Effect of performance feedback and goal setting on productivity and satisfaction in an organizational setting.

A quasi-experimental design (W=113) was employed to investigate the effect of evaluative and nonevaluative feedback and goal setting on performance and satisfaction in a large telephone company. Three experimental groups received either extrinsic feedback, intrinsic feedback, or extrinsic and intrinsic feedback in addition to goal setting, while a fourth group received only goal-setting instructions. The results show that it is possible for goal setting alone to enhance performance without a formal-knowledge-of-results program, and thus yield external validity for Locke's theory of goal setting. However, when evaluative and nonevaluative feedback was added to a goal-setting program, performance was generally enhanced beyond that found in the goal-settingonly group.