Page 251 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

adoption of goal-set ting and feedback systems 235
outcome feedback but also provide suggestions how to change task strategies to improve
performance. Many goal-setting and feedback systems as described in the literature (see,
for example, Locke & Latham, 1990; Pritchard, 1990) only provide outcome feedback.
Strictly speaking, people are much more inclined to improve performance by working
harder than by working smarter (see Algera et al., 1997). Even when there is no lack of
cues to improve task strategies it is not guaranteed that actual improvement will happen.
Experience in practice shows that employees often lack problem-solving skills. Thus, to
improve performance, additional interventions are needed.
The second question is how to expand the goal-setting and feedback system into the
organisation. In the literature examples are very scarce. Janssen et al. (1995) report on
an extension of a successful ProMES system to other departments in the organisation.
In the study of Kleingeld (1994) the system has been introduced to all maintenance
technicians in 13 units after the initial design and evaluation in two units. These two
studies started in the early 1990s and the goal-setting and feedback systems are still alive
in 2000. Many adaptations to the original systems have taken place in the meantime
to survive in changing conditions. Information on the longevity of goal-setting and
feedback systems is very scarce indeed. Probably these two examples mentioned above
are exceptional. Locke and Latham (1990), reporting on 156 field studies, mention
a maximum of 36 months of longevity. It illustrates at least that the maintenance of
goal-setting and feedback systems probably takes even more effort by management and
employees than the initial design and implementation. In addition, we conclude that
to realise the potential performance improvement benefits of goal-setting and feedback
systems in practice, context factors should be taken into account.
This statement implies that goal setting and feedback interventions can only be suc-
cessful if embedded into the larger perspective of the organisation’s strategy to improve
organisational performance.

ADOPTION OF GOAL-SETTING AND FEEDBACK SYSTEMS
In this section we will focus on an important theme that pervades all phases of the
implementation process. The adoption of a goal-setting and feedback system seems to be
one of the most crucial factors for enhancing performance. By the term adoption is meant
that not only the unit for which a system has been designed should accept the system but
also the organisational context should be accommodated to get maximum performance
benefits, as we have argued in the previous paragraphs. Locke and Latham (1990) refer
to goal acceptance and goal commitment as similar terms, and prefer goal commitment
“as the more inclusive concept in that it refers to one’s attachment to or determination to
reach a goal, regardless of where the goal came from” (p. 125). Much research exists on
the effects of participation on goal commitment. Summarising apparently contradictory
findings from previous studies, Locke and Latham (1990) conclude that assigned goal
setting is as effective as participative goal setting to arrive at goal commitment. However
these findings were mainly based on laboratory experiments. In these settings it even
seems to be difficult to get non-commitment.
We believe that participation in the design of goal-setting and feedback systems
in actual practice is important, provided that the organisational culture is not totally
opposite to participation. Van Tuijl (1997) gives an overview of factors that can lead