Possibility of Using Goal Setting Questionnaire in Target Costing Research

An Exploratory Analysis to Test Goal Setting Theory

Abstract

This study conducted an exploratory analysis based on questionary surveys about goal setting in the context of target costing in the Japanese manufacturing industry. Using the web-based survey data of engineers, this study identified six attributes related to goal setting (i.e., support for goal achievement by supervisor, dysfunctional aspects of goals, goal difficulty, goal clarity, rewards for goal achievement, and support for goal achievement by the organization), and demonstrated that five of the attributes (except for dysfunctional aspects of goals) were positively related to job performance of engineers.