Professional sports rewarding and punishing the same behavior

1. Welcome To Our
Presentation ON
Professional Sports: Rewarding And Punishing the Same Behavior?
Prepared By
Rainbow
Group No: 12

3. Case Summary
 In this fast era, almost in many sports most of players use performance enhancing drugs (i.e. steroid) to
increase their energy level and fitness.
 It is an unethical practice.
 Currently, there is a punishment system for using performance enhancing drugs that is a 10-day
suspension for first time offenders or fine $10000.
 But this punishment is a relatively minor setback.
 Rafael Palmeiro is an example.
 Palmeiro received a 10-day suspension and forfeited $167,000 of his $3 million salary, and a banner
celebrating his 3,000th hit was removed from Camden yards.
 Professional sports may be trying to have their cake and eat it too.
 Behavior that may lead an individual or a team to fame and fortune may also be behavior that demands
punishment.

4. Cont’d
General People and Congress were not satisfied with the present
punishment policy. To avoid the use of performance enhancing
drugs( i.e. steroid )that is undesirable behavior, strict
punishment is much more effective than reward. So, to refrain
them from taking the steroids, Bud Selig, the commissioner of
baseball, has announced “three strikes and you are out” policy.
This policy includes:
a) A 50-game suspension for a first time offenders;
b) A 100- game suspension for a second time;
c) And a permanent ban for a third time.
Same behavior can’t deserve both punishment and reward. As
taking performance enhancing drugs is an unethical practice,
sopunishment is much more effective.

5. Case Related Topics
 It is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine
players each who take turns batting and fielding.
 The batting team attempts to score runs by hitting a ball then
running counter-clockwise around a series of four bases: first,
second, third, and home plate.
 A run is scored when a player advances around the base and
returns to home plate.
 Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the
pitcher of the fielding team.
 A game comprises nine innings.
 The team with the greater number of runs at the end of the
game wins.
Baseball

6. Countries where Baseball are Mostly Played
 Baseball is a popular game all over the world.
There are very few countries that don’t play
baseball. Nowadays in many countries of six
continents like to play baseball.
 In Africa, South Africa is notable for playing
baseball.
 In Asia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are very
famous for playing baseball.
 Italy, Germany, Netherlands and UK are greatly
participating in the international competition
from Europe.
 Canada, Cuba and Panama are also good at
playing baseball for their outstanding athletes.
 From the Oceania continent, Australia and New
Zealand are joining too.
 Brazil, Columbia and USA have the greatest
teams in the world.

7. Why Do Athletes Take Performance Enhancing Drugs?
• Increase strength and endurance.
• Aid injury recovery.
• Alter intensity and aggression.
• Combat exhaustion and fatigue.
• Reduce weight.
• Relieve aches and pains.
• Increase muscle mass.
• Sharpen focus and concentration.

8. Steroid
Steriod is one of the most used performance enhancing drugs
to increase energy level and control fatigue.
 A steroid is an organic compound with four rings arranged
in a specific configuration.
 Examples include the dietary lipid cholesterol, the sex
hormones estradiol and testosterone and the anti-
inflammatory drug dexamethasone.

9.  History of Steroids in Sports
Current use of Steroids
 The Future of Steroids
Today performance enhancers are currently being used by athletes to become bigger,
leaner, faster and to increase stamina. These performance enhancers enable athletes to
compete more competitively in the games they love and to earn more money than ever
before. Personal pressure to achieve record breaking success fuels competitiveness
Steroid use dates back to the early Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. These
performance enhancers were not known as steroids then. But athletes did not play for
prestige or love of the game, these athletes played for money. Athletes did not even
compete for pride or for family. Money was the driving force behind a man desire to
compete
Performance enhancing drugs will never go away. When the ban on anabolic steroids
went in place for Olympic athletes, new drugs were found that could not be tested.

10. Short term benefit of using steroids
 A relatively quick enhancement of muscle strength
and size
 Take steroids and don’t lift weights.
 Allow an athlete to train harder and have a quicker
recovery.
 An athlete trains on Monday, then he comes back
Tuesday and can have just as good a workout through
the end of the week.
 The workouts for most individuals get less intense as
the week goes on because they haven’t recovered
completely from their earlier workouts.

11. Harmful Effects of Steroid Use
Prolonged use of steroids can cause physical and
psychological side effects. Such as:
 Brain Cancer
 Depression
 Violent Behavior
 Yellowing of Eyes and Skin
 Bad Breath
 Severe Acne
 High Blood Pressure
 Stroke
 Liver Tumors
 Liver Cancer

12. Questions of the Case and
Their Answers

13. Question :1
What type of reinforcement schedule does random drug
testing represent? Is this type of
schedule typically effective or ineffective?
Answer:
 Random drug testing represents an intermittent schedule,
since not every instance of drug used is detected or
punished.
 This type of schedule is typically ineffective because it is a
minor type of punishment which doesn’t resist the
players to avoid from using steroids.
 If all the players are randomly tested then the
effectiveness of the drug testing is increased.
 But if only random players are tested, then the drug
testing schedule would not apply to all of the players,
thus rendering it 100% ineffective towards the players not
tested.

14. Question :2
What are some examples of behaviors in typical organization that
supervisors reward but that may actually be detrimental to others or to
the organization as a whole? As a manager, what might you do to try to
avoid this quandary?
Answer:
 An example of a behavior in a typical organization that supervisors reward
but may actually be detrimental to others or to the organization as a whole is
athletes taking steroids.
 When athletes take steroids to enhance their performance abilities, they are
misleading their managers and their fans.
 Initially, it may be rewarding because everyone involved gains from the
profitability, sports merchandise, increased popularity and success.
 But in the end, when it is discovered that the athlete achieved recognition
with the aid of steroids he destroys his reputation and also his team’s and
country’s reputation and the loyalty the fans had for him.
 If I was made aware of someone using steroids, I would do a random drug
testing as soon as possible instead of having the whole team suffer for that
one insubordinate athlete

15. Question :3
If you were the commissioner of baseball, what steps would you take to
try to reduce the use of steroids in baseball? Is punishment likely to be
the most effective deterrent? Why or why not?
Answer:
 If I were the commissioner of baseball, then I also put a punishment policy like
“three strikes and you are out”.
 Because it is very effective and it has a lesson for others.
 Every player knows that if he use steroid, obviously he will be punished and if he
repeat it for third time he will be out.
 You can’t reward players that take steroids. Steroids are an illegal drug
 That is why it could be a positive point for players to avoid from steroids.

16. Question :4
Is it ever “okay” to allow potentially unethical behaviors, which on the
surface may benefit organizations, or persist? Why or why not?
Answer:
 No, it is never okay to allow potentially unethically behaviors, which on the
surface may benefit organization.
 Because it is risky practice and it can be harm for an organization.
 A real example of Microsoft Company is in front of us in 1998.
 Microsoft use some unethical practices to precede its business in market but
other companies like Apple, Intel etc put a case on Microsoft.
 Microsoft face many problems, that’s why we should not use unethical
practices whether it is beneficial or harmful for organization.

17. Conclusion
 From the above discussion, we are quite clear that there are very few
short term benefits of using steroid. It has many side effects and great
reaction that causes many fatal diseases of the user like high blood
pressure, heart disease, liver damage, cancer, kidney damage.
 The use of drugs by one athlete may coerce or force another athlete to
use, simply to maintain equality; therefore heightening the
competition.
 So, to avoid the use of steroid by players, the concerned authorities
have to make rules and regulations and should apply them properly
because we know that any undesirable behavior can be avoid through
negative reinforcement i.e. punishment not through reward.