Following are the limitations of behaviour modification:
1. The primary basis of criticism that is faced by behaviour modification is due to the fact that the operant conditioning principles which were developed by Skinner were based on experiments conducted with white rats.
According to some critics, this technique tries to compare human behaviour with rats as it is applied to rat morphism. However, in reality, any organisation’s functioning is quite sophisticated compared to Skinner’s box.
2. The concept of personal autonomy faces threats from operant conditioning as this technique neglects an individual’s individuality.
3. Freedom of selection of behaviour is greatly limited by OB MOD.
4. One of the assumptions of OB Mod is that the behaviour of any individual can be influenced by his or her environment, and there is only a nominal effect of his/her internal forces.
5. The techniques of OB Mod are oversimplified. These techniques do not have anything new or innovative. In fact, it is old wine in a new bottle.
6. The attempts made to modify the behaviour of employees by reinforcement in OB mod are based upon the conventional management concept of stimulating the individuals to do what they are expected to do.
7. The internal factors affecting behaviour are neglected by OB Mod. The fact that some employees give more importance to the inherent satisfaction of a job is also neglected by it.
8. One of the essential criticisms of OB Mod is that the managers are mandated to associate the performances with the rewards regularly and are coerced to conduct psycho-analysis of the workforce.
9. Various groups, such as college students, patients with behavioural problems, criminals, etc., have been mainly focused on implementing OB Mod.
Most organisations are progressively utilising the various techniques of OB Mod despite its various criticism.