J00633
EISSN 2231-279X
Impact Factor(GIF): 0.376
ISSN 2249-0280
INDIAN JOURNAL
OF
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
Volume – III
Issue – 3
July 2013
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. V. S. More
Ex-Dean Dept. of Commerce,
University of Pune, Pune
Director, Institute of Management &
Research, Nasik (India)
Associate Editors
Dr. Saroj Dash
Dr. Surendra Sisodia
Mr. Abdul Rahman
Assistant Editors
Ms. Swati Chauhan
Ms. Ashu Bhojwani
Managing Editor
Dr. Arif Anjum (India)
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Correspondence Address:
Indian Journal of Management Science,
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Website: www.scholarshub.net
Rohaizat bin Baharun
Department of Management
Faculty of Management
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Yasser Mahfooz, PhD
Department of Marketing,
College of Business Administration,
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Edhi Juwono
Perbanas Economics School for Management
Information Systems,
Indonesia
Dr.Mu.Subrahmanian
Professor & Head,
Department of Management Studies,
Naya Engineering College, Chennai
Prof. D. P. Singh
Delhi college of engineering,
Delhi
Dr. Nafis Alam,
School of Business,
University of Nottingham,
Malaysia
Michael Sunday Agba,
Department of Public Administration,
Federal Polytechnic,
Nigeria.
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part of the publication can be copied or reproduced without the permission of the publisher in any form.
EISSN 2231-279X – ISSN 2249-0280
INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
INDEX
PAGE
NO.
SN
TITLE
1.
The Application of Effective Coaching Techniques in Designing a Coaching Plan for
Performance Improvement in Graduate Assistants
01-07
Tracie V. Cooper & Donovan A. McFarlane (U
USA)
2.
A Hybrid Data Mining Approach to Construct the Target Customers Choice
Reference Model
08-15
Shih-Chih Chen & Ruei-Jr Tzeng (T
Taiwan)
3.
The Used of it Balanced Scorecard to Build the Performance Measurement Model of
Academic Information Systems (Case Study Academic Information System of Satya
Wacana)
16-22
Paskah Ika Nugroho, Prihanto Ngesti Basuki & Evi Maria (IIndonesia)
Increasing the Accountability of the Institution through the Whistle Blowing System
4.
Jony Oktavian Haryanto, Yefta Andi Kus Nugroho,
Rizal Edy Halim & Rizal Edwin Manansang (IIndonesia)
23-33
Agricultural TFP and R&D Spending in Iran
5.
Solmaz Shamsadini, Saeed Yazdani & Reza Moghaddasi (IIran)
34-41
Ranking Indian Domestic Banks with Interval Data – The Dea Application
6.
Dr. T. Subramanyam & Dr. R.V.Vardhan (IIndia)
42-47
7.
The Effects of Financial Reporting Quality on Stock Price Delay & Future Stock
Return
48-52
Azam Pouryousof, Hilda Shamsadini & Mina Abousaiedi (IIran)
Gold Price Movements in India and Global Market
8.
Shaik Saleem, Dr. M. Srinivasa Reddy & Shaik Karim (IIndia)
53-60
9.
The Kerala Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Fund Board – Social
Impact on Members
61-70
Dr. Abdul Nasar VP & Dr. Muhammed Basheer Ummathur (IIndia)
A Study of Socio Economic Condition of Child Labour Engaged in Rag-Picking at
10. Silchar
71-78
Shima Das, Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Bidhu Kanti Das (IIndia)
Stock Market Anomalies: Empirical Evidence from Weekend Effect on Sectoral
11. Indices of Indian Stock Market
79-85
Potharla Srikanth & P. Srilatha (IIndia)
12.
Internet Banking: Does it Really Impacts Bank’s Operating Performance
www.scholarshub.net
Rajni Bhalla (IIndia)
86-89
Vol.– III, Issue – 3, July 2013
INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
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THE APPLICATION OF EFFECTIVE COACHING TECHNIQUES
IN DESIGNING A COACHING PLAN FOR PERFORMANCE
IMPROVEMENT IN GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
Tracie V. Cooper,
Donovan A. McFarlane,
Faculty Support Coordinator
H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business
and Entrepreneurship
Nova Southeastern University,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Adjunct Professor of Marketing,
Nova Southeastern University
Adjunct Professor of Leadership Studies,
Bethune-Cookman University
Adjunct Professor of Business Administration,
Broward College
Visiting Professor of Management,
Keller Graduate School – DeVry University
Professor of Business Administration & Business
Research, Fredrick Taylor University
Faculty Blog Manager, Huizenga School of Business
Director, The Donovan Society, LLC, USA.
ABSTRACT
This paper examines effective coaching techniques that could potentially be incorporated into a coaching
plan to improve the performance of new-start graduate research assistants in an academic school and
department at a university. From the perspective of a supervisory or managerial capacity, the authors play
the role of the prospective “Coach” responsible for faculty support, and therefore attempt to meet the
requirements of this office by working collaboratively through and with hired work-study graduate students
who serve as graduate research assistants in an academic department and school at a university. The
opportunity for coaching unfolds in the scenario where four new start graduate students from the schools of
business and computer sciences are hired as research assistants in an academic department and must
effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently perform several tasks related to
research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of these graduate students. However,
blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty support coordinator
and professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational
culture, process protocol, work study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. This
presents an opportunity for coaching using several techniques to address familiarization, competence, and
motivational and work-process issues. Thus, examining the literature on effective coaching and coaching
techniques, the authors in a coaching capacity will develop, design, and implement a Coaching Plan or
program to address these competencies and work-needs-skills in this situation based on practical guidelines
or recommendations of previous research. This paper describes this opportunity for effective coaching and
presents relevant literature on coaching techniques and effectiveness, recommends a viable coaching plan
and resolution to identify issues, and draws conclusion based on what constitutes success or effectiveness
in real-life situations. Additionally, broader implications for coaching strategies and techniques applied to
real problems, opportunities, or issues in organizational contexts and examined.
Keywords: Coaching, Coaching plan, Coaching Techniques, International Coach Federation (ICF),
Motivation, Performance.
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
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Introduction:
Coaching is becoming more and more important as a process and performance improvement method and approach in
organizations across all fields. Coaching can be defined as “a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus
performance to improve” (Parsloe, 1999, p.8). Coaching effectiveness is what is important in today‟s organizations as coaching
becomes both a corrective process and action to address performance, behavioral, and other issues across organizational
boundaries, and more and more managers attune to the coaching process and its application. According to Parsloe (1999), “To
be a successful coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques
that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place” (p. 8). Managers or supervisors must use effective
coaching techniques that cater to individual and group, as well as organizations needs.
The International Coach Federation [ICF] (2011) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and
creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential” (p. 1). This definition takes a serviceprovision or orientation to coaching, and coaching is in fact based on service-philosophy to individuals and organizations with
the end result being to improve performance and productivity. Coaching is indeed a creative process and it is the responsibility
of the coach to ensure that creative techniques or methods are used to address different coachee needs. Coaching is especially
important in helping new hires or new organizational members to improve their present skills levels as they are coached by
experienced organizational members and managers to perform important tasks effectively and efficiently to meet organizational
goals. While this is the case, most application of coaching seems to be in contexts involving organizational members or
employees with significant time onboard, but lingering problems that affect attitude and work morale; hence, performance.
Literature Review:
The performance benefits of coaching are becoming more widely known and accepted and “coaching is [now] seen as having
clear and unique advantages, and is establishing itself alongside related activities, such as mentoring and counselling, as a key
development technique” (Phillips, 1996, p. 29). Coaching in organizational contexts fills several roles and confers several
benefits. According to the International Coach Federation [ICF] (2011) “Individuals who engage in a coaching partnership can
expect to experience fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decision making skills,
enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work and life roles” (p. 1). The
benefits gained from coaching depend on how well the coach uses effective techniques that cater to individual skills
development or developing top talent that will serve the organization (Hunt & Weintraub, 2011). The coaching interaction is an
important factor in considering coaching techniques as managers need to recognize that employees have a need to express
themselves as they influence organizational policy and decisions without authority.
According to Cohen and Bradford (2005) influence is important in human social interaction, and the coaching process involves
two-way influence, a process where the coach is influencing the coachee to make some form of change, progress, or
improvement; and a process where the coachee without vested managerial authority influences the views, decisions, and
strategies of the coach. Leadership coaching in organizations requires influence, and Wakefield (2006) argues that “Leadership
coaching is a vital tool for developing talent in organizations. Hunt and Weintraub (2011) certainly concur with this view.
Managers and supervisors who facilitate coaching must also recognize that both tasks and relationship are important in coaching
(Hunt & Weintraub, 2005). Thus, important concepts such as trust which functions to achieve influence and cooperation should be
integrated into the approach to coaching, especially where employees or coachees depend on their manager or coach to hone their
skills to maximize their performance and job security. According to Hunt and Weintraub (2005), “good relationships make it easier
to gain cooperation, it pays to be generous and engage in win-win exchanges” (p. 23). Managers and leaders who engage the
coaching process to address performance-related individual and organizational opportunities and challenges must build effective
relationships with their employees in order to facilitate progress and get results.
Wakefield (2006) suggests engaging the four P‟s that will help employees become more innovative problem solvers during the
coaching process. These four P‟s are: (i) partnering for technological collaboration; (ii) possibilities for turning necessity into
opportunity; (iii) perspective by providing opportunity for individuals to broaden their problem-solving skills and experiences;
and (iv) practicing innovation throughout the coaching process and the organization using total quality management (TQM).
Coaching is a social process and the coach must bear in mind that people are the most important of organizational assets.
According to Case and Kleiner (1993), this fact must be recognized before managers can begin coaching their employees
effectively. Case and Kleiner (1993) assert that there are many methods or techniques to facilitate coaching. With this
understanding, they argue that coaching is not a method, but a combination of methods or practices applying different tactics
and strategies that are used to guide employees towards maximizing their potential in organizational work settings. Case and
Kleiner (1993) list several techniques that they argue are coaching techniques: rewards, compensation, training, employee
development programs, goal setting, discipline, employee participation, and group participation problem solving.
Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005) describe coaching techniques from a goal-setting orientation. They believe that it is the
responsibility of the coach to help learners find a vision and the path towards achieving that vision. As such, coaching involves
techniques such as identifying, visioning, and motivation and must be effectively coordinated around timing. Megginson and
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Clutterbuck (2005) believe that effective coaching involves the ability to influence employees who are able to identify
individuals who have been “helpful” in their career and have influenced them in ways which contribute to success or
performing successfully in their organizational roles. The process of visioning as a technique in coaching can be used in many
situations, and is especially powerful in goal-setting. According to Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005), the core of effective
visioning is engaging all the learner‟s senses and inner emotion. This inner emotion affects the individual coachee‟s perceptions
and attitudes toward the coaching process. Visioning involves a process of visualization that asks questions such as: (a) where
do you want to be? (b) what do you see around you in terms of the environment and people? (c) how do you appear? (d) what
are you doing and why? and (e) how do you feel and why do you feel this way? Among other questions that attune the coachee
to the present situation, the need for change, and the goal or vision of what he or she wants to accomplish from the coaching
relationship or training are important.
Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005) believe that “Visioning is best used when the learner is relatively relaxed” (p. 12), and that
the technique requires the coach to engage the coachee to focus his or her whole consciousness into placing the self in a
possible future. This stands to reason, as coaching for performance improvement involves developing talent in the organization
to a certain optimum or to meet certain standards. Individuals and groups must be able to display certain levels of performance,
attitudes, work morale and skills to effectively increase productivity and organizational competitiveness. Therefore, the coach
must use this technique to foster a sense of potential and demonstrate to the coachee the ability to develop and apply the skills
to reach that potential in a reasonable time frame. Organizational rewards and compensation can be used as techniques that
supplement this process, and Case and Kleiner (1993) argue that these not only serve in the roles of feedback, but as motivators
since “everyone in an organization gives of his or her abilities and efforts in exchange for rewards given by the organization”
(p. 8). Thus, rewarding and compensating; the manner in which these are done as performance-based indices, can significantly
contribute to overall coaching effectiveness and success.
In coaching individuals to improve their performance in the work setting, coaches must focus on building those defined set of
business or work-related skills that will affect individuals‟ abilities to work independently, as well as part of teams and groups
(Butler, Forbes, & Johnson, 2008). As Case and Kleiner (1993) note, there are many methods or techniques of effective
coaching available to managers, but managers must be able to choose the best methods or techniques suited for particular
employees or subordinates. This requires remembering that people are individuals. Case and Kleiner (1993) argue that
coaching methods or techniques used must be refined or should be “changed in the event of continued poor morale and
performance to ensure that resources are not merely being wasted” (p. 10).
Contemporary techniques in coaching are being developed across various organizations by managers and leaders to address
individual and organization specific performance and challenges. This includes the increasing use of the telephone to facilitate
coaching. According to Gaskell (2006) and Sparrow (2006), as confidence and expertise grow in coaching as a development
intervention, the telephone option is being increasingly used as a viable alternative to face-to-face meeting for coaching.
Gaskell (2006) argues that telephone coaching is catching on because it is convenient and less expensive. Managers are
increasingly conducting one-to-one coaching over the telephone and are getting significant results. This means that telephone
coaching is becoming more and more popular, and there are different companies and individuals using this technique. Sparrow
(2006) shows how telephone coaching forms the basis of account manager development programs at Elizabeth Arden, cosmetic
giant company. According to Sparrow (2006), telephone coaching has been successfully used by this company‟s managers to
deal with professional and personal tensions in an effective manner.
Telephone coaching holds good promise as a technique because of its cost-saving advantage, flexibility and convenience as
managers can be in different locations while providing instructions to employees as to performance on various issues.
According to Gaskell (2006) “Telephone coaching can work because there is something powerful about the voice entering the
mind of the coachee more directly” (p. 24). The coach on the other side of the line must however be a very good communicator
since the absence of face-to-face interaction sometimes creates communication problems in similar scenarios. The use of
telephone coaching also gives consideration to other coaching techniques making use of different technologies including the
computer, videos, and other forms of applied communication techniques.
Coaching is a highly dynamic process whose techniques depends on the coaching scenario and needs of the coachee and
organization, the expertise and creativity of the coach, and the duration of the coaching and level of knowledge required. Other
factors also come into play as well. Coaching can be applied at different levels within an organization, and coaching for
leadership succession is becoming an importantly recognized need in large corporations and businesses. Whatever the coaching
purpose or the techniques used, the coach must bear in mind that he or she is dealing with individuals and that individuals are
unique and require different levels of training, communication, and assistance to improve their professional and personal skills.
Coaching involves influence and managers or supervisors responsible for coaching subordinates must develop the ability to
influence. This requires having technical expertise, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the understanding
that coaching does not mean control, but is a process of facilitating progress and opportunities for self-improvement. Coaching
requires setting clear goals, having objectives, developing an action plan, drafting a project schedule, giving employees
direction, giving reinforcement, keeping employees informed, resolving conflicts, delegating power, and promoting risk taking
where such has far more benefits than costs in the performance and personal improvement process (Case & Kleiner, 1993; see
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Appendix 1: Steps in Effective Coaching Plan).
Methodology:
This article examines effective coaching techniques that could potentially be incorporated into a coaching plan to improve the
performance of new-start graduate research assistants in an academic school and department at a university. Four new-start
graduate students from the schools of business and computer sciences were hired as research assistants in an academic
department and school of a university to effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently perform several
tasks related to research. From the perspective of a supervisory or managerial capacity, the authors play the role of the
prospective “Coach” responsible for faculty support, and therefore attempt to meet the requirements of this office by working
collaboratively through and with hired work-study graduate students who serve as graduate research assistants in an academic
department and school at a university.
The opportunity for coaching unfolds in the scenario where four new start graduate students from the schools of business and
computer sciences are hired as research assistants in an academic department and must effectively meet the needs of the faculty
in being able to competently perform several tasks related to research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of
these graduate students. However, blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty
support coordinator and professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational
culture, process protocol, work study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. This presents an opportunity for
coaching using several techniques to address familiarization, competence, and motivational and work-process issues. Thus,
examining the literature on effective coaching and coaching techniques, the authors in a coaching capacity will develop, design,
and implement a Coaching Plan or program to address these competencies and work-needs-skills in this situation based on
practical guidelines or recommendations of previous research. This article describes this opportunity for effective coaching and
presents relevant literature on coaching techniques and effectiveness, recommends a viable coaching plan and resolution to
identify issues, and draws conclusion based on what constitutes success or effectiveness in real-life situations. Additionally,
broader implications for coaching strategies and techniques applied to real problems, opportunities, or issues in organizational
contexts and examined.
The Coaching Opportunity:
Four new-start graduate students from the schools of business and computer sciences were hired as research assistants in an
academic department and school of a university to effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently
perform several tasks related to research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of these graduate students.
However, blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty support coordinator and
professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational culture, process protocol, work
study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. The job performance of graduate assistants requires them to be
competent in performing the basic functions in described Table 1 below.
Table 1: Graduate Assistant General Job Description
Assists department chairperson, faculty members or other professional staff members in college or
university, by performing any combination of following duties: Assists in library, develops teaching
materials, such as syllabi and visual aids, assists in laboratory or field research, prepares and gives
examinations, assists in student conferences, grades examinations and papers, and teaches lowerlevel courses. May be designated by duties performed, or equipment operated.
Source: CareerPlanner.com, (2011).
Different skills set and competence levels will require assistance in meeting some of the assigned tasks given to graduate
assistants by professors and faculty support coordinator. Generally, faculty support coordinators are responsible for training or
coaching graduate assistants in meeting their job roles and in becoming familiar with different aspects of their jobs related to
organizational culture and the tools and equipment they will use to meet their job roles. The need for proficiency in these areas
(Table 1) and becoming part of the organizational culture provide opportunities for coaching and the development of coaching
relationships. The coaching opportunities from graduate assistant jobs allow coaches not only to develop their own coaching
skills, but to coach these graduate assistants who may become future faculty support coordinators or faculty support trainers
and managers. Thus, the benefits can be seen immediately in performance as well as, as an investment in organizational future.
This coaching opportunity with graduate assistants provides for application of coaching skills and techniques on several levels.
The Coaching Plan:
The proposed Coaching Plan to address the opportunity of training these four graduate assistants to function at their maximum
and in an effective capacity will be based on “Solution-Focused Coaching”, which involves using a variety of techniques
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
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described above to facilitate their skills and abilities in effectively performing their job functions and assigned tasks. The
dominant techniques that that will be used include telephone coaching, rewarding and compensation, and what could be called
instructional-face-to-face coaching. A combination of techniques will be used according to the specific needs of these
individuals and their levels of skills. It is reasonable to assume that some of these graduate assistants will have differing skills
in terms of job-specific required competences and that their learning levels and communication skills might require unique
consideration in the application of coaching techniques. However, based on experience and the nature of their job functions,
instructional face-to-face coaching and telephone coaching are the core coaching techniques that will serve best to meet
coaching goals in both physical and virtual environments.
Instructional face-to-face coaching will probably be the most dominant techniques since the graduate assistants will mainly
need hands-on or technical skills to function in their current roles. For example, these graduate assistants must know how to
construct PowerPoint presentations, photocopy papers, scan and attached papers in emails, fax papers, use the Scantron, access
electronic databases for research and retrieval of articles and data, format papers for professional presentation and publication,
compile materials and folders for specific courses according to professors‟ request, and perform other related academic
functions which may require the use of programs not limited to Excel, Access, and other functions in Microsoft Office, and
even use statistical software such as SPSS and PSPP.
Instructional face-to-face coaching will be a daily on-the-job process where the faculty support coordinator or other qualified
and immediate supervisors in the department, including professors can coach graduate research assistants to improve their
current skills set and competences to meet their job requirements. This also provides opportunity to build lasting influence
relationships as these graduate assistants go on to further their education and even become faculty or future administrators.
Telephone coaching where the faculty support coordinator can provide instructions to graduate assistants in performing certain
job functions is an effective technique where face-to-face consultation is not an option. For example, at any specific time where
a faculty support manager or coordinator or supervisor over the graduate assistant is not present in the immediate office and a
graduate assistant needs direction in performing a task, for example scanning a document to email, a simple phone instructional
session could facilitate this. This also applies to more complex tasks which the graduate assistant might not be familiar with.
With experience and knowledge about all the required tasks and functions a graduate assistant may be asked to perform, an
experienced and knowledgeable faculty support manager or coordinator or graduate assistant supervisor can provide effective
telephone coaching that improves graduate assistants‟ skills and performance almost immediately or over a very short period of
time. Thus, as Sparrow (2006) demonstrates, telephone coaching is extremely useful in the coaching process.
Coaching Plan Resolution:
The above coaching techniques described in the literature review are designed to provide quick solutions with immediate
results, and in such an organizational setting and work situation, coaching is an applied-results oriented process where the
coachee immediately puts into practices those skills communicated or demonstrated by the coach, and this, mainly through an
instructional coaching approach. The overall coaching plan for responding to the coaching opportunity in this paper could be
described as a “Solution-Focused Coaching” because of the need for practical and applied performance skills by the coachees
to perform their jobs functions as graduate assistants.
Facilitating performance development and training through coaching requires understanding impacting variables of time,
responsibility, performance requirements on the part of coach and coachees, the level of skills training and assistance required,
and the available and appropriate coaching techniques that will produce the best results from both human relations and
scientific viewpoints. Using the coaching plan described above, the coach should consider keeping the coaching brief and
solution-based (Wakefield, 2006). This does not only save organizational time as a valuable resource, but also will ensure that
both coach and coachee stay motivated and have a realistic time frame in which to bring the performance coaching session to
its close.
Effective and brief solution-focused coaching helps people to tap into their own resources to deal effectively with challenges by
making positive changes that can lead to success both personally and for their organizations (Wakefield, 2006). Furthermore, it
is based on finding solutions and this alone allows for the coach to focus specifically on resolving or addressing specific
problems and challenges rather than engaging in “umbrella coaching”. The aim of coaching in the case opportunity presented
in this paper requires applying specific techniques that address specific problem-solving issues and task necessitation. For
example, graduate assistants must conduct research and know how to identify and retrieve academic peer review articles from
electronic databases. While most students at the graduate level would have some knowledge of this, fostering maximum skills
development in this task requires the coach to teach by demonstration; that is, showing and doing the required task as an
example. This will also provide opportunity for fostering further required competences such as compiling bibliographic lists
through the citation function, using exporting and importing functions, and other functions in electronic database for search and
retrieval during assigned research.
Given the functional responsibilities of graduate assistants as support to the faculty in research and other academic tasks, and
their current levels of skills, the types of coaching techniques that should be used should allow for practice and independence.
These students being in graduate schools would not require extensive training in performing academic functions. Thus,
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instructional face-to-face coaching and occasional telephone coaching are the best and most applicable techniques. Additionally,
graduate assistants tend to develop many research and technical skills on their own through troubles-shooting and applying
problem solving techniques from their programs of study. Furthermore, through observation and mentorship, they will grow
into their roles naturally. Using telephone and instructional face-to-face coaching provides for communication and interaction
and the appropriate levels of relationship that will foster the development of self and performance improvement. Telephone
coaching will also provide for a significant degree of independence, which is a major competence that faculty and
administrators in colleges and universities search for in students as potential graduate assistants.
Summary & Conclusion:
Coaching can represent a great opportunity for facilitating and fostering change through communication and interpersonal
interaction. Coaching as an effective work-motivation and performance enhancing process has been increasingly applied to
various organizations at different levels and in all kinds of industries. The benefits of coaching can be tremendous in terms of
its ability to boost worker morale, motivation, increase job performance and skills levels, and reduce employee turnover. When
coaching is effectively applied to address deficiencies in an organizational setting it not only serves as a diagnostic, curative,
and preventative approach to workplace problems and their consequences, but also adds value to human and capital resources.
Coaching graduate assistants certainly requires having a good knowledge and understanding of the coaching process and
various techniques because of their levels of education, the special nature of their job requirements and responsibilities, and the
fact that they are working in academic environments where they are perhaps very familiar with coaching and already have
trainable skills sets required for their job roles. The different coaching techniques presented in this paper can be used at
different points to address specific coaching situations and individual needs. However, telephone coaching and face-to-face
instructional coaching techniques are ideal in meeting the coaching needs of graduate assistants and can facilitate the building
of relationships and performance improvement with convenience and effectiveness. The coach must remember that these
individuals have varying skills and needs and must develop a coaching plan with clear goals, objectives, and a reasonable timeframe in which coachees acquire skills. Most importantly, they must provide clear directions and reinforcement and delegate
power to graduate assistants to foster independent problem solving and decision making skills.
Recommendations:
Before developing a coaching plan to address what is perceived to be performance related problems, the prospective coach
must first engage in several activities. These activities will serve both as diagnostic and assessment indicators that allow the
coach to gauge the levels of communication, interaction, develop appropriate coaching plan, and apply the most effective
techniques for success from an understanding of coachee needs, standards, and organizational goals. Thus, it is recommended
that the prospective coach develop an agenda which has the following components and plan of action:
1. An assessment of present skills sets and needs of the prospective coachee.
2. Clear understanding of what is important in a coaching relationship.
3. Develop trust that will build the relationship required for successful coaching.
4. Identify the coachee‟s weaknesses and strengths, as well as the critical skills set needed to address existing performance gap.
5. Establish a clear and controlled objective for coaching and the coaching process.
6. Apply those techniques with the highest potential for instilling desired change and improvement.
7. Develop an effective plan for coaching that has assessment standards and procedures, as well as a clear time frame.
8. Make feedback and communication continuous; and most importantly,
9. Foster independence throughout the coaching process since the aim is to equip the individual for autonomous self-growth.
Coaching is an effective tool for performance improvement and the techniques available are diverse, and their successful
application will depend on the scenario, coachee readiness, the skills of the coach and a variety of internal and external
individual and organizational factors.
References:
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Butler, D., Forbes, B., & Johnson, L. (2008). An examination of a skills-based leadership coaching course in an MBA
program. Journal of Education for Business, Marc/April 2008, pp. 227-232; Taylor & Francis Inc. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/202821891?accountid=14129
CareerPlanner.com.
(2011).
Graduate
Assistant:
Job
Description
and
Jobs.
Retrieved
from
http://www.careerplanner.com/DOT-Job-Descriptions/GRADUATE-ASSISTANT.cfm
Case, T., & Kleiner, B.H. (1993). Effective coaching of organizational employees. International Journal of Productivity
and Performance Management, May/Jun 1993; 42, 3, pp. 7-10. Emerald Group Publishing, Limited. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/218430873?accountid=14129
Cohen, A.R., & Bradford, D.L. (2005). Influence without authority, Second edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Gaskell, C. (2006). Hello, how are you? It‟s your coach calling. Training & Coaching Today, April 2006, p. 24. Reed
www.scholarshub.net
Vol.– III, Issue – 3, July 2013
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Business Information UK. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231093282?accountid=14129
Hunt, J.M., & Weintraub, J.R. (2011). The coaching manager: Developing top talent business, 2nd edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGES Publications, Inc.
[7] International Coach Federation [ICF]. (2011). About Coaching. Lexington, KY: International Coach Federation.
Retrieved from http://www.coachfederation.org/intcoachingweek/about-coaching/
[8] Parsloe, E. (1999). The Manager as Coach and Mentor. London, England: Chartered Institute of Personnel &
Development.
[9] Phillips, R. (1996). Coaching for higher performance. Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 8 Iss: 4, pp.29 – 32.
[10] Megginson, D., & Clutterbuck, D. (2005). Goal-seekers. Training & Coaching Today, September 2005, p. 12. Reed
Business Information UK. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231098307?accountid=14129
[11] Sparrow, S. (2006). Case Study. Training & Coaching Today, April 2006, p. 24. Reed Business Information UK.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231093282?accountid=14129
[12] Wakefield, M. (2006). New views on leadership coaching. The Journal for Quality and Participation, Summer 2006, 29,
2
pp.
9-12.
Association
for
Quality
and
Participation.
Retrieved
from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/219091474?accountid=14129
[6]
Appendix 1: Steps in Coaching Plan
*Set clear goals. It is essential that every employee knows what the project goal is. A good job cannot be done if the goal is not
clear. This requires good communication between the manager and his subordinates. The goal must be very specific and to do
this it must be measurable.
* Have objectives. Objectives must be created for every employee or group involved in a project. This breaks down the goals
into precise duties for each group or individual employee. Employees are more able to recognize their contributions towards
the goal when objectives are set. Objectives also serve as daily reminders of what is to be accomplished
* Develop an action plan. Action plans detail what is to be done and also monitor progress towards project completion. An
action plan should consist of checkpoints, activities, relationships and time. Checkpoints monitor progress towards completion.
Short-term checkpoints establish frequent feedback methods. More importantly, checkpoints help employees to monitor their
own progress. Activities are the methods used from one checkpoint to the next. Highly detailed activities will save time in the
long run. Relationships imply the sequence of activities. Some activities may be done simultaneously. Sequencing requires
careful consideration. Finally, the time of project from start to finish must be estimated. This requires accurate estimates of
activity time.
* Draft a project schedule. The two most common methods of scheduling used are the Gantt Chart and the PERT Chart. Both
are disciplines of management science.
* Give employees direction. Managers cannot do large projects by themselves. Therefore they require a team of supporters and
collaborators. Developing a support group takes skill and an understanding of the perspective of others. Managers must be
open-minded and need to realize that people are alike and all have like needs. Employees must be treated as individuals in
order to be motivated.
* Give reinforcement. Allow people to volunteer for work. People who sign up do not need to be coerced to work. Give people
opportunities to develop goals and objectives. This will build commitment to their work. Give encouragement to employees.
People like to be noticed and appreciated. so managers should not hesitate to give an “attaboy”.
* Keep them informed. Effective communication is required to keep employees informed. Some organizational structures can
be a barrier to good communication. This can create ambiguity, which will result in faulty information dispersal. People should
be regularly informed and this requires monitoring and feedback. Managers must also learn to be better listeners. Keeping
employees informed of progress will reduce anxiety and increase performance.
* Resolve conflicts. Disagreements between groups or individuals are unavoidable, since projects require the integration of
work from many people. Conflict is actually desirable, when it is used as a way of unleashing creativity and imagination.
Reasoning and logic must be used to resolve conflicts. Managers must gain acceptance by providing sound rationale for their
positions.
* Delegate power. Giving employees power encourages them to put in their best effort, ability and initiative. When managers
share power, people at all levels feel that they contribute greatly towards reaching the previously set goals and objectives.
Managers must also be honest and competent as well as give direction and inspiration.
* Promote risk taking. Organizations should stress the rewards of success rather than the consequences of failure. Time should be allowed
for experimentation and creativity. Innovation requires support and should be enhanced by communication and open exchange of ideas.
Source: Thomas J. Case & Brian H. Kleiner. (1993). “Effective coaching of organizational employees” in International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, pp. 7-8.
****
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Vol.– III, Issue – 3, July 2013
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
A HYBRID DATA MINING APPROACH TO CONSTRUCT THE
TARGET CUSTOMERS CHOICE REFERENCE MODEL
Shih-Chih Chen,
Ruei-Jr Tzeng,
Assistant Professor
Department of Accounting Information
Southern Taiwan University of Science and
Technology, Taiwan
Department of Information Management
Tatung University, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Marketing, the prevailing commercial activity of enterprises, is an important strategy to increase
customer loyalty and potential customer for more profit. To maximize profit with limited resources, it
would be more profitable for enterprises to choose the right target customers. Therefore, it is necessary
to build up an efficient, objective and accurate target customer choice model. Using data mining
techniques to find the target customers is a traditional way. However, most studies in the past mainly
focused on finding the high accuracy classifier, but different classifiers perform differently in varied
situations. So this study is to propose a target customer choice model by integrating support vector
machine, neural network and K-Means algorithm into a two-phase analysis methodology. The research
results indicate that the integrated methodology is effective in simultaneously enhancing classification
accuracy and reducing Type I and Type II errors.
Keywords: Data Mining, Support Vector Machine, Neural Network, K-Means.
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Introduction:
With the business environmental change and increasingly fierce competition, the enterprise must face how to
improve the interests of business and make enterprise more competitive. The previous mass marketing is already
out of date, now enterprise must to search niche market and create the merchandise that fit it. Peppers (1999)
mentioned that one-to-one economic system will become mainstream in the future, this economic model emphasize
the customized production and one-to-one marketing. Therefore, for the future changes, quickly and accurately to
find the target customers, maximize the interests of marketing with limited resources is important.
In the past, find target customer always using the different classifiers to improve classification accuracy, but don’t
consider the classification error. For instance, when a customer wanted to buy products, but the classifier
misjudgment him, this produces Type I error. When a customer didn’t want to buy products, but the classifier
misjudgment him, this generates Type II error. This study proposes a two-stage target customers choice model to
upgrade classification accuracy and reducing statistical Type I and Type II error. So this study proposed a two-stage
data mining methodology. First, we separately compute the accuracy with support vector machine and neural
network. Second, by using K-Means algorithm to re-classification target customers, we can upgrade the
classification accuracy and reduce Type I and Type II error results.
Literature Review:
Data Mining:
The principle of data mining is to find useful information or knowledge from the data, it’s also known as data
archeology, data model analysis. Technology Review (2001) awarded data mining is one of the ten emerging
technologies that affect human life in the 21st century, this shows the importance of data mining. Fayyad et al.
(1996) defined data mining is a process that using automatic or semi-automatic methods to analyze large amounts
of data. The research (Scott, 2006) that should take advantage of information technology systems, make all users
can depend on their needs to find really useful information rather than search for useless message.
In the analysis of data mining functions, Berry & Linoff (1997) proposed six analysis functions, this is a brief
description of the various analysis functions:
(1) Classification: Without first giving the characteristics of each category and clearly defined, and then through
the prepared training data to build a model, Let yet classified data to be classified in each category.
(2) Algorithm: Let the high homogeneous data be clustered in the same group, the principle is that the same group
has high homogeneity and between the different group has highly heterogeneous.
(3) Prediction: Speculate value may be incurred in the future or the future trend.
(4) Estimation: To deal with the continuity value, according the existing continuity value to estimate the unknown continuity data.
(5) Affinity Grouping: To explore an event or data will appear in a same time, this is used to generate association rules.
(6) Description and Visualization: At different angles or different levels to describe complex data, help to make decisions.
Support Vector Machine:
Support vector machine is a machine learning technique that based on statistical learning theory and follow the
structural risk minimization principle, now widely used in classification problems. Vapnik (1995) proposed SVM,
this is the principle of support vector machine, letting the independent variables and the dependent variable from
the original nonlinear corresponding relationship elevated to the high dimensional vector space, and looking for a
hyperplane to separate the data into two class in this vector space, making distance between the two class farthest in
feature space to achieve the best classific
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MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
Volume – III
Issue – 3
July 2013
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. V. S. More
Ex-Dean Dept. of Commerce,
University of Pune, Pune
Director, Institute of Management &
Research, Nasik (India)
Associate Editors
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Dr. Surendra Sisodia
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Rohaizat bin Baharun
Department of Management
Faculty of Management
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
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Department of Marketing,
College of Business Administration,
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Edhi Juwono
Perbanas Economics School for Management
Information Systems,
Indonesia
Dr.Mu.Subrahmanian
Professor & Head,
Department of Management Studies,
Naya Engineering College, Chennai
Prof. D. P. Singh
Delhi college of engineering,
Delhi
Dr. Nafis Alam,
School of Business,
University of Nottingham,
Malaysia
Michael Sunday Agba,
Department of Public Administration,
Federal Polytechnic,
Nigeria.
Impact Factor: The Global Impact Factor (GIF) provides quantitative and qualitative tool for ranking, evaluating and categorizing
the journals for academic evaluation and excellence. This factor is used for evaluating the prestige of journals. The evaluation is
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in the journal are those of author(s) and not the publisher or the Editorial Board. The readers
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part of the publication can be copied or reproduced without the permission of the publisher in any form.
EISSN 2231-279X – ISSN 2249-0280
INDIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (IJMS)
INDEX
PAGE
NO.
SN
TITLE
1.
The Application of Effective Coaching Techniques in Designing a Coaching Plan for
Performance Improvement in Graduate Assistants
01-07
Tracie V. Cooper & Donovan A. McFarlane (U
USA)
2.
A Hybrid Data Mining Approach to Construct the Target Customers Choice
Reference Model
08-15
Shih-Chih Chen & Ruei-Jr Tzeng (T
Taiwan)
3.
The Used of it Balanced Scorecard to Build the Performance Measurement Model of
Academic Information Systems (Case Study Academic Information System of Satya
Wacana)
16-22
Paskah Ika Nugroho, Prihanto Ngesti Basuki & Evi Maria (IIndonesia)
Increasing the Accountability of the Institution through the Whistle Blowing System
4.
Jony Oktavian Haryanto, Yefta Andi Kus Nugroho,
Rizal Edy Halim & Rizal Edwin Manansang (IIndonesia)
23-33
Agricultural TFP and R&D Spending in Iran
5.
Solmaz Shamsadini, Saeed Yazdani & Reza Moghaddasi (IIran)
34-41
Ranking Indian Domestic Banks with Interval Data – The Dea Application
6.
Dr. T. Subramanyam & Dr. R.V.Vardhan (IIndia)
42-47
7.
The Effects of Financial Reporting Quality on Stock Price Delay & Future Stock
Return
48-52
Azam Pouryousof, Hilda Shamsadini & Mina Abousaiedi (IIran)
Gold Price Movements in India and Global Market
8.
Shaik Saleem, Dr. M. Srinivasa Reddy & Shaik Karim (IIndia)
53-60
9.
The Kerala Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Fund Board – Social
Impact on Members
61-70
Dr. Abdul Nasar VP & Dr. Muhammed Basheer Ummathur (IIndia)
A Study of Socio Economic Condition of Child Labour Engaged in Rag-Picking at
10. Silchar
71-78
Shima Das, Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Bidhu Kanti Das (IIndia)
Stock Market Anomalies: Empirical Evidence from Weekend Effect on Sectoral
11. Indices of Indian Stock Market
79-85
Potharla Srikanth & P. Srilatha (IIndia)
12.
Internet Banking: Does it Really Impacts Bank’s Operating Performance
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Rajni Bhalla (IIndia)
86-89
Vol.– III, Issue – 3, July 2013
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THE APPLICATION OF EFFECTIVE COACHING TECHNIQUES
IN DESIGNING A COACHING PLAN FOR PERFORMANCE
IMPROVEMENT IN GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
Tracie V. Cooper,
Donovan A. McFarlane,
Faculty Support Coordinator
H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business
and Entrepreneurship
Nova Southeastern University,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Adjunct Professor of Marketing,
Nova Southeastern University
Adjunct Professor of Leadership Studies,
Bethune-Cookman University
Adjunct Professor of Business Administration,
Broward College
Visiting Professor of Management,
Keller Graduate School – DeVry University
Professor of Business Administration & Business
Research, Fredrick Taylor University
Faculty Blog Manager, Huizenga School of Business
Director, The Donovan Society, LLC, USA.
ABSTRACT
This paper examines effective coaching techniques that could potentially be incorporated into a coaching
plan to improve the performance of new-start graduate research assistants in an academic school and
department at a university. From the perspective of a supervisory or managerial capacity, the authors play
the role of the prospective “Coach” responsible for faculty support, and therefore attempt to meet the
requirements of this office by working collaboratively through and with hired work-study graduate students
who serve as graduate research assistants in an academic department and school at a university. The
opportunity for coaching unfolds in the scenario where four new start graduate students from the schools of
business and computer sciences are hired as research assistants in an academic department and must
effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently perform several tasks related to
research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of these graduate students. However,
blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty support coordinator
and professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational
culture, process protocol, work study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. This
presents an opportunity for coaching using several techniques to address familiarization, competence, and
motivational and work-process issues. Thus, examining the literature on effective coaching and coaching
techniques, the authors in a coaching capacity will develop, design, and implement a Coaching Plan or
program to address these competencies and work-needs-skills in this situation based on practical guidelines
or recommendations of previous research. This paper describes this opportunity for effective coaching and
presents relevant literature on coaching techniques and effectiveness, recommends a viable coaching plan
and resolution to identify issues, and draws conclusion based on what constitutes success or effectiveness
in real-life situations. Additionally, broader implications for coaching strategies and techniques applied to
real problems, opportunities, or issues in organizational contexts and examined.
Keywords: Coaching, Coaching plan, Coaching Techniques, International Coach Federation (ICF),
Motivation, Performance.
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Introduction:
Coaching is becoming more and more important as a process and performance improvement method and approach in
organizations across all fields. Coaching can be defined as “a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus
performance to improve” (Parsloe, 1999, p.8). Coaching effectiveness is what is important in today‟s organizations as coaching
becomes both a corrective process and action to address performance, behavioral, and other issues across organizational
boundaries, and more and more managers attune to the coaching process and its application. According to Parsloe (1999), “To
be a successful coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques
that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place” (p. 8). Managers or supervisors must use effective
coaching techniques that cater to individual and group, as well as organizations needs.
The International Coach Federation [ICF] (2011) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and
creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential” (p. 1). This definition takes a serviceprovision or orientation to coaching, and coaching is in fact based on service-philosophy to individuals and organizations with
the end result being to improve performance and productivity. Coaching is indeed a creative process and it is the responsibility
of the coach to ensure that creative techniques or methods are used to address different coachee needs. Coaching is especially
important in helping new hires or new organizational members to improve their present skills levels as they are coached by
experienced organizational members and managers to perform important tasks effectively and efficiently to meet organizational
goals. While this is the case, most application of coaching seems to be in contexts involving organizational members or
employees with significant time onboard, but lingering problems that affect attitude and work morale; hence, performance.
Literature Review:
The performance benefits of coaching are becoming more widely known and accepted and “coaching is [now] seen as having
clear and unique advantages, and is establishing itself alongside related activities, such as mentoring and counselling, as a key
development technique” (Phillips, 1996, p. 29). Coaching in organizational contexts fills several roles and confers several
benefits. According to the International Coach Federation [ICF] (2011) “Individuals who engage in a coaching partnership can
expect to experience fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decision making skills,
enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work and life roles” (p. 1). The
benefits gained from coaching depend on how well the coach uses effective techniques that cater to individual skills
development or developing top talent that will serve the organization (Hunt & Weintraub, 2011). The coaching interaction is an
important factor in considering coaching techniques as managers need to recognize that employees have a need to express
themselves as they influence organizational policy and decisions without authority.
According to Cohen and Bradford (2005) influence is important in human social interaction, and the coaching process involves
two-way influence, a process where the coach is influencing the coachee to make some form of change, progress, or
improvement; and a process where the coachee without vested managerial authority influences the views, decisions, and
strategies of the coach. Leadership coaching in organizations requires influence, and Wakefield (2006) argues that “Leadership
coaching is a vital tool for developing talent in organizations. Hunt and Weintraub (2011) certainly concur with this view.
Managers and supervisors who facilitate coaching must also recognize that both tasks and relationship are important in coaching
(Hunt & Weintraub, 2005). Thus, important concepts such as trust which functions to achieve influence and cooperation should be
integrated into the approach to coaching, especially where employees or coachees depend on their manager or coach to hone their
skills to maximize their performance and job security. According to Hunt and Weintraub (2005), “good relationships make it easier
to gain cooperation, it pays to be generous and engage in win-win exchanges” (p. 23). Managers and leaders who engage the
coaching process to address performance-related individual and organizational opportunities and challenges must build effective
relationships with their employees in order to facilitate progress and get results.
Wakefield (2006) suggests engaging the four P‟s that will help employees become more innovative problem solvers during the
coaching process. These four P‟s are: (i) partnering for technological collaboration; (ii) possibilities for turning necessity into
opportunity; (iii) perspective by providing opportunity for individuals to broaden their problem-solving skills and experiences;
and (iv) practicing innovation throughout the coaching process and the organization using total quality management (TQM).
Coaching is a social process and the coach must bear in mind that people are the most important of organizational assets.
According to Case and Kleiner (1993), this fact must be recognized before managers can begin coaching their employees
effectively. Case and Kleiner (1993) assert that there are many methods or techniques to facilitate coaching. With this
understanding, they argue that coaching is not a method, but a combination of methods or practices applying different tactics
and strategies that are used to guide employees towards maximizing their potential in organizational work settings. Case and
Kleiner (1993) list several techniques that they argue are coaching techniques: rewards, compensation, training, employee
development programs, goal setting, discipline, employee participation, and group participation problem solving.
Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005) describe coaching techniques from a goal-setting orientation. They believe that it is the
responsibility of the coach to help learners find a vision and the path towards achieving that vision. As such, coaching involves
techniques such as identifying, visioning, and motivation and must be effectively coordinated around timing. Megginson and
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Clutterbuck (2005) believe that effective coaching involves the ability to influence employees who are able to identify
individuals who have been “helpful” in their career and have influenced them in ways which contribute to success or
performing successfully in their organizational roles. The process of visioning as a technique in coaching can be used in many
situations, and is especially powerful in goal-setting. According to Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005), the core of effective
visioning is engaging all the learner‟s senses and inner emotion. This inner emotion affects the individual coachee‟s perceptions
and attitudes toward the coaching process. Visioning involves a process of visualization that asks questions such as: (a) where
do you want to be? (b) what do you see around you in terms of the environment and people? (c) how do you appear? (d) what
are you doing and why? and (e) how do you feel and why do you feel this way? Among other questions that attune the coachee
to the present situation, the need for change, and the goal or vision of what he or she wants to accomplish from the coaching
relationship or training are important.
Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005) believe that “Visioning is best used when the learner is relatively relaxed” (p. 12), and that
the technique requires the coach to engage the coachee to focus his or her whole consciousness into placing the self in a
possible future. This stands to reason, as coaching for performance improvement involves developing talent in the organization
to a certain optimum or to meet certain standards. Individuals and groups must be able to display certain levels of performance,
attitudes, work morale and skills to effectively increase productivity and organizational competitiveness. Therefore, the coach
must use this technique to foster a sense of potential and demonstrate to the coachee the ability to develop and apply the skills
to reach that potential in a reasonable time frame. Organizational rewards and compensation can be used as techniques that
supplement this process, and Case and Kleiner (1993) argue that these not only serve in the roles of feedback, but as motivators
since “everyone in an organization gives of his or her abilities and efforts in exchange for rewards given by the organization”
(p. 8). Thus, rewarding and compensating; the manner in which these are done as performance-based indices, can significantly
contribute to overall coaching effectiveness and success.
In coaching individuals to improve their performance in the work setting, coaches must focus on building those defined set of
business or work-related skills that will affect individuals‟ abilities to work independently, as well as part of teams and groups
(Butler, Forbes, & Johnson, 2008). As Case and Kleiner (1993) note, there are many methods or techniques of effective
coaching available to managers, but managers must be able to choose the best methods or techniques suited for particular
employees or subordinates. This requires remembering that people are individuals. Case and Kleiner (1993) argue that
coaching methods or techniques used must be refined or should be “changed in the event of continued poor morale and
performance to ensure that resources are not merely being wasted” (p. 10).
Contemporary techniques in coaching are being developed across various organizations by managers and leaders to address
individual and organization specific performance and challenges. This includes the increasing use of the telephone to facilitate
coaching. According to Gaskell (2006) and Sparrow (2006), as confidence and expertise grow in coaching as a development
intervention, the telephone option is being increasingly used as a viable alternative to face-to-face meeting for coaching.
Gaskell (2006) argues that telephone coaching is catching on because it is convenient and less expensive. Managers are
increasingly conducting one-to-one coaching over the telephone and are getting significant results. This means that telephone
coaching is becoming more and more popular, and there are different companies and individuals using this technique. Sparrow
(2006) shows how telephone coaching forms the basis of account manager development programs at Elizabeth Arden, cosmetic
giant company. According to Sparrow (2006), telephone coaching has been successfully used by this company‟s managers to
deal with professional and personal tensions in an effective manner.
Telephone coaching holds good promise as a technique because of its cost-saving advantage, flexibility and convenience as
managers can be in different locations while providing instructions to employees as to performance on various issues.
According to Gaskell (2006) “Telephone coaching can work because there is something powerful about the voice entering the
mind of the coachee more directly” (p. 24). The coach on the other side of the line must however be a very good communicator
since the absence of face-to-face interaction sometimes creates communication problems in similar scenarios. The use of
telephone coaching also gives consideration to other coaching techniques making use of different technologies including the
computer, videos, and other forms of applied communication techniques.
Coaching is a highly dynamic process whose techniques depends on the coaching scenario and needs of the coachee and
organization, the expertise and creativity of the coach, and the duration of the coaching and level of knowledge required. Other
factors also come into play as well. Coaching can be applied at different levels within an organization, and coaching for
leadership succession is becoming an importantly recognized need in large corporations and businesses. Whatever the coaching
purpose or the techniques used, the coach must bear in mind that he or she is dealing with individuals and that individuals are
unique and require different levels of training, communication, and assistance to improve their professional and personal skills.
Coaching involves influence and managers or supervisors responsible for coaching subordinates must develop the ability to
influence. This requires having technical expertise, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the understanding
that coaching does not mean control, but is a process of facilitating progress and opportunities for self-improvement. Coaching
requires setting clear goals, having objectives, developing an action plan, drafting a project schedule, giving employees
direction, giving reinforcement, keeping employees informed, resolving conflicts, delegating power, and promoting risk taking
where such has far more benefits than costs in the performance and personal improvement process (Case & Kleiner, 1993; see
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Vol.– III, Issue – 3, July 2013
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Appendix 1: Steps in Effective Coaching Plan).
Methodology:
This article examines effective coaching techniques that could potentially be incorporated into a coaching plan to improve the
performance of new-start graduate research assistants in an academic school and department at a university. Four new-start
graduate students from the schools of business and computer sciences were hired as research assistants in an academic
department and school of a university to effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently perform several
tasks related to research. From the perspective of a supervisory or managerial capacity, the authors play the role of the
prospective “Coach” responsible for faculty support, and therefore attempt to meet the requirements of this office by working
collaboratively through and with hired work-study graduate students who serve as graduate research assistants in an academic
department and school at a university.
The opportunity for coaching unfolds in the scenario where four new start graduate students from the schools of business and
computer sciences are hired as research assistants in an academic department and must effectively meet the needs of the faculty
in being able to competently perform several tasks related to research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of
these graduate students. However, blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty
support coordinator and professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational
culture, process protocol, work study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. This presents an opportunity for
coaching using several techniques to address familiarization, competence, and motivational and work-process issues. Thus,
examining the literature on effective coaching and coaching techniques, the authors in a coaching capacity will develop, design,
and implement a Coaching Plan or program to address these competencies and work-needs-skills in this situation based on
practical guidelines or recommendations of previous research. This article describes this opportunity for effective coaching and
presents relevant literature on coaching techniques and effectiveness, recommends a viable coaching plan and resolution to
identify issues, and draws conclusion based on what constitutes success or effectiveness in real-life situations. Additionally,
broader implications for coaching strategies and techniques applied to real problems, opportunities, or issues in organizational
contexts and examined.
The Coaching Opportunity:
Four new-start graduate students from the schools of business and computer sciences were hired as research assistants in an
academic department and school of a university to effectively meet the needs of the faculty in being able to competently
perform several tasks related to research. Most of the tasks are already within the ability-scope of these graduate students.
However, blending into their roles as newly hired employees and research assistants to the faculty support coordinator and
professors in this department and school requires developing familiarization with organizational culture, process protocol, work
study portfolio organization and competence in their new roles. The job performance of graduate assistants requires them to be
competent in performing the basic functions in described Table 1 below.
Table 1: Graduate Assistant General Job Description
Assists department chairperson, faculty members or other professional staff members in college or
university, by performing any combination of following duties: Assists in library, develops teaching
materials, such as syllabi and visual aids, assists in laboratory or field research, prepares and gives
examinations, assists in student conferences, grades examinations and papers, and teaches lowerlevel courses. May be designated by duties performed, or equipment operated.
Source: CareerPlanner.com, (2011).
Different skills set and competence levels will require assistance in meeting some of the assigned tasks given to graduate
assistants by professors and faculty support coordinator. Generally, faculty support coordinators are responsible for training or
coaching graduate assistants in meeting their job roles and in becoming familiar with different aspects of their jobs related to
organizational culture and the tools and equipment they will use to meet their job roles. The need for proficiency in these areas
(Table 1) and becoming part of the organizational culture provide opportunities for coaching and the development of coaching
relationships. The coaching opportunities from graduate assistant jobs allow coaches not only to develop their own coaching
skills, but to coach these graduate assistants who may become future faculty support coordinators or faculty support trainers
and managers. Thus, the benefits can be seen immediately in performance as well as, as an investment in organizational future.
This coaching opportunity with graduate assistants provides for application of coaching skills and techniques on several levels.
The Coaching Plan:
The proposed Coaching Plan to address the opportunity of training these four graduate assistants to function at their maximum
and in an effective capacity will be based on “Solution-Focused Coaching”, which involves using a variety of techniques
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described above to facilitate their skills and abilities in effectively performing their job functions and assigned tasks. The
dominant techniques that that will be used include telephone coaching, rewarding and compensation, and what could be called
instructional-face-to-face coaching. A combination of techniques will be used according to the specific needs of these
individuals and their levels of skills. It is reasonable to assume that some of these graduate assistants will have differing skills
in terms of job-specific required competences and that their learning levels and communication skills might require unique
consideration in the application of coaching techniques. However, based on experience and the nature of their job functions,
instructional face-to-face coaching and telephone coaching are the core coaching techniques that will serve best to meet
coaching goals in both physical and virtual environments.
Instructional face-to-face coaching will probably be the most dominant techniques since the graduate assistants will mainly
need hands-on or technical skills to function in their current roles. For example, these graduate assistants must know how to
construct PowerPoint presentations, photocopy papers, scan and attached papers in emails, fax papers, use the Scantron, access
electronic databases for research and retrieval of articles and data, format papers for professional presentation and publication,
compile materials and folders for specific courses according to professors‟ request, and perform other related academic
functions which may require the use of programs not limited to Excel, Access, and other functions in Microsoft Office, and
even use statistical software such as SPSS and PSPP.
Instructional face-to-face coaching will be a daily on-the-job process where the faculty support coordinator or other qualified
and immediate supervisors in the department, including professors can coach graduate research assistants to improve their
current skills set and competences to meet their job requirements. This also provides opportunity to build lasting influence
relationships as these graduate assistants go on to further their education and even become faculty or future administrators.
Telephone coaching where the faculty support coordinator can provide instructions to graduate assistants in performing certain
job functions is an effective technique where face-to-face consultation is not an option. For example, at any specific time where
a faculty support manager or coordinator or supervisor over the graduate assistant is not present in the immediate office and a
graduate assistant needs direction in performing a task, for example scanning a document to email, a simple phone instructional
session could facilitate this. This also applies to more complex tasks which the graduate assistant might not be familiar with.
With experience and knowledge about all the required tasks and functions a graduate assistant may be asked to perform, an
experienced and knowledgeable faculty support manager or coordinator or graduate assistant supervisor can provide effective
telephone coaching that improves graduate assistants‟ skills and performance almost immediately or over a very short period of
time. Thus, as Sparrow (2006) demonstrates, telephone coaching is extremely useful in the coaching process.
Coaching Plan Resolution:
The above coaching techniques described in the literature review are designed to provide quick solutions with immediate
results, and in such an organizational setting and work situation, coaching is an applied-results oriented process where the
coachee immediately puts into practices those skills communicated or demonstrated by the coach, and this, mainly through an
instructional coaching approach. The overall coaching plan for responding to the coaching opportunity in this paper could be
described as a “Solution-Focused Coaching” because of the need for practical and applied performance skills by the coachees
to perform their jobs functions as graduate assistants.
Facilitating performance development and training through coaching requires understanding impacting variables of time,
responsibility, performance requirements on the part of coach and coachees, the level of skills training and assistance required,
and the available and appropriate coaching techniques that will produce the best results from both human relations and
scientific viewpoints. Using the coaching plan described above, the coach should consider keeping the coaching brief and
solution-based (Wakefield, 2006). This does not only save organizational time as a valuable resource, but also will ensure that
both coach and coachee stay motivated and have a realistic time frame in which to bring the performance coaching session to
its close.
Effective and brief solution-focused coaching helps people to tap into their own resources to deal effectively with challenges by
making positive changes that can lead to success both personally and for their organizations (Wakefield, 2006). Furthermore, it
is based on finding solutions and this alone allows for the coach to focus specifically on resolving or addressing specific
problems and challenges rather than engaging in “umbrella coaching”. The aim of coaching in the case opportunity presented
in this paper requires applying specific techniques that address specific problem-solving issues and task necessitation. For
example, graduate assistants must conduct research and know how to identify and retrieve academic peer review articles from
electronic databases. While most students at the graduate level would have some knowledge of this, fostering maximum skills
development in this task requires the coach to teach by demonstration; that is, showing and doing the required task as an
example. This will also provide opportunity for fostering further required competences such as compiling bibliographic lists
through the citation function, using exporting and importing functions, and other functions in electronic database for search and
retrieval during assigned research.
Given the functional responsibilities of graduate assistants as support to the faculty in research and other academic tasks, and
their current levels of skills, the types of coaching techniques that should be used should allow for practice and independence.
These students being in graduate schools would not require extensive training in performing academic functions. Thus,
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instructional face-to-face coaching and occasional telephone coaching are the best and most applicable techniques. Additionally,
graduate assistants tend to develop many research and technical skills on their own through troubles-shooting and applying
problem solving techniques from their programs of study. Furthermore, through observation and mentorship, they will grow
into their roles naturally. Using telephone and instructional face-to-face coaching provides for communication and interaction
and the appropriate levels of relationship that will foster the development of self and performance improvement. Telephone
coaching will also provide for a significant degree of independence, which is a major competence that faculty and
administrators in colleges and universities search for in students as potential graduate assistants.
Summary & Conclusion:
Coaching can represent a great opportunity for facilitating and fostering change through communication and interpersonal
interaction. Coaching as an effective work-motivation and performance enhancing process has been increasingly applied to
various organizations at different levels and in all kinds of industries. The benefits of coaching can be tremendous in terms of
its ability to boost worker morale, motivation, increase job performance and skills levels, and reduce employee turnover. When
coaching is effectively applied to address deficiencies in an organizational setting it not only serves as a diagnostic, curative,
and preventative approach to workplace problems and their consequences, but also adds value to human and capital resources.
Coaching graduate assistants certainly requires having a good knowledge and understanding of the coaching process and
various techniques because of their levels of education, the special nature of their job requirements and responsibilities, and the
fact that they are working in academic environments where they are perhaps very familiar with coaching and already have
trainable skills sets required for their job roles. The different coaching techniques presented in this paper can be used at
different points to address specific coaching situations and individual needs. However, telephone coaching and face-to-face
instructional coaching techniques are ideal in meeting the coaching needs of graduate assistants and can facilitate the building
of relationships and performance improvement with convenience and effectiveness. The coach must remember that these
individuals have varying skills and needs and must develop a coaching plan with clear goals, objectives, and a reasonable timeframe in which coachees acquire skills. Most importantly, they must provide clear directions and reinforcement and delegate
power to graduate assistants to foster independent problem solving and decision making skills.
Recommendations:
Before developing a coaching plan to address what is perceived to be performance related problems, the prospective coach
must first engage in several activities. These activities will serve both as diagnostic and assessment indicators that allow the
coach to gauge the levels of communication, interaction, develop appropriate coaching plan, and apply the most effective
techniques for success from an understanding of coachee needs, standards, and organizational goals. Thus, it is recommended
that the prospective coach develop an agenda which has the following components and plan of action:
1. An assessment of present skills sets and needs of the prospective coachee.
2. Clear understanding of what is important in a coaching relationship.
3. Develop trust that will build the relationship required for successful coaching.
4. Identify the coachee‟s weaknesses and strengths, as well as the critical skills set needed to address existing performance gap.
5. Establish a clear and controlled objective for coaching and the coaching process.
6. Apply those techniques with the highest potential for instilling desired change and improvement.
7. Develop an effective plan for coaching that has assessment standards and procedures, as well as a clear time frame.
8. Make feedback and communication continuous; and most importantly,
9. Foster independence throughout the coaching process since the aim is to equip the individual for autonomous self-growth.
Coaching is an effective tool for performance improvement and the techniques available are diverse, and their successful
application will depend on the scenario, coachee readiness, the skills of the coach and a variety of internal and external
individual and organizational factors.
References:
[1]
[2]
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Butler, D., Forbes, B., & Johnson, L. (2008). An examination of a skills-based leadership coaching course in an MBA
program. Journal of Education for Business, Marc/April 2008, pp. 227-232; Taylor & Francis Inc. Retrieved from
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CareerPlanner.com.
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Case, T., & Kleiner, B.H. (1993). Effective coaching of organizational employees. International Journal of Productivity
and Performance Management, May/Jun 1993; 42, 3, pp. 7-10. Emerald Group Publishing, Limited. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/218430873?accountid=14129
Cohen, A.R., & Bradford, D.L. (2005). Influence without authority, Second edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Gaskell, C. (2006). Hello, how are you? It‟s your coach calling. Training & Coaching Today, April 2006, p. 24. Reed
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Business Information UK. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231093282?accountid=14129
Hunt, J.M., & Weintraub, J.R. (2011). The coaching manager: Developing top talent business, 2nd edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGES Publications, Inc.
[7] International Coach Federation [ICF]. (2011). About Coaching. Lexington, KY: International Coach Federation.
Retrieved from http://www.coachfederation.org/intcoachingweek/about-coaching/
[8] Parsloe, E. (1999). The Manager as Coach and Mentor. London, England: Chartered Institute of Personnel &
Development.
[9] Phillips, R. (1996). Coaching for higher performance. Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 8 Iss: 4, pp.29 – 32.
[10] Megginson, D., & Clutterbuck, D. (2005). Goal-seekers. Training & Coaching Today, September 2005, p. 12. Reed
Business Information UK. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231098307?accountid=14129
[11] Sparrow, S. (2006). Case Study. Training & Coaching Today, April 2006, p. 24. Reed Business Information UK.
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Appendix 1: Steps in Coaching Plan
*Set clear goals. It is essential that every employee knows what the project goal is. A good job cannot be done if the goal is not
clear. This requires good communication between the manager and his subordinates. The goal must be very specific and to do
this it must be measurable.
* Have objectives. Objectives must be created for every employee or group involved in a project. This breaks down the goals
into precise duties for each group or individual employee. Employees are more able to recognize their contributions towards
the goal when objectives are set. Objectives also serve as daily reminders of what is to be accomplished
* Develop an action plan. Action plans detail what is to be done and also monitor progress towards project completion. An
action plan should consist of checkpoints, activities, relationships and time. Checkpoints monitor progress towards completion.
Short-term checkpoints establish frequent feedback methods. More importantly, checkpoints help employees to monitor their
own progress. Activities are the methods used from one checkpoint to the next. Highly detailed activities will save time in the
long run. Relationships imply the sequence of activities. Some activities may be done simultaneously. Sequencing requires
careful consideration. Finally, the time of project from start to finish must be estimated. This requires accurate estimates of
activity time.
* Draft a project schedule. The two most common methods of scheduling used are the Gantt Chart and the PERT Chart. Both
are disciplines of management science.
* Give employees direction. Managers cannot do large projects by themselves. Therefore they require a team of supporters and
collaborators. Developing a support group takes skill and an understanding of the perspective of others. Managers must be
open-minded and need to realize that people are alike and all have like needs. Employees must be treated as individuals in
order to be motivated.
* Give reinforcement. Allow people to volunteer for work. People who sign up do not need to be coerced to work. Give people
opportunities to develop goals and objectives. This will build commitment to their work. Give encouragement to employees.
People like to be noticed and appreciated. so managers should not hesitate to give an “attaboy”.
* Keep them informed. Effective communication is required to keep employees informed. Some organizational structures can
be a barrier to good communication. This can create ambiguity, which will result in faulty information dispersal. People should
be regularly informed and this requires monitoring and feedback. Managers must also learn to be better listeners. Keeping
employees informed of progress will reduce anxiety and increase performance.
* Resolve conflicts. Disagreements between groups or individuals are unavoidable, since projects require the integration of
work from many people. Conflict is actually desirable, when it is used as a way of unleashing creativity and imagination.
Reasoning and logic must be used to resolve conflicts. Managers must gain acceptance by providing sound rationale for their
positions.
* Delegate power. Giving employees power encourages them to put in their best effort, ability and initiative. When managers
share power, people at all levels feel that they contribute greatly towards reaching the previously set goals and objectives.
Managers must also be honest and competent as well as give direction and inspiration.
* Promote risk taking. Organizations should stress the rewards of success rather than the consequences of failure. Time should be allowed
for experimentation and creativity. Innovation requires support and should be enhanced by communication and open exchange of ideas.
Source: Thomas J. Case & Brian H. Kleiner. (1993). “Effective coaching of organizational employees” in International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, pp. 7-8.
****
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A HYBRID DATA MINING APPROACH TO CONSTRUCT THE
TARGET CUSTOMERS CHOICE REFERENCE MODEL
Shih-Chih Chen,
Ruei-Jr Tzeng,
Assistant Professor
Department of Accounting Information
Southern Taiwan University of Science and
Technology, Taiwan
Department of Information Management
Tatung University, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Marketing, the prevailing commercial activity of enterprises, is an important strategy to increase
customer loyalty and potential customer for more profit. To maximize profit with limited resources, it
would be more profitable for enterprises to choose the right target customers. Therefore, it is necessary
to build up an efficient, objective and accurate target customer choice model. Using data mining
techniques to find the target customers is a traditional way. However, most studies in the past mainly
focused on finding the high accuracy classifier, but different classifiers perform differently in varied
situations. So this study is to propose a target customer choice model by integrating support vector
machine, neural network and K-Means algorithm into a two-phase analysis methodology. The research
results indicate that the integrated methodology is effective in simultaneously enhancing classification
accuracy and reducing Type I and Type II errors.
Keywords: Data Mining, Support Vector Machine, Neural Network, K-Means.
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Introduction:
With the business environmental change and increasingly fierce competition, the enterprise must face how to
improve the interests of business and make enterprise more competitive. The previous mass marketing is already
out of date, now enterprise must to search niche market and create the merchandise that fit it. Peppers (1999)
mentioned that one-to-one economic system will become mainstream in the future, this economic model emphasize
the customized production and one-to-one marketing. Therefore, for the future changes, quickly and accurately to
find the target customers, maximize the interests of marketing with limited resources is important.
In the past, find target customer always using the different classifiers to improve classification accuracy, but don’t
consider the classification error. For instance, when a customer wanted to buy products, but the classifier
misjudgment him, this produces Type I error. When a customer didn’t want to buy products, but the classifier
misjudgment him, this generates Type II error. This study proposes a two-stage target customers choice model to
upgrade classification accuracy and reducing statistical Type I and Type II error. So this study proposed a two-stage
data mining methodology. First, we separately compute the accuracy with support vector machine and neural
network. Second, by using K-Means algorithm to re-classification target customers, we can upgrade the
classification accuracy and reduce Type I and Type II error results.
Literature Review:
Data Mining:
The principle of data mining is to find useful information or knowledge from the data, it’s also known as data
archeology, data model analysis. Technology Review (2001) awarded data mining is one of the ten emerging
technologies that affect human life in the 21st century, this shows the importance of data mining. Fayyad et al.
(1996) defined data mining is a process that using automatic or semi-automatic methods to analyze large amounts
of data. The research (Scott, 2006) that should take advantage of information technology systems, make all users
can depend on their needs to find really useful information rather than search for useless message.
In the analysis of data mining functions, Berry & Linoff (1997) proposed six analysis functions, this is a brief
description of the various analysis functions:
(1) Classification: Without first giving the characteristics of each category and clearly defined, and then through
the prepared training data to build a model, Let yet classified data to be classified in each category.
(2) Algorithm: Let the high homogeneous data be clustered in the same group, the principle is that the same group
has high homogeneity and between the different group has highly heterogeneous.
(3) Prediction: Speculate value may be incurred in the future or the future trend.
(4) Estimation: To deal with the continuity value, according the existing continuity value to estimate the unknown continuity data.
(5) Affinity Grouping: To explore an event or data will appear in a same time, this is used to generate association rules.
(6) Description and Visualization: At different angles or different levels to describe complex data, help to make decisions.
Support Vector Machine:
Support vector machine is a machine learning technique that based on statistical learning theory and follow the
structural risk minimization principle, now widely used in classification problems. Vapnik (1995) proposed SVM,
this is the principle of support vector machine, letting the independent variables and the dependent variable from
the original nonlinear corresponding relationship elevated to the high dimensional vector space, and looking for a
hyperplane to separate the data into two class in this vector space, making distance between the two class farthest in
feature space to achieve the best classific