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This is a conceptual, prescriptive article analyzing current trends and suggesting a redirection necessary for the advancement of organizational behavior. Two divergent but possible complementary approaches—the conservative and the radical—are outlined as accomplishing such a redirection in the field. The conservative approach emphasizes four needs requiring attention: 1) improved construct validity; 2) more careful selection and measurement of dependent variables, including a change in those deemed important; 3) new applications of longitudinal and experimental research designs; and 4) an increased and more appropriate use of multivariate statistical analysis. The radical approach encompasses conceptualizing organizations as social structures, the symbolic nature of management as a process, and a focus on processes across levels of analysis. It is predicted that, regardless of whether one views the future in the field as being indicative of the conservative or a more radical approach, we will see the roles of contexts and processes in research and application as being influential.

The literature regarding the relationship between role ambiguity and satisfaction has produced mixed results. Evidence suggests that factors such as the source of role expectations may affect this relationship. In order to examine one source of expectations (the supervisor), an experiment was conducted in which ambiguity (presence/absence of task clarity instructions) and instruction source (supervisor, nonsupervisor) were manipulated within the same objective task environment. Thirty-two men and 65 women participated in a full factorial design. An instruction source, satisfaction with supervisor interaction (F(1,92) = 3.5, p < .07) was found, supporting the general proposition that the source of task role expectations would affect the relationships between role ambiguity and satisfaction.

This paper demonstrates the theoretical relevance and validity of using utility models and scaling techniques as an approach to operationalizing the concepts of goals and goal incompatibilities. The approach was used, with empirical data from municipal government officials in 380 cities, to test the propositions that (1) structural differentiation in organizations is associated with goal incompatibilities, and (2) goal incompatibilities are correlated with conflict in organizations. Both propositions were supported. On the basis of a literature review, it was concluded that (1) the concepts of goals and goal incompatibilities play important, but controversial, roles in organization behavior, and (2) there has been very little empirical research directed toward operationalizing these concepts. On the basis of the empirical research, it was suggested that the approach generates valid operationalizations of goals and goal incompatibilities. Goals which were shared across units tend to be of moderate importance to organizational decision makers within these units, while disagreements regarding goals were found to focus upon unit power preservation and procedures.