Theory 1: Goal Setting

Goal setting is the process of establishing goals. It sometimes involves subordinate and superior working together to establish goals for a set period of time. There are several attributes of the cognitive process of goal setting:

• Goal specificity: Jan tells Michael to award a gift that costs up to $1,000 to the person who makes the most sales. However, a specific sales target isn’t set up which makes it difficult for employees to compete against one another. If the goal were more specific, they’d have more of a goal to aim for.

• Goal difficulty: In the case of The Office, the difficulty of achieving highest sales varies according to the motivation levels of other employees.

• Goal Commitment: degree of commitment to a target depends on the rewards an employee would receive whether its recognition, monetary or in the form of benefits. However seeing as Michael ends up using the award money for a coffee machine for an attractive lady, employees would soon lose the motivation to do well.

• Goal Intensity: The degree of competition in the office isn’t very high which wouldn’t make the process of achieving the goal very intense.