LEGACIES IN MOTIVATION SCIENCE

The Development of Goal Setting Theory: A Half Century Retrospective

Edwin A. Locke University of Maryland

Gary P. Latham University of Toronto

This chapter summarizes the authors’ joint development of the goal setting theory. The basic concept was based on more than 50 years of research and the formal theory has endured for 28 years (Locke & Latham, 1990). The theory was not developed through overgeneralization from only a few studies or by deduction but rather by induction. The inductions involved the integration of hundreds of studies involving thousands of participants. The theory initially focused solely on consciously set goals. To date, the goal setting theory has shown generality across participants, tasks, nationality, goal source, settings, experimental designs, outcome variables, levels of analysis (individ- ual, group, division, and organizational), and time spans. The theory identifies both mediators and moderators of goal effects. Numerous subsequent studies since 1990 have supported the main tenets of the theory. New findings have enlarged our knowl- edge of the relevant mediators and moderators as well as showing new applications (Locke & Latham, 2013). Among these discoveries are when to set learning rather than performance goals, the effect of goals primed in the subconscious on job performance, and that goal effects are enhanced by having people write at length about them.

Keywords: goal setting, motivation, theory building

The present authors independently discovered the importance of goal setting for significantly improving the performance of individuals and teams. We subsequently formed a research part- nership in 1974 (Latham & Locke, 1975) that has continued to the present day (e.g., Latham & Locke, 2018). In this chapter we describe our individual discoveries, our joint research that led to the development of the goal setting theory in 1990, and new developments to the theory since that time period.

Locke

I entered graduate school in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University in 1960.

My first course was Introduction to Industrial- Organizational (I-O) Psychology taught by Pa- tricia Cain Smith, who was among the earliest and most respected female industrial psycholo- gists. The textbook she assigned to the students in this course was Principles of Industrial Psy- chology that she had coauthored with Thomas A. Ryan (Ryan & Smith, 1954). A figure in a chapter in this book entitled Industrial Motiva- tion showed the results of an experiment con- ducted in England by C. A. Mace (1935). The figure (p. 397) showed that employees who were given a specific goal to attain each day on a computation task showed markedly greater im- provement than those who had been told to do their best. However, no statistical tests had been used to analyze the data. Nevertheless, this ap- peared to be a promising way to approach the topic of work motivation.1

To put this in context, I must digress with a discussion of the field of psychology at that

1 In the late 1960s, Locke met Mace in England. He was excited by Locke’s findings.

Edwin A. Locke, R. H. Smith School of Business, Uni- versity of Maryland; Gary P. Latham, Rotman School of Management and Departments of Psychology, Industrial Relations, and Nursing, University of Toronto.

Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Edwin A. Locke, 2451 Norwalk Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041. E-mail: [email protected]

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Motivation Science © 2019 American Psychological Association 2019, Vol. 5, No. 2, 93–105 2333-8113/19/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mot0000127

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point in time. The dominant philosophy under- lying empirical experiments was behaviorism, the doctrine that human action can be predicted, explained, and controlled without reference to consciousness. John B. Watson (1924), the founder of behaviorism, argued that because consciousness can be neither weighed nor mea- sured as with physical entities, it should not be considered as part of science. Only observable behavior should be studied. Behaviorists denied free will and asserted that psychology should embrace environmental determinism.2

The philosophy of behaviorism was accepted by most psychologists in Canada and the United States because it did not encounter much oppo- sition. For example, instinct theory turned out to be a dead end because people were not found to have inborn goals or knowledge. Superficially, the school of introspectionism seemed better than the study of instincts because it dealt with consciousness, but its core was narrowly fo- cused on reports of physical sensations. The success psychologists had in influencing animal behavior at that time through the use of rewards was considered to provide support for behavior- ism.

Ryan (1970) rejected behaviorism as inade- quate and asserted that conscious intentions should be studied. He was writing his book on intentions during my time in the Cornell doc- toral program (1960–1964). Thus, I was able to read drafts of his chapters.

In this same time period, I was reading the work of philosopher Ayn Rand (for a summary see Peikoff, 1991). I learned that consciousness had the status of an axiom, that is, a concept that along with other axioms such as existence, formed the basis for all knowledge and are self-evident to perception and thus irrefutable. Consequently, I knew that behaviorism, includ- ing Skinner’s (1953) operant model and envi- ronmental determinism, was wrong in principle. As a result, I wrote a number of critiques of behaviorism (e.g., Locke, 1971) and its alleged applicability to management (Locke, 1977). Ul- timately the behaviorist doctrine failed because of its inadequacy as an explanation of human action.

Another aspect of Ryan’s book proved espe- cially useful to me. He reviewed the most com- mon, contemporary attempts at dealing with the issue of motivation, aside from the behaviorist’s concept of reinforcement. He noted the substan-

tial Freudian influence on some psychologists such as Henry Murray. Murray (1938) viewed motivation as stemming from an individual’s unconscious motives or general needs as mea- sured by projective tests. These were often poor predictors of job performance.3 The thrust of Ryan’s book is an approach to motivation that includes conscious, task, and situationally spe- cific intentions on the premise that these are the most direct regulators of an individual’s actions.

Armed with philosophical confidence, I did my dissertation on goal setting, under Ryan’s and Smiths’ supervision. Following in Mace’s (1935) footsteps, I added task and goal variety and, most importantly, statistical tests. The lab- oratory experiments I conducted supported Mace, and I was able to publish my results. I was subsequently hired by the American Insti- tutes for Research where the director of the Washington office, Ed Fleishman, helped me get a grant from the Office of Naval Research. With my research assistant, Judy Bryan, I con- ducted additional laboratory experiments on the goal-performance relationship. Two years later I was hired by the University of Maryland De- partment of Psychology. There I continued my research on goal setting.

Here it is worth pointing out why a large number of researchers proceeded to conduct goal setting experiments after seeing these re- sults. Goal setting is a technique that, if properly implemented, works, and it works reliably to increase an individual and a team’s perfor- mance. Researchers like their experiments to succeed because it is difficult to publish null findings.

Frederick Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene the- ory (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959) was a competing theory to goal setting. Herz- berg’s theory asserted that extrinsic aspects of the job, that is, hygiene variables (e.g., an em- ployee’s pay) cause job dissatisfaction but not job satisfaction. The theory claimed that intrin-

2 Some psychologists who adhered to this model viewed the study of consciousness in psychology as a regression to mysticism.

3 McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, and Lowell (1953) sub- conscious need for achievement motive predicts entrepre- neurship, but it does so no better than self-reports of con- scious achievement motivation (Collins, Hanges, & Locke, 2004). For recent data on this issue, see Howard (2013) and Locke (2015).

94 LOCKE AND LATHAM

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sic aspects of the job, that is motivating vari- ables (e.g., such as the work itself) influence job satisfaction but not dissatisfaction. This theory was based on only two studies and did not focus directly on performance. The methodology used in both studies was the critical incident tech- nique (CIT), a technique originally developed for conducting a job analysis, not for identifying sources of job satisfaction (Flanagan, 1954). Research that used different methodologies did not replicate Herzberg’s findings (e.g., Locke, 1976).

Another competitor to goal setting in the 1960s–1980s was the expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964). This theory states that an em- ployee’s decisions are made by multiplying va- lence (value) of a Task � Expectancy of per- forming a Task Effectively � Instrumentality to the individual for doing so, and the product of these in turn leads to making choices. This theory was developed through deduction. How- ever, it turned out that people do not typically make choices by performing such multiplica- tions and Vroom later admitted this fact (Latham, 2012).

Another motivation theory, the prospect the- ory, is based on Kahneman and Tversky’s re- search. Heath, Larrick, and Wu (1999) and Wu, Heath, and Larrick (2008) claimed that the pros- pect theory parsimoniously explains goal set- ting results when, in fact, few if any of its claims about goals and goal setting theory are correct (Locke & Latham, in press). The claims of prospect theorists include misstatements about goal setting such as: (a) the theory does not take into account reference standards, even though a goal is a standard for self-evaluation; (b) it cannot explain the effect on performance of setting a difficult-to-attain goal; (c) claiming goal difficulty and specificity are the same; (d) failing to take into account the theory’s moder- ators (e.g., goal commitment) and goal determi- nants (e.g., values, self-efficacy); and (e) an over- reliance on paper people experiments in which an individual’s actual performance is not mea- sured.

Latham

In the fall of 1967, I began my pursuit of a master’s degree in I-O psychology at the Geor- gia Institute of Technology. The I-O faculty, most of whom had served in the military as

psychologists during World War II, instilled in students the desire to make a difference as sci- entist-practitioners. I was assigned to work with William Ronan as his research assistant. Ronan was a former student of Flanagan (1954), the developer of the critical incident technique noted above.

In the summer of 1968, Ronan was hired by the American Pulpwood Association to find ways to increase the productivity of pulpwood crews. Organizations such as International Pa- per were dependent on these crews for timber to make paper. Ronan accepted the consulting as- signment on the condition that I be hired as a research assistant for that summer to initiate and implement a project that would be of sufficient quality to serve as a master’s thesis. I chose to conduct a job analysis, using the CIT, to iden- tify behaviors that differentiate effective from ineffective pulpwood crews. Among my discov- eries was that effective crews set specific pro- duction goals for the amount of wood that they would harvest in a day and/or week.

During the second year of my master’s pro- gram, Ronan was factor analyzing the results of questionnaires that had been completed by for- esters regarding their observations of pulpwood crews. Fortuitously, the questionnaire included an item on setting a weekly goal for the amount of wood to be harvested. This item loaded on the same factor as an objective measure of crew productivity (i.e., cords per employee hour). Thus, two different methodologies, the CIT and a questionnaire, yielded the same conclusion: There is a goal-performance relationship.

The very day in 1969 that I presented the results of my thesis to the American Pulpwood Association, the organization hired me to be its first staff psychologist. On Saturdays I fre- quently returned to the Georgia Tech library where I perused the quarterly issues of Psycho- logical Abstracts. In issue after issue, I read abstracts of journal articles that described labo- ratory experiments in which people who had been assigned a specific, high goal brainstormed more ideas, solved more arithmetic problems, made more tinker toys, and so forth than did those who had been randomly assigned to a placebo (control) condition in which they had been urged to do their best. Racing into his office the following week, I excitedly ex- claimed, “Dr. Ronan, an I-O psychologist by the name of Locke has found. . . .” Suddenly, we

95DEVELOPMENT OF GOAL SETTING THEORY

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had the beginning of a theoretical framework for conducting our research and explaining our inductively obtained results (e.g., Locke, 1968).

Based on Locke’s laboratory experiments, Sid Kinne, a PhD forester who reported directly to Georgia Kraft Company’s CEO, convinced him to allow the two of us to conduct a field experiment in which we randomly assigned pulpwood crews to an experimental condition in which they were assigned a specific, high- productivity goal or to a placebo condition in which they were urged to do their best. The importance of the latter exhortation to these crews was highly relevant for them because they were paid on a piece-rate basis. In the very first week and throughout this 3-month experi- ment, the crews that had specific, high goals outperformed those in the control condition. The goals provided the crews with a purpose, a sense of challenge, and feelings of accomplish- ment for otherwise tedious work. Consequently, in addition to significant increases in weekly productivity, job attendance soared in the goal- setting condition because cutting trees was now meaningful to the crews. The goal was a stan- dard for self-assessing their effectiveness (Latham & Kinne, 1974).

By this time Ronan was far more than my thesis supervisor; he was a trusted mentor to me. Sadly, the psychology department’s empha- sis in that time period was solely on industrial psychology and human factors engineering. There was no organizational psychology faculty. Thus, rather than return to Georgia Tech to pursue a PhD, I entered the doctoral program in psychology at the University of Akron (Akron, OH) in 1971. Two things had attracted me to that department. First, only a PhD in I-O psy- chology was offered; second, the department had recently hired Gary Yukl, a rapidly rising star in I-O psychology.

The assigned readings in Yukl’s doctoral sem- inar included Locke’s research. Hence, I showed Yukl the technical reports on goal set- ting published by the American Pulpwood As- sociation for its client companies. He immedi- ately urged me to send copies to Locke. Within the week Locke sent me a letter in which he suggested that I submit them for publication, which I did (Latham & Kinne, 1974; Ronan, Latham, & Kinne, 1973). The timing was per- fect because that was the time period in which Locke’s goal-setting experiments were being

criticized for lack of external/ecological validity (e.g., Heneman & Schwab, 1972; Hinrichs, 1970).

Unbeknownst to me, the global forest prod- ucts company, Weyerhaeuser, was aware of my research conducted at the American Pulpwood Association as well as my progress in the doc- toral program at the University of Akron. In November 1972, they offered me a job starting in June 1973 as their first staff psychologist. I immediately accepted the offer when the com- pany informed me that upon joining them I could choose any topic for my dissertation and that I would be given all the resources I would need to complete it. The reason for this won- derful offer was the results of my goal-setting research involving pulpwood crews.

Weyerhaeuser’s senior management had been astounded that something so simple and straightforward as setting a specific, high goal could have such a positive effect on an employ- ee’s and a team’s performance. “Doesn’t every- one set goals?” was the question commonly asked of me. The answer was and is yes, but the goals are almost always general or vague in nature and thus have little or no effect on a person’s behavior. Remaining a bit skeptical yet intrigued by my findings, they asked whether “my methodology” could be tweaked to further inspire productivity.

As a doctoral student, I was impressed by Rensis Likert’s (1967) research on principles that he had labeled a system 4 style of leader- ship, namely encouraging employee participa- tion in decision making, goal setting, and devel- oping a supportive relationship with subordinates. Thus, my response to the question of tweaking goal setting determined my choice of my doc- toral dissertation. I compared the effect of as- signed versus participatively set goals on per- formance versus a do-your-best condition (Latham & Yukl, 1975). This led to program- matic research involving about 17 subsequent field and laboratory experiments on this topic. I found that the crews that participated in setting their performance goals had the highest produc- tivity. Moreover, they set higher goals than those who had been assigned goals by the crew supervisor. The goal setting theory states that high goals lead to higher performance than easy goals (Latham & Locke, 2018; Locke & Latham, 1990).

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Among my other findings in that time period was that goals improve performance in the ab- sence of monetary incentives. For example, they did so for unionized loggers (Latham & Baldes, 1975) and truck drivers (Latham & Saari, 1982),4 who were paid by the hour. They also did so for scientists/engineers, most of whom possessed graduate degrees. Consistent with the goal setting theory, those individuals who were urged to do their best despite receiv- ing praise, public recognition, or a monetary bonus performed no better than those in the control group. The scientists/engineers who par- ticipated in the goal-setting process had the same level of goal commitment as those who had been assigned goals. But, as was the case with the loggers (Latham & Yukl, 1975), the difficulty level of the participatively set goals was higher than the goals that had been assigned by a manager. For the same reason, as was the case with the loggers, job performance was highest in the participative goal condition (Latham, Mitchell, & Dossett, 1978). Subse- quent laboratory experiments (e.g., Latham & Saari, 1979; Latham, Steele, & Saari, 1982), as well as an earlier field experiment involving word processing operators (Latham & Yukl, 1976), showed that when goal difficulty be- tween conditions is the same, the performance of those with assigned versus participatively set goals does not differ.

Locke and I met at the 1974 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. As noted earlier, we coauthored our first paper to- gether a year later (Latham & Locke, 1975). Based on data from the American Pulpwood Association, we discovered that pulpwood crews, paid on a piece rate basis and restricted to cutting wood to 2–3 days a week cut as much as they normally did in a 5-day week. The restricted number of days had become a spe- cific, challenging time frame (i.e., a goal).

Theory Building

We did not begin our research with theory building in mind. Because of Herzberg, we were acutely aware of the dangers of premature the- orizing (Locke, 1976, 2007; Locke & Latham, 2005). As we noted earlier, Herzberg’s database was very small, his methodology was dubious, and his results could not be replicated using different and sounder methodologies.

In 1968, Locke published an article entitled “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and In- centives” based primarily on the results of his early goal-setting experiments and the ideas of Mace. But there was insufficient empirical evi- dence at that time to build a formal theory. However, the evidence supporting the develop- ment of a theory soon began to accumulate based on hundreds of studies conducted by our- selves and others. Thus, in 1990 we published a book that presents the goal setting theory based on approximately 400 studies (Locke & Latham, 1990).

A good theory must be based on a clear defi- nition of its concept or concepts (Locke, 2003).

Key concepts require careful measurement. We discovered empirically that the best goal measure was: “What is the minimum score you would be satisfied with?” (An untested alterna- tive would be, “What is the lowest score you would not be dissatisfied with?”). Previously such measures had not been used. Usually peo- ple had simply been asked to try for X.

Several meta-analyses had been done on the effects of goals on task performance (Locke & Latham, 1990, Tables 2-1 and 2-2). These anal- yses show that people with specific, challenging goals reliably outperform those with do-your- best goals because the latter type of goal is interpreted too subjectively. Moreover, the de- gree of goal challenge or difficulty is linearly related to performance, given sufficient skill or ability. We concluded that the most effective goals for increasing performance are those that are specific and difficult. With regard to goal specificity, we found that it alone does not nec- essarily lead to high performance because a goal can be both specific and easy to attain. We found that specific goals in and of themselves affect the variance in performance only to the degree that performance is controllable.

Often overlooked by subsequent researchers are our Appendixes C and D in Locke and Latham (1990), which present guidelines for conducting laboratory and field experiments. Ignoring these guidelines can lead to substandard performance and erroneous conclusions. For example, as- signing impossible goals in a laboratory in- creases performance because there are no pen-

4 We never had a union grievance filed by a logger or a driver over goal setting.

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alties for failure to attain them. Impossible goals can motivate in the short run if people try hard to attain them. In field settings, impossible-to- attain goals can lead to demoralization and pun- ishment. In organizations, goals should be chal- lenging yet attainable.

Generality. Inductive theory building re- quires evidence of generality. Although we had no formal theory of induction when we began our research, we reported evidence of generality across tasks (n � 88), participants (n � 40,000), countries (n � 7), outcome measures (n � 10), and time spans ranging from 1 min to several years,5 designs (experimental, correlational), settings (laboratory, simulation, field), and goal sources (assigned, self-set, participatively set). Studies also showed that goal setting could be used successfully with groups/teams, divisions, and even small organizations (e.g., Porter & Latham, 2013; Pritchard, Young, Koenig, Sch- merling, & Dixon, 2013).

Our focus on generality has implications for how the issue of replication might best be ad- dressed in the psychological sciences and maybe elsewhere. The emphasis in many dis- cussions of replication has been on exact repli- cation of single studies. But it is hard to know how a study using one task, one set of instruc- tions, one setting, one type of measure, one time span, and one class of participants and so forth will generalize. Our view is that generality is best achieved by replication with variation of the type used in our research program.

Mediators. Goal research showed that goal mediators include choice/attention, effort, and persistence. Goals were also found to motivate people to use existing strategies for goal attain- ment or to discover new ones (Seijts & Latham, 2005; Winters & Latham, 1996). Having rele- vant strategies for goal attainment is a fourth mediator.

An important finding of goal research on the opposite side of the mediator coin showed that self-set goals along with self-efficacy could me- diate the results of other motivators on perfor- mance (e.g., assigned goals, feedback, person- ality, incentives, job design, and leadership). This research was updated by Locke (2001).

Moderators. We identified four modera- tors of goal-performance effects. Feedback is critical to goal effects because it enables people to track progress so that effort and strategy can be adjusted to attain the goal. Goals and feed-

back work better together to increase perfor- mance than either one alone.

A second moderator is goal commitment. A goal that one is not committed to attain will not affect that person’s actions. The ultimate proof of commitment is action, but self-report scales can be useful (Klein, Cooper, & Monahan, 2013). Commitment is especially important when a goal is difficult to attain because the goal requires more effort and persistence when setbacks are inevita- bly experienced. Commitment is affected by val- ues, including incentives, and self-efficacy.

A third moderator, which as noted is also a mediator, is ability, namely knowledge or skill. People cannot attain goals if they do not know how to do so. This is an example of motivation and cognition working together (see Wood, Whelan, Sojo, & Wong, 2013). Perceptions by supervisors that the goals assigned to them by their managers are excessively difficult has been shown subsequently to be related to their abuse of employees (Mawritz, Folger, & Latham, 2014).

Situational factors. Situational factors, a fourth moderator, affect the goal-performance relationship. Goal-directed action may be facil- itated or hindered by environmental factors and the degree of support an individual receives (e.g., people, money, facilities).

Affect. Goals are by their nature something one values. Emotions are based on subconscious value judgments (Locke, 2009). Thus, goal attain- ment is related to affect (see Locke & Latham, 1990, Chapter 10). Numerous studies show that goal attainment is related to satisfaction. However, there is an apparent paradox. Difficult goals are less likely to be attained than easier goals, thus making satisfaction harder to experience. So why do people try to attain them? The explanation, provided by an experiment by Mento, Locke, and Klein (1992), is that attaining challenging goals is often the path to more internal and external ben- efits than easier goals (e.g., pride, educational cre- dentials, better job, higher pay).

Expectancy and self-efficacy. Another par- adox arose in relation to the expectancy theory, which states that a higher expectancy of perfor- mance effectiveness is more motivating than a

5 Subsequent to 1990, Howard (2013) reported that set- ting a specific, high goal predicted job advancement 25 years later at AT&T.

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lower expectancy (Vroom, 1964). A challeng- ing goal is less likely to be attained. Neverthe- less, a high goal leads to higher performance than one that is easily attained. The resolution to this paradox was found in Bandura’s (1997) concept of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to task or domain self-confidence and is positively related to performance. It is measured by ratings across multiple performance levels and then averaged. In contrast, expectancy is normally measured in relation to only one outcome level at a time. A single outcome expectancy rating does not predict well across participants when differ- ent individuals are assigned different goal levels relative to the more comprehensive self-efficacy scale because the frame of reference is not con- stant (see Locke & Latham, 1990, Chapter 3).

The self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997) has been incorporated into goal theory and vice versa. This is because self-efficacy is affected by assigned goals, influences self-set goals, af- fects responses to performance feedback, af- fects goal commitment, and is associated with the use of effective task strategies (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).

Supplemental results. Other issues dis- cussed in our 1990 book include the hypothesized causes of null results from goal setting, the flaws in Atkinson’s deductively derived motivation the- ory, the positive effects of proximal versus distal goals on tasks that are complex for an individual, the determinants of goal choice, the role of par- ticipation in goal setting, the effects of value im- portance on affect, and the application of goal setting to human resource management.

Contingencies. A noteworthy aspect of our 1990 book is that we analyzed every goal- setting study that obtained contingent or nega- tive results. The law of contradiction asserts that something cannot be true and not true at the same time and in the same respect. Usually replication problems are caused by one of two factors: (a) the theory is wrong or at least needs further development or (b) the theory was tested inappropriately. Our analyses suggested what could be done to verify our hypotheses. So far, no one has followed up, but we believe that such an analysis serves as an antidote to the all-too-common procedure in psychology of cit- ing only results that fit one’s theory while ig- noring those that do not.

Induction

The goal setting theory appears to be unique among work motivation theories in withstand- ing the test of time—some 50 years since the first goal-setting experiments were conducted and 28 years since the first statement of the theory. It has been rated as the most valid and practical theory of work motivation (Lee & Earley, 1992; Miner, 2003; Pinder, 1998). We attribute this success to the use of the inductive method.

Induction goes against what has become all but an axiom in psychology: Deduce a theory and then test it. When an experimental hy- pothesis is supported, theory building often is considered closed. Induction, on the other hand, helps prevent premature theorizing and premature closure. Induction minimizes the temptation for harking, namely formulating hypotheses after the results are known. Induc- tion lengthens the time perspective for theory development. Most importantly, once a theory is formulated inductively, the theory is open to further development; The theory continues to be a work in progress rather than a closed system. New studies are not a threat to the theory; rather, they are an opportunity for further development. In sum, induction helps prevent premature theorizing, premature clo- sure, and desperate attempts to prove one is not wrong.

Following the publication of our 1990 book, goal-setting research exploded to more than 1,000 studies (Latham, 2012; Mitchell & Daniels, 2003). Thus, we decided that an up- date to the theory was needed. There were more studies than we could keep track of so our new, edited book involves some 70 schol- ars who updated the literature (Locke & Latham, 2013). Below are examples.

Participative Versus Assigned Goals

Prior to 1990, experiment after experiment on assigned and participatively set goals showed that performance, whether in the laboratory or in the field, was the same if goal difficulty was held constant as long as the rationale or logic for the assigned goal was provided. This was not the case if the goal was assigned in a curt

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manner (Latham, Erez, & Locke, 1988).6 That an assigned goal was as effective as a partici- patively set goal ran counter to the prevailing belief in I-O psychology (e.g., Likert, 1967). The explanation for this seemingly contradic- tory finding was provided in an experiment by Latham, Winters, and Locke (1994). Research- ers, including us, had been looking in the wrong direction. That is, we were searching in vain for the motivational effects of participation in set- tings goals (e.g., commitment) when the main benefit is cognitive. A mediation analysis re- vealed that the quality of the strategies that are used is responsible for the high performance of the individuals who participate in the goal- setting process. Scully, Kirkpatrick, and Locke (1995) found that participation’s benefits were based on knowledge exchange.

Learning Versus Performance Goals

When participants were given a task that ex- ceeded their knowledge or ability, a moderator in the goal setting theory, participants with a do-your-best goal had higher performance than those assigned performance goals. People who were given high goals under time pressure typ- ically failed to explore alternative strategies. The best procedure here is to assign specific, challenging learning goals (Seijts, Latham, & Woodwark, 2013; Winters et al., 1996). Self- efficacy and strategies mediate learning goal effects. Learning goals are especially effective when negative feedback is given on the perfor- mance of a task that is experienced as highly complex (Cianci, Klein, & Seijts, 2010). Learn- ing and performance goals actually can be as- signed together so long as the cognitive load is not too high (Masuda, Locke, & Williams, 2015).

Learning Goals Versus a Learning Goal Orientation

A learning goal, a state, is not to be confused with a learning goal orientation conceived by Dweck (1986) as a quasitrait. Setting a specific, high goal provides direction for one’s behavior; it serves as a motivator for performance attain- ment. The importance of not blurring the dis- tinction between these two concepts was shown empirically by Seijts, Latham, Tasa, and Latham (2004). Using a complex simulation in

which participants sought to increase market share under rapidly evolving changes in the telecommunications industry, the researchers found that those who had a specific, challenging learning goal to discover and implement a spe- cific number of strategies or were urged to do their best significantly increased market share versus those with a specific challenging perfor- mance goal. A learning goal orientation pre- dicted performance only when a vague goal had been set, namely to do one’s best. In short, specific goal setting masked the effect of a learning goal orientation on subsequent perfor- mance. Self-efficacy and information search (strategy) mediated the learning goal–perfor- mance effect.

Primed Goals

Arguably the most remarkable finding with regard to the goal setting theory since 1990 is that it is as applicable to goals primed in the subconscious as it is to consciously set goals (Latham, 2018). Additive effects on perfor- mance of these two types of goals have been obtained in both laboratory (Ganegoda, Latham, & Folger, 2011; Stajkovic, Locke, & Blair, 2006) and field experiments (Shantz & Latham, 2009). A context-specific primed goal has been shown to lead to higher job performance than a general one (Latham & Piccolo, 2012). On a task that is complex for people, a primed learn- ing goal led to higher performance than a primed performance goal (Chen & Latham, 2014). Latham, Brcic, and Steinhauer (2017) found that a goal can be primed for the subse- quent conscious choice of a difficult versus an easy goal as well as effort expended. Choice and effort, as noted earlier, are mediators in the goal setting theory. Latham et al. (2017) also found that the more difficult the goal primed in the subconscious, the higher the goal that is consciously set. Moreover, a conscious self-set goal partially mediated the subconscious goal– performance relationship. A self-report measure of conscientiousness moderated this relation-

6 This article was awarded the best paper of the year by the organizational behavior (OB) division of the Academy of Management not so much because of the findings but because of the process used to obtain the findings. Two protagonists, Latham and Erez, used a mutually respected mediator, Locke, to conduct four experiments to shed light on their conflicting findings.

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ship. The effects of goal priming are not limited to an individual’s performance. A primed goal can even increase satisfaction with customer service (Brcic & Latham, 2016).

Other Findings

Among the other findings since 1990 are the following. First is the economic benefits of goal setting. Schmidt (2013) calculated, on the basis of utility analysis, that given an average salary of $50,000, the average increase in output of employees is $9,200 a year as the result of a goal-setting intervention. Second, Klein et al. (2013) updated their goal commitment scale and identified several determinants of commit- ment. Third, Wood et al. (2013) updated the research on strategy as a moderator. Specific, challenging goals combined with appropriate strategies produce stronger performance effects than either one alone. Fourth, Sun and Frese (2013) shed light on multiple goal pursuit. Prox- imal goals are especially important for attaining sequentially interdependent distal goals that are long term and are complex for an individual or team (Latham & Locke, 2007; Locke, 2018b). Fifth, the goal-performance relationship is not restricted to the workplace. Goal setting has beneficial effects in sports, psychotherapy, cre- ativity, leadership, negotiation, health care, and entrepreneurship. And sixth, writing about goals is beneficial. For example, in the field of education Morisano, Hirsh, Peterson, Pihl, and Shore (2010) found that when students wrote at length about their goals, their grades improved, regard- less of whether a goal for a specific grade had been set. Similar to Morisano et al.’s quantita- tive experiment, Travers (2013) conducted a qualitative study that showed the self-develop- ment benefits of students simply writing about their goals. These findings are inconsistent with the goal setting theory, which advocates match- ing the goal to the desired outcome. Rather than viewing these results as a threat to our theory, we view it as an opportunity to expand it based on corroborating and further exploratory re- search.

Goals and Organizations

All organizations require goals; otherwise they have no purpose in being and would not achieve anything. A recent book by John Do- err (2018), inspired by goal-setting research,

provides a detailed method of how organiza- tions can and should use goal setting to be successful. Based on his work at Intel, he introduced Google’s leadership team to goal setting (based on a study by Locke), which is now a critical part of Google’s leadership strategy. Doerr explained the necessity of making goals transparent to all departments, thus making unethical behavior less likely. Similarly, Kerr and Lepelley (2013) described how G.E. managers, at the insistence of Jack Welch, set stretch goals, that is, goals that were arguably impossible to attain. These were set to stimulate creative outside-the-box thinking. No one was penalized for failure to attain these goals. Hence, no one was tempted to cheat or exaggerate goal attainment. Stretch goals were in addition to assigned minimum goals that did have to be attained.

The Biological Basis for Goals

We noted in our 1990 book that the foun- dation of goal directed action is biology. Life is a conditional process; it requires action that sustains survival. If no action is taken or the wrong actions are taken, the organism does not survive and cannot reproduce. At the level of lower animals, action that is guided by sensory perception and perceptual level learn- ing is needed. At the human level, there is the need for conceptual thought (reason), voli- tional goal choices (Locke, 2018b), and long- range thinking.

Given the nature of life and human nature, it seems obvious that goal-directed choice and action are at the core of human motivation. This fact shows the inadequacy of control theory models of goal setting (Locke, 2018a). Machines (e.g., thermostats, torpedoes) do not have goals; only their builders and users do. Contrary to control theory, discrepancy reduction between a desired goal and one’s level of performance cannot be the primary source of motivation; otherwise the easiest path to take would be to not set goals. More foundational than discrepancy reduction is that the goal-setting process involves discrep- ancy production (Bandura & Locke, 2003). Furthermore, once a goal has been attained, given self-efficacy, people typically set an even higher goal rather than rest on their laurels.

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Conclusion

We have two closing comments. First, it is widely believed that intrinsic motivation in- cludes achievement motivation. It does not (Locke & Schattke, 2018). This confound, un- fortunately, has been accepted in psychology for more than 100 years. In psychology, intrin- sic motivation properly means loving an activ- ity just for its own sake, regardless of how well one performs it (e.g., walking) or just for the sake of contemplation (e.g., music). It means loving what one is doing. The goal setting the- ory is based on achievement motivation (Mc- Clelland, Atkinson, Clark, & Lowell, 1953), which involves striving to meet a standard of excellence; it means not just doing but also doing something well (e.g., attaining a sales objective). Ideally, the two go together, but they can vary independently (e.g., hating being a lawyer while still trying to be excellent at it; loving tennis while being indifferent to attain- ing excellence or even to improving).

Second, we are champions of the inductive method in science. So we conclude this chapter by noting the wisdom of Sherlock Holmes, our favorite detective: “I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to trust facts to suit the- ories, instead of theories to suit facts” (Doyle, 2003).

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Received September 5, 2018 Revision received November 9, 2018

Accepted November 16, 2018 �

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INFORMATYKA EKONOMICZNA BUSINESS INFORMATICS 3(37) • 2015

ISSN 1507-3858 e-ISSN 2450-0003

Radosław Wójtowicz Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu e-mail: [email protected]

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENTERPRISE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN A COMPANY WDRAŻANIE SYSTEMÓW ZARZĄDZANIA TREŚCIĄ W PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWIE DOI: 10.15611/ie.2015.3.08 JEL Classification: M150

Summary: Modern technological possibilities referring to business intelligence and knowledge management support in an organization comprise mainly software which supports groupware, software used for workflow management, intranets and corporal portals, tools for remote learning, data warehouse and Enterprise Content Management systems. The latter of the mentioned information technologies currently seems to be one of the most crucial structural foundations of business intelligence and knowledge management systems which have been developing rapidly over recent years. The main objective of this paper is to present the author’s general methodology of the implementation of the ECM systems in the organization resulting from the preliminary literature review and the extensive practical experience. The first part of the study concentrates on the main definitions. The next and the most important part presents the details of the proposed methodology.

Keywords: Enterprise Content Management, IT-projects, document management.

Streszczenie: Nowoczesne technologie informatyczne, służące wspieraniu rozwiązań klasy business intelligence i zarządzania wiedzą, obejmują głównie technologie związane z opro- gramowaniem do pracy grupowej, zarządzaniem przepływami pracy, intranetami i portalami korporacyjnymi, narzędziami do nauczania zdalnego, hurtownie danych oraz systemy zarzą- dzania treścią. Ostatnia z wymienionych technologii wydaje się aktualnie jednym z najistot- niejszych strukturalnych fundamentów, pozwalających stworzyć w przedsiębiorstwie rozwią- zania klasy business intelligence i zarządzania wiedzą. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie autorskiej propozycji koncepcji wdrażania systemu zarządzania treścią w przedsiębiorstwie będącej rezultatem wstępnych badań literaturowych i szerszych doświadczeń praktycznych. Pierwsza część artykułu koncentruje się na najważniejszych definicjach, następna i najważ- niejsza część zawiera zaś opis zaproponowanej metodyki wdrożeniowej.

Słowa kluczowe: zarządzanie treścią, projekty informatyczne, zarządzanie dokumentami.

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1. Introduction

The employees in the organizations take a lot of time to search for needed information or documents that are “hidden” in the resources of a company or an institution. Thanks to modern IT solutions the time required to find information can be significant reduced. Organizations that have implemented such systems are undoubtedly more efficient and more competitive. To discount advantages of such systems which are the subject of the further consideration it is necessary to use a proper implementation methodology that takes into account their specific features and allow for “safe” realization of the entire project.

The main goal of this article is to present the general concept of the implementation methodology of the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems. The proposition of the methodology results mainly from the practical experiences and the literature study of the author. The elements of the methodology were positively verified in practice in several medium-sized industrial and commercial enterprises. It should also be noted that in Polish literature regarding the IT systems a systemic approach to implementing ECM systems is still missing. Therefore, this article is an attempt, at least in part, to complement of this lack.

2. Basic definitions

Enterprise Content Management systems are used to build, organize, manage and store digital information on any medium and in any format. Content management is the basis for knowledge management and business intelligent technologies in any organisation [Kleu et al. 2013].

The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) International, the worldwide association for Enterprise Content Management, defined the term ECM as follows:

“Enterprise Content Management is the systematic collection and organization of information that is to be used by a designated audience – business executives, customers, etc. It is a dynamic combination of strategies, methods, and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver information supporting key organizational processes through its entire lifecycle” [AIIM 2015].

The five ECM components and technologies were also first defined by AIIM: • Capture, • Manage, • Store, • Preserve, • Deliver.

Capture involves converting information from paper documents into an electronic format through scanning. Capture is also used to collect electronic files and information into a consistent structure for management. Capture technologies also encompass the

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creation of metadata (index values) that describe characteristics of a document for easy location through search technology.

Manage category connects the other components, which can be used in combina- tion or separately. Document management, Web content management, collaboration, workflow and business process management address the dynamic part of the infor- mation’s lifecycle. Records management focuses on managing finalized documents in accordance with the organization’s document retention policy, which in turn must comply with government mandates and industry practices.

Store components temporarily store information that is not required, desired, or ready for long-term storage or preservation.

Preserve involves the long-term, safe storage and backup of static, unchanging in- formation. Preservation is typically accomplished by the records management features of an ECM system and many are designed to help companies comply with government and industry regulations.

Deliver components of ECM present information from the Manage, Store, and Preserve components. The AIIM component model for ECM is function-based, and does not impose a strict hierarchy; the Deliver components may contain functions used to enter information into other systems (such as transferring information to portable media, or generating formatted output files); or for readying information, such as by converting its format or compressing it, for the “Store” and “Preserve” components. The Deliver category’s functionality is also known as “output”; technologies in this category are often termed output management [Enterprise 2015].

At the end of this part of the article it is worth mentioning a relatively new no- tion, namely Enterprise Information Management (EIM). Enterprise Information Management combines Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Business Process Management (BPM), Customer Experience Management (CEM) and Business Intel- ligence (BI). EIM takes these approaches to managing information one step further. It is not only the software, it is first of all an attitude which assumes an active man- agement of all information in a company [Bischoff 2015]. However, in this article we concentrate on the ECM because EIM requires further and extended study.

3. The general conception of the implementation of the ECM system

We will begin our analysis with the presentation of the general model of the ECM system in an organisation and then we will go to the description of the proposed implementation methodology. The general model of the ECM system in an organisation (from a small and medium-sized company perspective) is presented in Figure 1.

The presented model of the system is composed of several main elements which are strictly connected. The organisation (as the contractor or service provider) establishes a framework for four kinds of objects identified from the viewpoint of

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The implementation of the Enterprise Content Management systems in a company 117

the generated documentation: organisational resources, processes and procedures, electronic documents and projects.

Fig. 1. The general model of the ECM system in an organisation

Source: own study based on [Wójtowicz 2011].

The organisational resources contain the descriptions of the positions and roles of the staff. These descriptions should characterise in a formal way all abilities of the members of the project teams.

The processes and procedures describe all methods of the activities during the project. They can refer not only to the management area of the project, but also to the implementation area.

In the presented model electronic documents create a centralised database which contains formal records of all information that is transferred between the members of the project teams and between a company and the clients. Owing to the maintaining the actual database of electronic documents, “a record” of the whole undertaking comes into being.

The projects are some kind of products offered to the clients. Every project should be described with essential parameters like: budget, plan of work, schedule, resources, etc.

The above-mentioned objects are dynamically interconnected through the internal documents, which means sets of the documents that are restricted (temporarily and

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geographically) to the structures of the company. Among the internal documents we can indicate all documents which are important in the project (e.g. descriptions of the implementational procedures, rules, instructions), but are not received and delivered directly from and to the clients.

Often the success of the project depends on the quality of the contacts between employees and clients. Formal and well-structured exemplification of these contacts comprises the external documents. Among the external documents we can indicate the outgoing correspondence and incoming correspondence.

The way of the implementation of the system that supports content management depends mainly on the complexity of the project and the size of the company. Big companies have their own software solutions which are often parts of the complex application supporting the management. In the article we propose the solution primarily for small and medium-sized organisations.

Fig. 2. The general concept of the proposed methodology

Source: own study.

In order to locate the proposed methodology within the software development and implementing methodologies, we can say that its assumptions are next to the methodologies called prototyping and incremental developing. The first is the relatively rapid creation of a prototype application that is tested and verified by the client, and then a system is built from the ground up. The second of them is based on

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selecting a subset of system functions and iterative process of their implementation. The proposed methodology is built on partial application prototype, which is then expanded and modified to achieve full functionality. It should be noted that, in practice, often a document management system will be prototyped, which is the basis for the creation and expansion of the ECM system.

An important feature of the presented methodology is structural and iterative prototyping of applications that is based on well-defined stages (phases) of development and implementation of the system ECM. After completion of the stage achieved objectives and benefits are compared to incurred costs. To determine successive iterations, we have to indicate the appropriate criteria which allow to measure and estimate the value of each iteration. This approach also allows to use of the EVA/ EVM (Earned Value Analysis/Earned Value Management) method, which is based, among others, on the measuring and tracking of the work progress related to costs, time and achieved results, and then comparing the obtained values with a scope of the project [Dudycz, Dyczkowski 2006].

In practice, the application of the described methodology is based on the division of the project into three phases, allowing to develop the pilot application, then the extended pilot application and lastly the final (production) application. The main emphasis in the implementation and development activities is on the development of the working prototype of the application that is tested to detect the potential problems.

The general concept of the proposed methodology is shown in Figure 2. The Phase I − pilot application provides: the management of the access rights to

the documents, grouping documents by the rules and creating a hierarchy of documents, automatically annotate documents and giving them unique identifiers, create new documents using forms, search and view documents, archive important documents.

The Phase II – extended pilot application includes the functional scope of the pilot application and the features for: the efficient distribution of documents and information to the individual recipients, tracking of any document within the organization (who and when received a document, when read it, what did with it, etc.) immediate check, who is working on a document and what is happening with this document, receiving reports (eg. cases that were not dealt with within the required deadline), or time for common tasks.

The final application phase (III) − includes the features of the expanded pilot application accompanied by: defining the workflow of the documents in accordance with the procedures, automatic recording information regarding the routes of the documents, providing the information, what actions are to be performed by the employee to complete the stage of the business process, quick finding (locating) of the document and checking the status of a document in any phase of the procedure.

For each of these phases we can distinguish five essential steps, namely: 1. innovation, 2. creating solutions, 3. implementing solutions,

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4. transformation of management, 5. management and maintenance. Innovation is a redesigning of the relevant processes and activities in the company

on the basis of the analysis of the existing structure and the firm’s goals. The analysis of the current situation consists first of all of: 1. determination of the environment in which the company operates, 2. description of the company’s objectives and strategies, 3. presentation of the technical infrastructure, 4. developing the competence matrix, 5. creating a the map of the processes (operations, flows, requirements, metrics), 6. identification of the technology which is used and required by the teamwork. Based on these data the innovation report (proposed changes) can be created

containing a new concept of the processes and solutions. The innovation process may involve the entire organization, selected departments or working teams.

Creating solutions means the transformation of the changes described in the innovations report into the prototype of the application, which is a result of joint teamwork of the analysts, IT-company (supplier) and future users (client).

Implementing solutions ‒ this step includes activities and tasks related to the implementation of the developed applications:

1. defining the scheme to create applications in iterative process of change of the components using the method of the “increase value”,

2. developing the standards for application (interface, communication), 3. defining the system architecture, 4. elaborating the strategy of the further development of the applications and

system’s environment. Transformation of the management is a step in which we can formulate the

strategies and take actions to support the necessary changes in the behaviour and technical culture of employees affected by the implementation of the new processes. The trainings and workshops carried out at this stage allow to moderate the natural, negative reaction to the changes in the style and manner of work which are necessary for the redesign of the business processes and the introduction of the new technologies.

Management and maintenance ensures the final success of the all endeavours undertaken during the implementation of the system. This step defines and imposes the steps and methods of the review of the success factors, but also sets out the principles of the communication with the client both during the project and also when the project is completed.

The general implementation concept that was previously presented in outline, needs to be complemented by a list of the implementation tasks, containing the most important works carried out during the implementation process. These works may be performed both during the development of the pilot application, the extended pilot application as well as the final (production) application. That list includes Table 1.

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Table 1. A sample excerpt of the list of the implementation tasks for the ECM system

Number The description of the task 1 PRE-IMPLEMENTATION ANALYSIS 1.1 Gathering of the materials necessary for the preparation of the pre-implementation analysis 1.2 Pre-implementation analysis and the development of conception of the implementation

in the following areas: • workflows of the invoices, • workflows of the internal and external documents, • schemes of the workflows, • roles in the process of the workflows, • defining the reports, • integration with external systems, such as ERP, • integration with external devices, e.g. scanners.

2 INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION 2.1 Installation and configuration of the system on a server 2.2 Adapting of the system to the customer’s IT infrastructure

Installation of the system on a workstation(s) of the end user(s) 2.3 Entering the user accounts and organizational structure 3 TRAININGS 3.1 System administrator’s training for the basic configuration 3.2 Training for the secretary to use the function of the incoming and outgoing

correspondence 3.3 Training for the departments’ representatives for the use of the modelled processes. 4 (RELEVANT) IMPLEMENTATION 4.1 Import of the contractor’s database 4.2 Realization of the procedure of the workflow of the invoices. 4.3 Realization of the other workflows (e.g. inquiries, order processing, holidays, business trips) 4.4 Execution of the automated import of data from the ERP system (e.g. the download of the

sales invoices). 4.5 Integration with the ERP system, including:

– download of the contractors data from the ERP system, – export of the documents from the ECM system to the ERP system.

4.6 Preparation of the reports. 5 DOCUMENTATION 5.1 Development of the documentation corresponding to the workflows of the documents 5.2 Development of the technical documentation relating to the integration with external systems 6 OTHER TASKS 6.1 Project management 6.2 Remote consultation 6.3 Technical support

Source: own study.

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It is worth paying attention to the tasks 4.4 and 4.5 related to the integration with the ERP system. It is one of the critical points of the implementation project, because it requires close cooperation between the suppliers of IT solutions [Marciniak 2010].

As described, the implementation of an Enterprise Content Management system, requires a staged approach1, gradually increasing the functional range of the system operating in a given enterprise [Kowalczyk 2015]. In practice, in most cases, initially the range of system operation covers only selected documents.

In many enterprises most often filled in documents are holiday requests and business trips settlements. It is useful to implement, in the first place, a circulation system for this kind of documents, which can be integrated with other systems functioning in the enterprise.

Introducing a holiday request in the system will require its confirmation by a supervisor, and afterwards it can result in an automatic creation of suitable records in the personnel module. If the enterprise calculates work time, the system can also be integrated with the ERP system, thanks to which work time calculation can be linked to the information about absences.

Filling in a business trip form in the system will require its confirmation by a supervisor, including the information about means of transport, and then inserting the information concerning an employee’s absence in the personnel module of the ERP system. This application could also automatically settle allowances on the basis of inserted information about dates and times of the trip, and accept kilometrage settlement of a trip made with a private car. After inserting all data, it will be accepted as far as the merits and accounts of the case are concerned, and then the system will generate a document which will be the basis of realising the money due transfer.

Examples of other often automated processes, with which documents such as personnel forms are linked, are the following: • registration and acceptance process of a pay raise request, workplace change and

employment form change, • employing new employees and workplace organisation, • employee’s dismissals and handling a new employee orientation checklist, • accounting of company cars.

Other documents subjected to workflow are most often documents including inward and outward correspondence. Inward correspondence function is linked to the following operations (actions): receiving and describing of correspondence (describing the attributes of correspondence, number of attachments, etc.), scanning of paper correspondence, attaching a picture of scanned correspondence (or e-mail attached file) to the description of correspondence, automatic registration in the correspondence register (number, date and hour of registration), decreeing (forwarding) of correspondence, correspondence return, setting a reply date.

1 In the “world” of the ERP systems known as phased rollout approach.

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Function of outward correspondence handling covers such operations as: preparing an electronic document (in a suitable programme), describing correspondence in the system, attaching an electronic document to the description in the system, linking outward correspondence with appropriate enterprises, verifying and signing outward correspondence by people in charge, automatically registrating in the correspondence register, printing the contents of letters sent by traditional mail (fax) or sending by e-mail.

A very important question during the implementation of the ECM systems is an appropriate classification of documents. It is most often realised by granting metadata to documents, which means additional attributes constituting so called document metrics. In this case it is possible to use two basic methods, which are taxonomy (categorising with the use of specified classification trees) and folksonomy (categorising with the use of any chosen key words). The application of the second method involves a few problems, for example, the user tagging a document follows his/her subjective impressions and needs, because there are no formal rules of description. However, a skilful combination of taxonomy and folksonomy can lead to receiving a more flexible tool to facilitate document classifying and tagging.

4. Conclusions

To sum up the described considerations it should be highlighted that the ECM solutions are specific because they support the “core” flow of the information in any organization. Therefore it is necessary to work out of the detailed methods and procedures during the implementation project which can be used for the entire period of “life” of the system in the organization.

During the implementation of the ECM system it is often necessary to create new and/or change the existing procedures within the organization. It means that this process cannot be seen only as an installation of software, but as a change in the business model of the company. To achieve this it is necessary to integrate and control business processes with resources of the company, forcing compliance with laws, regulations, rules, standards, etc. The ECM system cannot be implemented on the principle called “implement and forget”. This class of the IT system must be under constant supervision and requires continuous update, customization, modification and expansion [Implementing 2015].

References

AIIM, 2015, What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)?, http://www.aiim.org/What-is-ECM- -Enterprise-Content-Management.aspx (20.07.2015).

Bischoff E., 2015, Erfolgsmodell Digitalisierung powered by Enterprise Information Management, DOK.magazin 03-04, Marketing Projekt 2000 GmbH, Dasing.

Dudycz H., Dyczkowski M., 2006, Efektywność przedsięwzięć informatycznych. Podstawy metodyczne pomiaru i przykłady zastosowań, Wydawnictwo Akademii Ekonomicznej, Wrocław.

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Enterprise, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_content_management (20.07.2015). Implementing, 2015, http://pl.scribd.com/doc/6538675/Implementing-an-ECMS (20.07.2015). Kleu T., Micheletti G., Roufka M., 2013, Zarządzanie treścią w przedsiębiorstwie: Od chaosu do pro-

duktywności, IDC White Paper. Kowalczyk T., 2015, 7 problemów wdrożeń BI, Computerworld, no. 10-11/1048, pp. 34-35. Marciniak M., 2010, Zintegrować wszystko ze wszystkimi, http://www.computerworld.pl/artyku-

ly/363121_2/Zintegrowac.wszystko.ze.wszystkim.html (20.07.2015). Wójtowicz R., 2011, Zarys metodyki wdrażania system zarządzania obiegiem dokumentów w przed-

siębiorstwie, Informatyka Ekonomiczna, no. 22, Korczak J., Dudycz H. (eds), Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu no 212, Wrocław, pp. 346-355.

Informatyka_Ekonomiczna_nr3.indb 124 2016-06-13 10:12:50

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Investigating the role of business processes and knowledge management systems on performance: A multi-case study approach

Qing Cao*, Mark A. Thompson and Jason Triche

Texas Tech University, Rawls College of Business, Lubbock, United States

(Received 5 February 2012; final version received 20 March 2013)

In the ever-changing and competitive market place, organisations continuously need to improve their competitive advan- tage. One method to accomplish this is to form collaborative networks. Both knowledge management (KM) and KM systems play a pivotal role in the success of collaborative networks since information sharing and knowledge assets are so critical to the network. There has been a vast amount of research on KM systems but very little is known about how it affects individual and organisational performance. Drawing on the task–technology fit theory in this study, we explore the fit or alignment between business process (task) and KM systems (technology) and its impact on KM systems utilisa- tion based on multiple case studies. Subsequently, we investigate the impacts of both the task–technology fit and KM systems utilisation on individual and business performance. This paper contributes to the collaborative network/KM liter- ature in several ways. First, it extends the task–technology fit theory to an important context of collaborative network/ KM. Second, it replaces task with business process, which has the potential to help explain KM systems’ success on business performance. Third, the paper explores the positive impact of task–technology fit on KM system utilisation and business performance. Fourth and finally, the study provides insight into the future development of KM systems and how to better align them with managerial purposes.

Keywords: knowledge management; collaborative network; task–technology fit; knowledge management systems; business process; business performance

1. Introduction

Complex business activities in organisations may lead to the formation of a collaborative network to minimise the impacts of market fluctuation and dynamic operational behaviour by effective inter-organisational collaboration and coordination (Jagdev and Thoben 2001). Both knowledge management (KM) and KM systems play a pivotal role in the success of a collaborative network since information sharing and knowledge assets are two main pillars of the network.

Knowledge is a powerful resource in helping organisations as well as individuals preserve their identity, culture, best practices, and core competencies. Managing this knowledge has become an important topic to both industry and aca- demics. The topic of KM has been around for two decades, while the practice of KM is still evolving and changing for both practitioners and researchers alike. The importance and influence of KM is evident by the plethora of research arti- cles dedicated to the topic (see Alavi and Leidner 2001; Schultze and Leidner 2002; Tanriverdi 2005; Gunasekaran and Ngai 2007; Nachiappan, Gunasekaran, and Jawahar 2007; Wang, Klein, and Jiang 2007). KM systems, on the other hand, are the information technology used by an organisation to capture, represent, and apply knowledge to itself and its collaborative network (Dhaliwal and Benbasat 1996). In other words, KM systems are viable tools for achieving effective knowledge management.

Substantial investments have been made to KM system technologies and in 2007 KM software was a $73 billion market (AMR Research 2007). Despite the high expenditures in KM, some researchers note the failure rate of KM pro- jects at around 50% (Peyman, Jafari, and Fathian 2005). KM approaches fail when they do not integrate human resources, processes, and technology regardless of how much money companies spend. The most common error in KM implementation is failing to coordinate efforts between information technology and human resources (Ambrosio 2000). The KM effort should not be a technology issue or a people issue, but instead should be a joint effort.

Although there is a general consensus of the organisational settings in which KM systems can be applied, very little is known about how to enhance business processes or how to measure KM systems’ impacts on business performance (Kulkarni, Ravindran, and Freeze 2007). Such knowledge is crucial, however, for a realistic determination of the

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

International Journal of Production Research, 2013 Vol. 51, No. 18, 5565–5575, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2013.789145

� 2013 Taylor & Francis

opportunities and requirements presented by KM systems. We endeavour to fill the void from both managerial and academic perspectives in the KM systems arena.

This paper contributes to the collaborative network/KM literature in several ways. First, it draws on the task–tech- nology fit theory (Goodhue and Thompson 1995) to explore the alignment between business process (task) and KM systems (technology) and its impact on KM system utilisation. Subsequently, we investigate the impacts of both the task–technology fit and KM system utilisation on individual and business performance via multiple case studies. By extending the task–technology fit theory to an important context of collaborative networks/KM, we replace task with business process to help explain KM systems’ success on business performance. Thus, the study builds contingency theory in collaborative networks/KM by moving beyond the question of mere tool usage (KM systems) to the match between KM tool and business process. As such it presents a viable framework for practitioners to effectively implement KM systems. Finally, the study provides insight into the future development of KM systems on how to better align them with managerial purposes. The development of more appropriate and useful KM tools would seem to be a critical enabler of improved business performance.

The paper proceeds as follows. In the next section, we review the literature on collaborative networks, KM, and KM systems. In the theoretical background section, we propose a theoretical approach that is appropriate for the study of KM systems, namely, the task–technology fit framework. Then, we explain our research model based on this framework, develop propositions, and describe our case studies and analytical procedures for the study. Finally, our results section presents support for each of our propositions. The lessons learned section highlights the contributions that we make by providing a framework for research into the collaborative networks/KM systems arena and discusses possible limitations to our study along with several avenues for future research.

2. Literature review

In the ever-changing and competitive market place, organisations continuously need to improve their competitive advantage. One method to accomplish this is to form collaborative networks both within the organisation and along an organisation’s supply chain. ‘A collaborative network is constituted by a variety of entities (e.g., organisations and peo- ple) that are largely autonomous, geographically distributed, and heterogeneous in terms of their: operating environment, culture, social capital, and goals.’ (Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh 2005, 439). The study of collaborative networks is relatively new and it draws on multiple disciplines covering computer science, economics, management, operations management, and information systems. The formation, operation, and success of collaborative networks depend on a common base among its members, such as common goals, common IT infrastructures and supporting services, real-time information sharing, common standards, and common views of business processes (Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh 2003, 2005). Since real-time information sharing and the needed baseline of business processes are crucial in collabora- tive networks, both KM and subsequently KM systems play a vital role in achieving an effective collaborative network. Effective KM systems are critical to the success of a collaborative network.

There are a number of different definitions of KM and KM systems and these concepts are difficult to define (Earl 2001). According to Schultze and Leidner (2002, 218) KM is defined as the ‘generation, representation, storage, transfer, transfor- mation, application, embedding, and protecting of organisational knowledge.’ A more concise definition of KM is to identify and leverage the collective knowledge in an organisation to help the organisation compete (Alavi and Leidner 2001).

The practice of KM in itself is broad and covers many topics including business processes, business practices, concepts, frameworks, methodologies, tools, and architecture. For example, the methodologies and frameworks include knowledge creation (Nonaka and von Krogh 2009), knowledge assets (Wiig 1997; Wilkins, van Wegen, and De Hoog 1997), intellectual capital (Liebowitz and Wright 1999), strategy management (Drew 1999; Hendriks and Vriens 1999), systems thinking (Rubenstein-Montano et al. 2001), artificial intelligence (Liebowitz 2001), and knowledge inertia (Liao 2002). Likewise, KM is also used across all different industries including oil and gas (Preece et al. 2001), manufacturing (Paiva, Roth, and Fensterseifer 2002), government (Liebowitz 1999), agriculture (Kristjanson et al. 2009), high-tech firms (Collins and Smith 2006), and health care (Bose 2003). In fact, a recent survey of 342 managers on whether or not they are knowledgeable about their company’s usage of knowledge management and collaborative technologies indicated that 47% of companies have formal knowledge management initiatives or are planning them (Currier 2010). Given the breadth of different methodologies, frameworks and industries that utilise KM, research topics are vast and numerous.

However, KM systems, much like KM, are also difficult to define and there are a number of different definitions. One definition of KM systems is that it captures, represents, and applies expert knowledge to an organisation (adopted from Dhaliwal and Benbasat 1996). Basically KM systems refer to a class of information systems that manage organisational knowledge (Alavi and Leidner 2001). As mentioned before, KM systems are employed across multiple industries, in multiple ways, by a majority of companies in today’s ever competitive marketplace.

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The current KM system literature can be grouped into four knowledge management processes: (1) knowledge creation, (2) storage/retrieval, (3) transfer, and (4) application/use (Alavi and Leidner 2001). Our research focus is to study and analyse the application and use of KM systems on utilisation and individual and organisational business per- formance. We draw on the task–technology fit theory (Goodhue and Thompson 1995) and extend it to the collaborative network/KM systems domain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to measure collaborative network/ KM systems using task–technology fit. We employ a multiple-case study approach using three different organisations in three different industries.

3. Theoretical background

3.1 Task–technology fit

Goodhue and Thompson (1995) propose a model where tasks (defined as actions carried out by individuals in turning inputs into outputs) and technology (defined as tools used by individuals in carrying out these tasks) predict a construct called the task–technology fit. The task–technology fit is defined as the degree to which technology assists in performing the respective tasks. This construct, combined with whether an individual utilises the technology, determines the impact on an individual’s performance. Utilisation of the technology may be either voluntary or mandatory for the individual.

Task–technology fit theories are contingency theories that argue that the use of technology may result in different outcomes depending on the task that it is used for (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). This theory proposes that if a technology is utilised and it is a good fit with the task it supports, then the technology will have a positive impact on individual performance. While this model has been extended by Zigurs and Buckland (1998) to test the effect of different types of tasks and technology on group performance, the theory has also been applied to several other areas of information system research over the last 15 years. For example, the theory has been used to study how virtual teams can match communication technologies to different types of interpersonal interactions (Maruping and Agarwal 2004) as well as to study the effects, adoption, and impacts of mobile commerce (Gebauer and Shaw 2004; Lee, Cheng, and Cheng 2007). Other ways the theory has been studied is in the use of simulation training for the military (Cane, McCarthy, and Halawi 2010), the use of the web as an information source for international travel (D’Ambra and Wilson 2004), the ease and use of user interfaces (Mathieson and Keil 1998), and the study of information technology in mana- gerial decision making (Ferratt and Vlahos 1998).

3.2 Proposition development

We extend the task–technology fit framework by Goodhue and Thompson (1995), where business process represents tasks and KM systems represent technology. As such, fit is defined as the degree to which KM systems assist an indi- vidual or organisation in performing their business process. The business process–KM systems fit construct combined with whether an individual utilises a KM system determines the impact on an individual or organisation’s performance. Our research model is described in Figure 1.

KM systems represent the technology aspect for our model. As defined by Goodhue and Thompson (1995), technol- ogy comprises tools used by individuals in carrying out their tasks. We posit that a KM system is a tool that manages organisational knowledge and is used by individuals and organisations to perform and facilitate tasks. As such, a KM system facilitates several elements of a collaborative network, that is, the ability to integrate data for various users and to search for content (Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh 2005).

Business process

KM systems

Business process-KM system Fit

Utilisation

Individual and organisational performance

Figure 1. Research framework.

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A business process is an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a specific organisational goal. Business processes are defined as any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms them, and provides one or more outputs for its customers (Krajewski, Ritzman, and Malahortra 2010). In the task–technology fit model, Goodhue and Thompson (1995) define tasks as actions carried out by individuals in turning inputs into outputs. We claim that a business process contains one or more tasks as defined by Goodhue and Thompson (1995). As such, in our research model, we substitute business process in place of task.

In Figure 1, business process consists of three characteristics: non-routineness, interdependence, and job title. A business process is non-routine if there are a large number of exceptions and search is not logical or analytical (Perrow 1967; Thompson 1967; Goodhue 1995; Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Therefore, a non-routine business process is one where individuals deal with ill-defined business problems or ad hoc business problems. In most organisations the knowledge exists, either explicit or tacit, on how to deal with such non-routine business processes but an individual will need a way to access that knowledge for it to be beneficial. Interdependence is defined as dependence with other organi- sational units (Perrow 1967; Thompson 1967; Goodhue 1995; Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Some business processes involve multiple organisational units and knowledge exists across these different units. In such cases, a KM system can aid an individual in finding cross-organisational knowledge. The last characteristic of the business process construct is job title, which is a pragmatic proxy to capture the differences of employee levels ranging from clerical users to high- level managers (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Different levels of an organisation use a KM system to find content for different business processes. For example, a clerical employee may use a KM system to find content for ordering sup- plies from a specific supplier and a high-level manager may use a KM system to find content on how to conduct vendor selections. While both employees are using the KM system in the same way, they are looking for different answers.

Another construct in Figure 1 is KM systems which consist of two characteristics: systems used and departments (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). These characteristics allow us to analyse the data from the case study by grouping departments and number of systems used. In order to measure the effect of a KM system, we need to understand how many other systems an individual uses. For the department characteristic, we use it as a proxy measure to capture the potentially different levels of attention paid by IS departments (Goodhue and Thompson 1995).

In our research model, we align the business process construct and the KM system construct to form the business process–KM system fit. The business process–KM system fit is defined as the degree to which KM systems assist an individual or organisation in performing business processes. The business process–KM system fit construct consists of eight different factors adopted from Goodhue and Thompson (1995) with modifications to fit our case: data quality, loc- atability of data, authorisation, compatibility between systems, production timeliness, training and ease of use, system reliability, and relationship with user. The first five factors focus on using content in facilitating business processes. For example, data quality is measured by the detail and currency of the content (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). The con- tent in a KM system must be kept up to date and old content must be systemically purged. The content must also be at the right level of detail as too much detail can complicate an issue and not enough detail can obscure an issue. Locat- ability of content refers to the ease of determining what content is available and the ease of determining what the con- tent means (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). From a KM system perspective, locatability is a measurement for how easy it is to find content in a KM system even on issues that rarely occur. Authorisation is defined as access to content that is necessary for a participant to do his or her job (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Depending on the employee level, content may be restricted in a KM system. External customers may have access to only a small percentage of an organi- sation’s content, clerical employees may have access to a little more content, and so forth. This measurement verifies if restricted content in a KM system is given to individuals or groups who need it in order for them to carry out their job responsibilities. Compatibility is defined as the degree to which content from different IT systems can be consolidated or compared without inconsistencies (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Although organisations strive to consolidate con- tent into one KM system, as seen from our case study, content exists in multiple systems across an organisation. Com- patibility verifies if the content in the different systems are consistent. The fifth factor that focuses on using content in facilitating business processes, ease of use and proper training, is defined as the ease of using the KM system and access to the proper amount of training to use the system (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Like any IT system, a KM system must be easy to use and, if not, adequate training should be provided to use the KM system.

The next two factors, production timeliness and system reliability, focus on meeting day-to-day operations and the last one, relationship, focuses on responding to changing business needs (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Timeliness is defined as the degree to which the IT department meets its pre-defined production turnaround schedules (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). A KM system is supported by either an internal IT department or by specialised vendors and these groups set a maintenance schedule for upgrades and/or updates to the KM system. Timeliness measures how well these groups meet their maintenance schedule, while reliability is defined as the dependability and consistency of access and uptime of a KM system (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). As is true with any IT system, in order to use a KM system,

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the system must be up with little downtime, dependable, and free of major errors and defects. The last factor, relationship with user, is defined as how well the IT department understands the business customer’s day-to-day opera- tions, supports the business customer, and provides adequate turnaround to the business customer’s needs (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). This definition also applies to a specialised vendor if they host the KM system. These eight compo- nents of the fit construct are used to measure its effectiveness. Therefore our first proposition is as follows:

Proposition 1: The business process–KM system fit will be affected by business process characteristics or KM system characteristics.

The fit construct combined with whether an individual utilises the KM system determines the impact on an individual or an organisation’s performance. Utilisation of the technology may be voluntary or mandatory for the individual or group. Utilisation is measured by a user’s perceived dependence on the KM system and finally the (perceived) individ- ual and organisational performance impact.

Individual and organisational performance impact relates to the accomplishment of a portfolio of tasks by an individ- ual or group (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). As demonstrated in Goodhue and Thompson’s (1995) research, performance impacts are a function of both task–technology fit and utilisation and not just utilisation. In the spirit of this research, we posit the fit of business process and KM systems will influence the effectiveness of collaborative networks on individual and organisational performance. Therefore, adopting the task–technology fit model proposed by Goodhue and Thompson (1995), our second and third propositions are as follows:

Proposition 2: User evaluations of business process–KM system fit will positively influence the utilisation of KM systems by individuals.

Proposition 3: User evaluations of business process–KM system fit and utilisation will positively influence perceived individ- ual and organisational performance impacts respectively.

In the next section, we describe the case study methodology that we employed.

3.3 Methodology

We pursue an explanatory case study method as opposed to what is commonly referred to as an exploratory or descrip- tive study. Since we are investigating causal explanations rather than initial descriptions of some occurrence or an event, we developed theoretical propositions before collecting data (Yin 2009). One advantage to our case study approach is it allows us to understand a complex organisational phenomenon or processes within a real-world setting by identifying how and why particular phenomena or events take place (Yin 2009). Alternatively, other methods such as surveys may provide greater control but may also be limited in their context or ability to find alternative explanations (Yin 2009).

We chose to conduct a multiple-site case study with the organisation as the primary unit of analysis. Since multiple sites were selected, our findings may be more robust than if we had chosen just a single case study (Yin 2009). As such, we collected data from a major business communication provider, a networking infrastructure solutions provider, and a GPS technology provider (referred to hereafter as BCP, NIS, and GPS, respectively).

BCP is a global organisation that has received numerous leadership, customer service, and communication awards. They provide products, services, and support to a global market either directly or through partner channels. Their client base is vast and ranges across multiple markets. At BCP, we interviewed two employees, an IT manager/solution archi- tect and a global business owner of web and knowledge management. The two interviewees use the KM system but are from different departments, have different job responsibilities, and are located in different parts of the country.

NIS is a global organisation that has received numerous awards including product of the year, best practice, hottest growth, and fastest growing company, to name a few. They provide products through resellers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturer channels. At NIS, we interviewed a senior manager of technical support in the global services division. The interviewee uses a KM system to perform some of his duties.

The third company, GPS, is a global leader in GPS technology, products, and services. GPS has also won many best product and innovation awards. Their clients range from multinational companies to individual consumers. At GPS, we interviewed one employee, the outbound logistics manager.

We selected these specific organisations for several reasons. First, these three companies are competing in different markets, with different products, services, and customers. This allows us to draw comparisons between different compa- nies and their KM systems post-adoption and performance. Second, these three companies use a KM system to support their business strategy. The KM system is an integral part of business operations and this allows us to study the KM

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system in routine and non-routine business processes. Lastly, these three organisations were chosen because we had access to managers within these companies that are actual users of the KM system. The different managers allowed us to study the KM system post-adoption across different business processes. That is, these managers are actual users of the system as opposed to executives who do not use the system but are concerned with how the KM systems align with their strategic goals. In addition, another advantage to using these managers is that they often represent departments or areas where there are multiple users or analysts. As such, our interviews represent problems that are user specific but also contain elements of multiple users. In particular, we interviewed one employee each from NIS and GPS and two employees from BCP, where we asked general questions about job responsibilities and length of employment at their respective organisations. We then followed up with more specific questions about KM system use, finding KM solutions, relationships with the IT department, and handling customer problems. Interviews were conducted on a confidential basis but were recorded with the employee’s permission. Afterwards, we transcribed the recording and analysed each of the interviews. Finally, we went through each transcript and sought to identify the theoretical concepts from our propositions in the raw data.

Throughout this process, we use the definitions of the dimensions of business process–KM system fit from prior lit- erature on task–technology fit (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Using similar definitions from prior literature helps ensure that we will be able to accurately identify the relevant information from our case studies. One question that often arises in case studies is whether one’s findings are applicable outside of the study context. Another question with respect to case studies has to deal with reliability. Reliability refers to the stability, accuracy, and precision of measurement. As such, we have documented our procedures and developed a case study protocol so that this work can be replicated. To further increase our study’s reliability, we developed a case study database that includes interview recordings, transcripts, and previous literature that was used to develop our constructs and interview questions.

In the next section, we discuss our case study findings in the context of the propositions from our business process–KM system research framework.

4. Results and discussion

In the previous section, we described the methodology employed to examine our propositions about the business process–KM system fit. This section explains how we used our propositions on business process and KM system characteristics as well as business process–KM system fit to seek evidence related to these propositions. We identify direct quotations from our interviews that align with our propositions. The case studies are presented in line with the different dimensions of our propositions.

Proposition 1 is related to how business process–KM system fit is affected by both business process characteristics and KM system characteristics. Business process characteristics have been broken down into three dimensions (Goodhue and Thompson 1995): non-routineness, interdependence, and job title. For example, our informants from BCP, NIS, and GPS discussed several issues with respect to non-routineness within the business process. In the case of BCP, one exam- ple of a non-routine issue that arose was customer service having to support a business customer that was on a unique technology platform that was not supported by BCP. There were support documents in the KM system for other technology platforms, but not for this specific business customer. This caused the customer service agent at BCP to spend additional time in assisting the business customer. As a result, the alignment between business process and their KM system was affected by this business process characteristic.

To no surprise, all three organisations provided examples that demonstrated non-routineness in their business processes. With respect to questions on the frequency of dealing with customer problems that involve more than one business function (i.e., interdependence dimensions), in most cases the occurrence of these problems was relatively low. BCP indicated that were of an interdependent nature occurred about 20% of the time, whereas the other cases occurred less than 10% of the time. Along with business process characteristics, KM system characteristics are expected to affect the business process–KM system fit. The technology characteristics can be broken out into two dimensions: system used and department. Our informants indicated the types of systems used and by what departments. For example, BCP mostly uses email and the web but is involved in KM implementation. NIS also uses multiple systems including networking, a knowledge base tool, and call tracking. Likewise, GPS uses various collaboration tools such as email, calendaring, and an Oracle CRM system, to name a few. As such, we conclude that our informants are aware of the systems used and the respective department(s).

The business process–KM system fit consists of eight dimensions following previous research on task–technology fit (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). These dimensions are data quality, locatability, authorisation, compatibility, ease/train- ing, timeliness, reliability, and relationship. As previously mentioned, the first five dimensions focus on using content in

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facilitating business processes, while the next two dimensions focus on day-to-day operations, and the last one focuses on responding to changing business needs (Goodhue and Thompson 1995).

Data quality is measured by the relevancy and currency of the content. Our informants make a variety of statements that indicate the importance of data or content quality with respect to business process–KM system fit and its perceived performance impact. For example, all three companies experience data quality issues but for different reasons. BCP experiences data quality issues due to the KM system tool, whereas NIS and GPS experience data quality issues because of business process issues. This is consistent with the task–technology fit literature with regards to non-routineness and data quality (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). All three companies have a relatively high degree of non-routineness and data quality issues.

While data quality focuses on the relevancy and currency of the content, locatability of content focuses on the ease with which content is available and determining what the content means. Our informants were asked if the content was easy to find in their respective KM systems.

Both BCP and NIS experience locatability issues with regard to KM system content, which is also consistent with the task–technology fit literature (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Both BCP and NIS have high non-routineness and low locatability. GPS also experiences locatability issues with tacit knowledge but not explicit knowledge. An example of tacit knowledge is the shared impressions of a vendor during a vendor selection process. The vendor may look acceptable on paper, but after conference calls and face-to-face meetings it was determined that the vendor was not acceptable (e.g., not trustworthy). This type of tacit knowledge is hard to document but is important for the organisation to capture. Task–technology fit literature also shows a positive relationship between the number of systems used (a KM system dimension) and locatability. Both informants at BCP and NIS report that they use three different systems to perform their respective jobs and have low locatability, whereas GPS uses multiple systems with a higher degree of locatability.

While the authorisation dimension is defined as access to content necessary to do a job, our informants at BCP and NIS responded by saying that they had access to the necessary content they needed to do their jobs or were not aware of not having access to the necessary content. However, the outbound logistics manager at GPS indicated he could assess the general KM system, but he needed to apply for clearance to assess specialised KM databases.

Likewise, the compatibility dimension depends of the respective organisation. For example, we asked each informant if all the content was in one KM system or in different systems and, if different systems, whether or not the content between systems was consistent. For BCP and NIS, there are different systems and there may not be consistency between the systems. This is consistent with the task–technology fit literature with regards to non-routineness and com- patibility (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Statements made by (middle-level management) informants from BCP and NIS indicate a high degree of non-routineness and low compatibility. For GPS, there are several different KM systems in the outbound logistics department but mostly a CRM-based KM system and a production-based KM system are used. According to the informant, ‘these two KM systems are very different…KM systems in my department are not fully compatible with other KM systems in GPS.’

The next dimension that focuses on using content in facilitating business processes is ease of use and proper training. Our informants from BCP, NIS, and GPS all indicated that the KM system was easy to use and that there was adequate training. With respect to day-to-day dimensions, we asked each informant whether they felt that the IT depart- ment met its service level agreements for the KM system (timeliness) and whether they could count on the KM system (reliability). This appears to be consistent with the task–technology fit literature with regards to systems used and reli- ability (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Both BCP and NIS experience reliability issues with the KM system, while GPS appears to have reliability issues with the content in the KM system. The informants from BCP and NIS describe using three different systems with low reliability, whereas GPS informants use several systems with high reliability in terms of the KM system technology but may lack some consistency in terms of content. The final dimension with respect to business process–KM system fit is relationship with user, which focuses on being able to respond to changing needs. Our informants were asked whether they deal with the IT group directly, whether they think the IT group under- stands their specific day-to-day processes, whether they take problems seriously, and whether problems get addressed in a timely manner. In all three cases there appear to be some serious issues or concerns with respect to this dimension. The business owners from both BCP and NIS indicate that they deal with the IT group directly, but there are some issues with resolving problems in a timely manner. GPS indicates that IT is very responsive to fixing bugs, but they are not equipped to deal with information in the systems as they are not the domain experts of KM system content. Accord- ing to task–technology fit theory, this dimension helps align the business process with the IT department (i.e., technol- ogy). Unfortunately, we find marginal support for this dimension.

There appears to be considerable evidence in support of proposition 1. Evidence from our case study links the dimensions of the business process construct such as non-routineness, interdependence, and job title to the business

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process–KM system fit construct. Specifically the dimensions of the business process demonstrate a relationship with quality of data, compatibility, and locatability of the business process–KM system fit. Likewise, the dimension of systems used, which is a proxy for the KM system construct, shows a relationship with locatability and reliability in the business process–KM system fit. Therefore, a relationship exists between business process and KM system characteris- tics to business process–KM system fit, which is consistent with the task–technology fit literature (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Table 1 summarises the evidence we found between business process characteristics and KM system characteristics to business process–KM system fit among the three case studies.

Proposition 2 relates to whether business process–KM system fit can predict utilisation. We measure utilisation by perceived dependence. Our informants were asked to what degree they are dependent on the KM system. We show a mixed reaction to utilisation, which may have more to do with job title than the business process–KM system fit. The business managers described scenarios where they (and their customers) were dependent, whereas the IT manager showed no dependence but described how customers were dependent. From a business manager’s standpoint there is evidence that business process–KM system fit influences utilisation but not so from the IT manager’s perspective. This may be due to the IT manager’s job, where he is to maintain the KM system as opposed to using the systems for day- to-day activities. Table 2 summarises the evidence we found between business process–KM system fit and utilisation among the three case studies.

Proposition 3 is related to business process–KM system fit and utilisation to perceived individual and organisational performance. Since we are interested in what influence the business process–KM system fit has on perceived performance, we asked our informants whether the KM system has a positive impact on effectiveness and organisational productivity and whether it is important and valuable to them in their job. Our informants indicate that the KM system does have a positive impact and is important to their performance as well as to the organisation. That is, along with our findings from the case studies and the literature, business process–KM system fit and utilisation will directly influence perceived performance and the effectiveness of collaborative networks. For example, the business owner at NIS indi- cated that when the KM system is working properly (e.g., in alignment with business processes), then it is quite helpful. In addition, the logistics manager at GPS described how the KM system helps with their business process and increases

Table 1. Evidence of proposition 1 – BP characteristics and KMS characteristics to BP–KMS fit characteristics.

BP–KMS fit characteristics

Fit characteristic BCP NIS GPS

Data quality U U U Locatability U U Authorisation U Compatibility U U U Ease of use/

training U U U

Timeliness U U U Reliability U U U Relationship

with user U U U

Key quotes: Because of the limitations of the tool, we are not able to publish as we need to. I would say a good percentage of the content is stale or partly outdated. I would say it could be as high as 20%.If you ask the business, No. There is a constant struggle with relevancy and I would say it is not easy to find [the content] for the most part. I have counterparts who deal with the KM implementation who spend more than 50% of their time on it [ill-defined customer problems].

Complexity in trying to access your content – not within the tool. Business process issues – not technology issues.

The challenge for us is how to use KM to catch the illusive tacit knowledge and how to find them quickly when we need them. In general we can easily find basic CRM content in the KM system, but not all the tacit content. In a given day, our department normally spends a bit more than half of the time to deal with non- routine issues. KM system in my department is not fully compatible with other KM systems in GPS. We often rely on KM to handle non- repetitive tasks.

Note: The checkmarks indicate evidence from the interviews of a fit characteristic that was affected by either a business process characteristic or a KM system characteristic.

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productivity. Likewise, at BCP, the business process–KM system fit and the utilisation of the system together led to decreased call-handling time for the agents as non-routine content was easy to find within the KM system. There appears to be considerable evidence in support of proposition 3. Table 3 summarises the evidence we found between business process–KM system fit and utilisation to individual and organisational performance.

5. Lessons learned

This study identifies the fit between business process and KM systems amongst five of the eight dimensions. We do find inconsistent results on whether the fit between business process and the KM system affects utilisation; however, it appears the results may be dependent on job title. In addition, this research explores and discovers that both business process–KM system fit and the KM system utilisation positively influence business performance. The ultimate goal of any organisation is to improve its performance as well as its employees’ performance. The business process–KM system fit and KM system usage positively lead to increases in performance. That is, the knowledge stored and used in the KM system between individuals, departments, and organisations within the value chain can play a role in increasing the per- formance and effectiveness of a collaborative network. This section discusses the study’s implications and insights for researchers and managers and then its limitations and future research.

5.1 Implications

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to apply the task–technology fit theory exploring the business process–KM system fit and its impact on business performance in the KM research domain. From the theoretical per- spective, this study underscores the importance of the fit between business process and knowledge management systems in achieving a successful collaborative network. Without exploring the impact of business process–KM system fit on KM system utilisation and impacts of business process–KM system fit and KM system utilisation on business perfor- mance, the salient critical success factors of a KM system would not have been revealed. As a result, this study adds to the KM system literature by demonstrating the significance of a conceptual model derived from the task–technology fit theory.

Table 2. Evidence of proposition 2 – BP–KMS fit to utilisation.

Utilisation

Job title BCP NIS GPS

IT manager No — — Business

owner Yes Yes —

Outbound logistics manger

— — Yes

Key quote ‘For my job I’m not dependent on it all, but for my customers they are very dependent.’

‘My initial reaction is very. Everything we are doing relies on the knowledge system.’

‘[The] KM system is a part of many decision making arsenals we use every day.’

Table 3. Evidence of proposition 3 – BP–KMS fit and utilisation to individual and organisational performance impacts.

Individual and organisational performance Impacts

Job title BCP NIS GPS

IT manager Yes — — Business owner Yes Yes — Outbound logistics manger — — Yes Key quote ‘Yes! It is critical to our strategy

and pivotal to our success. All of strategy is based around knowledge sharing culture and our KM tool provides that.’

‘If working properly, yes… Yes, I believe until we have a working system we didn’t realise how much of an aid it is.’

‘Positive! KM system helps us improve our business process and increase productivity. It also helps creating a knowledge sharing culture our company is pursuing.’

International Journal of Production Research 5573

From a managerial perspective, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other business administrators can use this case study as a framework to understand elements of the fit between business process and KM systems, which will lead to higher perceived individual and organisational performance. For example, our case study demonstrated that non-routine business processes have a negative relationship with the data quality of the content. This is a troubling trend since non- routine business processes should have higher quality content as employees may need more assistance in the process. As such, administrators should spend more time and effort on increasing the data quality of content for non-routine business processes. Another finding from our case study is the relationship between non-routine business processes and compati- bility and locatability. This is another example where administrators can spend more time and effort on increasing the compatibility of content in different systems and the ability to locate content for non-routine business processes. These elements combined with other fit elements such as reliability and ease of use/training can ultimately lead to higher per- ceived individual and organisational performance. Increased business performance using a KM system can lead to a more effective collaborative network, thus improving an organisation’s competitive advantage.

5.2 Limitations and future research

There are some limitations of this study that warrant further discussion and need to be kept in mind when interpreting the results. First, this study employs a multiple-case study approach on three high-tech companies in the United States. While multiple-case studies allow for cross-case analysis (Benbasat, Goldstein, and Mead 1987), caution needs to be taken when generalising the results of this research to other industrial settings or applying the framework generated from this study to companies in other cultural contexts. As such, one avenue of future research could increase the number of cases, along with expanding the case study approach to either individual categories of industries or to a broader collec- tion of industries. Second, the KM system application in the organisations we studied was limited in scope (e.g. specific functional areas and not enterprise wide). As our participants highlighted during the interviews, the limited scope of the KM system project prevented them from seeing the value/benefits of enterprise-wide KM system applications and the impact they have on the effectiveness of collaborative networks. A follow-up study could examine the differences in end-users’ reactions to the holistic applications of KM systems.

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* Korespondenčni avtor / Correspondence author 232 Prejeto: 28. maj 2019; revidirano: 28. maj 2019; sprejeto: 28. maj 2019. /

Received: 28th May 2019; revised: 28th May 2019; accepted: 28th May 2019.

Motivation for Social Responsibility in Nuclear Power Plants

Milan Simončič*

Nuklearna elektrarna Krško, Vrbina 12, 8270 Krško, Slovenija

[email protected]

Abstract: Research Question (RQ): What motivates owners and operators of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs)

for socially responsible acts?

Purpose: This research identifies the dominant motives for the social responsibility of owners and

operators of NPPs.

Method: After reviewing the relevant literature of the presented field of interest, we included the

owners and operators of the NPPs in the research. They are members of the international

organization World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), with a regional centre in Paris. As

an instrument for obtaining the information, we used a developed questionnaire. For the evaluation

of data, we used descriptive and frequency statistics, the Mann-Whitney test, Wilcoxon rank test,

and Kruskal-Wallis test.

Results: 43 representatives of operators and 3 owners of NPPs cooperated in the research.

Motivational factors for socially responsible activities include intrinsic elements, in particular

personal ethical and moral values and personal satisfaction. We did not find statistically significant

differences in motivation between operators and owners. In most cases, these differences were not

statistically significant, considering their function in the organization. Operators and owners of

NPPs demonstrated a high willingness to meet the expectations of a wider society.

Organization: The results help NPPs in establishing and consolidating the positive image of a

socially responsible organization.

Society: The wider society is aware that the owners and operators of the NPPs obviously

demonstrate that they want to act socially responsibly. It affects the acceptability of the NPPs and

the quality of life of individuals and different groups in modern society and the environment in

which nuclear facilities are located.

Originality: This research is the first one as known to the author that is aimed at studying the

motivational factors of the owners and operators of the NPPs for socially responsible actions. The

results are directly applicable and relevant in Slovenia and other countries with NPPs. They

contribute to a better understanding of the interactions between society and nuclear facilities.

Limitations / further research: The responsiveness of the owners of the NPPs was not as good as

the responsiveness of the operators; therefore, the sample is less representative of the owners. This

research also focused on the inspirations that influence the motivation for establishing partnership

relations with the NPPs, of the external stakeholders of the NPPs (local communities, political

public, NGOs, journalists and others).

Keywords: intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, coexistence with the nuclear power plant,

social responsibility.

1 Introduction

The members of management in organizations play an important role in the implementation of

social responsibility, as well as other individuals in organizations. Understanding and

implementing the obligations of each individual, knowledge, responsibility, ethics and

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organizational capability of the management in organizations are a prerequisite for a socially

responsible environment. Social norms more or less dictate the actions of the involved actors.

The following article focuses on the subject of the social responsibility of nuclear power plants

(NPPs) – particularly the operators and owners of nuclear facilities. As operators, we are

referring to people who directly handle with a nuclear power plant. The socially responsible

actions of owners and operators of NPPs depend on their own personal motivation and their

understanding of the influences of nuclear facilities on the wider society.

This research identifies the dominant motives for the social responsibilities of owners and

operators of NPPs which significantly influences the understanding of the coexistence of

external stakeholders with the NPP. It is important for NPPs and for the wider society.

Nuclear safety is in strong correlation with high safety culture standards and the fulfilment of

social responsibilities. Today’s understanding of the social responsibility of NPPs includes

sustainable functioning and is based on safety culture as the highest value and behavioral pattern

of operators and owners. It includes respect for ethical and moral principles, and considers the

interests of wider society. An important condition for NPP's acceptance in society is trust that

the organization creates through public relations, good business results, stable and safe

operations, inclusion of the public, respect for international norms, ethical principles and

regulatory obligations. (Simončič & Žurga, 2016, p. 658)

2 Theoretical framework

2.1 The impact of social responsibility on the acceptability of NPPs and quality of life

Organizations and governments already implemented various aspects of corporate social

responsibility at the end of the 19th century and in some cases even earlier (ISO 26000, 2010,

p. 29). Matten and Moon (2008, p. 405) note that the concept of social responsibility is not

uniquely defined, something which we have recognised ourselves. We are referring to Štrukelj

and Mulej (2017), that the social responsibility of organizations expresses the social and

personal needs, this is why everyone takes into account their influence on people and nature,

i.e. on the society. The search for a way out of the current global socio-economic crisis is

supported by the fact that the guidelines for enforcing corporate social responsibility have been

accepted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), with ISO 26000. The

European Union (EU) has also endorsed it. The exposed properties indicate that it is the

enforcement of systemic behaviour, since the three central concepts are responsibility,

interdependence and integrity. Social responsibility is a serious and natural value for those with

more long-term and comprehensive ideas, and for those with more short-term and one-sided

ones it is an obstacle for profit. The direction a certain organization chooses depends on its

business strategy (p. 292–303).

Document on Social Responsibility ISO 26000 (2010, p. 17) provides guidance for seven

principles of social responsibility: accountability, transparency, ethical behaviour, respect for

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stakeholder interests, respect for the rule of law, respect for international norms of behaviour

and respect for human rights.

According to the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA, 2019) there were 452

nuclear reactors operating in the world, in 31 countries, with a total installed capacity of 399.354

MW in May 2019, while 54 NPPs were under construction. Nuclear energy remains a reality in

many countries even after the event in Fukushima NPP in Japan, in 2011 (Afgan, 2013, p. 308–

309; Goodfellow, Dewick, Wortley, & Azapagic, 2015, p. 72; Horvath & Rachlew, 2016, p.

38; Kato, Takahara, Nishikawa, & Homma, 2013, p. 818; Raja, Pesic, & Misra, 2015, p. 1;

Shadrina, 2012, p. 78; Truelove & Greenberg, 2013, p. 386). Program Harmony (2017),

managed by the World Nuclear Association, supports climate change mitigation efforts to limit

warming below 2 ˚C. Nuclear energy could be part of the solution to problems of air pollution

and climate change. This requires a large increase of all low-carbon energy sources, of which

nuclear is an important part. Achieving this means nuclear energy generation must triple

globally by 2050. According to the European Commission, nuclear energy is expected to remain

an important component of the EU’s energy mix in the 2050 horizon (European Commission,

2017, p. 11).

International organizations manage the operation of the NPPs and try to achieve unification of

safety, technical and ethical standards at a global level. International organization World

Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO, 2013) states that the safety culture in the NPPs is

defined as a fundamental value. It originates from the collective commitment of leaders and

individuals to ensure the safety of people and the protection of the environment, with the

emphasis on safety while meeting the set goals. Nuclear safety is the collective responsibility

of each NPP. The concept of nuclear safety culture therefore applies to every employee in a

nuclear organization, from top management to all individual employees in the organization (p.

6–11).

The successful and stable operation of the NPP depends on the trust of a wider society in a

nuclear facility. Owners and operators of the NPPs have to meet the expected obligations

towards society and the environment. Respect for the interests of the wider society is a key

precondition for successful coexistence and acceptance of NPPs. Trufanov (2013) states that

organizations are influenced by different stakeholders in various fields. The importance of

individual interests differs for individual groups. (p. 931) Matuleviciene and Stravinskiene

(2015, p. 599) cite two basic factors that influence the trust of stakeholders, namely the

reputation of the organization and its credibility (organizational reliability). The principle of

respecting the interests of stakeholders involves cooperation with local communities and other

stakeholders. Bowen, Newenham-Kahindi and Herremans (2010) explore when, how and why

companies use different community strategies of integration. They set out three strategies of

engagement and cooperation with communities: transactional, transitional and

transformational. These actions have a long-term effect (p. 297).

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Respect for the stakeholder interests of NPPs is one of the important socially responsible

principles, which can be demonstrated by owners and operators. Simončič and Žurga (2019, p.

199–200), using the SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) method, showed the hypothesis that

respecting the interests of stakeholders is a prerequisite for the acceptability of the NPPs in

society and the environment and strengthens the quality of their coexistence. Figure 1 shows

the main variables (grouped into 3 factors) of the structural model and relationships among the

three latent constructs, as a basis for the hypothesis test and interactions between them. In

general, 63 % of the quality of coexistence is explained by the acceptability of the NPPs in the

environment. The influence of respecting the interests of stakeholders (as part of the social

responsibility of the NPP) on the quality of coexistence is evident, and (even greater) on the

acceptability of the NPP in society.

Figure 1. Structural model for NPPs, relationships among the three latent constructs. Summarized by »Successful

Co-Existance of Nuclear Power Plants with Their External Stakeholders.«, M. Simončič & G. Žurga, 2019, Atw

- International Journal for Nuclear Power, 64(4), p. 200.

2.2 Motivation for social responsibility

Based on the analysis of 38 articles from the field of social responsibility, we can highlight the

essential advantages of socially responsible organizations: increasing trust in organizations and

products / services it offers, competitive advantage, long-term reputation, efficiency, incentive

for innovation, customer satisfaction / user satisfaction and the personal satisfaction of those

who carry out socially responsible actions. (Simončič, 2015, p. 122) The above facts could be

an important incentive for managers and other individuals in organizations, even in NPPs.

To be motivated means to be moved to do something, said Ryan and Deci (2000).

With motivation, the organizations promote work efficiency. The purpose of motivational

theories is to study the motives that people need. These theories are, for example, the theory of

Abraham Maslow (1954), McClelland (1961) and Herzberg's theory (1959). Process

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motivational theories are studying processes that influence the way people work in a given way

in given situations. Among these theories are known: the theory of Vroom (1964), Adams

(1965) and Lawler's theory (1973). (Bexheti & Bexheti, 2016, p. 382)

In the Self-Determination Theory Ryan and Deci (2000) distinguish between different types of

motivation based on the different reasons or goals that give rise to an action. The most basic

distinction is between intrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because it is

inherently interesting or enjoyable, and extrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something

because it leads to a separable outcome. Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an

activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequence. When

intrinsically motivated a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than

because of external prods, pressures, or rewards, summarized by White (1959). Although

intrinsic motivation is clearly an important type of motivation, most of the activities people do

are not, strictly speaking, intrinsically motivated. (p. 54–60) Hetty, Schreus, Cuyper, Jawahar

and Peeters (2012, p. 113) argue that extrinsic motivation focuses on the results of an

organization, work is carried out by employees in order to achieve the goals of the organization,

in anticipation of the prize, and not because they would enjoy it or it seemed interesting to them.

People often assume that socially responsible acts are conditioned primarily by financial

motives (Orlitzky, Schmidt, & Rynes, 2003, p. 424; van Beurden & Goessling, 2008, p. 419).

Simcic Brønn and Vidaver-Cohen (2009, p. 96) with research study in Norway to demonstrate

that social responsibility can also significantly stimulate a different motivation. Graafland,

Mazereeuw and van der Schouten (2012) analyzed extrinsic and intrinsic motives that affect

their social responsibility on a sample of 473 executives in Germany, to take responsibility for

the labour, environmental and social aspects of their business. Financial incentives have been

identified as extrinsic as intrinsic ethical and moral incentives. The estimation results show that

for social aspects, executives are significantly more driven by intrinsic motives than by the

extrinsic motive. Further, for the environmental aspects of social responsibility intrinsic

motives provide stronger stimulus than extrinsic motives. (p. 377)

2.3 Basic research question and hypotheses

The development of social responsibility in different environments depends on the nature of the

participating local and global stakeholders and their interactions. Avetisyan and Ferrary (2012,

p. 130) state that differences in motivational factors in many organizations were found between

some countries. Ivanko and Stare (2007, p. 96) note that national culture influences

organizational culture, which was among the first to prove Hofstede. Reason (1998)

emphasized the cultural influences in the emergence of the accident, in the Chernobyl NPP, in

1986.

Given the extraordinary responsibility of NPPs to the wider society, we expect that the owners

and operators of NPPs, are motivated to perform socially responsible actions (that is, there are

no differences in understanding and readiness for such actions). This must apply regardless of

the geographical or cultural environment in which they are located.

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In this study, we present the basic research question: »What motivates owners and operators of

NPPs for socially responsible actions?”. We developed the following two-part hypothesis:

“Motives which encourage the owners and operators of NPPs in different countries, to

implement social responsibility, are not different. The main motivation for the social

responsibility of owners and operators of the NPP are intrinsic factors."

3 Method

3.1 Data collection

NPPs represent owners and operators. They are members of the International Organization of

the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), in four regional centres. Representatives

of 147 nuclear reactors are members of the Regional Centre in Paris (also among them the

Krško NPP). They are owned by 14 organizations in 13 countries. The management of WANO,

a regional centre in Paris, enabled us to invite the NPPs to participate in the survey through

their internal information system.

3.2 Questionnaire and data analysis

We have provided an objective measurement instrument, which is in function of the variables

we measure. For the purpose of this study, a questionnaire with closed type questions

(statements) was developed. It was consistent and would produce comparable results in

repeated measurements. Our purpose was to find the importance of the six motivational factors.

As intrinsic, we defined: personal ethical and moral values, personal satisfaction and the need

for charity. As extrinsic, we defined: recognition or praise, financial and other material

incentives and better career opportunities. In a pilot study, the Human Resources Manager at

the Krško NPP, as a representative of the management structure of the NPP, participated.

Owners and operators of NPPs expressed their impact of all six motivational factors: 1-

insignificant, 2-slight impact, 3-possible impact, 4-large impact or 5-very large impact. For

basic analysis, descriptive statistics methods were used. For analyzing the completed

questionnaires, we used descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test and

the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

3.3 Time frame of the survey

Web based surveys were conducted in October 2017. The research was carried out at a time

when the next European concept of electricity supply was primarily oriented towards low-

carbon sources. The EU wants to provide technological leadership in the nuclear domain,

including the development of fusion through the International Thermonuclear Experimental

Reactor (ITER), so as not to increase energy and technology dependence, and to provide

European companies with business opportunities. This will in turn support EU growth, jobs and

competitiveness. (European Commission, 2017, p. 10–11)

This was also six years after the accident at the Fukushima NPP in Japan, which affected the

confidence in NPPs on a global scale.

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4 Results

4.1 Structure of participants and descriptive statistics

In figure 2 the number and structure of the responding respondents are evident. There were 43

representatives of the NPP and 3 owners of them. Considering their function in the organization,

the majority of representatives were members of the top management, what we wanted to

achieve.

Figure 2. Number of participating members, and organizational function of respondents.

Table 1 summarizes some descriptive statistics for all six motivational factors. Owners and

operators have expressed great importance for “Personal ethical and moral values”, also for

“Need for charity” and (especially operators) “Personal satisfaction”.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for six motivational factors.

Motivational factors Affiliation N M SD Mdn Mo

Recognition or praise Operators 43 3,02 0,636 3,00 3

Owners 3 3,33 1,155 4,00 4

Financial and other material incentives Operators 43 2,42 0,879 2,00 3

Owners 3 2,67 0,577 3,00 3

Personal ethical and moral values Operators 43 4,67 0,522 5,00 5

Owners 3 4,67 0,577 5,00 5

Personal satisfaction Operators 43 4,60 0,583 5,00 5

Owners 3 3,67 1,155 3,00 3

Need for charity Operators 43 3,88 0,793 4,00 4

Owners 3 3,67 2,309 5,00 5

Better career opportunities Operators 43 2,37 1,001 3,00 3

Owners 3 2,33 1,155 3,00 3

Note. N= total number of responses; M=sample mean; SD=standard deviation; Mdn=median; Mo=mode.

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We illustrated the median values graphically in figure 3.

Figure 3. Median values, impact of motivational factors for operators and owners.

4.2 Test of hypotheses

The first part of the hypothesis (“The motives which encourage the owners and operators of

NPPs in different countries, to implement social responsibility, are not different.”) tested by the

Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The results of both tests were summarized in tables 2

and 3.

Table 2. Mann-Whitney test, operators and owners of NPPs.

Motivational factors Affiliation N Average rank U p

Recognition or praise Operators 43 23,12

48,000 0,411 Owners 3 29,00

Financial and other material incentives Operators 43 23,24

53,500 0,603 Owners 3 27,17

Personal ethical and moral values Operators 43 23,53

63,000 0,934 Owners 3 23,00

Personal satisfaction Operators 43 24,28

31,000 0,080 Owners 3 12,33

Need for charity Operators 43 23,21

52,000 0,550 Owners 3 27,67

Better career opportunities Operators 43 23,50

64,500 1,000 Owners 3 23,50

Note. N= total number of responses; U= Mann-Whitney test statistics; p=statistical significance (p <0.05 means

statistically significant difference).

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Table 3. Kruskal-Wallis test, function in organization (top management, representative in WANO, public relation).

Motivational factors df H p

Recognition or praise 2 0,397 0,820

Financial and other material incentives 2 5,075 0,079

Personal ethical and moral values 2 0,090 0,956

Personal satisfaction 2 0,809 0,667

Need for charity 2 0,207 0,902

Better career opportunities 2 8,828 0,012

Note. df=degrees of freedom; H= Kruskal-Wallis test statistics; p= statistical significance (p <0.05 means

statistically significant difference).

We confirmed that the differences in the motives for carrying out socially responsible actions

among owners and operators are not statistically significant. At the same time, in most cases (5

of 6), there are no statistically significant differences in the motives for performing socially

responsible acts. We took into account the function of the organization.

The second part of the hypothesis (“The main motivation for socially responsible actions for

owners and operators of the NPP are intrinsic factors.") was tested by the Wilcoxon signed-

rank test. From the two new variables median (Mdn) were determined, one for intrinsic and one

for extrinsic motivational factors. We summarized the results of the test in table 4.

Table 4. Wilcoxon signed-rank test, intrinsic& extrinsic factors.

Motivational factors N

Extrinsic_Mdn < Intrinsic_Mdn 41

Extrinsic_Mdn > Intrinsic_Mdn 0

Extrinsic_Mdn = Intrinsic_Mdn 5

Note. N=total number of responses.

The difference between the two types of factors is statistically significant (Z = -6,247, p <0.001).

In motivating socially responsible actions for owners and operators, personal ethical and moral

values, personal satisfaction and the need for charity are predominant.

5 Discussion

We can be socially responsible in various ways - as individuals in society or in various

organized groups, including organizations. The social responsibility of organizations promotes

competitiveness, existence and enables sustainable development.

According to the great responsibility of NPPs to the wider society, we expect that the owners

and operators of the NPPs were highly motivated to perform socially responsible actions. In

this research to determine the motivational factors that dominate the implementation of social

responsibility, we included several operators of NPPs and their owners, taking into account

geographical and cultural diversity. We have shown that owners and operators of the NPPs are

motivated for socially responsible activities, regardless of the geographical and cultural

environment. Differences in the motives for carrying out socially responsible actions between

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owners and operators are not statistically significant. In most cases, there are no differences in

motives, considering the function in the organization (top management, representatives in

WANO or public relations).

It is also expected that the main motivation of the owners and operators of the NPPs for social

responsibility derives from their personal ethical and moral values, personal satisfaction and

the need for socially responsible actions. This means that a material incentive in the form of

salaries or rewards, public praise and career goals (extrinsic motives) for owners and operators

of the NPPs are not a dominant motivational factor. We have confirmed the high motivation for

carrying out socially responsible actions of the owners and operators of the NPPs. Personal

ethical and moral values, as well as personal satisfaction (intrinsic factors), dominate.

Taking into account the above facts and based on the presented results, we confirmed the

hypothesis.

Motivation for social responsibility supports the appropriate working environment which

contributes to the organizational culture. The organizational culture represents the values and

behaviour of employees in the nuclear industry. This is closely linked to the personal

development of each individual in NPPs. The development of the organizational and safety

culture in the NPPs is significantly influenced by international organizations, in particular the

WANO organization, which places special importance on this field. WANO organization

participated indirectly in the research; with its support (use of internal communication process)

we persuaded and invited participants to the survey. In this way, WANO demonstrated their

social responsibility and understanding of the issues we have been researching.

Coexistence with NPPs depends on the trust of stakeholders into the NPP, the perception of

their quality of life, the awareness of the impacts on coexistence, and the willingness to respect

the interests of stakeholders of NPPs, which the power plant should implement with socially

responsible practices. ISO 26000 (2010) addresses impacts, interests and expectations; it

requires that the organization must take into account and understand the three types of

relationships between the organization and society, between the organization and its

stakeholders, and between stakeholders and society (p. 49).

NPPs want to meet the challenges ahead. They want to co-create a trusted environment, which

enables them to operate in the long term and achieve their economic goals. Motivational factors

that we have found confirm that owners and operators of NPPs, besides the economic, are also

aware of ethical responsibilities to the wider society. In a constantly changing and critical

environment, NPPs can only provide its existence with an effective response in the electricity

market together with respect of different stakeholders. In this way, it is possible to establish a

partnership with the wider community and trust in a nuclear facility. The coexistence with NPPs

depends on the respect, consideration and response of owners and operators to the interests of

their stakeholders.

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The social responsibility of NPPs is an important part of competitive electricity supply and the

quality of life for wider society.

6 Conclusion

In this research, 46 participating WANO members in regional Paris group were identified, as

the owners or operators of the NPPs. At the time of survey, 147 nuclear reactors were included

in the group, owned by 14 organizations from 10 European, one Asian and two South American

countries (WANO, 2017). Assuming that we have captured the probability sample of the

owners and operators of the JE, we have confirmed that there were no statistically significant

differences in the motives for carrying out socially responsible actions between owners and

operators, irrespective of the geographical or cultural environment. Taking into account their

function in the organization (top management members, representatives in WANO and public

relation personnel) we confirmed the same. Participating owners and operators of the NPPs

clearly expressed the dominance of intrinsic motivational factors. They have proven their

ethical responsibility and a pattern of behaviour that seeks to contribute to a socially responsible

contribution to general well-being of wider society.

The results help NPPs in establishing and consolidating a positive image of a socially

responsible organization. Owners and operators are able to consider aspects and challenges of

the new paradigms of shared coexistence and are aware of the positive effects of socially

responsible actions.

The wider society is aware that owners and operators of the NPPs obviously demonstrate that

they want to act in a socially responsible manner. This is a good starting point for the choice

and implementation of appropriate strategies of non-governmental organizations, the

organization of local communities, political parties and other stakeholders, and for responding

to expressed environmental issues and sustainable development. It affects the acceptability of

NPPs and the quality of life of individuals and different groups in modern society and the

environment in which nuclear facilities are located.

The responsiveness of the owners of the NPPs was not as good as the responsiveness of the

operators; therefore, the sample is less representative for the owners. It would also make sense

that further research focus on the inspirations that influence the motivation for establishing

partnership relations with the NPPs, of the external stakeholders of the NPPs (local

communities, political public, NGOs, journalists and others).

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Povzetek:

Motivacija za družbeno odgovornost v jedrskih elektrarnah

Raziskovalno vprašanje (RV): Kaj lastnike in operaterje jedrskih elektrarn (JE) motivira za

izvajanje družbeno odgovornih dejanj?

Namen: Z raziskavo ugotoviti prevladujoče motive za družbeno odgovornost lastnikov in

operaterjev JE. Ugotoviti, kako so pripravljeni zadovoljevati pričakovanja širše družbe.

Metoda: Po pregledu relevantne literature predstavljenega interesnega področja, smo v raziskavo

vključili lastnike in operaterje JE, tj. članice mednarodne organizacije World Association of Nuclear

Operators (WANO), regionalnega centra v Parizu. Kot instrument za pridobivanje potrebnih

informacij uporabljamo smo za ta namen razvili vprašalnik. Za vrednotenje podatkov, poleg opisne

in frekvenčne statistike, smo uporabili Mann-Whinteyev test, Wilcoxonov test predznačenih rangov

in Kruskal-Wallisov test.

Rezultati: V raziskavi se sodelovalo 45 predstavnikov operaterjev in trije lastniki JE. Glavna

motivacija za družbeno odgovorna dejanja so za lastnike in operaterje JE intrinzični dejavniki,

predvsem osebne etične in moralne vrednote ter osebno zadovoljstvo. Dokazali smo, da se motivi,

ki lastnike in operaterje JE motivirajo za izvajanje družbene odgovornosti, statistično značilno ne

razlikujejo. V večini primerov te razlike niso bile statistično značilne, niti upoštevajoč funkcijo v

organizaciji. Izkazali so visoko pripravljenost za zadovoljevanje pričakovanj širše družbe.

Organizacija: Za JE rezultati krepijo vzpostavitev in utrjevanje pozitivne podobe družbeno

odgovorne organizacije.

Družba: Širša družba se seznani, da lastniki in operaterji JE izkazujejo jasno namero, da želijo

delovati družbeno odgovorno. Vpliva na sprejemljivost JE in na kakovost življenja posameznikov

ter različnih skupin v sodobni družbi in okolju, v katerega so umeščeni jedrski objekti.

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September 2019, leto / year 8, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 232–245.

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Originalnost: Izvedena raziskava je prva, ki je ciljno usmerjena v proučevanje motivacijskih

dejavnikov, ki lastnike in operaterje JE nagovarjajo k družbeno odgovornim dejanjem. Rezultati so

neposredno uporabni in relevantni v slovenskem in mednarodnem prostoru. Prispevajo k boljšemu

razumevanju interakcij med družbo in JE.

Omejitve/nadaljnje raziskovanje: Odzivnost lastnikov JE ni bila tako dobra kot odzivnost

operaterjev, zato je za lastnike vzorec manj reprezentativen. Raziskave je smiselno usmeriti tudi na

dejavnike, ki vplivajo na motivacijo za vzpostavitev partnerskega odnosa z JE na strani zunanjih

deležnikov JE (različnih interesnih skupin - od lokalnih skupnosti, politične javnosti, nevladnih

organizacij, novinarjev in drugih).

Ključne besede: sobivanje z jedrsko elektrarno, družbena odgovornost, intrinzični in ekstrinzični

motivacijski dejavniki.

***

Milan Simončič graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology in Maribor. With the

dissertation "Model of integrating external stakeholders in the implementation of the principles of social

responsibility of nuclear power plants", advocated in 2018 at the Faculty of Organisation Studies in Novo mesto,

he achieved the title of doctor of science in the field of quality management. He works in the Nuclear Power Plant

Krško as a lead engineer of analytical chemistry and radiochemistry. He has published several papers, actively

works in professional forums in Slovenia and international organizations, especially on the area of degradation

mechanisms of materials in nuclear power plants, quality management systems - in particular implementation of

the SIST ISO/IEC 17025, organizational excellence, the concept of social responsibility and the challenges of

energy in sustainable society.

***

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