This article outlines a social information processing approach to explain job attitudes. In comparison with need-satisfaction and expectancy models to job attitudes and motivation, the social information processing perspective emphasizes the effects of context and the consequences of past choices, rather than individual predispositions and rational decision-making processes. When an individual develops statements about attitude or needs, he or she uses social information--information about past behavior and about what others think. The process of attributing attitudes or needs from behavior is itself affected by commitment processes, by the saliency and relevance of information, and by the need to develop socially acceptable and legitimate rationalizations for actions. Both attitudes and need statements, as well as characterizations of jobs, are affected by informational social influence. The implications of the social information processing perspective for organization development efforts and programs of job redesign are discussed.

A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design.

\"What are your assumptions (implicit as well as explicit) about the most effective way to manage people?\" So began Douglas McGregor in this 1960 management classic. It was a seemingly simple question he asked, yet it led to a fundamental revolution in management. Today, with the rise of the global economy, the information revolution, and the growth of knowledge-driven work, McGregor's simple but provocative question continues to resonate-perhaps more powerfully than ever before. Heralded as one of the most important pieces of management literature ever written, a touchstone for scholars and a handbook for practitioners, The Human Side of Enterprise continues to receive the highest accolades nearly half a century after its initial publication. Influencing such major management gurus such as Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, McGregor's revolutionary Theory Y-which contends that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed-and Theory X-in which employees must be commanded and controlled-has been widely taught in business schools, industrial relations schools, psychology departments, and professional development seminars for over four decades. In this special annotated edition of the worldwide management classic, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Senior Research Scientist in MIT's Sloan School of Management and Engineering Systems Division, shows us how today's leaders have successfully incorporated McGregor's methods into modern management styles and practices. The added quotes and commentary bring the content right into today's debates and business models. Now more than ever, the timeless wisdom of Douglas McGregor can light the path towards a management style that nurtures leadership capability, creates effective teams, ensures internal alignment, achieves high performance, and cultivates an authentic, value-driven workplace--lessons we all need to learn as we make our way in this brave new world of the 21st century.

The Human Side of Enterprise.

: A review of both laboratory and field studies on the effect of setting goals when learning or performing a task found that specific, challenging goals led more often to higher performance than easy goals, 'do your best' goals or no goals. This is one of the most robust and replicable findings in the psychological literature, with 90% of the studies showing positive or partially positive results. The main mechanisms by which goals affect performance are by directing attention, mobilizing effort, increasing persistence, and motivating strategy development. Goal setting is most likely to improve task performance when the goals are specific and sufficiently challenging, when the subjects have sufficient ability (and ability differences are controlled), when feedback is provided to show progress in relation to the goal, when rewards such as money are given for goal attainment, when the exerimenter manager is supportive, and when the assigned goals are actually accepted by the individual. No reliable individual differences have emerged in goal setting studies, probably because goals were typically assigned rather than self-set. Need for achievement and self esteem may be the most promising individual difference variables. (Author)

https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.90.1.125

Goal setting and task performance: 1969–1980.

Five common themes were derived from the literature on effective work groups, and then characteristics representing the themes were related to effectivness criteria. Themes included job design, interdependence, composition, context, and process. They contained 19 group characteristics which were assessed by employees and managers. Effectiveness criteria included productivity, employee satisfaction, and manager judgments. Data were collected from 391 employees, 70 managers, and archival records for 80 work groups in a financial organization. Results showed that all three effectiveness criteria were predicted by the characteristics, and nearly all characteristics predicted some of the effectiveness criteria. The job design and process themes were slightly more predictive than the interdependence, composition, and context themes. Implications for designing effective work groups were discussed, and a 54-item measure of the 19 characteristics was presented for future research.

https://webapps.krannert.purdue.edu/kap/KATALYST/public/publications.aspx?personid=7090&publicationid=1887&attachmentid=1027

Relations between work group characteristics and effectiveness: implications for designing effective work groups

The literature on feedback to individuals was reviewed with respect to its effect on the behavior of individuals in performance-o riented organizations. Although contemporary views of individual behavior in organizations stress that feedback is necessary for effective role performance, little attention is given to the psychological processes affected by it. This review focuses upon the multidimensional nature of feedback as a stimulus and addresses the process by which feedback influences behavior. Emphasis is placed on those aspects of feedback that influence (a) the way it is perceived, (b) its acceptance by the recipient, and (c) the willingness of the recipient to respond to the feedback. Feedback about the effectiveness of an individual's behavior has long been recognized as essential for learning and for motivation in performance-oriented organizations. Not surprisingly, considerable research has been conducted on the subject (see reviews of feedback by Adams, 1968; Ammons, 19S6; Annett, 1969; Bilodeau, 1966; Locke, Cartledge, & Koeppel, 1968; Sassenrath, 1975). Yet, in spite of the large and varied literature, generalizations about the effects of feedback on individuals are few. Several factors contribute to this state of affairs. First, feedback is not a simple stimulus. The diverse elements subsumed under the single rubric of feedback may share the property of conveying some degree of information about past behavior, but they share We wish to thank L. L. Cummings, H. P. Dachler, E. A. Locke, M. M. Greller, D. M. Herold, and J. C. Naylor for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. The research was supported by Grant DAHC 19-76-G-0017 from the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral Sciences, as part of the technical-base research project for the Organizational Development Unit. While the support of the agency is greatly appreciated, the ideas expressed in the article are solely those of the authors and are not to be considered the position of the agency or the U.S.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/64/4/349.pdf

Consequences of individual feedback on behavior in organizations.

: A two phase research project investigated the effects of job enrichment and goal setting on worker productivity and satisfaction in a well-controlled, simulated job environment. In the first phase, two conditions of goal setting (assigned goals versus no goals) and two conditions of job enrichment (enriched versus unenriched) were established, producing four experimental conditions. In the second phase (after 2 days work) people with unenriched jobs worked under the enrichment conditions and people originally without goals were assigned goals. Results are discussed in terms of the current theoretical approaches for understanding employee motivation on the job.

Effects of Job Enrichment and Task Goals on Satisfaction and Productivity: Implications for Job Design

A field experiment conducted with 53 hard-rock miners in an underground metal mine examined the effects of two interventions, team building and goal setting, on miners' productivity and strategy de...

Effects of Team Building and Goal Setting on Productivity: A Field Experiment

Goal Setting, Evaluation Apprehension, and Social Cues as Determinants of Job Performance and Job Satisfaction in a Simulated Organization

Productivity and job satisfaction are two dominant concerns of managers. One approach to designing jobs so that both of these outcomes can result is to combine job enrichment and goal setting, but little is known concerning the interaction between these two major techniques. This article reviews the empirical literature relating task goals and job enrichment. The interaction of job characteristics, individual differences, and organizational characteristics is reviewed, and an integrated model presented that explains the relationships.

Goal Setting and Job Enrichment: An Integrated Approach to Job Design

: A simulated organizational setting involving a routine clerical task was the experimental context for the research. One hundred and four subjects were randomly assigned in a factorial design--including two levels of goal setting, two levels of evaluation apprehension, and three types of social cues--to investigate the effects of the independent variables on employee productivity and job satisfaction. The results showed that people with assigned goals produced more than people without assigned goals; people with high evaluation apprehension produced more than people with low evaluation apprehension; and people receiving positive social cues produced more than people receiving negative social cues. The independent variables had no main effect on overall job satisfaction but did affect attitudes about job pressure, boredom, and satisfaction with one's performance. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance for current theories of task performance and for applications in organizational settings. (Author)

Cecil H. Bell

Papers

Effects of Job Enrichment and Task Goals on Satisfaction and Productivity: Implications for Job Design

Effects of Team Building and Goal Setting on Productivity: A Field Experiment

Goal Setting, Evaluation Apprehension, and Social Cues as Determinants of Job Performance and Job Satisfaction in a Simulated Organization

Goal Setting and Job Enrichment: An Integrated Approach to Job Design

Goal Setting, Evaluation Apprehension and Social Cues as Determinants of Job Performance and Job Satisfaction.