This article provides a behavioral systems approach to improve operational performance in health and human service organizations. This article provides six performance truths that are relevant to any organization and a case study from a community mental health network of agencies. A comprehensive analysis, as described here, will help health and human service leaders identify the critical areas in which to focus improvement efforts to better achieve their organizational mission.
Arco, L. ( 1997). Improving program outcome with process-based feedback . Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 17, 37-64.
2.
Austin, J. ( 2000). Performance analysis and performance diagnostics. In J. Austin & J. E. Carr (Eds.), Handbook of applied behavior analysis (pp. 321-349). Reno, NV: Context Press.
3.
Brethower, D.M. ( 1982). The total performance system. In R. M. O’Brien, A. M. Dickinson, & M. P. Rosow (Eds.), Industrial behavior modification: A management handbook (pp. 350-369). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
4.
Brethower, D.M. ( 2000). A systematic view of enterprise: Adding value to performance . Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20, 165-190.
5.
Brethower, D.M. ( 2001). Managing a person as a system. In L. J. Hayes, J. Austin, R. Houmanfar, & M. C. Clayton (Eds.), Organizational change (pp. 89-105). Reno, NV: Context Press.
6.
Brethower, D., & Smalley, K. ( 1998). Performance-based instruction: Linking training to business results. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer.
7.
Campbell, S., & Kleiner, B.H. ( 2001). New developments in re-engineering organisations. Management Research News, 24(3/4), 5-8. Retrieved May 7, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global (Document ID: 290370891).
8.
Cook, T., & Dixon, M.R. ( 2005). Performance feedback and probabilistic bonus contingencies among employees in a human service organization. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 25(3), 45-63.
9.
Dams, P. ( 2001). A systems approach to designing an internship model that benefits the sponsoring organization. ProQuest Information & Learning . Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: Sciences and Engineering, 62, 2980.
10.
Dams, P. ( 2010). Kick-starting systems change: The best-worst exercise . OBM Network Newsletter, 24(1). Retrieved from http://www.obmnetwork.com/publications/obm_network_newsletter/issues
Diener, L.H., McGee, H.M., & Miguel, C.F. ( 2009). An integrated approach for conducting a behavioral systems analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 29, 108-135.
13.
Friedman, T.L. ( 2007). The world is flat 3.0: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Picador.
Gravina, N., VanWagner, M., & Austin, J. ( 2008). Increasing physical therapy equipment preparation using task clarification, feedback and environmental manipulations. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 28, 110-122.
16.
Langeland, K.L., Johnson, C.M., & Mawhinney, T.C. (1998). Improving staff performance in a community mental health setting: Job analysis, training, goal setting, feedback, and years of data. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 18, 21-43.
Malott, R.W. ( 1989). The achievement of evasive goals: Control by rules describing contingencies that are not direct acting. In S. C. Hayes (Ed.), Rule-governed behavior: Cognition, contingencies, and instructional control (pp. 269-324). New York, NY: Plenum.
19.
Methot, L.L., Williams, W.L., Cummings, A., & Bradshaw, B. ( 1996). Measuring the effects of a manager-supervisor training program through the generalized performance of managers, supervisors, front-line staff and clients in a human service setting. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 16, 3-34.
20.
Redmon, W.K., & Agnew, J.L. ( 1991). Organizational behavioral analysis in the United States: A view from the private sector. In P. A. Lamal (Ed.), Behavioral analysis of societies and cultural practices (pp. 125-139). New York, NY: Hemisphere.
21.
Redmon, W.K., & Wilk, L.A. ( 1991). Organizational behavior analysis in the United States: Public sector organizations. In P. A. Lamal (Ed.), Behavior analysis of societies and cultural practices (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Hemisphere.
22.
Reid, D.H. ( 1992). The need to train more behavior analysts to be better applied researchers [Special issue]. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,25, 97-99.
23.
Rummler, G.A. ( 2001). Performance logic: The organization performance Rosetta stone. In L. J. Hayes, J. Austin, R. Houmanfar, & M. C. Clayton (Eds.), Organizational change (pp. 111-132). Reno, NV: Context Press.
24.
Rummler, G.A. ( 2004). Serious performance consulting: According to Rummler . Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Improvement.
25.
Rummler, G.A., & Brache, A.P. ( 1995). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
26.
Rummler, G.A., Ramias, A.J., & Rummler, R.A. ( 2009). White space revisited: Creating value through process . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .
27.
Schell, R.M. ( 1998). Organizational behavior management: Applications with professional staff. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management , 18, 157-171.
28.
Strouse, M.C., Carroll-Hernandez, T.A., Sherman, J.A., & Sheldon, J.B. ( 2003). Turning over turnover: The evaluation of a staff scheduling system in a community-based program for adults with developmental disabilities . Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 23, 45-63.
29.
Sulzer-Azaroff, B. ( 2000). Of eagles and worms: Changing behavior in a complex world . Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20, 139-163.
30.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2007). HHS annual plan: FY 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from http://www.hhs.gov/budget/07budget/FY2007AnnualPlan.pdf
31.
Williams, W.L., Di Vittorio, T., & Hausherr, L. ( 2002). A description and extension of a human services management model. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 22, 47-71.
