The Effect of Training in Verbal Self-Guidance on Performance Effectiveness in a MBA Program TRAVOR C. BROWN, GARY P. LATHAM, Abstract The present field experiment examined the effects of training in verbal self-guidance (VSG) and a motivational intervention, goal setting, on the performance effectiveness of students in a MBA program. Performance effectiveness was assessed in terms of outcome (i.e., GPA) and behavioural (i.e., interpersonal skills) measures as well as a composite criterion (performance effectiveness). MBA students (n = 126) were randomly assigned to a 2 (VSG training/control) x 2 (goal setting/do your best) factorial design. The results revealed a main effect for VSG on performance effectiveness. There was an interaction effect such that participants who were trained in VSG and set goals had the highest level of performance effectiveness. A subsequent analysis revealed that the main effect for VSG on performance was spurious due to an ordinal interaction effect. Hence, VSG may be most effective when combined with goal setting. Verbal self-guidance ( their thought processes as they consider a problem, discover information relevant to this problem, generate potential solutions, consider the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative solution, and implement what is considered to be the best solution (Brown, 2003). Thus, self-discourse can vary widely, depending on what aspect of one’s functioning one seeks to influence. Meichenbaum (1971, 1975, 1977), a clinical psychologist, developed a he labeled functional self-talk. This training teaches people to systematically talk themselves through ways to overcome obstacles to performing effectively. In essence, this technique involves training people to change their negative, dysfunctional self-statements (e.g., I can’t solve this problem) to positive, functional self-statements (e.g., I can break this problem into parts and solve one part at a time). The training program consists of a three-step process whereby a participant: 1) observes a clinician model effective selfstatements that guide the person to the actions needed to take to master a task, 2) performs a task while verbally instructing oneself, and 3) performs a task while verbally instructing oneself covertly. Research Concerning Much of the research concerning studies of children in clinical, counseling or educational settings. In these settings, to have a positive effect on task mastery (i.e., ability). For example, training in impulsive children (Meichenbaum & Goodman, 1971), increases reading and listening comprehension skills of children (Schunk & Rice, 1984, 1985), and improves the creativity of students (Meichenbaum, 1975). The purpose of the present study was to examine the external validity of organizationally relevant tasks, namely, peo- ple in a for Previous studies showing the effectiveness of have primarily involved children. Children may be more amenable to learning to focus on and change their self-talk than are adults. As William James noted more than a century ago, habits are formed early in life. By adulthood, they are “set like plaster” (James, 1892, p. 375). A second boundary variable for the effectiveness of may be less willing to acquire the skills necessary for changing their dysfunctional self-talk than are clients in clinical/counseling settings. As Halpern (2004) noted, an adult’s motivation to learn a new skill depends in part on the characteristics of the environment. A clinical/counseling setting may be more amenable for teaching setting as the former allows the person to conceal difficulties mastering a new task, and will not threaten a person’s status among group members. A pilot test of class revealed that many people derisively labeled the process as “psycho-babble.” Nevertheless, the potential theoretical significance of be a self-regulation process that explains in part a person’s performance effectiveness in an organizational setting. As Vygotsky (1962) noted, inner speech is the primary vehicle for thought and self-direction. The practical significance of a positive finding is that VSG VSG self-administered intervention. To date, there have been very few studies involving adults in organizational settings. Moreover, in two of those studies within other training interventions. Neck and Manz (1996) used the “thought self-leadership technique” ( training had no effect on job performance. Waung (1995) found no significant effects for in her study of two orientation-training programs. In addition to restructuring and a realistic job preview. The comparison group received a realistic job preview that included inculcating coping behaviours. Four weeks post-training, contrary to Waung’s hypotheses, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in terms of anxiety, intention to remain in, and commitment to, the organization. Moreover, turnover than those in the comparison group. One potential explanation for these findings, offered by Waung, is that had received more negative information than did the participants in the comparison group. A second explanation, not reported by Waung (1995), was the short duration of the training program, namely a maximum of 35 minutes. This time period may have increased participants’ awareness of their negative self-statements without allowing for the acquisition of requisite skills for changing these statements to positive self-guidance. Third, the comparison group was not a control group per se as these participants were given training on coping behaviours. This training may have bolstered the dependent variables. Using that seven, two-hour training sessions, conducted over a two and a half week period, resulted in a significantly greater number of displaced managers finding jobs within nine months of training, relative to participants in the control group. Two limitations of the study included the use of a quasi-experimental design, as not all participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and the small sample size. Brown (2003) also used a quasi-experimental design to examine the effect of performance on simulated tasks. Performance increased significantly relative to a control group. As the unit of analysis was the team, the effect of an individual’s performance was not examined. Based on the fact that two of these four studies found that training in in organizational contexts, we hypothesized that in a MBA program. Goal Setting None of the previously cited counseling or industrial organizational psychology examined the explicit effects of goals on performance. Yet, goal setting is implicitly imbedded in VSG self-statements (e.g., I can’t find a job) to positive self-statements (e.g., I can update my resume) in order to attain a specific end goal (e.g., employment). In the present study, goal setting was made explicit in order to determine if it improves the effectiveness of VSG research, we did not hypothesize a main effect for goal setting. As a theory of motivation, goal setting assumes that: 1) the person has the requisite knowledge and ability to perform the task, and 2) goal setting activates this task knowledge (Locke, 2000; Locke & Latham, 1990). Therefore, a difficult goal cues the individual’s attention to choose to exert effort and persistence to attain it, resulting in a main Verbal Self-Guidance 3 effect for goals on performance. When a task is complex and the person lacks the requisite task knowledge or skill, setting a specific, difficult performance goal can have a deleterious effect on performance. For example, Kanfer and Ackerman (1989), in a field study of Air Force trainees who were mastering a flight simulator, found that during the declarative stage of learning, participants need to focus their attention on understanding ways to perform the task. Hence, setting a specific, difficult goal decreased performance as it diverted participants’ attention away from discovering and encoding the necessary strategies to perform the task. They concluded that goal setting is effective only after individuals encode and store the necessary task rules, as well as integrate the sequencing of motor and cognitive processes for performing the task effectively. These findings have been replicated by others (Seijts & Latham, 2001; Winters & Latham, 1996). The assumption underlying the present study is that first year they have yet to develop the necessary behavioural skills to work effectively in a team setting. The program differs from a traditional undergraduate program in at least three ways. First, unlike most undergraduate programs, some classes are only several weeks long while others run a full semester. Second, the people with whom they regularly interact have widely different academic backgrounds (e.g., engineering, law, liberal arts, physical sciences, education, health sciences, nursing, etc.). Many students do not have an undergraduate degree in business. Third, and most importantly, the requires extensive teamwork. Group assignments are an integral part of most, if not all, courses. People are permanently assigned to a team for at least an entire semester, and sometimes for a full academic year. Furthermore, there is fierce competition among people for grades as many organizational recruiters use grade point average ( for selection. The business school puts great pressure on as starting salaries and place of employment can impact both the prestige and the ranking of a business school in the popular press. Adding to the expectations of, and stress placed on the emphasis by recruiters on evidence of interpersonal (i.e., teamwork) skills. Thus adapting to the environment of the of interpersonal skills, a high GPA, and the motivation to do so. Goal Setting and Based on the extant research, we hypothesized that affirmation of one’s ability (e.g., “Ah, all I have to do to succeed is…”), increases a person’s performance. Based on Locke’s (2000) conclusions, we hypothesized an interaction effect such that participants who receive training in have the highest level of performance effectiveness. Locke argued that on a complex task there is typically an interaction effect between task knowledge and goals. Specifically, he argued that this interaction occurs when: 1) the goal alone cannot activate existing task knowledge because the person lacks such knowledge and 2) this task knowledge is derived from other sources (e.g., peers, professors), which when combined with goals, results in the highest level of performance in the high goal, high task knowledge condition. Thus, we hypothesized that the motivational effects of goal setting are beneficial in this study only when training in individual to develop and affirm behaviours to overcome obstacles to his/her performance. the discovery of task behaviours because it focuses attention on discovering and encoding the necessary strategies to perform the task at hand. Performance Criteria There has been a long debate in the literature concerning the choice of an appropriate performance criterion (see Latham & Wexley, 1994). The performance criteria in the present study were dictated by the setting. MBA media (Jack, 2001), as well as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, which is the accreditation body for America (Olian et al., 2002), for developing people who graduate with strong analytical yet weak interpersonal skills. Business leaders and educators have demanded that this situation be corrected (Mason, 1992; Olian et al., 2002; Pfeffer, 1998). The MBA director in the business school, where this study took place, assigns Both MBA students from previous years, as well as faculty, had observed that poor interpersonal skills had an adverse effect on students’ academic performance in the program, namely Latham (2004) found that knowledge and skills necessary to improve themselves as team-players. Consequently, both an outcome and a behavioural measure of performance effectiveness were used to evaluate the effect of the VSG The outcome measure in the present study was the student’s recruiters use this measure as a basis for hiring grad- 4 Brown and Latham uating of a student’s mastery of course material. Hence, this measure is highly relevant to a A limitation of an outcome measure is that it is often influenced by factors beyond the individual’s control (e.g., quality of teaching; number of exams scheduled in a given day; idiosyncratic grading bias of instructors). Thus, a behavioural measure of a person’s effectiveness was also used in this study, namely, the person’s interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are defined as the ability to communicate, work collaboratively with others, manage time, empower/ delegate, as well as motivate/persuade self and others (de Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2002; Whetten & Cameron, 2002). A limitation of behavioural criteria is their susceptibility to errors in observation (e.g., leniency, halo, contrast effects). Multiple operationalization of performance effectiveness in terms of an outcome and behavioural measure decreases the likelihood of a Type II error. In MBA GPA is affected by how well individuals perform as team members in their respective teams. Team assignments influence 40-80% of the person’s course grade in each course of the research has shown that behavioural performance measures, developed through a systematic job analysis, correlate with performance outcome measures (Latham & Wexley, 1977; Taggar & Brown, 2001). Thus a composite criterion was also used in this study as this measure is the norm for making administrative decisions (e.g., hiring, promoting) in organizational settings (Schmidt & Kaplan, 1971). In summary, the present study differs from the four earlier psychology (Brown, 2003; Millman & Latham, 2001; Neck & Manz, 1996; Waung, 1995) in that it used an experimental rather than a quasi-experimental design, where there was no confounding of treatments, and where the consequences for the individual were “real.” People were randomly assigned to conditions. The effect of goal setting was examined explicitly rather than implicitly. The outcomes for the person included an appraisal of interpersonal skills by peers as well as grades assigned by faculty members. The evaluation of the training program included both behavioral and outcome performance measures as well as a composite criterion. Thus the probability of making a Type II error regarding the effect of the intervention in bringing about a change in the person’s effectiveness was minimized. Two hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1: People trained in VSG have significantly higher performance than those who are not trained in VSG. Hypothesis 2: There is an interaction effect between VSG and goal setting on performance. Method Sample Adults enrolled in the first year 126) of a Canadian university were randomly assigned to a 2 ( factorial design. This number represented 95.46% of the students (n = 132). On average, these MBAs were 29 years old, male (59.50%) with 4 1/2 years of fulltime employment experience. Participants did not differ significantly from nonparticipants on sex, age, or work experience. Procedure The procedure used in this experiment consisted of the following steps: 1) development of a behavioural measure of interpersonal skills, 2) random assignment to experimental conditions, 3) goal setting intervention, 4) training in Interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills (see Table 1) were assessed using behavioural observation scales ( Sue-Chan and Latham (2004). Using a previous firstyear MBA incident technique (Flanagan, 1954), was conducted with faculty who teach in the as recall examples of both effective and ineffective teamwork or interpersonal behaviours that led to high or low to develop and valid, and they correlate positively with performance outcome measures (e.g., Latham, 1997; Latham & Wexley, 1977; Taggar & Brown, 2001). Assignment to teams. Each year the director of the MBA are taken to ensure that the teams are relatively balanced in terms of sex, quantitative/qualitative undergraduate degrees, and international/national students. Group size in the present study ranged from five to six individuals. The tasks performed by these teams were similar to those performed by teams in other organizational settings. Specifically, these tasks included multidisciplinary analyses and presentations, as well as consulting projects based on Verbal Self-Guidance 5 organizational site visits. As consulting groups, the teams met client organizations, analyzed data, made recommendations, and presented their findings to key stakeholders. These team projects, as noted earlier, represented a minimum of 40% of the final grade in each MBA course. The roles of team members were highly interdependent. Each team was identifiable by a name (they also had web folders, mailboxes, etc.) and each had total authority on project planning regarding assignment of tasks to individuals among the team. Each team also made decisions that had important consequences for them, both as a team and as individuals within the team, in terms of given to the teams by faculty members were the task assignments and their completion dates. Experimental conditions. A 2 ( (goal setting/no goal setting) factorial design was used in this experiment. All participants were shown the contained on them were important for performing well in the the business school, behaviours on the labeled teamwork skills. Immediately following the presentation of the BOS, participants were invited to participate in the study. Specifically, they were informed that: a) the purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of different approaches to performing effectively in the MBA program; b) it was important not to share training program details with other people as it could cause contamination; and c) we randomly assigned participants to conditions in order to control for extraneous variables. This was done without regard to a person’s team as the unit of analysis in this study was the individual. At no time did we share our hypotheses with participants or faculty members. Goal setting. Participants (n = 62) in the goal-setting condition met in a large room for approximately 30 minutes. There they were explicitly asked to set a specific, difficult goal for the would work to attain as individuals. They then met in small groups of four to six people to discuss their rationale for their goal because discussing one’s goal can increase goal commitment (Locke & Latham, 1990). At the end of the discussion, they were informed that they could modify their goals based on this conversation. Goal difficulty and goal commitment were assessed at this time. We did not require a goal for Participants in the no goal setting, do your best ( They, too, received the difficult goal, they were urged to do their best to demonstrate the interpersonal skills listed on the for the reasons cited earlier. They then met in groups of four to six people to discuss the importance of doing their best to demonstrate the Consistent with previous goal-setting studies (see Locke & Latham, 1990), these people did not complete questionnaires concerning a goal as they were not in a goal-setting condition. Training in training sessions were provided. In the first session, immediately following the goal-setting intervention, the participants (n = 60) discussed ways that their positive (i.e., functional) and negative (i.e., dysfunctional) self-talk affected their behaviour in the program. Each person identified three dysfunctional self-statements concerning their performance. These statements were the focus of training in Consistent with Meichenbaum (1975, 1977), people were taught to change their dysfunctional self-statements to functional self-talk. A three-step process was used. Specifically, they were trained to become aware of negative self-statements (e.g., “I just can’t seem to motivate my team-mates”), then discover for themselves specific ways they could improve the situation, and finally to develop positive self-statements to guide their actions (e.g., “I have already learned to give positive feedback…I can use positive feedback to energize my team-mates.”). Consistent with Meichenbaum and Goodman (1971), each statement was initially modeled by the trainer. Then each trainee repeated the statement overtly. Finally, each trainee repeated the statement covertly. The session ended with the trainees receiving logbooks to record their self-statements concerning their performance over the coming weeks. The second session contained three components. First, the trainer reviewed the trainees reviewed their logbooks and gave examples of areas in which they had engaged in functional or dysfunctional self-talk concerning their performance. Third, for each dysfunctional statement, the trainees applied the The third session replicated the second session. In addition, trainees identified obstacles to successfully using program. As a group, participants discussed these obstacles and strategized ways to overcome them. The session ended with questionnaires assessing trainees’ reactions to the In order to minimize demand effects, people in the control condition (n = 66), who were not trained in VSG assumed the roles of members of a city council. This council was asked to review several proposals concerning the use of a building donated to the city. The rationale given to the participants in this control condition was that the simulation was designed to teach them the importance of working effectively as individuals in teams. Participants had 90 minutes to reach group consensus concerning the proposal that they would accept. Data collection. At the end of the semester manipulation checks were conducted. Prior to receiving their grades, peers assessed one another’s interpersonal skills anonymously. The dean’s office calculated the GPA Measures VSG included trainee reactions and Reactions were assessed using a 10-item, 5-point Likert-type scale (e.g., the extent to which a) would recommend this training to others, b) were satisfied with the training, and c) found the trainer helpful). In assessing ( which they were aware of their self-statements, monitored their self-statements, generated positive selfstatements, and converted negative statements to positive ones using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). Goal-setting manipulation checks. Consistent with the recommendations of Locke and Latham (1990), people in the goal condition completed questionnaires assessing actual goal difficulty level (i.e., desired goal specificity, and goal commitment. The latter three measures were assessed using a 5-point Likerttype scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. Perceived goal difficulty and specificity were assessed at the end of the study using questions adapted from Winters and Latham (1996). Specifically, two goal difficulty questions asked if participants saw their goal as difficult (Question 1) or easy (Question 2, reverse scored). Goal specificity was measured using three questions, namely, the extent to which participants believed that their goal Verbal Self-Guidance 7 was specific (Question 1), vague (Question 2, reverse scored), or uncertain (Question 3, reverse scored). A person’s goal was operationalized in terms of score; goal commitment was assessed using the fiveitem goal commitment scale developed by Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, Wright, and DeShon (2001). Performance. The behavioural measure of an individual’s interpersonal skills was anonymously assessed by peers. Specifically, peers rated the frequency with which they observed a team member performing each behaviour using a 5-point scale (0 = almost never and 4 = almost always). These peers worked with the person throughout the entire semester. Thus, peers were arguably the most important source of information regarding a person’s behaviour. The outcome measure of a person’s performance (i.e., neither aware of the purpose of the study, nor the experimental condition to which a person had been randomly assigned. The composite criterion, performance effectiveness, was created by summing each person’s z-score for Results VSG Responses indicated that the were satisfied with the training ( maximum score = 50, α = .79). Moreover, they reported greater use of maximum score = 25; α = .91) than those in the control ( p < .001. Goal-Setting Manipulation Checks Goal-setting manipulation checks revealed that the mean goal set by goal-setting participants was am 47.07 ( participants were highly committed to their goals ( = 21.12; that they perceived their goals to be both specific ( = 11.42; difficult ( = 10). differences in these four measures between the goal-setting participants in the those in the control condition, F .01, p > .05, respectively. Performance GPA left the ( with the first hypothesis, a 2 x 2 main effect for addition, there was an interaction effect between and goal setting, Hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported. No main effect was found for goal setting, means and standard deviations are shown in Table 2. The interaction effect is presented in Figure 1. Bobko (1986) argued that a spurious main effect can result in a 2 x 2 is present. Given our hypotheses that the participants in the the highest performance level, we tested the interaction using Bobko’s ordinal interaction technique. This technique involves two planned contrasts: 1) testing the equality of the means of the three noninteraction conditions (i.e., Control/ the means of the interaction (i.e., setting) versus the average of the remaining three conditions using a planned t-test. Contrast one was not significant, no significant difference among the means of the three conditions. Contrast two was significant, t(119) = 2.51, p < .05. Thus, there was an ordinal interaction with the level of Interpersonal skills. For the behavioural measure of performance, (response rate = 92.86%).The level of agreement among raters was calculated using the average interrater agreement statistic, r & Wolf, 1993). The r ranged from .71 to .84; the average level of agreement across the 11 items was .77. The median number of Verbal Self-Guidance 9 peer ratings per person was four. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the 11-item mean of the 11-item score = 44). The correlation between GPA and interpersonal skills was significant (r = .43, p < .01). Consistent with Hypothesis 2, a 2 x 2 interaction effect, no main effects for either skills, > .05, respectively. The means and standard deviations of this effect is presented in Figure 2. Again, Bobko’s (1986) ordinal interaction analysis was conducted. For contrast one, among the three conditions of setting only, and Control/ In addition, there was no significant difference between the means of the mean of the other three conditions, t(115) = 1.41, p = .16. Composite criterion. A 2 x 2 criterion of performance effectiveness revealed a main effect for also an interaction effect between , 2 were supported. No main effect was found for goal setting, deviations are shown in Table 2. The interaction effect is presented in Figure 3. Again, Bobko’s (1986) ordinal interaction analysis was conducted to see if the main effect for spurious. For contrast one, differences among the three conditions of VSG = .88, p > .05. For contrast two, there was a significant difference between the mean of the condition versus the mean of the other three conditions, t(113) = 2.66, p < .01. Thus, there was evidence of an ordinal interaction for the composite criterion. Discussion The theoretical and practical significance of this experiment is three-fold. First, of significance to both goal-setting theory and training in effect found for The lack of a main effect for goal setting alone is consistent with previous findings that when people are in a learning mode, setting a specific, difficult performance goal does not improve performance (Kanfer & Ackerman, 1989; Seijts & Latham, 2001). In the present study, the task of mastering the MBA curriculum and the requisite interpersonal skills, required more than motivation in terms of choice, effort, and persistence; it required learning interpersonal skills. This finding supports Locke’s (2000) conclusion that the highest level of performance occurs when participants have high task knowledge and high motivation. In the present study, performance was highest in the condition where participants were trained to use that motivated them to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skill. Second, this study, when examined in conjunction with the four previous industrial-organizational psychology studies involving answers to the question: “When is effective?” First, requires multiple training sessions of several hours duration. In the present study, and that of both Brown (2003) and Millman and Latham (2001), trainees took part in two or more training sessions where the total training program lasted at least 100 minutes. In contrast, a single, short training session of less than 40 minutes failed to result in a significant main effect (Waung, 1995). Second, effective when people lack the knowledge and skill to perform the task at hand. When participants have already mastered a task, and thus have the requisite knowledge and skill, performance. This argument is supported by the findings of Neck and Manz (1996), where not increase the performance of employees. In that study, the sample consisted of experienced employees who had already gained the knowledge and skill needed to effectively perform their jobs. Third, Bobko’s (1986) ordinal interaction analysis suggests that the main effect for composite criterion was spurious. most effective when combined with an explicitly set behavioural goal. An unexpected finding was that there was not an ordinal interaction when the dependent variable was interpersonal skills, despite the moderately high correlation between the two performance measures (i.e., GPA behavioural measures are prone to observation errors such as halo and leniency. With a mean of 36.26 on the 11-item of greater than three for each of the 11 items on the BOS was four. Restriction in range is likely responsible for the present finding. Third, the results of this study may prove useful for increasing the persuasiveness of messages regarding the importance of teamwork skills for people who enter the appreciation for interpersonal effectiveness. Interpersonal skills are important for one’s present study shows that only five hours of training (i.e., 270 minutes for can provide skills necessary for increasing their overall performance. Training in can be included in existing organizational behaviour courses (e.g., courses on management skills). Potential limitations of this experiment include the sample and the context. In this study, participants were adults enrolled in an educational institution. 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GPA as all of them wanted a “perfect” 4.0.
DYB) condition (n = 64) met in a separate room.
BOS. Rather than setting a specific,
BOS
BOS items.
VSG. Three weekly 90-minute VSG
MBA
VSG.
VSG technique. Second,
VSG technique.
VSG to increase their performance in the MBA
VSG training.
, took part in a simulation exercise where they
for each individual.
manipulation checks. VSG manipulation checks
VSG skills usage.
VSG participants:
VSG usage, all participants
VSG and control) were asked the extent to
BOS score), perceived goal difficulty level,
BOS
GPA) was measured by faculty who were
GPA and BOS.
Manipulation Checks
VSG participants
M = 39.46; SD = 5.02;
VSG skills (M = 19.28; SD = 3.51;
M = 15.43; SD = 4.91) condition, F(1, 108) = 22.00,
SD = 4.08; maximum score = 56), that these
M
SD = 2.94; α = .71; maximum score = 25), and
M
SD = 2.30; α = .66; maximum score = 15) and
M = 7.98; SD = 1.44; α = .65; maximum score
ANOVA confirmed that there were no significant
VSG condition and
F(1, 58) = 1.50, p > .05;
(1, 57) = .15, p >. 05; F(1, 48) = .03, p > .05; F(1, 48) =
. GPA was available for 121 participants; 5 had
MBA program. GPA ranged from 2.68 to 3.89
M = 3.44; SD = .21; maximum score = 4). Consistent
ANOVA revealed a
VSG on GPA, F(1, 117) = 6.60, p < .01. In
VSG
F(1, 117) = 4.02, p < .05. Thus,
F(1, 117) = .01, p > .05. The
ANOVA when an ordinal interaction
VSG/goal-setting condition would have
VSG/DYB; Control/ Goal Setting;
DYB) using a one-way analysis; and 2) comparing
VSG/goal
F(2, 90) = 2.01, p > .05); thus, there was
VSG/goal-setting condition having the highest
GPA relative to the other three study conditions.
BOS scores were obtained for 117 participants
wg, (James, Demaree,
wg, for the 11 behavioural items
BOS was .90. The grand
BOS was 36.26 (SD = 4.17; maximum
ANOVA revealed a significant
F(1, 113) = 3.97, p < .05. There were
VSG or goal setting on interpersonal
F(1, 113) = .01, p >.05; F(1, 113) = .22, p
ANOVA are shown in Table 2; the interaction
ANOVA revealed no significant differences
VSG only, goal
DYB, F(2, 88) = .99, p > .05.
VSG/goal setting and the
ANOVA of the composite
VSG, F(1, 111) = 4.11, p < .05. There was
VSG and goal setting
F(1, 111 ) = 5.12, p < .05. Thus, Hypotheses 1 and
F(1, 111) = .28, p > .05. The means and standard
VSG was
ANOVA revealed no significant
only, goal setting only, and Control/DYB, F(2, 87)
VSG/goal-setting
VSG is the interaction
VSG and goal setting on performance.
VSG and to set a high performance goal
VSG, suggests three tentative
VSG training
VSG appears to be a skill that
VSG appears to be
VSG does not appear to increase
VSG did
VSG on GPA as well as the
VSG appears to be
and BOS score). As previously mentioned,
BOS, most participants received a rating
scale, where the maximum score for each item
MBA directors’
MBA program with little
GPA. The
VSG plus 30 minutes for goal setting)
MBA students the self-regulation
VSG is a practical intervention that
Journal of
323-326.
Journal of
657-690.
Correlates of executive education program
Millington, NJ:
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(2nd ed.). Reading,
A theory of goal setting
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
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(5th ed.). Don Mills, ON: Addison-
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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