick (1918) advocated for an educational approach that involves
“whole-hearted, purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment” (p. 320).
As identified within The Project Method, Kilpatrick (1918) emphasized the importance of looking at students’ interests as the basis for identifying curriculum and developing pedagogy. This student-centered approach was very significant at the time, as it moved away from the traditional approach of a more mandated curriculum and prescribed pedagogy.
Although many aspects of his student-centered approach were highly regarded, Kilpatrick was also criticized given the diminished importance of teachers in his approach in favor of the students interests and his “extreme ideas about student- centered action” (Tremmel, 2010, p. 131). Even Dewey felt that Kilpatrick did not place enough emphasis on the importance of the teacher and his or her collaborative role within the classroom.
Reflect on your learnings about Progressivism! Create a T-chart and bullet the pros and cons of Progressivism. Based on your T-chart, do you think you could successfully apply this philosophy in your future classroom? Why or why not?
Media Attributions
- Progressivism Quote © quotemaster.org
- Dewey Curriculum © quotesgram.com
- Action Centered © Photos for Class
- Stop and Think © DWRose
- Project Based Learning © Blendspace
- Collaboration © photosforclass.com
- Learning by Doing © PBL Education - WordPress.com
- Francis W. Parker Quote © azquotes.com
- School and Society © Amazon.com
- The Project Method © Goodreads.com
- Brainstorm


6.1 Ethical Practice Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Recognize ethical dilemmas and take appropriate action
- Practice in a manner consistent with a code of ethics for nurses
- Compare and contrast theories of ethical decision-making
- Examine resources to resolve ethical dilemmas
- Examine competent practice within the legal/ethical/regulatory framework of health care
- Defend the course of action or give a rationale for the action
- Apply the ANA Code of Ethics to diverse situations in health care
- Analyze the impact of cultural diversity in ethical decision-making
- Identify advocacy as part of the nursing role when responding to ethical dilemmas
How do you determine “right” from “wrong” actions? What is the difference between morality, values, and ethical principles? When you become a professional nurse, what additional considerations impact your ethical decision-making? What is an ethical dilemma and how should nurses participate in resolving it? This chapter answers these questions by reviewing concepts related to ethical nursing practice and describing how nurses can resolve ethical dilemmas. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to describe how ethical decisions made during your nursing career should reflect the Code of Ethics established by the American Nurses Association.


Chapter E3 – Installs Specialty Exterior Doors
Key Competencies (NOA)
- Select and use tools and equipment such as levels, chisels, hole saws, screwdrivers, cordless drills, drill bits and routers with templates
- Identify type of specialty exterior doors such as overhead doors, access hatch and bypass doors to determine scope of task
- Assess and adjust rough openings for existing conditions such as out-of-square, out-of-level and wrong size or location
- Secure door components using fasteners such as screws, bolts and anchors, according to manufacturers’ specifications
- Install weather protection devices such as weather stripping and door sweep according to manufacturers’ specifications and site requirements
- Verify proper operation such as latching, spacing and alignment
- Coordinate with other trades to ensure considerations are made for components such as exterior finishes, flooring and access hardware (NOA p. 56-57)
Overhead Doors
Overhead doors are commonly used for garages, storage rooms and service areas.
Types of overhead doors include:
- Slab – one piece door in a metal frame which uses springs and counterbalance to open and close
- Sectional – multiple panels hinged together that slide with rollers on a track
- Rolling Shutter – door made of interlocking horizontal slats that roll up above the door when opened
Review Brightspace Instruction Sheet:
- DOOR 300 – IS 4.1 Overhead Doors, p. 162 – 171
Review Questions
- What are the three main types of overhead doors?
- What is the main disadvantage of a slab door?
- What are three ways an overhead sectional door is designed so as to protect the interior from the weather?
Asnwers:
- Slab doors, sectional doors, and rolling shutter doors.
- It requires extra clearance on the exterior and if the door is left partially open, it projects out on the outside and uses up some space on the inside.
- Sections are ship-lapped or rabbeted to provide a sealed joint, weather stripping is installed around the door on the outside and usually in between the sections, and the sections are insulated in between the metal skin with rigid insulation


Sikander then proceeded to claim the allegiance and homage of Faúr, the king of Kanúj, and wrote to him to submit to his power; but Faúr returned a haughty answer, saying:—
“Kaid Indí is a coward to obey thee,
But I am Faúr, descended from a race
Of matchless warriors; and shall I submit,
And to a Greek!”
Sikander was highly incensed at this bold reply. The force he had now with him amounted to eighty thousand men; that is, thirty thousand Iránians, forty thousand Rúmís, and ten thousand Indís. Faúr had sixty thousand horsemen, and two thousand elephants. The troops of Sikander were greatly terrified at the sight of so many elephants, which gave the enemy such a tremendous superiority. Aristátalís, and some other ingenious counsellors, were requested to consult together to contrive some means of counteracting the power of the war-elephants, and they suggested the construction of an iron horse, and the figure of a rider also of iron, to be placed upon wheels like a carriage, and drawn by a number of horses. A soldier, clothed in iron armor, was to follow the vehicle—his hands and face besmeared with combustible matter, and this soldier, armed with a long staff, was at an appointed signal, to pierce the belly of the horse and also of the rider, previously filled with combustibles, so that when the ignited point came in contact with them, the whole engine would make a tremendous explosion and blaze in the air. Sikander approved of this invention, and collected all the blacksmiths and artisans in the country to construct a thousand machines of this description with the utmost expedition, and as soon as they were completed, he prepared for action. Faúr too pushed forward with his two thousand elephants in advance; but when the Kanújians beheld such a formidable array they were surprised, and Faúr anxiously inquired from his spies what it could be. Upon being told that it was Sikander’s artillery, his troops pushed the elephants against the enemy with vigor, at which moment the combustibles were fired by the Rúmís, and the machinery exploding, many elephants were burnt and destroyed, and the remainder, with the troops, fled in confusion. Sikander then encountered Faúr, and after a severe contest, slew him, and became ruler of the kingdom of Kanúj.
After the conquest of Kanúj, Sikander went to Mekka, carrying thither rich presents and offerings. From thence he proceeded to another city, where he was received with great homage by the most illustrious of the nation. He enquired of them if there was anything wonderful or extraordinary in their country, that he might go to see it, and they replied that there were two trees in the kingdom, one a male, the other a female, from which a voice proceeded. The male-tree spoke in the day, and the female-tree in the night, and whoever had a wish, went thither to have his desires accomplished. Sikander immediately repaired to the spot, and approaching it, he hoped in his heart that a considerable part of his life still remained to be enjoyed. When he came under the tree, a terrible sound arose and rung in his ears, and he asked the people present what it meant.  Sikander, at this interpretation of the prophetic sound, wept and the burning tears ran down his cheeks. Again he asked, “Shall I return to Rúm, and see my mother and children before I die?” and the answer was, “Thou wilt die at Kashán.
“Nor mother, nor thy family at home
Wilt thou behold again, for thou wilt die,
Closing thy course of glory at Kashán.”
Sikander left the place in sorrow, and pursued his way towards Rúm. In his progress he arrived at another city, and the inhabitants gave him the most honorable welcome, representing to him, however, that they were dreadfully afflicted by the presence of two demons or giants, who constantly assailed them in the night, devouring men and goats and whatever came in their way. Sikander asked their names; and they replied, Yájuj and Májuj (Gog and Magog). He immediately ordered a barrier to be erected five hundred yards high, and three hundred yards wide, and when it was finished he went away. The giants, notwithstanding all their efforts, were unable to scale this barrier, and in consequence the inhabitants pursued their occupations without the fear of molestation.
To scenes of noble daring still he turned
His ardent spirit—for he knew not fear.
Still he led on his legions—and now came
To a strange place, where countless numbers met
His wondering view—countless inhabitants
Crowding the city streets, and neighbouring plains;
And in the distance presently he saw
A lofty mountain reaching to the stars.
Onward proceeding, at its foot he found
A guardian-dragon, terrible in form,
Ready with open jaws to crush his victim;
But unappalled, Sikander him beholding
With steady eye, which scorned to turn aside,
Sprang forward, and at once the monster slew.
Ascending then the mountain, many a ridge,
Oft resting on the way, he reached the summit,
Where the dead corse of an old saint appeared
Wrapt in his grave-clothes, and in gems imbedded.
In gold and precious jewels glittering round,
Seeming to show what man is, mortal man!
Wealth, worldly pomp, the baubles of ambition,
All left behind, himself a heap of dust!
None ever went upon that mountain top,
But sought for knowledge; and Sikander hoped
When he had reached its cloudy eminence,
To see the visions of futurity
Arise from that departed, holy man!
And soon he heard a voice: “Thy time is nigh!
Yet may I thy career on earth unfold.
It will be thine to conquer many a realm,
Win many a crown; thou wilt have many friends
And numerous foes, and thy devoted head
Will be uplifted to the very heavens.
Renowned and glorious shalt thou be; thy name
Immortal; but, alas! thy time is nigh!”
At these prophetic words Sikander wept,
And from that ominous mountain hastened down.
After that Sikander journeyed on to the city of Kashán, where he fell sick, and in a few days, according to the oracle and the prophecy, expired. He had scarcely breathed his last, when Aristú, and Bilniyás the physician, and his family, entered Kashán, and found him dead. They beat their faces, and tore their hair, and mourned for him forty days.


14 Performance Evaluation
Introduction
Content in this chapter is available from Organizational Behavior and the Organizational Justice Wikipedia page.
EXPLORATION ACTIVITY
Two Performance Appraisal Interviews
Janet’s Performance Evaluation: “Janet, thanks for coming in. As you know, it’s that time of year again. I’ve been going over this performance appraisal form and have written in my evaluation. I’d like you to look it over and then sign it.”
Janet looked over her ratings, which were nearly all in the “satisfactory” range. Even the category of dependability was marked “satisfactory”; yet, it was Janet who came in on three different occasions to cover for workers in her group who were absent for one reason or another. Janet mentioned this issue to her boss, Ken.
“Well, Janet, you’re right and that’s exactly what I expect of my employees. You know this is your first year here and you can’t expect to reach the top in one jump. But I like your style and if you keep it up, who knows how far you’ll go.”
Twenty-four minutes after the interview began, Janet left, bewildered and disappointed. She had worked hard during her first year; in fact, she had gone the extra mile on a few occasions, and now she was more confused than ever about what was expected of her and what constituted good performance. “Maybe it just doesn’t pay to work hard.”
Ron’s Performance Evaluation: Two weeks before their scheduled interview, Mary asked Ron to review his goals and accomplishments for the last six months and to note any major changes in his job that had taken place during that period. In the meantime, Mary pulled out the file in which she had periodically recorded both positive and negative specific incidents over the last six months concerning Ron’s performance. She also reviewed the goals they had jointly set at the end of the last review and thought carefully about not only the possible goals for the next six months but longer-term development needs and goals that might be appropriate for Ron.
On the day of the interview, both Mary and Ron came well prepared to review the past six months as well as to think about and plan for the next performance period and beyond. The interview took nearly two hours. After candidly discussing Ron’s past performance and the extent to which both sides felt he had or had not accomplished the goals for that period, they began to focus on what should be accomplished in the future. The discussion caused both sides to make changes in their original evaluations and ideas about targets for the future. When it was over, Ron left more motivated than before and confident that even though he had areas in which he could improve, he had a bright future ahead of him if he continued to be motivated and work hard.
Performance Appraisal Systems
Performance appraisals are one of the most important and often one of the most mishandled aspects of management. Typically, we think of performance appraisals as involving a boss evaluating a subordinate. However, performance appraisals increasingly involve subordinates appraising bosses through a feedback process known as 360-degree feedback, where clients, colleagues, and supervisors all appraise the person being evaluated (Johnson, 2018).
Whether appraisals are done by subordinates, peers, customers, or superiors, the process itself is vital to the lifeblood of the organization. Performance appraisal systems provide a means of systematically evaluating employees across various performance dimensions to ensure that organizations are getting what they pay for. They provide valuable feedback to employees and managers, and they assist in identifying promotable people as well as problems. However, such appraisals are meaningless unless they are accompanied by an effective feedback system that ensures that the employee gets the right messages concerning performance.
Reward systems represent a powerful motivational force in organizations, but this is true only when the system is fair and tied to performance. Because a variety of approaches to appraising performance exists, managers should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each. In turn, an understanding of reward systems will help managers select the system best suited to the needs and goals of the organization.
A key management responsibility has always been to oversee and develop subordinates. In fact, it has been said that every manager is a human resource manager. Nowhere is this truer than with regard to evaluating and rewarding subordinates. Managers are consistently involved with employee training and development, monitoring employee performance, providing job-related feedback, and administering rewards.
In this chapter, we examine three interrelated aspects of the performance appraisal and reward process. As Figure 2 shows, this process moves from evaluating employee performance to providing adequate and constructive feedback to determining discretionary rewards. Where effort and performance are properly evaluated and rewarded, we would expect to see more stable and consistent job performance. On the other hand, where such performance is only evaluated intermittently or where the appraisal and review process is poorly done, we would generally see less consistent performance. We begin our discussion with a look at the nature of appraisals. We begin by examining three aspects of performance appraisal systems: (1) the uses of performance appraisals, (2) problems found in performance appraisals, and (3) methods for reducing errors in the appraisal system.
Uses of Performance Appraisals
In most work organizations, performance appraisals are used for a variety of reasons. These reasons range from improving employee productivity to developing the employees themselves. This diversity of uses is well documented in a study of why companies use performance appraisals. Traditionally, compensation and performance feedback have been the most prominent reasons organizations use performance appraisals.
Feedback to employees. Performance appraisals provide feedback to employees about quantity and quality of job performance. Without this information, employees have little knowledge of how well they are doing their jobs and how they might improve their work.
Self-development. Performance appraisals can also serve as an aid to employee self-development. Individuals learn about their strengths and weaknesses as seen by others and can initiate self-improvement programs (see discussion on behavioral self-management programs).
Reward systems. In addition, appraisals may form the bases of organizational reward systems—particularly merit-based compensation plans.
Personnel decisions. Performance appraisals serve personnel-related functions as well. In making personnel decisions, such as those relating to promotions, transfers, and terminations, they can be quite useful. Employers can make choices on the basis of information about individual talents and shortcomings. In addition, appraisal systems help management evaluate the effectiveness of its selection and placement functions. If newly hired employees generally perform poorly, managers should consider whether the right kind of people are being hired in the first place.
Training and development. Finally, appraisals can help managers identify areas in which employees lack critical skills for either immediate or future performance. In these situations, new or revised training programs can be established to further develop the company’s human resources.
It is apparent that performance appraisal systems serve a variety of functions in organizations. In light of the importance of these functions, it is imperative that the accuracy and fairness of the appraisal be paramount considerations in the evaluation of a system. Many performance appraisal systems exist. It is the manager’s job to select the technique or combination of techniques that best serves the particular needs (and constraints) of the organization. Before considering these various techniques, let us look at some of the more prominent problems and sources of error that are common to several of them.
Problems with Performance Appraisals
A number of problems can be identified that pose a threat to the value of appraisal techniques. Most of these problems deal with the related issues of the validity and reliability of the instruments or techniques themselves. Validity is the extent to which an instrument actually measures what it intends to measure, whereas reliability is the extent to which the instrument consistently yields the same results each time it is used. Ideally, a good performance appraisal system will exhibit high levels of both validity and reliability. If not, serious questions must be raised concerning the utility (and possibly the legality) of the system.
It is possible to identify several common sources of error in performance appraisal systems. These include: (1) central tendency error, (2) strictness or leniency error, (3) halo effect, (4) recency error, and (5) personal biases.
Central Tendency Error. It has often been found that supervisors rate most of their employees within a narrow range. Regardless of how people actually perform, the rater fails to distinguish significant differences among group members and lumps everyone together in an “average” category. This is called central tendency error and is shown in Figure 3. In short, the central tendency error is the failure to recognize either very good or very poor performers.
Strictness or Leniency Error. A related rating problem exists when a supervisor is overly strict or overly lenient in evaluations (see Figure 3). In college classrooms, we hear of professors who are “tough graders” or, conversely, “easy A’s.” Similar situations exist in the workplace, where some supervisors see most subordinates as not measuring up to their high standards, whereas other supervisors see most subordinates as deserving of a high rating. As with central tendency error, strictness error and leniency error fail to distinguish adequately between good and bad performers and instead relegate almost everyone to the same or related categories.
Halo Effect. The halo effect exists where a supervisor assigns the same rating to each factor being evaluated for an individual. For example, an employee rated above average on quantity of performance may also be rated above average on quality of performance, interpersonal competence, attendance, and promotion readiness. In other words, the supervisor cannot effectively differentiate between relatively discrete categories and instead gives a global rating.
These types of bias are based on our perceptions of others. The halo effect occurs when managers have an overly positive view of a particular employee. This can impact the objectivity of reviews, with managers consistently giving an employee high ratings and failing to recognize areas for improvement.
Whether positive or negative, we also have a natural tendency to confirm our preconceived beliefs about people in the way we interpret or recall performance, which is known as confirmatory bias.
For example, a manager may have a preconception that her male report is more assertive. This could cause her to recall instances more easily in which her report asserted his position during a meeting. On the other hand, she may perceive her female report to be less assertive, predisposing her to forget when the report suggested an effective strategy or was successful in a tough negotiation.
The halo effect is often a consequence of people having a similarity bias for certain types of people. We naturally tend to favor and trust people who are similar to us. Whether it’s people who also have a penchant for golf or people who remind us of a younger version of ourselves, favoritism that results from a similarity bias can give certain employees an unfair advantage over others. This can impact a team to the point that those employees may receive more coaching, better reviews and, as a result, more opportunities for advancement.
Recency Error. Oftentimes evaluators focus on an employee’s most recent behavior in the evaluation process. This is known as the recency error. That is, in an annual evaluation, a supervisor may give undue emphasis to performance during the past months—or even weeks—and ignore performance levels prior to this. This practice, if known to employees, leads to a situation where employees may “float” for the initial months of the evaluation period and then overexert themselves in the last few months or weeks prior to evaluation. This practice leads to uneven performance and contributes to the attitude of “playing the game.”
Personal Biases. Finally, it is not uncommon to find situations in which supervisors allow their own personal biases to influence their appraisals.  Personal biases can interfere with the fairness and accuracy of an evaluation and are illegal in many situations.
Reducing Errors in Performance Appraisals
A number of suggestions have been advanced recently to minimize the effects of various biases and errors on the performance appraisal process.4 When errors are reduced, more accurate information is available for personnel decisions and personal development. These methods for reducing error include
- ensuring that each dimension or factor on a performance appraisal form represents a single job activity instead of a group of job activities.
- avoiding terms such as average, because different evaluators define the term differently.
- ensuring that raters observe subordinates on a regular basis throughout the evaluation period. It is even helpful if the rater takes notes for future reference.
- keeping the number of persons evaluated by one rater to a reasonable number. When one person must evaluate many subordinates, it becomes difficult to discriminate. Rating fatigue increases with the number of people rated.
- ensuring that the dimensions used are clearly stated, meaningful, and relevant to good job performance.
- training raters so they can recognize various sources of error and understand the rationale underlying the evaluation process.
Using mechanisms like these, better employee ratings that can have greater meaning both for the individual employee and the organization will result.
Techniques of Performance Appraisal
Organizations use numerous methods to evaluate personnel. We will summarize several popular techniques. Although countless variations on these themes can be found, the basic methods presented provide a good summary of the commonly available techniques. Following this review, we will consider the various strengths and weaknesses of each technique. Six techniques are reviewed here: (1) graphic rating scales, (2) critical incident technique, (3) behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), (4) behavioral observation scales, and (5) management by objectives.
Graphic Rating Scales
Certainly, the most popular method of evaluation used in organizations today is the graphic rating scale. One study found that 57 percent of the organizations surveyed used rating scales, and another study found the figure to be 65 percent. Although this method appears in many formats, the supervisor or rater is typically presented with a printed or online form that contains both the employee’s name and several evaluation dimensions (quantity of work, quality of work, knowledge of job, attendance). The rater is then asked to rate the employee by assigning a number or rating on each of the dimensions. An example of a graphic rating scale is shown in Table 1.
| A Sample of a Typical Graphic Rating Scale | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name ________________Dept. ______________Date _______________ | |||||
| Quantity of work | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Volume of acceptable work under normal conditions | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Quality of work | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Thoroughness, neatness, and accuracy of work | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Knowledge of job | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Clear understanding of the facts or factors pertinent to the job | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Personal qualities | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Personality, appearance, sociability, leadership, integrity | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Cooperation | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Ability and willingness to work with associates, supervisors, and subordinates toward common goal | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Dependability | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Conscientious, thorough, accurate, reliable with respect to attendance, lunch periods, reliefs, etc. | |||||
| Comments: | |||||
| Initiative | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Fair | Unsatisfactory |
| Earnestness in seeking increased responsibilities Self-starting, unafraid to proceed alone | |||||
| Comments: |
Table 1 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
By using this method, if we assume that evaluator biases can be minimized, it is possible to compare employees objectively. It is also possible to examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of a single employee by comparing scores on the various dimensions.
However, one of the most serious drawbacks of this technique is its openness to central tendency, strictness, and leniency errors. It is possible to rate almost everyone in the middle of the scale or, conversely, at one end of the scale. In order to control for this, some companies have assigned required percentage distributions to the various scale points. Supervisors may be allowed to rate only 10 percent of their people outstanding and are required to rate 10 percent unsatisfactory, perhaps assigning 20 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent to the remaining middle categories. By doing this, a distribution is forced within each department. However, this procedure may penalize a group of truly outstanding performers or reward a group of poor ones.
Critical Incident Technique
With the critical incident technique of performance appraisal, supervisors record incidents, or examples, of each subordinate’s behavior that led to either unusual success or unusual failure on some aspect of the job. These incidents are recorded in a daily or weekly log under predesignated categories (planning, decision-making, interpersonal relations, report writing). The final performance rating consists of a series of descriptive paragraphs or notes about various aspects of an employee’s performance (see Table 2).
| An Example of Critical Incident Evaluation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: Adapted from R. Daft and R. Steers, Organizations: A Micro/Macro Approach (Glenview, III.: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1986), p. 129. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following performance areas are designed to assist you in preparing this appraisal and in discussing an individual’s performance with her. It is suggested that areas of performance that you feel are significantly good or poor be documented below with specific examples or actions. The points listed are suggested as typical and are by no means all-inclusive. Examples related to these points may be viewed from either a positive or negative standpoint.
|
Table 2 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
The critical incident method provides useful information for appraisal interviews, and managers and subordinates can discuss specific incidents. Good qualitative information is generated. However, because little quantitative data emerge, it is difficult to use this technique for promotion or salary decisions. The qualitative output here has led some companies to combine the critical incident technique with one of the quantitative techniques, such as the rating scale, to provide different kinds of feedback to the employees.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales
An appraisal system that has received increasing attention in recent years is the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS). This system requires considerable work prior to evaluation but, if the work is carefully done, can lead to highly accurate ratings with high inter-rater reliability. Specifically, the BARS technique begins by selecting a job that can be described in observable behaviors. Managers and personnel specialists then identify these behaviors as they relate to superior or inferior performance.
An example of this is shown in Figure 4, where the BARS technique has been applied to the job of college professor. As shown, as one moves from extremely poor performance to extremely good performance, the performance descriptions, or behavioral anchors, increase. Oftentimes, six to ten scales are used to describe performance on the job. Figure 4 evaluates the professor’s organizational skills. Other scales could relate to the professor’s teaching effectiveness, knowledge of the material, availability to students, and fairness in grading. Once these scales are determined, the evaluator has only to check the category that describes what she observes on the job, and the employee’s rating is simultaneously determined. The BARS technique has several purported advantages. In particular, many of the sources of error discussed earlier (central tendency, leniency, halo) should be significantly reduced because raters are considering verbal descriptions of specific behaviors instead of general categories of behaviors, such as those used in graphic rating scales. In addition, the technique focuses on job-related behaviors and ignores less relevant issues such as the subordinate’s personality, race, or gender. This technique should also lead to employees being less defensive during performance appraisals, because the focus of the discussion would be actual measured behaviors, not the person. Finally, BARS can aid in employee training and development by identifying those domains needing most attention.
On the negative side, as noted above, considerable time and effort in designing the forms are required before the actual rating. Because a separate BARS is required for each distinct job, it is only cost-efficient for common jobs. Finally, because the technique relies on observable behaviors, it may have little applicability for such jobs in such areas as research science (and sometimes management), where much of the work is mental and relevant observable behaviors are difficult to obtain.
Behavioral Observation Scales
The behavioral observation scale (BOS) is similar to BARS in that both focus on identifying observable behaviors as they relate to performance. It is, however, less demanding of the evaluator. Typically, the evaluator is asked to rate each behavior on a scale from 1 to 5 to indicate the frequency with which the employee exhibits the behavior. Evaluation of an employee’s performance on a particular dimension is derived by summing the frequency ratings for the behaviors in each dimension.
For example, in Table 3 we can see an example of a form to evaluate a manager’s ability to overcome resistance to change. The rater simply has to circle the appropriate numbers describing observed behaviors and get a summary rating by adding the results. The BOS technique is easier to construct than the BARS and makes the evaluator’s job somewhat simpler. Even so, this is a relatively new technique that is only now receiving some support in industry.
| Example of a Behavioral Observation Scale for Managers: Overcoming Resistance to Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almost Never | Almost Always | ||||
| Source: Adapted from K. Wexley and G. Latham, Increasing Productivity Through Performance Appraisal, 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. | |||||
| 1. Describes the details of the change to subordinates | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2. Explains why the change is necessary | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3. Discusses how the change will affect the employee | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4. Listens to the employee’s concerns | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5. Asks the employee for help in making the change work | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6. If necessary, specifies the date for a follow-up meeting to respond to employee’s concerns | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Total: | 6–10 | 11–15 | 16–20 | 21–25 | 26–30 |
| Below adequate | Adequate | Full | Excellent | Superior |
Table 3 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Management by Objectives
A popular technique for evaluating employees who are involved in jobs that have clear quantitative output is management by objectives (MBO). Although the concept of MBO encompasses much more than just the appraisal process (incorporating an organization-wide motivation, performance, and control system), we will focus here on its narrower application to evaluating employee performance. MBO is closely related to the goal-setting theory of motivation.
Under MBO, individual employees work with their supervisor to establish goals and objectives for which they will be responsible during the coming year. These goals are stated in clear language and relate to tasks that are within the domain of the employee. An example of these goals for a sales representative is shown in Table 4. Following a specified period of time, the employee’s performance is compared to the preset goals to determine the extent to which the goals have been met or exceeded.
| MBO Evaluation Report for Sales Representative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals Categories | Goal | Actual Performance | Variance |
| 1. Number of sales calls | 40 | 38 | 95% |
| 2. Number of new customers contacted | 10 | 10 | 100% |
| 3. Number of customer complaints | 5 | 10 | 50% |
| 4. Sales of product #1 | 10,000 units | 11,000 units | 110% |
| 5. Sales of product #2 | 15,000 units | 14,000 units | 93% |
| 6. Sales of product #3 | 25,000 units | 30,000 units | 120% |
Table 4 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Several advantages of MBO have been observed. These include the ability to do better planning; improved motivation, because of knowledge of results; fairer evaluations, done on the basis of results rather than personality; improved commitment through participation; and improved supervisory skills in such areas as listening, counseling, and evaluating. On the negative side, however, MBO has been criticized because it emphasizes quantitative goals at the expense of qualitative goals and often creates too much paperwork. It is difficult to compare performance levels among employees because most are responsible for different goals. Sometimes the implementation of MBO goals are autocratic and therefore ineffective or even counterproductive. As discussed in the study of motivation, goals must be accepted to be effective. Finally, in order to be successful, MBO implementation must have constant attention and support from top management; MBO does not run itself. In the absence of this support, the technique loses legitimacy and often falls into disrepair.
ETHICS IN PRACTICE
Tesla’s Performance Review
At Tesla, the automotive giant, the standards are set extremely high for their employees. In 2017, Tesla conducted its annual performance reviews as it does each year. Due to the review process, the company sees both voluntary and involuntary departures. During the review process, the managers discuss “results that were achieved, as well as how those results were achieved” with their employees. Tesla also has a performance recognition and compensation program that includes equity rewards as well as promotions in some cases, along with the constructive feedback.
The departure of employees during the review period is not unique to Tesla; however, in 2017 there was a large exodus of approximately 700 employees following their employee reviews. Elon Musk, who recently has stepped down from the role of chairman and has been under scrutiny for his behavior, saw the media coverage of this news as “ridiculous.”
“You have two boxes of equal ability, and one’s much smaller, the big guy’s going to crush the little guy, obviously,” states Musk. “So, the little guy better have a heck of a lot more skill or he’s going to get clobbered. So that is why our standards are high . . . if they’re not high, we will die.”
Overall, approximately 17 percent of their employees were promoted, almost half in manufacturing. As Tesla continues to grow and develop new vehicles, it is consistently pushing the boundaries and pushing its employees to new limits. Performance reviews are of the highest importance for Tesla’s business to succeed; the company needs the best people with the best skills. It is constantly growing and attempting to “suck the labor pool dry” to fill positions at many of its locations and factories.
Comparison of Appraisal Techniques
It is important to consider which appraisal technique or set of techniques may be most appropriate for a given situation. Although there is no simple answer to this question, we can consider the various strengths and weaknesses of each technique. This is done in Table 6. It is important to keep in mind that the appropriateness of a particular appraisal technique is in part a function of the purpose for the appraisal. For example, if the purpose of the appraisal is to identify high potential executives, then assessment centers are more appropriate than rating scales.
| Major Strengths and Weaknesses of Appraisal Techniques | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating Scales | Critical Incidents | BARS | BOS | MBO | Assessment Centers | |
| Meaningful dimensions | Sometimes | Sometimes | Usually | Usually | Usually | Usually |
| Amount of time required | Low | Medium | High | Medium | High | High |
| Development costs | Low | Low | High | Medium | Medium | High |
| Potential for rating errors | High | Medium | Low | Low | Low | Low |
| Acceptability to subordinates | Low | Medium | High | High | High | High |
| Acceptability to superiors | Low | Medium | High | High | High | High |
| Usefulness for allocating rewards | Poor | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
| Usefulness for employee counseling | Poor | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Usefulness for identifying promotion potential | Poor | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
Table 6 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
As would be expected, the easiest and least expensive techniques are also the least accurate. They are also the least useful for purposes of personnel decisions and employee development. Once again, it appears that managers and organizations get what they pay for. If performance appraisals represent an important aspect of organizational life, clearly the more sophisticated—and more time-consuming—techniques are preferable. If, on the other hand, it is necessary to evaluate employees quickly and with few resources, techniques such as the graphic rating scale may be more appropriate. Managers must make cost-benefit decisions about the price (in time and money) they are willing to pay for a quality performance appraisal system.
Feedback
As previously noted, feedback represents a critical variable in determining the success or failure of the goal-setting process. The same applies to the performance appraisal process. Without effective knowledge of results, the motivational impact of the appraisal process is lost. To better understand how feedback in work settings affects employee behavior, consider the model shown in Figure 5.
Feedback comes from many sources, including the task at hand, the supervisor, coworkers, and oneself. This input is then cognitively evaluated by the employee, who considers such factors as the perceived accuracy of the feedback (e.g., does the employee consider the information to be correct?); the credibility of the source of the feedback (e.g., does the employee trust the supervisor’s opinion?); the employee’s opinion concerning the fairness of the evaluation-process; the extent to which the feedback met the employee’s expectations (e.g., does the employee think she could have done better?); and the reasonableness of the performance standards.
If one or more of these evaluations prove negative (for example, the employee believes she is being unfairly evaluated), the credibility of the feedback is dismissed, and the employee may increase her resistance to task effort. On the other hand, where the feedback is accepted, it reinforces the employee’s direction, effort on the task, and persistence on the task. Thus, although feedback is essential, it is the nature and quality of the feedback that ultimately determines employee response.
Reward Systems in Organizations
After a company has designed and implemented a systematic performance appraisal system and provided adequate feedback to employees, the next step is to consider how to tie available corporate rewards to the outcomes of the appraisal. Behavioral research consistently demonstrates that performance levels are highest when rewards are contingent upon performance. Thus, in this section, we will examine five aspects of reward systems in organizations: (1) functions served by reward systems, (2) bases for reward distribution, (3) intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards, (4) the relationship between money and motivation and, finally, (5) pay secrecy.
Functions of Reward Systems
Reward systems in organizations are used for a variety of reasons. It is generally agreed that reward systems influence the following:
- Job effort and performance. Following expectancy theory, employees’ effort and performance would be expected to increase when they felt that rewards were contingent upon good performance. Hence, reward systems serve a very basic motivational function.
- Attendance and retention. Reward systems have also been shown to influence an employee’s decision to come to work or to remain with the organization. This was discussed in the previous chapter.
- Employee commitment to the organization. It has been found that reward systems in no small way influence employee commitment to the organization, primarily through the exchange process. That is, employees develop ties with organizations when they perceive that the organization is interested in their welfare and willing to protect their interests. This exchange process is shown in Figure 6 To the extent that employee needs and goals are met by the company, we would expect commitment to increase.
- Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has also been shown to be related to rewards, as discussed in the previous chapter. Edward E. Lawler, a well-known researcher on employee compensation, has identified four conclusions concerning the relationship between rewards and satisfaction: (1) satisfaction with a reward is a function of both how much is received and how much the individual feels should have been received; (2) satisfaction is influenced by comparisons with what happens to others, especially one’s coworkers; (3) people differ with respect to the rewards they value; and (4) some rewards are satisfying because they lead to other rewards.
- Occupational and organizational choice. Finally, the selection of an occupation by an individual, as well as the decision to join a particular organization within that occupation, are influenced by the rewards that are thought to be available in the occupation or organization. To prove this, simply look at the classified section of your local newspaper and notice how many jobs highlight beginning salaries.
Reward systems in organizations have far-reaching consequences for both individual satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. Unfortunately, there are many instances where reward systems have been distorted to punish good performance or inhibit creativity. Consider, for example, the Greyhound Bus Company driver who was suspended for 10 days without pay for breaking a company rule against using a CB radio on his bus. The bus driver had used the radio to alert police that his bus, with 32 passengers on board, was being hijacked by an armed man. The police arrested the hijacker, and the bus driver was suspended for breaking company rules. Such incidents hardly encourage employees to focus their efforts on responsible performance.
Bases for Reward Distribution
A common reality in many contemporary work organizations is the inequity that exists in the distribution of available rewards. One often sees little correlation between those who perform well and those who receive the greatest rewards. At the extreme, it is hard to understand how a company could pay its president $10 to $20 million per year (as many large corporations do) while it pays its secretaries and clerks less than $20,000. Each works approximately 40 hours per week, and both are important for organizational performance. Is it really possible that the president is 1,000 times more important than the secretary, as the salary differential suggests?
How do organizations decide on the distribution of available rewards? These are questions of justice in organizations. Justice or fairness refers refers to the idea that an action or decision is morally right, which may be defined according to ethics, religion, fairness, equity, or law. People are naturally attentive to the justice of events and situations in their everyday lives, across a variety of contexts. There are three basic forms of organizational justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional. Distributive justice is conceptualized as the fairness associated with decision outcomes and distribution of resources. The outcomes or resources distributed may be tangible (e.g., pay) or intangible (e.g., praise). Perceptions of distributive justice can be fostered when outcomes are perceived to be equally applied. Distributive justice may involve one or more of three different rationales for how resources are distributed: equity, equality and need. Equity focuses more on rewarding employees based on their contribution, and thus can be can be viewed as capitalist justice: the ratio of one’s inputs to one’s outcomes. Equality on the other hand provides each employee with the same compensation. Finally, need is providing a benefit based on one’s personal requirement. Procedural justiceis defined as the fairness of the processes that lead to outcomes. When individuals feel that they have a voice in the process or that the process involves characteristics such as consistency, accuracy, ethicality, and lack of bias then procedural justice is enhanced. Procedural justice is the appropriateness of the allocation process. It includes six main points which are consistency, lack of bias, accuracy, representation of all concerned, correction and ethics. Procedural justice seems to be essential to maintaining institutional legitimacy. What is more interesting is that procedural justice affects what workers believe about the organization as a whole. Interactional justice refers to the treatment that an individual receives as decisions are made and can be promoted by providing explanations for decisions and delivering the news with sensitivity and respect. Interactional justice focuses on who gets attention and when. It includes interpersonal relationships and access to information. All three forms of justice are perceptual, that is they are tied to what people think and feel is happening around them. Thus, justice is one important tool leaders have to motivate the members of their groups.
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards
The variety of rewards that employees can receive in exchange for their contributions of time and effort can be classified as either extrinsic or intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are external to the work itself. They are administered externally—that is, by someone else (usually management). Examples of extrinsic rewards include wages and salary, fringe benefits, promotions, and recognition and praise from others.
On the other hand,intrinsic rewards represent those rewards that are related directly to performing the job. In this sense, they are often described as “self-administered” rewards, because engaging in the task itself leads to their receipt. Examples of intrinsic rewards include feelings of task accomplishment, autonomy, and personal growth and development that come from the job.
In the literature on employee motivation, there is considerable controversy concerning the possible interrelationship of these two kinds of reward. It has been argued (with some research support) that extrinsic rewards tend to drive out the positive effects of some intrinsic rewards and can lead to unethical behavior. Consider, for example, the child next door who begs you to let her help you wash your car. For a young child, this task can carry considerable excitement (and intrinsic motivation). Now, consider what happens on a Saturday afternoon when you need your car washed but the child has other options. What do you do? You offer to pay her this time to help wash your car. What do you think will happen the next time you ask the neighbor to help you wash the car for free? In other words, when extrinsic rewards such as pay are tied closely to performance (called performance-reward contingency), intrinsic motivation—the desire to do a task because you enjoy it—can decrease.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that because extrinsic rewards are administered by sources external to the individual, their effectiveness rests on accurate and fair monitoring, evaluating, and administration. Implementation can be expensive, and the timing of performance and rewards may not always be close. For example, you may perform well on a task, but unless there is a way for that to be noticed, evaluated, recorded, and rewarded within a reasonable time frame, an extrinsic reward may not have a significant impact. Intrinsic rewards are a function of self-monitoring, evaluation, and administration; consequently, these rewards often are less costly and more effectively administered. For example, even if no one else notices or rewards you for superior performance on a task, you can still reward yourself with a mental pat on the back for a job well done or a sense of satisfaction for overcoming a challenge. The implications of this finding will become apparent when exploring efforts to enrich employees’ jobs.
Money and Motivation: A Closer Look
A recurring debate among managers focuses on the issue of whether money is a primary motivator. Some argue that most behavior in organizational settings is motivated by money (or at least monetary factors), whereas others argue that money is only one of many factors that motivate performance. Whichever group is correct, we must recognize that money can have important motivational consequences for many people in many situations. In fact, money serves several important functions in work settings. These include serving as (1) a goal or incentive, (2) a source of satisfaction, (3) an instrument for gaining other desired outcomes, (4) a standard of comparison for determining relative standing or worth, and (5) a conditional reinforcer where its receipt is contingent upon a certain level of performance. Even so, experience tells us that the effectiveness of pay as a motivator varies considerably. Sometimes there seems to be an almost direct relationship between pay and effort, whereas at other times no such relationship is found. Why? Lawler suggests that certain conditions must be present in order for pay to act as a strong motivator:
- Trust levels between managers and subordinates must be high.
- Individual performance must be able to be accurately measured.
- Pay rewards to high performers must be substantially higher than those to poor performers.
- Few, if any, negative consequences for good performance must be perceived.
Under these conditions, a climate or culture is created in which employees have reason to believe that significant performance-reward contingencies truly exist. Given this perception (and assuming the reward is valued), we would expect performance to be increased.
Individual and Group Incentive Plans
We now turn to an examination of various employee incentive programs used by organizations. First, we consider the relative merits of individuals versus group incentive programs. Next, we focus on several relatively new approaches to motivation and compensation. Finally, we suggest several guidelines for effective incentive systems.
Individual versus Group Incentives
Companies usually have choices among various compensation plans and must make decisions about which is most effective for its situation. Incentive systems in organizations are usually divided into two categories on the basis of whether the unit of analysis—and the recipient of the reward—is the individual or a group. Among individual incentive plans, several approaches can be identified, including merit-based compensation (commonly known as merit compensation), piece-rate incentive programs (where people are paid according to the quantity of output), bonus systems of various sorts, and commissions. In each case, rewards are tied fairly directly to the performance level of the individual.
Although individual incentive systems often lead to improved performance, some reservations have been noted. In particular, these programs may at times lead to employees competing with one another, with undesirable results. For instance, department store salespeople on commission may fight over customers, thereby chasing the customers away. After all, customers don’t care who they deal with, only that the service is good. Second, these plans typically are resisted by unions, which prefer compensation to be based on seniority or job classification. Third, where quality control systems are lax, individual incentives such as piece rates may lead employees to maximize units of output while sacrificing quality. And, finally, in order for these programs to be successful, an atmosphere of trust and cooperation is necessary.
In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, many companies have turned to group or organizational incentive plans. Group incentive programs base at least some of an employee’s rewards on group or organization performance. Hence, employees are encouraged to cooperate with one another and with the corporation so that all employees can benefit. Programs such as profit-sharing or gain-sharing plans (discussed below) are designed to tie the employees’ future rewards and prosperity to that of the company and reduce the age-old antagonism between the two. The results are often dramatic.
Chapter Review Questions
- Identify the various functions of performance appraisals. How are appraisals used in most work organizations?
- What are some problems associated with performance appraisals?
- Define validity and reliability. Why are these two concepts important from a managerial standpoint?
- How can errors in appraisals be reduced?
- Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the various techniques of performance appraisal.
- Discuss the role of feedback in employee performance.
- What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards?
- Identify the major bases of reward distribution.
- How does money influence employee motivation?
- Discuss the relative merits of individual and group incentive programs.
- Describe the benefits and drawbacks of several of the new approaches to reward systems. Which ones do you feel would be most effective in work organizations?
References
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Fombrum, C. J., & Laud, R. L. (1988). Strategic Issues in Performance Appraisal Theory and Practice. Personnel, 601(6), 23–31.
Frank, F. D., Bracken, D. W., & Smith, M. R. (1988, March). Beyond Assessment Centers. Training and Development Journal, 65–67.
Johnson, S. (2018, July 1). Tips on Evaluating your Boss. Chron. https://work.chron.com/tips-evaluating-boss-7179.html
Korosec, K. (2017, October 14). Tesla Fires Hundreds of Workers After Their Annual Performance Review. Fortune. http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/tesla-fires-employees/
Lawler, E. E. (1976). New Approaches to Pay Administration. Personnel, 5, 11–23.
Lawler, E. E. (1983, April). The Design of Effective Reward Systems. Technical Report, University of Southern California.
Lawler, E. E. (2001). Rewarding Excellence. Jossey Bass.
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Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Valentine, S. R. (2014). Human Resource Management, 14th ed. Cengage Learning.
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a process through which feedback from an employee's subordinates, colleagues, and supervisor(s), as well as a self-evaluation by the employee themselves is gathered.
A system that provides a means of systematically evaluating employees across various performance dimensions to ensure that organizations are getting what they pay for.
The failure to recognize either very good or very poor performers and provide indistinguishable ratings across all employees (i.e., all employees receive moderate ratings).
Errors in rating whereby an evaluator either provides uniformly low (strictness) or uniformly high (leniency) ratings of employees.
A supervisor assigning the same rating to each factor or category being evaluated for an individual.
Occurs when, in an evaluation, a supervisor may give undue emphasis to performance during the past months—or even weeks—and ignore performance levels prior to this.
Biases including liking or disliking for someone, as well as racial and sexual biases. Personal biases can interfere with the fairness and accuracy of an evaluation and are illegal in many situations.
A performance appraisal technique where the supervisor or rater is typically presented with a printed or online form that contains both the employee’s name and several evaluation dimensions (quantity of work, quality of work, knowledge of job, attendance). The rater is then asked to rate the employee by assigning a number or rating on each of the dimensions.
Critical incident technique- A technique where supervisors record incidents, or examples, of each subordinate’s behavior that led to either unusual success or unusual failure on some aspect of the job.
A system that requires considerable work prior to evaluation but, if the work is carefully done, can lead to highly accurate ratings with high inter-rater reliability.
Identifies observable behaviors as they relate to performance and is less demanding of the evaluator.
Closely related to the goal-setting theory of motivation.
the idea that an action or decision is morally right, which may be defined according to ethics, religion, fairness, equity, or law.
the fairness associated with decision outcomes and distribution of resources.
fairness of the processes that lead to outcomes.
refers to the treatment that an individual receives as decisions are made
Rewards external to the work itself (e.g., wages, salary, benefits, titles, recognition).
rewards that are related directly to performing the job (e.g., autonomy, growth, feelings of accomplishment, etc.)


98 Byzantium
William Butler Yeats
The unpurged images of day recede;
The Emperor’s drunken soldiery are abed;
Night resonance recedes, night walkers’ song
After great cathedral gong;
A starlit or a moonlit dome[2] disdains
All that man is,
All mere complexities,
The fury and the mire of human veins.
Before me floats an image, man or shade,
Shade more than man, more image than a shade;
For Hades’ bobbin bound in mummy-cloth
May unwind the winding path;[3]
A mouth that has no moisture and no breath
Breathless mouths may summon;
I hail the superhuman;
I call it death-in-life and life-in-death.
Miracle, bird or golden handiwork,
More miracle than bird or handiwork,
Planted on the star-lit golden bough,
Can like the cocks of Hades crow,[4]
Or, by the moon embittered, scorn aloud
In glory of changeless metal
Common bird or petal
And all complexities of mire or blood.
At midnight on the Emperor’s pavement flit
Flames that no faggot[5] feeds, nor steel has lit,
Nor storm disturbs, flames begotten of flame,
Where blood-begotten spirits come
And all complexities of fury leave,
Dying into a dance,
An agony of trance,
An agony of flame that cannot singe a sleeve.[6]
Astraddle on the dolphin’s mire and blood,
Spirit after Spirit! The smithies break the flood.
The golden smithies of the Emperor![7]
Marbles of the dancing floor
Break bitter furies of complexity,
Those images that yet
Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented[8] sea.
— 1933
- In “Sailing to Byzantium,” written four years earlier in 1926, Yeats expresses his desire to be reincarnated as a work of art, a golden bird, living in sixth-century Byzantium (now Istanbul), his ideal city. In this poem, he imagines he has achieved his dream, and he watches as other souls are purified. ↵
- Of the sprawling Greek Orthodox basilica, St. Sophia (now a museum). ↵
- After death, when the soul is in Hades (the underworld), the bobbin or spool or gyre of life may unwind, in preparation to enter the realm of pure spirit. ↵
- To announce a reincarnation. ↵
- A bundle of sticks tied together, used to fuel fire. ↵
- Here Yeats describes the ritual process whereby the mortal soul is purified to render it immortal. ↵
- Overwhelmed by the number of sprits who come on the backs of dolphins, which in Greek mythology carried souls to the Isles of the Blessed, the goldsmiths call a halt to the purification process, unable to accommodate any more, for now. ↵
- From the ringing of the gong, the funeral bell. ↵


30 Homework Problems
Homework
The list below is the list of homework problems in Edfinity. The numbering is the same. You can click on a problem, and it will take you to the relevant section of the book!
- Which ions are important in understanding neuron function
- Direction of charge flow and current.
- How much charge in a defibrillator?
- How long is a lightning bolt?
- What are the properties of an ideal battery?
- Charge stored on a capacitor.
- Bookshelf capacitor.
- Capacitor with neoprene.
- What does capacitance depend upon?
- Voltage in defibrillator.
- Resistance in defibrillator.
- Simple circuit.
- Resistance in extension cords.
- Truck starter motor.
- Current from electric appliances.
- Battery life-time.
- Adding current.
- Two equations with two unknowns.
- Three equations with three unknowns.


The White Wampum
Dawendine
There’s a spirit on the river, there’s a ghost upon the shore,
They are chanting, they are singing through the starlight evermore,
As they steal amid the silence,
And the shadows of the shore.
You can hear them when the Northern candles light the Northern sky,
Those pale, uncertain candle flames, that shiver, dart and die,
Those dead men’s icy finger tips,
Athwart the Northern sky.
You can hear the ringing war-cry of a long-forgotten brave
Echo through the midnight forest, echo o’er the midnight wave,
And the Northern lanterns tremble
At the war-cry of that brave.
And you hear a voice responding, but in soft and tender song;
It is Dawendine’s spirit singing, singing all night long;
And the whisper of the night wind
Bears afar her Spirit song.
And the wailing pine trees murmur with their voice attuned to hers,
Murmur when they ‘rouse from slumber as the night wind through them stirs;
And you listen to their legend,
And their voices blend with hers.
There was feud and there was bloodshed near the river by the hill;
And Dawendine listened, while her very heart stood still:
Would her kinsman or her lover
Be the victim by the hill?
Who would be the great unconquered? who come boasting how he dealt
Death? and show his rival’s scalplock fresh and bleeding at his belt.
Who would say, “O Dawendine!
Look upon the death I dealt?”
And she listens, listens, listens—till a war-cry rends the night,
Cry of her victorious lover, monarch he of all the height;
And his triumph wakes the horrors,
Kills the silence of the night.

And the girl arises softly, softly slips toward the shore;
Loves she well the murdered brother, loves his hated foeman more,
Loves, and longs to give the wampum;
And she meets him on the shore.
“Peace,” she sings, “O mighty victor, Peace! I bring thee wampum white.
Sheathe thy knife whose blade has tasted my young kinsman’s blood to-night
Ere it drink to slake its thirsting,
I have brought thee wampum white.”
Answers he, “O Dawendine!
“Dawendine, for thy singing, for thy suing, war shall cease;
For thy name, which speaks of dawning, Thou shalt be the dawn of peace;
For thine eyes whose purple shadows tell of dawn,
My hate shall cease.
“Dawendine, Child of Dawning, hateful are thy kin to me;
Red my fingers with their heart blood, but my heart is red for thee:
Dawendine, Child of Dawning,
Wilt thou fail or follow me?”
And her kinsmen still are waiting her returning from the night,
Waiting, waiting for her coming with her belt of wampum white;
But forgetting all, she follows,
Where he leads through day or night.
There’s a spirit on the river, there’s a ghost upon the shore,
And they sing of love and loving through the starlight evermore,
As they steal amid the silence,
And the shadows of the shore.