Keil Thomas, Syrigos Evangelos, Kostopoulos Konstantinos C, D Meissner Felix, G Audia Pino
University of Zurich.
Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
J Manage. 2024 Sep;50(7):2927-2954. doi: 10.1177/01492063231185519. Epub 2023 Jul 27.
Despite the prevalence and importance of multiple goals for organizations, research on how organizations respond to performance on multiple goals continues to be limited and has examined only search intensity as the focal response, ignoring that search may occur in different locations. We extend the research on multiple goals by developing and testing novel theory on the relationship between performance feedback on multiple goals and the locus of search. Drawing upon the behavioral theory of the firm and using panel data from global pharmaceutical firms, we first show that when performance is below aspirations on a primary goal, a firm's propensity to engage in distal search increases along both the technological (i.e., familiar vs. unfamiliar search) and the organizational dimension (i.e., internal vs. external search). However, building on more recent literature that points to the need to consider multiple goals of unequal importance and, specifically, the self-enhancement perspective, we argue and find that performance on a secondary goal modifies this pattern, particularly when performance on a primary goal is unsatisfactory. Under feedback inconsistency, where performance on a primary goal is low but performance on a secondary goal is high, decision-makers decrease distal search to both unfamiliar technological areas and areas external to the organization. Our theory and findings highlight the importance of performance feedback regarding multiple goals in regulating the key locus of search choices and extend research on self-enhancement and learning from performance feedback.
尽管组织的多个目标普遍存在且很重要，但关于组织如何应对多目标绩效的研究仍然有限，并且仅将搜索强度作为重点反应进行了考察，而忽略了搜索可能在不同地点发生。我们通过开发和测试关于多目标绩效反馈与搜索地点之间关系的新理论，扩展了对多目标的研究。借鉴企业行为理论并使用全球制药公司的面板数据，我们首先表明，当主要目标的绩效低于期望时，公司进行远端搜索的倾向会在技术维度（即熟悉搜索与不熟悉搜索）和组织维度（即内部搜索与外部搜索）上增加。然而，基于近期文献中指出需要考虑重要性不等的多个目标，特别是自我提升视角，我们认为并发现次要目标的绩效会改变这种模式，尤其是当主要目标的绩效不令人满意时。在反馈不一致的情况下，即主要目标的绩效低但次要目标的绩效高时，决策者会减少对不熟悉技术领域和组织外部领域的远端搜索。我们的理论和发现强调了多目标绩效反馈在调节搜索选择的关键地点方面的重要性，并扩展了关于自我提升和从绩效反馈中学习的研究。
