Turning visions into results: unraveling the distinctive paths of leading with vision and autonomy to goal achievement

PurposeLeading with vision while granting employees autonomy is one effective organizational response to the demands of a dynamic external environment. The former is thought to align followers' behavior by providing guidance, the latter to increase variance in their behavior by relinquishing control; both exert beneficial but distinct effects on organizational performance. What has remained uncharted heretofore is how these leader behaviors shape their followers' cognition and, subsequently, yield improvements in performance. The authors argue that a leader's vision communication transforms followers' cognitive representation of their work. This not only enables them to specify their goals in alignment with the vision (goal clarity) but also to locate the meaning of their work within the bigger picture of the vision (construal level). By contrast, perceived autonomy in terms of power-sharing might directly affect followers' work engagement more narrowly.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the model on a sample of 408 employees from eleven enterprises of a holding company. In the survey, employees reported perceived vision communication and autonomy provided by their leader. Furthermore, the authors assessed the employees' goal attainment. To capture how employees represent their daily work activities, the authors measured their construal level and their goal clarity.FindingsThe results show that both perceived vision communication and granted autonomy improve employees' goal achievement. Moreover, two processes mediate the relationship between vision communication and goal achievement in followers: first, specifying goals in terms of clarity; second, composing a higher-level mental construal of their work. In contrast, no mediation of empowering leader behaviors was found.Originality/valueBetter goal achievement through visionary leadership is therefore achieved through cognitive alignment of followers, while leader-granted autonomy acts as a motivational tool directly on performance.

R3SOLVE: A Serious Game to Support End-of-Life Rooftop Solar Panel Waste Management

A complex systems model is necessary to holistically address the end-of-life (EoL) solar panel waste problem. However, there is a significant challenge in communicating such a model to stakeholders. Serious games can overcome this challenge by simplifying a complex model via a user-friendly interface. It enables stakeholders to experiment with different decisions and understand their long-term impacts in a safe environment. In this paper, a serious game called R3SOLVE was designed from a previously developed system dynamics (SD) model. The goal of the game is to achieve certain collection and recovery outcomes through a mix of decisions ranging from product stewardship strategies, landfill regulation, technological investment, promotional effort, reuse strategy, and infrastructure improvement. The game has a single player mode, where a player can access all decisions, and a multiplayer (turn-based) mode, where two players with different roles work collaboratively to achieve the desired outcome. Rewards and penalties also exist in the game to promote players’ extrinsic motivation to use critical thinking. Both game modes have been tested in separate workshops to identify bugs and issues regarding goal clarity and in-game information. Future directions to conduct stakeholder workshops and the evaluation approach are also suggested at the end of this paper.

Enhanced Motivation and Decision Making from Going Hybrid

Hybrid brainstorming is ecologically more valid than all-interactive or all-noninteractive brainstorming, yet understudied. Although ideational benefits of hybrid groups have been found, studies have rarely focused on its affective/motivational contributions or ability to select ideas. In a randomized experiment, noninteractive-then-interactive (hybrid) groups perceived (1) higher goal clarity, engagement, and task attractiveness, and (2) chose more quality ideas than all-noninteractive groups. Additionally, (3) given the instruction for both hybrid and all-noninteractive conditions to be critical in idea selection, participants individually selected ideas that were more useful, thus overall higher quality, than the nonselected.

The Effect of Clarity on Budget Targets and Accounting Controls on Managerial Performance in Panin Sekuritas

This study aims to identify and understand the influence of Systems and Control Budget Goal Clarity Accounting against Managerial Performance in Panin Securities Company. The population in this study were all employees of PT. Panin Securities, Tbk branch of Iskandar Muda, Medan. Hypothesis testing using descriptive analysis method, statistical analysis method which consists of a multiple linear regression analysis, significant simultaneous testing (Test F), partial significance testing (t test) and test the coefficient of determination (R2). Results of this study indicate that the independent variable, ie a variable budget goal clarity and accounting control systems and a significant positive effect on managerial performance at PT. Panin Securities, Tbk. On testing simultaneously (Test F) note that the variable budget goal clarity and accounting control systems together positive and significant effect on managerial performance. In the partial test (t test) showed that the variables that budget goal clarity dominant influence on managerial performance at PT. Panin Securities where one unit increase in variable budget goal clarity will improve managerial performance by 0279, while the increase in one unit of accounting control system variables (X2) when compared with the effect of budget goal clarity variable (X1) will only improve managerial performance by 0.199.

Probing the Links between Workforce Diversity, Goal Clarity, and Employee Job Satisfaction in Public Sector Organizations

A considerable body of research substantiating the importance of workforce diversity to public organizations has accrued over the past two decades. However, research on workforce diversity has also been narrow in scope and frequently fails to link diversity to important individual and organizational outcomes. Using data (n = 1,109,134 employees from 500 sub-agencies) collected in three waves (2010, 2011, and 2012) of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), this study examines whether (1) increased diversity influences organizational goal clarity, (2) diversity and goal clarity, in turn, influence employee job satisfaction, and (3) diversity management policies influence job satisfaction by clarifying organizational goals for workers. FEVS is administered yearly by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and is designed to assess whether and to what extent federal employees believe the characteristics of successful organizations are present in their agency. Results from a multi-level structural equation model (MSEM) suggest diversity is associated with greater goal clarity and that diversity management policies, by clarifying organizational goals, positively affect job satisfaction. Findings also indicate that the type of diversity matters.

Effect of chief executive officers as servant leaders on team project performance: A social learning perspective

This study explored the mechanism through which chief executive officers' (CEOs) servant leadership style affects team project performance. We established a multilevel mechanism through which servant leadership exerts an indirect influence on team performance via team goal clarity and team process clarity. Participants comprised 100 CEOs matched with 572 middle managers, working at intelligence intensive companies. Our results show that CEOs' servant leadership, through its effect on team goal clarity, team process clarity, and team knowledge creation, had an indirect influence on team project performance. Thus, leadership selection and training programs should be developed for CEOs, and top leaders should stimulate employees' understanding of team goals and work processes.

The effect of budgetary goal clarity and budget evaluation on performance accountability of local government

This research aims to empirically assess the influence of the budgetary goal clarity and budget evaluation on agency performance accountability. This study was conducted on Local Goverment Organization (OPD) of Blitar Regency. The unit of analysis is 113 employees whose work are related to composing of agency performance accountability. The data was analyzed using SEM-PLS in Smart PLS 3. The results showed that budgetary goal clarity and budget evaluation has positive influence on agency performance accountability. The implementation of budgetary goal clarity and budget evaluation will help agencies in making decisions in relation to achieving accountability for agency performance.

Performance Over Enjoyment? Effect of Game-Based Learning on Learning Outcome and Flow Experience

Competitiveness in serious games and game-based learning contexts, have been suggested to be associated with variations in flow experience pertaining from game experience. Evidence from the game-based learning literature suggested that game-based learning in general enhances learning outcomes, and applicable to learning psychology at the undergraduate level. Yet the magnitude of such effect remains mixed from empirical evidence. The current study examines whether game-based learning, in competitive and non-competitive game format, would lead to differentiated gains on learning outcomes, perceived flow experience from game-based learning, and their interaction. We wish to test whether competitive and non-competitive formats of game-based learning could be characterized with different configurations of game flow experience that encapsulate the game-based learning experience, as well as the extent to which such predominant game flow experience would correlate with observed learning outcomes from featured game-based learning conditions. Effect of game-based learning was tested with an 2 × 2 experimental design. Participating learners (n = 142) were randomly assigned into either one out of four experimental conditions based on a 2 × 2 block design with two independent variables, competitiveness of game-based learning (competitive vs. non-competitive), and format of game-based learning (group vs. individual). Participating Learners in each of the conditions were assessed on learning outcomes related to the subject matters intended for the game-based learning artefacts. Results on learning outcomes revealed a significant main effect of competitiveness of game-based learning was observed, but not for format nor interaction effect. Main effect of format of game-based learning when learning in groups was observed from another two-way ANOVA analysis in a finite set of eGameFlow constructs including feedback, autonomy, goal clarity, and social interaction. Interaction effects between competitiveness of game-based learning and format was observed in autonomy and goal clarity constructs. Results from this study suggested that competitiveness and group format does not necessarily warrant improvement on learning outcomes in the game-based learning context. Main effects on cognitive flow dimensions align with the performance orientation among Asian learners. Further research would shed light on identifying levels of optimal gamified elements while assuring improvement on intended learning outcomes in the Asian tertiary education context.