Performance-prove Goal Orientation Research Articles

Compete or Cooperate? Goal Orientations and Coworker Popularity in the Knowledge-Sharing Dilemma.

Focusing on two goal orientations (the learning and performance prove-goal orientation), this study proposed a different mechanism for dealing with the knowledge-sharing dilemma. We analyzed data from 257 employee-coworker dyads, finding that the learning goal orientation positively affected knowledge sharing, while the performance prove-goal orientation negatively affected knowledge sharing. In addition, highlighting the importance of coworker influence, our analysis showed that coworker popularity served as social cue to boost the main effects of knowledge sharing. Specifically, the positive relationship between the learning goal orientation and knowledge sharing and the negative relationship between the performance prove-goal orientation and knowledge sharing were stronger when coworker popularity was higher. These findings contribute to articulating theoretical directions at the individual level for addressing the dilemma associated with knowledge sharing. Furthermore, they offer practical implications by emphasizing the ongoing importance of considering the influence of coworkers, who serve as crucial exchange partners during task execution.

Why Do Supervisors Abuse Certain Subordinates? Goal Orientation and Leader–Member Exchange as Antecedents

In this study, we draw from moral exclusion perspective to theorize leader–member exchange (LMX) and subordinate goal orientation as antecedents of abusive supervision. In addition, we integrate LMX theory to propose LMX as a mediating mechanism through which goal orientation influences abusive supervision and consequently task performance. We tested our hypotheses through two cross-cultural multi-method studies. In a field study with South Korean employees (Study 1), we found that LMX and abusive supervision serially mediated the relationship between performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO) and task performance. In an online vignette study with American employees (Study 2), we found that LMX and learning goal orientation were negatively associated with abusive supervision. Furthermore, we found support that LMX mediated the relationship between all three dimensions of goal orientation (learning, performance-prove, and performance-avoid) and abusive supervision. Combing both studies, we found strong evidence that subordinates with high PPGO form positive relationships with their supervisors which elicit less supervisory abuse. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed.

Employee goal orientation and knowledge sharing: the moderating effect of leader boundary spanning behavior

PurposeThe research aims to examine the impacts of two different types of goal orientation, i.e. leaning goal orientation (LGO) and performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO), on employee knowledge sharing, and whether these relationships are altered by leaders' boundary spanning behavior (BSB).Design/methodology/approachA sample of 170 employees and 93 leaders were collected from South Korean organizations. Data were analyzed using path analysis.FindingsThe results demonstrated that employees with a high LGO are more likely to engage in knowledge sharing, while employees with a high PPGO are less likely to show knowledge sharing. Moreover, the findings showed that highly learning oriented employees tend to engage in knowledge sharing when they are under leaders who show active BSB.Practical implicationsTo encourage knowledge sharing between employees, organizations need to promote a mastery-structured work environment to help employees develop a stronger LGO. Also, organizations could benefit from implementing training programs for leaders that promote their BSB.Originality/valueThe research aims to provide a more articulate account for how LGO and PPGO affect employee knowledge sharing in opposite ways. More importantly, this research provides new insights regarding the role of leaders' BSB as a contextual factor in promoting employee knowledge sharing. Using social learning theory as a theoretical framework, this study indicates how employees with a high LGO learn the behaviors of boundary spanning leaders and are more willing to engage in knowledge sharing.

Job search in a difficult labour market: linking goal orientation to job search strategies and outcomes with the moderating role of self-control.

This study addresses how goal orientation relates to different job search strategies to increase the chance of finding employment and quality jobs. We integrate the goal orientation theory with self-control to examine how the orientation of goals (i.e., performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO), performance-avoid goal orientation (PAGO) and learning goal orientation (LGO)) are associated with job search strategies (i.e., Focused Job Search Strategy- FJSS, Exploratory Job Search Strategy-EJSS, and Haphazard Job Search Strategy-HJSS) and how self-control moderates the process. In a three-wave study (nT1= 859; nT2 = 720; nT3 = 418), the hypotheses were tested using unemployed job seekers in Ghana. The results from the structural equation model show that learning goal oriented job seekers were inclined to search more focused and exploratory but engaged in less haphazard search. While PPGO facilitated EJSS, job seekers with PAGO searched more haphazardly but their search behaviour was less focused and exploratory. In addition, EJSS contributed to attending more job interviews, but HJSS decreased the chance of obtaining job interviews. Also, the interviews attended were associated with job offered, which in turn led to obtaining employment. Both FJSS and EJSS were related to employment quality but HJSS decreased employment quality. Interestingly, individual differences in self-control were found to moderate the relation between goal orientation and job search strategy. The use of EJSS was found to be more beneficial in difficult labour markets.

How and When Does Performance-Prove Goal Orientation Promote Creativity

Research has suggested that performance-prove goal orientation inhibits creativity because it incurs individuals to engage in dysfunctional interpersonal regulation towards coworkers and supervisors. Taking a different perspective, we propose that performance-prove goal orientation may promote creativity through facilitating a serially functional self-regulatory process of motivation and cognition. Drawing on achievement goal theory and the motivated information processing perspective, we propose that performance-prove goal orientation drives a particular approach motivational state—motivation to win—which enhances cognitive flexibility and further benefits creativity. We expect this serial self-regulatory process to be stronger among employees with high time management skill. Our Study 1, a field survey study with a four-wave and multi-source design, not only provided empirical evidence for the serial mediating effect of motivation to win and cognitive flexibility between performance-prove goal orientation and creativity, but also demonstrated that time management skill strengthened the positive relationship between performance-prove goal orientation and motivation to win. Our Study 2, a scenario-based experiment, constructively replicated the positive effect of performance-prove goal orientation on motivation to win as well as the moderating effect of time management skill. Overall, our research reveals how and when performance-prove goal orientation is likely to boost creativity. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.

Autonomous vs. Dependent Help and Creativity: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation and Goal Orientation

Although creativity is sometimes viewed as a solitary activity, more commonly, employees benefit from coworker help. However, helping literature suggests that unintended negative consequences may happen to the intended beneficiaries. This study focuses on two kinds of coworker help (i. e., autonomous help and dependent help) and their effects on employee creativity. Using a sample of 237 employees working across a wide range of jobs and industries in central and eastern China, we found that: autonomous help positively whereas dependent help negatively impacted creativity; intrinsic motivation served as a mediator between coworker help and creativity; learning goal orientation strengthened the positive effect of autonomous help on intrinsic motivation, and thus creativity; performance-prove goal orientation strengthened the negative effect of dependent help on intrinsic motivation, and thus creativity.

The effect of goal-orientation on observational learning within the context of comparison with a high-performing coworker

Why some learn lessons from a high-performing coworker’s behavior and apply to themselves whilst others do not? The aim of the current research is to understand the characteristics of those who do learn lessons by observing high-performing coworker’s behaviors even though the interaction with them may be threatening. Specifically, we suggest that high-LGO(learning goal orientation) individuals and high-PPGO(performance prove goal orientation) individuals are observing high-performing coworker's behavior intention. Also, based on the motivated action theory, we argue that individuals with a different goal orientation set higher goal level with a different referenced goal level (i.e., self vs. other). The data from American full-time employees (n=221) has revealed that both LGO and PPGO had a positive relationship with observational learning. In addition, self-referenced goal level mediated the relationship between LGO and observational learning, while other-referenced goal level mediated the relationship between PPGO and observational learning. Based on the results, the implications of this study and the directions for future researches were discussed with limitations.

How and When Telework Improves Job Performance During COVID-19? Job Crafting as Mediator and Performance Goal Orientation as Moderator.

PurposeLiterature shows that it is a paradox whether employees can achieve performance in telework, especially during COVID-19. Our aim is to clarify the relationship between telework and employees’ job performance through a moderated mediation model.MethodsThis study employed two-wave surveys with the aim of reducing the potential risk of common method bias. The 1309 participants of the survey were mainly employees who used telework during COVID-19, and they were mostly in positions such as product design and scheme planning. SEM was used to test the hypotheses.ResultsResults from two-wave surveys of 1309 Chinese employees indicated that telework positively influenced job performance via job crafting. That is, job crafting played a mediating role between telework and job performance. And performance-prove goal orientation positively moderated the relationship between telework and job crafting but performance-avoid goal orientation negatively moderated the relationship between them.ConclusionThis study shows that telework can improve job performance through job crafting in COVID-19, in response to the paradox implied in the literature. In addition, we use COR theory to explain the role of performance goal orientation and job crafting in telework. We add these variables to the theoretical framework of COR theory, thereby enriching the theoretical research from the COR theory perspective.

Subordinates' performance-prove goal orientation and their perception of abusive supervision

I investigated the relationship between subordinates' performanceprove goal orientation and their perception of abusive supervision, and examined whether feedback-seeking behavior toward supervisors mediated this link. I collected data using a three-wave survey of 173 employees who were working in a variety of occupations in Taiwan. Empirical results indicate that when subordinates had a performanceprove goal orientation, their perception of abusive supervision was partially decreased through their feedback-seeking behavior toward supervisors. Specifically, those employees with a higher (vs. lower) performance-prove goal orientation sought more feedback from supervisors and, thus, perceived abusive supervision to a lesser degree. These findings contribute to the literature on the antecedents of abusive supervision in terms of subordinate-related factors. Managerial implications are proposed to enable employees to be aware of how their job performance is understood and viewed by their supervisors.

The Interactive Effects of Peer-based Control and Leader Goal Orientation on Team Effectiveness

While peer-based control is one of prevalent control mechanisms in team process, the extant literature has examined the role of peer-based control under self-managing team context rather than more general team contexts with a formal team leader. Integrating team regulatory theory and the notion of goal orientation, we investigate the interactive effects of peer-based control and leader goal orientation on team effectiveness through team reflexivity. To test the research model, we adopted a time-lagged survey research design. On the basis of data from three sources (335 team members, 68 team leaders, 21 upper-level leaders), results showed that peer-based control is positively associated with team reflexivity, which result in higher team effectiveness. In addition, we found that leader learning goal orientation facilitates the positive impact of peer-based control on team reflexivity, which result in better team effectiveness. While we failed to find a significant moderating effect of leader performance-prove goal orientation, we instead found a three-way interaction effect of peer-based control, leader learning goal orientation, and leader performance-prove goal orientation in predicting team reflexivity. We discuss the implications of considering the interactive nature of team-member dynamics and leadership influences for understanding team processes at work.

How Can Creative Ideas Be Implemented?The Roles of Leader Performance-Prove Goal Orientation and Boundary-Spanning Strategy

ABSTRACT Creative idea generation does not necessarily lead to the implementation of these ideas. Although the conditional relationship between creative idea generation and implementation has frequently been recognized, there have been few studies of the moderating factors that facilitate converting creative ideas into tangible innovations. To fill this research gap, we explore whether leader performance-prove goal orientation facilitates the implementation of creative ideas at the team level. Furthermore, we investigate the mediating role of leader comprehensive boundary-spanning strategy in the moderating effect of leader performance-prove goal orientation. From an analysis of data from 83 new product development (NPD) teams, we find the following: (1) Leader performance-prove goal orientation positively moderates the relationship between idea generation and implementation. (2) Leader ambassadorial activities and task coordination both positively moderate the relationship between idea generation and implementation. (3) The moderating role of leader performance-prove goal orientation is mediated by leader ambassadorial activities. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for innovation management in NPD teams.

The Curvilinear Relationships Between Top Decision Maker Goal Orientations and Firm Ambidexterity: Moderating Effect of Role Experience.

Ambidextrous firms are those that can simultaneously manage exploitative and explorative innovation, which is why ambidexterity is key for firms that desire to pursue strategic entrepreneurship. Researchers have explored many of the reasons why some firms are more ambidextrous than others. However, little attention has been devoted to understanding how attributes of top decision makers can influence their firms' ambidexterity. By drawing on upper echelons theory and goal orientations research, we explain how firms' ambidexterity can be affected by top decision makers' motivations in achievement situations (i.e., goal orientations). Testing our hypotheses on a sample of 274 top decision makers of firms in the United States, we find that top decision makers' learning goal orientation – their desire to take risks and maximize learning–has an inverted U-shaped relationship with ambidexterity while top decision makers' performance prove goal orientation – their desire to demonstrate competence with existing skills – has a U-shaped relationship with ambidexterity. These effects are weaker for top decision makers who have greater role experience.

Referents or role models? The self-efficacy and job performance effects of perceiving higher performing peers.

What are the effects of perceiving peers' higher performance? Social-cognitive theory emphasizes the positive influence that perceiving higher performers can have on observer task and job performance (because observational learning from role models enhances self-efficacy). Social comparison theory emphasizes the negative self-evaluations that accompany perceiving higher performers, which should under many circumstances reduce self-efficacy and subsequent task and job performance. To more fully understand the effects of perceiving higher performance, we argue the effects of perceived higher performers on observer task and job performance depend on individuals' disposition in how they cognitively process coworkers' performance. Drawing on goal orientation theory, we suggest individuals with higher levels of performance prove goal orientation (PPGO) primarily interpret perceived higher performers as comparative referents rather than as instructive role models, inhibiting social learning and reducing self-efficacy. Results from a 2 studies (a field study of 110 corporate employees as well as an experimental study with 107 undergraduate students) support these ideas: Individuals with higher levels of PPGO have decreased self-efficacy and performance when observing higher performing coworkers, and individuals with lower levels of PPGO have increased self-efficacy and performance when observing higher performing coworkers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Goal orientation in job search: Psychometric characteristics and construct validation across job search contexts

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the goal orientation (GO) scale across job search contexts to facilitate its use in large and varied search settings. A sample of 720 job losers and new entrants’ job seekers in Ghana completed the survey. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor theoretical structure (Learning goal, Performance-prove goal, and Performance-avoid goal orientations) for both new entrants’ and job losers’ samples. Results of the invariance test reached measurement equivalence across job search contexts and genders. Furthermore, GO dimensions correlated differently with some cognitive self-regulation criterion variables (employment commitment, self-control, learning from failure, and strategy awareness) thus, providing evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, the study provides additional support for the job search GO measure for use across different job search contexts.

Interteam Cooperation and Competition and Boundary Activities: The Cross-Level Mediation of Team Goal Orientations.

Drawing on Dragoni’s cross-level model of state goal orientation, this research aims to examine the cross-level mediating effect of team goal orientation on the relationships between interteam cooperation and competition and three forms of boundary activities. Study 1 tested the proposed mediating relationships by collecting survey data from 249 members of 45 South Korean work teams. Additionally, we conducted a two-wave longitudinal study (Study 2) on 188 undergraduate students to replicate the relationships between three types of team goal orientation and their relevant forms of boundary activities. In Study 1, we found positive associations between interteam cooperation and team learning goal orientation, and between interteam competition and team performance-prove and performance-avoid goal orientations. Team learning and performance-prove goal orientations were positively related to boundary spanning and reinforcement. As predicted, team learning goal orientation had a stronger relationship with boundary spanning than team performance-prove goal orientation, whereas team performance-prove goal orientation had a stronger relationship with boundary reinforcement than team learning goal orientation. While team learning goal orientation mediated the relationship between interteam cooperation and boundary spanning and reinforcement, team performance-prove goal orientation mediated the relationship between interteam competition and boundary spanning and reinforcement. The results of Study 2 demonstrated the positive lagged effects of team performance-prove goal orientation on boundary reinforcement and of team performance-avoid goal orientation on boundary buffering.

Praise sales personnel for talent or effort? Person versus process-focused feedback, goal orientation and performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is twofold: to analyze sales managers’ person-focused and process-focused supervisory feedback as a potential goal-orientation antecedent, and to examine the relationship between different types of sales personnel goal orientations and two aspects of job performance: behavior-based and outcome-based. Based on previous sales motivation research, the authors look at the antecedents and outcomes of sales representatives’ goal orientation.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey design was used with a sample consisting of 326 pairs of sales reps and their supervisors. Average sales position tenure was 5.30 years.FindingsSales representatives’ performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO) can be triggered by positive person-focused feedback from their managers, and performance-avoid goal orientation (PAGO) can be triggered by negative person-focused feedback. A learning goal orientation (LGO) can be triggered by positive process-focused feedback. The authors also found that when job performance is broken down into outcome-based and behavior-based components, the process by which goal orientation influences performance is more easily determined. PPGO sales reps in the sample clearly focused more on outcome-based performance, while PAGO sales reps focused on behavior-based performance. LGO was only associated with behavior-based performance among the respondents, meaning that it cannot be used as a predictor of outcome-based performance.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, a cross-sectional design may not be the best method for judging variable directions of causality. A longitudinal method is recommended for more detailed research. Second, the variance the authors noted in the three goal orientations may be due to impression management. Previous researchers have not addressed response bias regarding goal orientation; future researchers may want to add social desire response items to control for response bias from impression management.Practical implicationsThe findings can help sales managers understand how their feedback styles can result in different types of goal orientation and different effort allocation in their sales staff. Managers interested in developing PPGO sales reps should offer more whole-person praise. Since negative person-focused feedback can trigger more conservative behaviors, they should use other approaches to criticizing their employees. If their goal is to promote individual learning in sales personnel, they will want to give process-focused feedback, either positive or negative.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on the external influences of goal orientation, especially the effects of social (rather than institutional) factors in manager feedback on goal orientations among their sales staffs. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to study relationships between three types of goal orientations and various performance dimensions. The data clarify the links between two types of performance (outcome- and behavior-based) and three types of goal orientations (PPGO, PAGO and LGO).

Striving For Goals in Workplace: The Contingent Effects of Abusive Supervision on Voice

Based on motivated action theory, we examined whether or not subordinates performance goal orientations moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and employees promotive and prohibitive voice. We used survey data from 205 supervisor-subordinate dyads from various manufacturing and service providing enterprises to test out hypotheses. Results show that performance-prove goal orientation can promote the positive effect and buffer the negative effect of abusive supervision on voice. Specifically, for subordinates with high level of performance-prove goal orientation, abusive supervision is positively associated with promotive voice, while for subordinates with low level of performance-prove goal orientation, the above relationship becomes negative. On the other hand, performance-avoid goal orientation exacerbates the negative effects of abusive supervision, by which the negative associations between abusive supervision and promotive and prohibitive voice are stronger for individuals with high level of performance-avoid goal orientation rather than low level of performance-avoid goal orientation. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research are provided.

Reflection Toward Creativity: Team Reflexivity as a Linking Mechanism Between Team Goal Orientation and Team Creative Performance

This study aims at testing the mediating role of team reflexivity in the relationships between team learning, performance-prove, and performance-avoid goal orientations and team creative performance and assessing the relative importance of the three types of team goal orientation in team reflexivity and creative performance. We conducted Study 1 on 68 student teams by using a two-wave time-lagged design. In Study 2, we carried out a cross-sectional field study on 108 intact work teams in diverse Korean companies. Team learning goal orientation was significantly associated with team creative performance. While team learning and performance-prove goal orientations were equally influential in predicting team reflexivity, team performance-avoid goal orientation had no relationship with team reflexivity and creative performance. Team reflexivity mediated the relationships between team learning and performance-prove goal orientations and team creative performance. By revealing that team learning and performance-prove goal orientations can contribute to team creative performance through the facilitation of team reflective process, this study provides practitioners with insight into critical antecedents and team process that are conducive to the creative performance of work teams. This is one of the first studies to explore a mediating mechanism between team goal orientation and creative performance. This study attends to the role of team reflexivity as a key team-regulatory process that underlies the relationship between team goal orientation and team performance. Furthermore, the use of multiple studies in different contexts strengthens the robustness of the study findings.

Goal orientation and employee resistance at work: Implications for manager emotional exhaustion with the employee

This study advances our understanding of goal orientation (GO) theory by relating GO to manager outcomes (i.e., manager emotional exhaustion with the employee) through interpersonal behaviour patterns (i.e., employee resistance). Specifically, we examine the mediating effect of constructive and dysfunctional resistance (DR) on the relationships between GO and manager emotional exhaustion with the employee. The findings from 565 manager–employee dyads in a Chinese company indicate that learning GO (LGO) and performance‐prove GO (PPGO) are positively related to constructive resistance (CR), and performance‐avoid GO (PAGO) is negatively related to CR and positively related to DR. CR and DR significantly mediate the relationships between LGO and PAGO and manager emotional exhaustion with the employee. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of GO theory for understanding interpersonal behaviours and manager outcomes.Practitioner points First, organizations should educate and sensitize managers to the motivational orientations their employees bring to the workplace so that managers can better shape work experiences and challenges in ways that allow employees to attain their goal orientation (GO)‐related goals (e.g., avoid embarrassment, insure positive evaluations) without jeopardizing important interactions with others. Second, before managers coach employees with a performance‐avoid GO on how to provide constructive feedback and the benefits of doing so, they may set the stage by discussing how avoidance behaviours may lead to future embarrassment or negative evaluations rather than to prevent these outcomes. Managers can foster work climates that value learning and development and reward employees for offering constructive resistance rather than avoidance behaviours. Third, the findings linking GO with manager emotional exhaustion with the employee clearly indicate that the personal consequences for a manager make it worth their time and effort to coach employees on more adaptive and constructive behaviours.

To Collaborate Or Not? The Moderating Effects Of Team Conflict and Performance Goal Orientation

We theorize the conditions under which teams composed of members with high performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO) will come together to work collectively and achieve high team performance. Drawi...