Evidence-Based Management

Example

A daycare centre has a clearly stated policy that children must be picked up by their parents by 5 pm. Nevertheless, some parents are often late and, as a result, at least one teacher must wait until the parents arrive. Because there is extensive research suggesting that people are sensitive to financial disincentives, the daycare centre manager decides to introduce a fine for tardy parents. To determine whether this decision has the desired effect, the centre keeps track of the number of parents who come late for four weeks both before and after the fine is introduced. In the first four weeks they register, on average, six late pickups ...