Shining lights and bad apples: The effect of goal-setting on group performance
研究了37个学生小组中，目标配置（尤其是组内最低目标与其他目标的差距）和目标难度对群体绩效的影响，发现目标差距有正向作用，而目标难度与绩效呈倒U型关系。
Management education programs increasingly use group work as a tool for developing teamwork knowledge and skills. A critical factor identified in prior research to influence group performance in student groups is goal-setting. We test in a sample of 37 groups the effect of group goal configurations and goal difficulty on group performance. We show that goal distance (as the distance between the lowest goal in the group and the rest of individual goals) has a positive impact on group performance. Moreover, we provide empirical evidence for an inverted U-shape association between goal difficulty and group performance. Therefore, our results question the linearity assumptions on the relation between goal difficulty and group performance and open new research directions in group goal-setting.