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Weeding an Old Garden

Toward a New Understanding of Organizational Goals

University of Kansas, Lawrence

Charles McClintock

Cornell University

Currently the conceptual status of organizational goals is uncertain. The organizational goal construct has been the brunt of numerous criticisms and is left out of several major contemporary perspectives on organizations. Building on the insights of the critics of the traditional goal construct, this article argues that goals have an important place in the analysis and management of organizations. Goals are viewed from a behavioral perspective and it is argued that some goal behaviors produce consistency in organizational structure and performance, whereas others lead to variability. A process theory of purposeful variation is presented in which goal behaviors play an important role.

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