Recent interest in aligning the activities of the individuals in information systems (IS) with the organization's strategic objectives suggests a need to understand the factors that influence the behavior of IS professionals. One way that organizations influence behavior is by setting goal priorities in connection with feedback and economic incentives. The objective of the present study is to examine how goal priority, feedback, and economic incentives influence IS professionals' planned effort as reflected by the time they would devote to each of two different goals. Research instruments were mailed to IS professionals at companies with 500 or more employees throughout the United States. A total of 196 instruments were returned yielding a response rate of 32.0 percent. In general, the participants were highly experienced, averaging 21.3 years in the IS profession and an average of 11.9 years in management. Results show IS professionals direct their planned effort toward the primary goal without the need for additional incentives. Conversely, incentives tied to the secondary goal direct planned effort away from the primary goal. The results of the experiment support a model of behavior contingent on goal priority, feedback, and economic incentives.
