David Fender
MGMT 321-800
February 21, 2010
Boston Duck Case Study
Swim with the sharks and live

Boston Duck Tours is a success story founded by a disgruntled investment banker manager. Equity theory explains the reason for Andrew Wilson deciding to launch the venture. Working endless hours in a pressure intensive environment of investment and feeling that he was not being paid properly for his output input ratio Wilson not only made a career change but made a leap of faith into entrepreneurialism. Underpayment inequity is defined as when a person believes that he is not receiving the outcomes given his inputs and efforts.

Remedies of underpayment inequity have been noted to be a lowering of a person’s inputs such as decreasing work hours or lowering the effort or being absent or asking for compensation increases. Inequity involves a person and a referent; it is not applied in isolation. Leaving the employer is one remedy noted.

Wilson’s experience with the investment banking industry likely instilled the need to implement the equity theory principle at Boston Duck Tours. Most notably, Wilson wants to ensure his employees are equitably treated insofar as their outcomes and inputs are in equilibrium. Top performers are attracted to deliver their best performance if their outcomes are perceived to match their inputs.

One learning theory, operant conditioning theory, is present at Boston Duck Tours. Employees conducting the tours, a.k.a. conducktors, adorn themselves with costumes to make the tour more interesting to their customers. B.F. Skinner’s theory posits that people will learn to perform behaviors that lead to results that are desired. Perhaps the conducktors create and change their costumes or characters until they receive the results they want from their clients. Besides getting praise from customers these conducktors likely enjoy themselves and prefer this activity to an employment position that is deskbound or another monotonous occupation.

Another learning theory, social learning theory, is present at Boston Duck Tours. As employees have success other aspiring employees use vicarious learning to behave in similar ways that prove successful. Learning the historical facts and reciting stories that entertain clients requires attention and memory and delivery skills. Successful conducktors likely earn good tips from satisfied customers. Perhaps successful conducktors provide mentoring to new conducktors who aspire to earning good tips. Those interested in learning the way to making the most tips would follow vicarious learning techniques and copy and utilize the techniques of the most successful conducktors.

Goal-setting theory is present as part-time students will earn an extra $1 per hour if they continue employment for the duration of their employment contract. Although goals must be specific and difficult, in this example of motivating students to continue their employment to the end, the difficult aspect must be monotony of ticket-taking. Specificity is the duration of the contract. Motivating a worker to accomplish a routine monotonous task requires clever planning and use of a theory. Andrew Wilson must have discovered that an incremental $1 per hour was sufficient to motivate students and made the bonus effective retroactively upon achievement of the goal.

Positive reinforcement is used at Boston Duck Tours as Andrew Wilson provides year-round medical, dental, and life insurance, plus a 401(k) which is unusual for seasonal jobs. Organizational behavior modification (OB MOD) was also present in the early startup period. As operating losses threatened the existence of the company, the employees did the tasks necessary to keep the business “afloat”. Conducktors or tour guides would have job descriptions and expectations that did not include the tasks of painting, wiring, laying carpet, etc. But, faced with bankruptcy of the company or employment in a positive environment, Boston Duck Tours employees chose to change their behavior and accomplish the needful.

I have been a customer of Boston Duck Tours. My family visited Boston one summer and we took a tour. I was allowed to pilot the ship for about 10 minutes and was thrilled. The conducktor was entertaining and everyone enjoyed the experience.