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the results. Instead, you will need to rethink the way you usually work and devise a
creative way of working. It has been argued that this is how designers and engineers
in Japan came up with the bullet train. Having a goal that went way beyond the
current speed of trains prevented engineers from making minor improvements and

urged them to come up with a radically different concept. [51]
Are There Downsides to Goal Setting?
As with any management technique, there may be some downsides to goal
setting. [52] First, setting goals for specific outcomes may hamper employee
performance if employees lack skills and abilities to reach the goals. In these
situations, setting goals for behaviors and for learning may be more effective than
setting goals for outcomes. Second, goal setting may motivate employees to focus on
a goal and ignore the need to respond to new challenges. For example, one study
found that when teams had difficult goals and when employees within the team had
high levels of performance orientation, teams had difficulty adapting to unforeseen
circumstances. [53] Third, goals focus employee attention on the activities that are
measured, which may lead to sacrificing other important elements of performance.
When goals are set for production numbers, quality may suffer. As a result, it is
important to set goals touching on all critical aspects of performance. Finally,
aggressive pursuit of goals may lead to unethical behaviors. Particularly when
employees are rewarded for goal accomplishment but there are no rewards
whatsoever for coming very close to reaching the goal, employees may be tempted to
cheat.
None of these theories are complete by themselves, but each theory provides us
with a framework we can use to analyze, interpret, and manage employee behaviors
in the workplace, which are important skills managers use when conducting their
leading function. In fact, motivation is important throughout the entire P-O-L-C
framework because most managerial functions involve accomplishing tasks and goals
through others.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Process-based theories use the mental processes of employees as the key
to understanding employee motivation. According to equity theory, employees
are demotivated when they view reward distribution as unfair. In addition to
distributive justice, research identified two other types of fairness (procedural
and interactional), which also affect worker reactions and motivation.
According to expectancy theory, employees are motivated when they believe
that their effort will lead to high performance (expectancy), that their
performance will lead to outcomes (instrumentality), and that the outcomes
following performance are desirable (valence). Reinforcement theory argues
that behavior is a function of its consequences. By properly tying rewards to
positive behaviors, eliminating rewards following negative behaviors and
punishing negative behaviors, leaders can increase the frequency of desired
behaviors. In job design, there are five components that increase the motivating
potential of a job: Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and
feedback. These theories are particularly useful in designing reward systems
within a company. Goal-setting theory is one of the most influential theories of

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