Exploring goal‐setting as a tool for leadership development

Goal‐setting theory is based on the premise that conscious goals affect action and is supported by four decades of research and more than 1,000 scholarly publications. Although the theory has been widely applied in management settings, it is an underused framework in the broader field of leadership development. This study considers the effects of goal‐setting as applied in a leadership program conducted for local board members in a nonprofit membership organization, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation. A final reduced regression model explains about 25% of the variance in individual performance by considering goal specificity, goal difficulty, education level, and gender. This study has implications for professional development programming and its application of goal‐setting theory. Additional research is needed to explore further the application of goal‐setting theory in programming for volunteer leaders.     

Reputation und Unternehmenserfolg

About 30 years ago the first scientific papers were published that address the construct of corporate reputation from the perspective of management science. This article aims at providing a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of corporate reputation research. First, we discuss conceptualizations and operationalizations of this intangible asset. Second, we review studies which examine the relationship between corporate reputation and stakeholder behavior respectively firm performance. We find that a superior corporate reputation influences the behavior of stakeholders favorably and thus has a positive impact on the (financial) success of the firm. Finally, we present some hints for future research.     

The loyalty construct: Hirschman and beyond

Six papers drawing on Hirschman's (1970) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty model are discussed with regard to two themes: (a) relationship to the original work (specifically focusing on variations in the definition and operationalization of the loyalty component), and (b) the development of the loyalty construct itself. A concerted effort is called for to pursue a better understanding of loyalty, including an improved appreciation of the depth and breadth of the construct, its antecedents and outcomes, and its operationalizations in organizational settings.     

Reconceptualizing self-defeating work behavior for management research

Self-defeating work behavior (SDWB) is a common and costly behavior that is not adequately incorporated into management research. We argue there are two reasons for this. First, the construct has not been adequately defined for management scholars. This has hindered grounding the construct in the organizational context and created confusion about differences between SDWB and related constructs like deviant work behavior (DWB). Second, the underlying nature of SDWB is not well understood by management scientists. To stimulate management research on a costly and arguably understudied construct, we provide a definition of SDWB and use the definition to clarify relations between SDWB and DWB. We then proffer two research propositions to guide future management research based on two salient attributes of SDWB: 1) self-regulation failure, and 2) the habitual nature of SDWB. Finally, we demonstrate how investigating the two research propositions can open new territories for studying SDWB in the workplace.     

An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment: the role of personal needs and task context

This study examines the influence of individual needs and task characteristics on a multifaceted definition of perceived empowerment using an interactional perspective. Respondents were Hong Kong Chinese employees and most of them lower-level or nonmanagerial level workers in business organizations. We used regression analyses to test a number of hypotheses informed by social psychology theories. The significant findings indicate that perceived empowerment is predicted by individual characteristics (need for achievement, need for power), task situations (receipt of task feedback, competency-based reward system, participation in goal setting) and their interactions. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.     

The role of organizational cultures in information‐systems security management: A goal‐setting perspective

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of strong organizational cultures in setting information‐systems security goals. In doing so, we explore and discuss the concept of culture within three financial organizations with different social and organizational structures, and seek to demonstrate the importance of having a cohesive culture in efficiently setting information‐security goals. The relationship between goal setting, culture strength, and performance is also discussed, as there have been studies that indirectly indicate that such a relationship may exist. The contribution of this work to interpretive information‐systems research consists of its study of culture and goal setting in a security‐management context, and its grounding within an interpretive epistemology. In addition, this research promotes an interdisciplinary and interorganizational theory to foster dialogue that transcends industry‐specific contexts and explores different organizational practices that can improve leadership's role in human life.     

The mediating effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between participative goal setting and team outcomes – a study in China

In the late twentieth century, it is popular to research the effect of participative goal setting. The general conclusion is that the relationship between participation and performance is inconsistent and unclear at individual level. With team becoming a more dominant mode in organizing, motivating, and managing, it is worthwhile to investigate the effect of participation in team goal setting. This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological empowerment (PE) on the relationship between participative team goal setting and team identity and team performance. Executive MBA students (371) in 75 groups from China Europe International Business School in China participated in the study. The data from Business Strategy Game and questionnaire found positive relationship between participative team goal setting and team identification, and team performance is partially mediated by PE. Implications for the goal-setting theory and practice are discussed, and future research directions offered.     

基于关系视角的品牌资产研究

在品牌资产的研究领域中,基于顾客的品牌资产(CBBE)研究在较长一段时间里都是作为品牌资产研究的主流范式影响着学术界及企业。随着CBBE研究的缺点不断呈现,许多学者提出了消费者—品牌关系的品牌资产研究来试图解决CBBE研究中遇到的挑战。然而,这一新的基于关系视角的品牌资产研究在其关系的界定上仍然存在一定缺陷。文章试图通过梳理关系营销这一基础理论,来从新定义基于关系视角的品牌资产。     

Why do firms set environmental performance goals?: Some evidence from organizational theory

Organizational goal setting is considered a critical strategic first step for corporations as it provides the basis for developing a roadmap for organizational activity as well as guidance for establishing the metrics to measure progress. Yet despite significant research interest in the environmental performance of corporations, environmental goal setting has received little attention. For example, it is not known why firms set environmental goals. Understanding this goal setting behavior is necessary to develop mechanisms to improve organizations' environmental management and performance. This study uses organizational change models of institutionalism, stakeholder management, natural selection, strategic choice and organizational learning to examine why firms set environmental performance goals. First, propositions related to environmental goal setting are developed from the models. The goal setting propositions use the goals of the US EPA's 33/50 programme, a national voluntary pollution prevention effort which aimed for a 33% reduction in releases by 1993 and a 50% reduction by 1995, as a basis for comparison to individual company goal setting. Next, the toxic release reduction goals of the 118 US corporations who set goals are analysed to determine which organizational change model propositions they support. All five models of organizational change examined here–institutionalism, stakeholder management, natural selection, strategic choice and organizational learning–show some promise in explaining corporate environmental goal setting. The combination of these models leads to the following depiction of the motivation for toxic release reduction. Firms will set goals to reduce toxic releases in an effort to respond to regulators and other factors in the institutional and stakeholder environment. This goal setting is likely to be enhanced if it can be more directly tied to economic benefits such as cost savings or if it is chosen by natural selection. This in turn will promote organizational learning with the end result of better environmental and economic performance. These findings provide some empirical evidence on which to base strategies for improving corporate environmental management. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Collective Dynamics of Citizenship Behaviour: What Group Characteristics Promote Group‐Level Helping?

A basic tenet of research on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is that OCB aggregated across individuals improves organizational performance. Departing from the typical focus on individual-level OCB, the construct of group-level OCB (GOCB) recently emerged as a critical group function that affects various group effectiveness measures. Despite the clear link between GOCB and team performance, the existing literature provides a limited understanding with regard to the antecedents of GOCB, mostly focusing on leadership variables. Establishing helping behaviour (a core dimension of OCB) as a collective construct, this study substantially expands the antecedents of group-level helping, and empirically tests their effects using three different operationalizations of group-level helping. The results, based on a sample of 96 work units, show that membership diversity in gender and education decreased group-level helping, whereas diversity in tenure increased it. Group-level helping was also positively related to leadership characteristics (supportive unit manager, transformational top management) and perceived competence of unit members. In addition, the analysis further indicated that perceived competence is a positive predictor of group-level helping only when the unit members also believe that others are trustworthy in terms of integrity and benevolent motivation. From a methodological standpoint, the study provides important insights by comparing different ways of operationalizing collective constructs.     

Goal setting barriers: a pharmaceutical sales force case study

Prior research has established that goal setting is one of the main processes for effective management of sales forces. Developing effective sales quotas has proved difficult mainly due to the complexity of the systems utilised in the process, the granularity of the data required and the lack of attention to implementation issues. This article is based on an in-depth study of a mid-size pharmaceutical company in Spain. Our research uncovered 11 key barriers that prevent effective development of sales quotas. The article sets out directions for further research and implications for practice.     

HR-related facets and their relationship to organizational effectiveness: a faceted definition

Human resource (HR) professionals and employers perceive different practices as affecting organizational effectiveness. Consequently, the question is what are the components of these practices and why do they relate to organizational effectiveness. To achieve this goal, we employed the facet analytic approach and developed a faceted definition of organizational effectiveness comprising HR-related facets. Thus various facets were reviewed and incorporated into an overall faceted definition of the universe of organizational effectiveness. Future empirical research based on this faceted definition should be conducted with the objective of examining the extent to which it is tenable or alternatively, deciding upon the changes that should be introduced in order to make this definitional framework more accurate.     

Collaboration at work: An integrative multilevel conceptualization

The term collaboration has been used throughout a variety of research disciplines to describe multiple types of interaction; yet, a unified, comprehensive definition of the construct remains elusive. This lack of clarity regarding the distinctions and commonalities between collaboration and other interaction concepts has resulted in conceptual confusion that affects practice and research in human resource management. Practitioners see collaboration as more of a buzzword than as an effective human resource strategy. Previous theory development efforts have not yet taken a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. This has resulted in failure to integrate key themes across disciplines into an overall view of collaboration, which is a commonplace practice in business and military sectors alike. This paper describes a multidisciplinary conceptualization of collaboration and discusses the implications of this integrative theory to human resource management and strategy development as well as future research efforts.     

Competitive advantage in the ERP system's value-chain and its influence on future development

Using the resource-based view, we present a set of propositions related to enterprise resource planning (ERP) development, reflections on competitive advantage and the different roles that stakeholders play in the value-chain. This has the goal of building a foundation for future research on ERPs and how stakeholders' desire to achieve competitive advantage influence ERP development, especially when it comes to development of a more standardised or pre-customised ERP system. The propositions also act as a foundation for increasing our knowledge concerning the difficulty in developing improved ERP systems.     

Antecedents and measures of organizational effectiveness: A systematic review of literature

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the academic literature on organizational effectiveness (OE) through an analysis of 134 contributions. While OE is the most important goal for an organization, research views on this construct are diversified. Over time, the literature has increasingly focused on antecedents, measures, and more diversified approaches to OE. This paper contributes to the OE literature by developing an integrated conceptual model that considers the levels of antecedents (individual, group, and organizational) as well as measures of OE (financial, operational, structural, and attitudinal). Previous research has focused primarily on organizational-level antecedents and non-financial measures of OE. The paper also discusses the barriers hampering the measurement of OE. An agenda for future research is also provided.     

Distance in organizations

There is perhaps no construct that is so fundamental to interpersonal interactions in organizations, yet so incompletely understood, than distance. Part of the difficulty in developing a comprehensive and informed understanding of the role distance plays in organizations is that theory and research in this area have been quite fragmented, focusing on narrow aspects of the construct and lacking the integration necessary to build a more general knowledge base. For example, Graen (1976) has contributed greatly to our understanding of one aspect of distance, presenting a model based on role theory whereby in-group and out-group members are hypothesized to enjoy different rewards, benefit from different leadership behaviors, and experience different levels of satisfaction and performance ratings based on relative closeness (or distance) in their working relationship with their supervisor. Other researchers have explored the phenomena of psychological distance (Rothaus, Morton, & Hanson 1965), spatial distance (Kerr & Jermier 1978; Ferris & Rowland 1985), and physical distance (Sundstrom, Burt, & Kamp 1980; Sundstrom 1986) in the supervisor-subordinate relationship. This research, although a good starting point, does not adequately define or integrate the various aspects of distance in organizations. This article represents an effort to develop a broader and more extensive understanding of the role distance plays in organizations by integrating the various types of distance into a theoretical model. A model of Dyadic Distance in the supervisor-subordinate relationship is presented which develops the new constructs of Dyadic, Psychological, Structural, and Functional Distance, examines their process dynamics and impact on Human Resource Management issues such as performance evaluations and turnover, and proposes needed directions for future research in this important area.     

Goals-delphis for urban planning: Concepts in their design

An algorithm for the use of the Delphi technique in developing goal hierarchies for urban systems planning is outlined. Some of the major psychological forces operating in the Delphi process, particularly the influence of group pressure, are discussed, and the implications of these in terms of alternative internal designs are described. Goals-Delphis may be considered to involve value judgments, and as such are subject to certain restrictions. They have organizational implications beyond the deliberate goal setting effort, and may be adapted for use as change agents through administrative experiments. The possibility of the use of Delphi for improving the efficiency of multidisciplinary research teams is explored.     

Individual differences in feedback propensities and training performance

Noting the relative scarcity of research on the role of individual differences (other than abilities) in determining training outcomes, this paper proposes how new developments in individual differences research may be used for such purposes. The paper reviews recent developments in identifying external and internal feedback propensities and how these may yield different interactions between the individual trainee and the training setting. Seven propositions are developed to guide research on such interactions and results from two studies are reviewed for suggestive support for some of these propositions. The paper concludes with a discussion of how such research may advance our understanding of the design and delivery of training, as well as other areas that use performance feedback as a central construct.     

民办高校体育课程教学改革的思考

本文运用文献法、访谈法、对比分析等研究方法,针对民办高校体育的课程目标、课程设置、课程实施、课程评价几个方面,对民办高校体育课程存在的问题进行了探究,并从民办高校培养应用型人才的角度对体育课程教学改革与构建进行了深入的探索和研究。