Central to Kreitner & Kinicki's (2004) suggestions are the concept of organizational management, the idea that organization's routinely work to "employ, educate, serve, inform, feed" and look after the well being of their employees. These concepts can be easily integrated into goal setting practices to ensure the greater good of the organization and to ensure maximum effort and profitability from each member of the organization. An organization as defined by the authors includes a system of "consciously coordinated activities" among two or more people or groups that results in organizational achievement and success (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004). Managers must consider this when working to set goals and achieve profitable organizational outcomes.

For efforts at goal setting to succeed, feedback is not the only key success factor. As a manager it is important to instill certain concepts into employees as suggested by the readings. These include the notions that work is a natural activity like any other, the idea that people working within the organization are very capable of self-directing their tasks when provided the opportunity and committed to organizational objectives, and that people are more likely to become committed to organizational objectives when managers appropriately reward them and recognize them for their efforts (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004). Most employees are eager to accept more responsibility for their work and actions when given the opportunity to do so. Participative management allows each employee to take responsibility for his or her actions within the company and for helping the company achieve it's long-term and short-term objectives.

New models of organizational behavior suggest managers can break with old concepts of management and introduce more positive...

By creating a more positive workplace, employees are more likely to excel and report self-motivation on and off the job. Employees are also more likely to view their abilities or self as capable and their work as influential and creative (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004).
It is not enough however, to create a positive work environment. Self-direction and empowerment are important concepts that allow employees to excel in the work environment. During the goal setting process it is also important that manager provide positive and negative feedback to employees. This will help employees fine tune their efforts at goal setting and the methods they choose to realize their goals. Consistent feedback is emphasized by Kreitner & Kinicki (2004) as it allows employees to gauge how successful their efforts toward organizational and personal improvement are while still providing employees with a supportive and encouraging work environment.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The readings in class support the use of goal setting, participative management and feedback to help build successful, empowered and trusting organizations. Participative management represents a new way of thinking in organizations small and large alike. In this type of environment knowledge or information doesn't simply trickle from the top down, but rather is shared across teams and various representatives within the organization. It is this shared sense of power, community and knowledge that will ultimately help build a more profitable organization at my place of work, not just during this quarter, but also for the next quarter and the years following.