Enhancing the Benefits and Overcoming the Pitfalls of Goal Setting

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Introduction: goal setting theory

The beauty of a well-developed theory in the behavioral sciences is that it provides a framework for scientists to conduct research. The findings from these studies provide a framework to predict, understand and influence our own actions and the actions of others. For example, more than 1,000 studies conducted by behavioral scientists on more than 88 different tasks, involving more than 40,000 male and female participants in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, show that specific high

Selected bibliography

For a comprehensive discussion of our theory of goal setting, see E. A. Locke and G. P. Latham, “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation: A 35 Year Odyssey,” American Psychologist, 2002, 57, 705–717.

That lack of goal attainment in one's personal life can be compensated by goal progress in one's job is explained by B. S. Wiese and A. M. Freund, “Goal Progress Makes One Happy or Does It? Longitudinal Findings From the Work Domain,” Journal of Occupational

Gary Latham is the Secretary of State Professor of Organizational Effectiveness at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a past president of the Canadian Psychological Association, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Center For Creative Leadership. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the only person to win both the awards of Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science and as a Practice from the Society of Industrial and Organizational

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Gary Latham is the Secretary of State Professor of Organizational Effectiveness at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a past president of the Canadian Psychological Association, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Center For Creative Leadership. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the only person to win both the awards of Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science and as a Practice from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology; he is also the recipient of the Scholarly Practitioner Award from the Academy of Management and the Herbert Heneman Award for Life Time Achievement in Human Resource Management (Tel: +1 416 978 4916; e-mail: [email protected]).

Edwin A. Locke is Dean's Professor of Leadership and Motivation Emeritus at the R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Management. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (Society for I/O Psychology), the Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Management (OB Division), and the J.M. Cattell Award (APS). He, with Gary Latham, has spent the last 40 years developing Goal Setting Theory, recently ranked No. 1 in importance among 73 management theories. He is internationally known for his research on motivation, job satisfaction, leadership, and other topics.

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