Revisiting the Past and Selecting for the Future: An Introduction to Handbook of Organizational Performance: Foundations and Advances
The new handbook series shows where OBM is headed—now you have a menu of high-demand projects to sell.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Johnson et al. (2022) wrote the opening chapter for a new handbook series on organizational performance. The paper sets the stage for experts to map where behavior science can help businesses survive and grow.
It is not a study with participants. It is a roadmap that tells readers which OBM topics the handbook will cover next.
What they found
The authors found big gaps between what businesses need and what behavior analysts currently offer. They call for fresh OBM tools in areas like discipline, safety, and staff training.
How this fits with other research
Johnson et al. (2024) took the handbook’s challenge and ran with it. They show how to swap threat-based discipline for a performance-recovery model using OBM tactics.
Lerman (2024) also extends the same handbook vision. She gives a step-by-step plan for handing behavior-analytic tools to teachers, nurses, and police who have no ABA background.
Hagge et al. (2016) laid early groundwork. Their review on Response Deprivation is one of the building blocks the 2022 handbook later labels as ready for wider use.
Why it matters
If you lead OBM services, treat this chapter as your project list. The handbook flags discipline, safety, and cross-training as urgent needs. Start pilot projects in those spots. Pitch one small intervention that fills a gap your client keeps mentioning. Track data, then share results in your next report. You turn the handbook’s wish list into billable work.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pick one gap named in the paper—like fixing discipline—and pitch a pilot to your closest business contact.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Both business and behavior can be understood through the lens of variation and selection, with adaptive approaches prospering and other approaches perishing. The Handbook of Organizational Performance: Foundations and Advances series seeks to lay out the groundwork and direction for our field to prosper, as understood by many expert contributors in the field of organizational behavior management. Other worthwhile directions beyond the series are also noted, all guided by the notion that a science of behavior is not only possible, but also a critical missing component from the typical understanding of how to best operate a business so that it survives.
Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 2022 · doi:10.1080/01608061.2022.2029797