Goal Setting and Goal Striving in Organizational Participation

According to goal setting and goal striving theories, human and organizational behavior is goal-directed. But what goals people set joining an organization? How these goals influence individual behaviors and group dynamics? The book presents a two-step research design that allows to explore dynamics that induce people to participate in organization, both with reference to the choice to join the organization and to the intensity of participation following the adhesion to the organization. These processes were studied amongst Ducati motorcycle enthusiasts who decided to join and to participate in Ducati Clubs. In the first study, the laddering methodology, based on the elicitation of motives and justifications for one’s motives, is used to uncover members’ cognitive schemas (174) consisting of a structure of interconnected motives organized in a hierarchy. An heuristic cognitive map was also derived. In the second study, rational (i.e., perceived behavioral control), psychological (i.e, emotions), and social (i.e., social identity) dimensions are taken in consideration as drivers of volitional goal striving processes, offering an holistic representation of organizational behavior. Structural equation models were applied to a larger sample and results confirm almost all the hypothesis, providing a fine-grained approach to organization participation.