This book examines the management of multiple goals in organizations especially in today's increasingly turbulent business environment. In this book, authors develop a novel concept of goal polychronicity, wherein organizations may attend to multiple goals simultaneously, rather than mono-chronically through sequential attention. This book further investigates the impact of internal organizational control systems and external environmental turbulence on multiple goals management. Empirical evidence is drawn from in-depth interviews of top executives and large-scale survey of top executives from four countries (US, Australia, China, and Israel). The book enriches the understanding of multiple goals and provides evidence-based recommendations to researchers and practitioners in managing multiple goals.
Author(s): Feifei Yang, Mirjam Goudsmit, George Shinkle
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 240
City: Singapore
Preface I
Preface II
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
1.2 Research Questions
1.2.1 Organizational Controls as Antecedents of Goal Polychronicity
1.2.2 Goal Polychronicity and Organizational Performance
1.3 Theoretical Framework
1.4 Data and Methods
1.5 Contribution and Implications
1.5.1 Theoretical Contribution and Implications
1.5.2 Practical Implications
1.6 Organization of Book
References
2 Literature Review
2.1 Organizational Goals Literature
2.1.1 Research Background on Organizational Goals
2.1.2 Theoretical Frameworks for Organizational Goals
2.1.3 Organizational Goals and Attention
2.1.4 Multiple Goals
2.1.5 Approaches for Attending to Multiple Goals
2.1.6 Multiple Goals: Goal Polychronicity as a Central Construct
2.1.7 Research Summary Regarding Organizational Goals
2.2 Organizational Control Literature
2.2.1 Control-Types Literature Stream
2.2.2 Efficiency–flexibility Literature Stream
2.2.3 Other Related Research Streams of Organizational Control
2.2.4 Traditional Constructs of Organizational Control
2.2.5 Enactment of Organizational Controls
2.2.6 Research Summary Regarding Organizational Control
2.3 Commentary on Motivation Within Goals and Controls
2.3.1 Individual Level Goal Setting Theory
2.3.2 Self-determination Theory (SDT)
2.4 Environmental Turbulence Literature
2.4.1 Defining Environmental Turbulence
2.4.2 Sources of Environmental Turbulence
2.4.3 Environmental Turbulence and Organizational Performance
2.4.4 Research Summary Regarding Environmental Turbulence
2.5 Summary
References
3 Theory and Hypotheses for Model 1—Antecedents of Goal Polychronicity
3.1 Organizational Controls as Antecedents of Goal Polychronicity
3.1.1 Control Formalization and Goal Polychronicity
3.1.2 Control Flexibility and Goal Polychronicity
3.1.3 Interaction of Control Formalization and Flexibility on Goal Polychronicity
3.2 Summary
References
4 Theory and Hypotheses for Model 2—Performance Impact of Goal Polychronicity
4.1 Performance Impact of Goal Polychronicity
4.1.1 Goal Polychronicity and Organizational Performance
4.1.2 Moderation Effect of Control Formalization
4.1.3 Moderation Effect of Environmental Turbulence
4.2 Summary
References
5 Empirical Context, Methods and Data—Interviews
5.1 Interview Sample and Data Collection
5.2 Insights and Reflections from Top Managers Interviewed
5.2.1 Organizational Goal Setting
5.2.2 Goal Polychronicity (Multiple Goals) Both High and Low Levels
5.2.3 Management of Multiple Goals
5.2.4 Environmental Turbulence Both High and Low Levels
5.2.5 Contingencies Shaping the Management of Multiple Goals
5.2.6 Additional Observations
5.3 Summary
References
6 Empirical Context, Methods and Data—Survey
6.1 Survey Sample and Data Collection
6.2 Measures
6.2.1 Dependent Variables
6.2.2 Independent Variables
6.2.3 Control Variables
6.3 Goal Polychronicity and Multiple Goals
6.4 Summary
References
7 Analysis and Results for Model 1
7.1 Data Assessment
7.2 Hypothesis Tests
7.3 Robustness Checks
7.4 Summary
References
8 Analysis and Results for Model 2
8.1 Data Assessment
8.2 Hypothesis Tests
8.3 Robustness Checks
8.4 Summary
References
9 Discussion
9.1 Model 1: Organizational Controls as Antecedents of Goal Polychronicity
9.2 Model 2: Performance Impact of Goal Polychronicity
References
10 Limitations and Future Research Directions
10.1 Limitations
10.2 Future Research Directions
10.3 Future Research—A Proposal for Convergence
10.4 Summary
References
11 Summary and Conclusions
11.1 Major Conclusions
11.2 Summary
References
Appendix A Interview Questions
A.1 Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews in China
A.1.1 Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews in China (2014)
A.1.2 Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews in China (2019)
A.2 Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews in Australia
A.3 Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews in Israel
Appendix B Managerial Report Based on Interviews in Australia (2014)
B.1 Executive Summary
B.2 Project Overview
B.3 Interview Synopsis
B.4 Key Observations
B.4.1 When Setting Goals Consider Credibility with Important Audiences
B.4.2 Goals Can Be Set Through a Self-Balancing Process
B.4.3 In More Turbulent Environments Goals Are More Important but Less Sticky
B.4.4 Leadership is a Critical Variable in Goal Setting
B.4.5 Organisations Have Multiple Goals that Often Interact
B.4.6 Strategic Intent is More Important as Time Horizons Shift
B.4.7 Additional Interesting Observations Regarding Goal Setting
B.4.8 Big Questions Needing Further Empirical Investigation
B.5 Overall Result of Interviews: A Proposed Process Model
B.6 Implications for Managers
B.7 Summary
Appendix C Managerial Report Based on Cross-country Survey (2016)
C.1 Executive Summary
C.2 Project Overview
C.3 Key Observations
C.3.1 Planning
C.3.2 Goals
C.3.3 Strategy
C.3.4 Management
C.3.5 Performance Outcomes
C.3.6 Business Environment
C.3.7 Organisational and Process Factors
C.4 Preliminary In-depth Example
C.5 Summary
