Control mechanisms and goal orientations: evidence from frontline service employees

Author： Coelho Filipe J. Sousa Carlos M. P. Coelho Filipe J.

E-ISSN： 1758-7123|49|3-4|350-371

ISSN： 0309-0566

Source： European Journal of Marketing, Vol.49, Iss.3-4, 2015-04, pp. : 350-371

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

<title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title>– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of organizational controls, both formal and informal, over the goal orientations of frontline employees. The goal orientations of employees, namely, in frontline settings, have been associated with a number of positive outcomes for organizations. Not surprisingly, past research has identified several personal characteristics with an influence on goal orientations. However, the contextual variables that influence employees’ goal orientations remain unspecified.<title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title>– The authors distributed approximately 1,350 questionnaires through the frontline employees of a Brazilian bank and obtained 296 usable responses. The questionnaire relies on previously validated scales. The final confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) obtained a good fit and provided evidence of scale validity.<title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title>– Overall, our results suggest that both formal and informal control mechanisms play a significant role explaining employees’ goal orientation. However, informal control mechanisms were found to play a more significant role explaining employees’ goal orientation.<title content-type="abstract-heading">Research limitations/implications</title>– This paper relies on employees from a single organization. In addition, it has a cross-sectional nature. The procedural and statistical remedies employed in this study suggest that method variance is not a concern.<title content-type="abstract-heading">Practical implications</title>– The results show that managers may resort to control mechanisms to influence the goal orientations of frontline service employees in a manner that is consistent with organizational objectives.<title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title>– To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of control mechanisms on employees’ goal orientation.