Goal setting: Basic findings and new developments at the team level

Abstract

The effects of goal setting on performance have been a major topic of psychological research. The most influential contribution to the field was made by Locke and Latham who developed goal-setting theory (LOCKE & LATHAM 1990, 2006). According to Locke and Latham, goals are conscious intentions of a person referring to desired future end states of action. Goals can have their origin within the acting person or they can be set (more or less participatively) in discussions with other individuals (e.g., supervisors, colleagues). Independent of the origin of goals, goal-setting theory assumes that effects of goals on performance - once they are formed as an intention - mainly depend on two features: the objective difficulty of goals and their specificity. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.