Faith In Your Tools Key To Better Performance: Study

A firm may not be able to afford the latest software or computers. But that may not impair the productivity of the workers, concludes a new study.

More important than the tools themselves is the belief in their effectiveness, says management specialist Dov Eden, professor at the Tel Aviv University (TAU) faculty of management.

“It was well documented with the M16 rifle in the Vietnam War,” said Eden.

“If the M16 fails a soldier and the other soldiers in the unit find out about it, commanders see high rates of demoralisation and poor combat performance in that unit,” he said.

“While offices and factories aren’t exactly war zones, we’ve learned from this new study that the faith individuals have in their tools may be just as important as the tools themselves.”

Eden’s advice may spare a vulnerable company the costs of expensive technology upgrades in these tough economic times or help companies smoothly transition through mergers.

Eden and colleagues split a group of 240 physics students in half. Both groups were able to access the same online tools on the course website, but the students in the test group were convincingly told how useful the tools were for course success.

These students significantly outperformed their peers on exams by about five points on a 100-point scale.

“Our emphasis on the superiority of the accompanying course website got students to believe in it and expect that it would work for them. By believing in the tools more, they used the tools more often and performed better in the course itself,” said Eden.

The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that managers can strengthen their workers’ belief in the utility of their tools to promote successful performance.

Eden notes that getting employees to believe in their resources can radically improve the transitions when companies go through mergers and acquisitions, especially when the different companies involved use different accounting and management systems.

His study will soon be published in the Journal of Management. (IANS)