公共管理研究中的目标清晰与目标模糊——来自多个实证研究议题的观察

Goal Clarity and Goal Ambiguity in Public Organizations——Evidence from Empirical Research of Public Management

组织目标研究是公共管理研究的重要内容。目标清晰与目标模糊是组织目标研究中使用频繁的两个重要概念。在实证公共管理研究中,两个概念经常被互换使用,鲜有学者对其进行概念辨析。基于多个研究议题对目标清晰与目标模糊的概念化及应用研究进行比较与辨析。研究发现,目标清晰主要以主观感知测量为主,尚无客观衡量指标;目标模糊的测量则经历从主观感知测量到客观指标测量的发展过程。然而在主观感知测量上,二者的调查量表并无显著差异。在公私组织目标差异、组织绩效、组织繁文缛节、组织成员态度及动机等系列议题研究中,虽然一些学者在理论建构上倾向使用目标模糊的概念,但在测量上却倾向使用目标清晰的量表。在目前的实证公共管理研究中,尚未能显著区分目标清晰与目标模糊这两个概念。

Organizational goal plays a significant role in empirical public management research.Organizational goal ambiguity and goal clarity are two concepts that had been widely employed in organizational goal research.In empirical studies,goal ambiguity is interchangeable to goal clarity.We attempt to clarify goal ambiguity and goal clarity from different research perspectives.No one try to measure goal clarity in an objective way.However,some scholars had advanced to develop an objective measurement for goal ambiguity.In the research topics related to organizational performance,red tape,individual attitude and motivation and differences between public and private organizations,scholars often use goal ambiguity to construct their hypothesizes,but use goal clarity to measure the perception.To the end,it is still difficult to difference goal ambiguity and goal clarity in empirical study.