A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN GOAL SETTING ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION1

Two hundred and forty-five working level scientists and engineers participated in a longitudinal study in which their managers had been trained in a Management by Objectives program. Subjects completed two questionnaries, the latter being completed 21 months after the first designed to assess perceptions of their managers' goal setting behavior along four dimensions derived using factor analytic procedures (Goal Clarity and Planning, Subordinate Freedom, Feedback and Evaluation, Participation in Goal Setting) and their reported intrinsic, extrinsic and total satisfaction. Dynamic correlations (Vroom, 1966) were computed between changes in the goal setting factors and changes in the satisfaction variables and significant positive relationships were observed. In addition, results indicated that job task (research vs. development) demonstrated a moderating influence on the goal setting-satisfaction relationships. An unexpected finding was that there was a significant decrease in perceived managerial behavior on the Goal Clarity and Planning factor over the 21 months. However, a significant increase occurred on the Feedback and Evaluation factor. Since no control group was available for comparison, little can be said about whether these changes were a result of the MBO program. Significant differences between the development and the research subjects were also observed on two of the goal setting factors.     

‘When Would You Do It?’ An Investigation into the Effects of Retaliation,Seriousness of Malpractice and Occupation on Willingness to Blow the Whistle

A questionnaire study involving white collar workers (n=48) investigated the effects of the threat of retaliation, seriousness of malpractice and occupational status of the observer on the likelihood and method of whistle-blowing chosen. In line with previous whistle-blowing and bystander intervention research, the likelihood of whistle-blowing was greater for serious malpractices and where threatened retaliation was low. The effect of retaliation was only significant for serious white collar malpractices and in every situation internal whistle-blowing was more likely than external. The general likelihood of whistle-blowing was positively correlated with the perception that reporting the malpractice would result in change.