Case Study 2 - Pushing Paper

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|[pic] |Case Study 2-1: Pushing Papers Can be Fun | Case Synopsis The chief of police in a large city government describes the problem of getting his officers to do paperwork. The officers enjoy working with the public and apprehending criminals, not sitting at a desk. The paperwork is boring, but can make the difference in convictions. The Chief has no financial rewards (budget crunch) and promotions are determined by seniority, not the quality of paperwork. Officers were trained to perform street work, not fill out forms. Arrests, not paperwork, get noticed. Conviction success is due to too many factors to be a performance criterion. Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. What performance problems is the captain trying to correct? The main problem in this case is poor police reporting of incidents, as well as the resulting lost cases in court. 2. Use the MARS model of individual behaviour and performance to diagnose the possible causes of the unacceptable behaviour. Motivation. There are several facts that suggest that the poor paperwork is due to lack of motivation. First, officers come into this profession because they want to work with the public and catch criminals, not sit in an office filling out reports. Thus, the paperwork task does not fulfill their needs for personal growth. Second, social rewards (praise, recognition) result from the outside activities, not paperwork. Third, financial rewards do not encourage people to do paperwork. Promotions are based on seniority, so they motivate officers to stay with the force, not to complete paperwork. Competitions did not work, either. Ability. It isn’t certain that officers are able to complete the paperwork task well enough. They don’t seem to receive any training in this area. However, the

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