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This paper addresses the importance of goal setting in the operations function. The importance of goal setting and its possible role in the implementation and operation of production systems is considered with particular emphasis on Material Requirements Planning (MRP). It has been argued that an operative goal setting process can improve employees' performance in any area of the organisation. Likewise, companies with a high‐level MRP system are expected to show high performance levels. This paper offers empirical support for these claims and further argues that the combination and interaction of the two processes results in synergistic effects. To support these arguments the paper draws on both theoretical studies and the results of a small regional survey.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how individual perceptions by employees of a goal‐setting program and personality traits influence job satisfaction and goal commitment.

Using the German version of Locke and Latham's goal‐setting questionnaire, 97 production employees judged the quality of the goal‐setting program in their company with regard to content‐related problems of goals (e.g. goal clarity), process in dyad (e.g. supervisor support), and setting‐related aspects (e.g. rewards). Data were also collected on the participants' conscientiousness and neuroticism.

The results showed that job satisfaction is predicted by content and setting‐related aspects, whereas content‐related aspects affected goal commitment. Conscientiousness explained variance in goal commitment independent of individual perceptions of the goal‐setting program, whereas neuroticism affected job satisfaction indirectly via the perceptions of goal content.

Performance management programs that incorporate goals belong to the most widely used management techniques worldwide. The study provides evidence on critical success factors from the view of staff members, which helps to design or optimize current goal‐setting programs. Furthermore, the study implies practical consequences in terms of person‐job fit based on personality traits.

The study helps to build a more comprehensive picture of how content, process, and setting‐related perceptions of a goal‐setting program influence job satisfaction and goal commitment. In addition, it provides important insights into the processes through which individual differences affect work behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to research factors like task-orientation and collectivism and to examine the relationship between them and goal-setting as research construct. This research investigates the phenomena of team goal-setting in a selected sports organisation. Therefore 49 players from three Portuguese elite male handball team were selected for the study.

Three well-known questionnaires were employed to determine the relationships between the above factors in a case setting. Task- and ego-orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Jackson Psychological Collectivism Measure and the Goal-setting in Sport Questionnaire.

The results reveal that the team and players are task-oriented, collectivist and possessing professional and personal goal habits. The correlations between questionnaire outcomes indicate that, when the team wants to set goals, it should consider the players’ orientation and the team’s collectivism. Thus team goal-setting is more than only goal-setting, because of the need for task-orientation and collectivism.

The research was conducted using three teams in a specific sports and thus cannot be generalised to the general sports environment. Yet, certainly the strength of the findings indicate that the results and conclusions may be used in a wider sports or business setting.

This research paper should provide managers and coaches with insight into the complexity of team goal-setting. It also should provide insight into the chosen process related to human resources.

The paper adds and demonstrates to the literature on team goal-setting the importance of task-orientation and collectivism as goal-setting mediators.

To describe the conduct and outcomes of a field experiment in a US manufacturing facility using goal setting and feedback as productivity improvement tools.

Initial studies were conducted to determine a baseline of performance. A two‐month field experiment was utilized to test and measure productivity. The field experiment involved the implementation of changes to three manufacturing cells for a six‐week period and the training of supervisors and staff. Researchers performed the collection of data, implementation of changes and training of workers.

Findings suggest that goal setting and timely feedback will lead to improved work performance, greater efficiency, and the establishment of more challenging goals. In addition, findings suggest that information systems which facilitate goal setting and feedback are more effective than traditional supervision systems at improving performance.

Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the time frame for the intervention was limited to two months. A longer data collection period could ensure the longevity of the conclusions of this analysis. Second, all subjects received verbal feedback followed by the addition of graphic feedback. Therefore, sequence effects cannot be ruled out. On an overall basis, though, the findings of this study can clearly be applied to a wide range of manufacturing organizations

The study is useful for all managers seeking a competitive advantage through improved productivity. It provides significant insight into ways to improve productivity through the use of goal setting and performance feedback implemented by information systems.

This paper fulfills a need for insight into methods for improving productivity, as well as offering practical aid to managers in the manufacturing industry.

Introduced into the literature a decade ago, grit originally defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals has stimulated considerable research on positive effects primarily in the academic and military contexts, as well as attracted widespread media attention. Despite recent criticism regarding grit’s construct and criterion-related validity, research on grit has begun to spill over into the work context as well. In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the initial theoretical foundations of grit as a motivational driver, and present newer conceptualizations on the mechanisms of grit’s positive effects rooted in goal-setting theory. Furthermore, the authors also draw attention to existing shortcomings of the current definition and measurement of grit, and their implications for its scientific and practical application. After establishing a theoretical understanding, the authors discuss the potential utility of grit for human resource management, related to staffing and recruitment, development and training, and performance management systems as well as performance evaluations. The authors conclude this chapter with a discussion of necessary and potential future research, and consider the practical implications of grit in its current state.

The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the efficacy of setting multiple goals targeting complex competencies with a variety of time horizons pursued across a number of years. Most research conducted in the areas of goal setting examines an individual's ability to achieve a single goal targeting a simple skill or behavioral change within a short time period.

In this longitudinal study competency development is assessed over time periods ranging from nine months to four and half years and examined using both self‐reported change and behavior change demonstrated through critical incident interviews.

Progress over the study reveals that establishing learning goals is particularly important to the development of competencies. Subjects developed significantly more on competencies for which they set goals than on other competencies. They also demonstrated greater competency development when goals were remembered.

Subjects were studied during a specific life change event – completion of an MBA program. Their particular education environment was designed to support and encourage change. It undoubtedly contributed to their development during the study. Results therefore may not generalize to broader populations. However, the results reveal clear implications for management education in both academic and corporate education settings.

This study highlights important elements in the development process that when included enhance competency development and provide insight into the mechanisms underlying intentional change theory.

The research evaluates the complexity and difficulty involved in competency development. It provides empirical evidence to support goal setting and intentional change theories.

Four common goal setting practices in public schools are assessed from the perspective of modern organization theory. The major thesis of the paper is that organizational goals are established through the process of committing policies and allocating resources. Thus, the paper questions the rational approach to goal setting in which goal statements are developed by ad hoc committees independent of the arena in which operative decision making occurs. The paper concludes that goal setting should be viewed as a major confrontation of values and that administrators and policy makers might better clarify school goals by examining their actions.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of goal setting in improving performance in an emerging economy, Barbados.

There is a substantial body of literature which has shown that goal setting improves performance in the developed world, but there is relatively little research examining these relationships in emerging economies. This experimental study sought to extend understanding of the impact of goal setting by testing goals in a carefully controlled environment in an emerging economy. The study considered assigned goals and performance, as well as the moderating impact of personal and cultural characteristics.

Results supported the hypothesis that specific, difficult goals improve performance. Personal characteristics did not moderate the relationship, but the cultural characteristics of individualism and uncertainty avoidance (UA) did.

The results of this study are limited because of the experimental nature of the study and the student sample, however, the results encourage further research and provide practical guidance for managers in Barbados.

The results suggest that, similar to developed countries, specific and difficult goals result in better performance, and that higher levels of individualism and lower levels of UA result in better performance under the individual assignment conditions of this research.

The research extends the goal‐setting approach to a new environment and provides a foundation for future research, and it provides evidence for managers in organizations in emerging countries that goal‐setting has a positive impact on performance.

The purpose of this paper is to give evidence of effective, large-scale, and time-sustained goal setting through the use of performance indicators (PIs) in managing a fairly large and decentralized social-security organization, despite indications that the motivational effects of goal setting are hard to sustain in the long term.

The authors analyze five years of monthly organizational performance data across 30 regional offices and five activities to identify the links between PIs and productivity.

The authors identify correlations that demonstrate a cycle where low performance scores on indicators increase productivity in the next period, but high performance decrease it, thus renewing the cycle.

While long-term gains in the productivity are not the direct product of goal setting, the close relationship between goals and productivity illustrates the motivational potential of communicable targets and close feedback that led to a culture of performance within the organization.

The case studied demonstrates how a performance management system can be designed and managed so that long-term fatigue is avoided while maintaining a dynamic workforce that adapts in the face of environment change by increasing its efforts as needed.

This paper answers a call to connect management control studies with managerial work done in practical settings.

The purpose of this paper is to show how individual acts of goal-setting of two persons or systems A and B determine, which modes of coexistence become possible in an interaction of the two.

Some person or system A can approach another person or system B with an inclination to realize one of four goal-setting processes: first, A sets goals for B; second, A sets no own goals; third, A pursues own goals alone; and fourth, A and B develop mutual goals. And an interaction of A and B can lead to just four modes of coexistence: first, conflict – A and B fight; second, hierarchy – A submits to B; third, independence in niches – A and B do not interact; and fourth, cooperation – A and B work together.

Placing the inclinations of A and B to realize one of the four goal-setting processes in a 4×4 matrix leads to the interaction matrix. It shows that individual goal-setting processes predetermine and limit the available modes of coexistence, i.e. cause certain patterns of interactions.

The interaction matrix can be applied to all interactions between persons, groups and social units generally.

The paper introduces a theoretical framework covering all options of goal-orientated behavior. It explains the interrelation between individual goal-setting of persons and systems and the resulting behavioral options in interactions. It is applicable to all behavioral sciences.