Goal Integration and Satisfaction: Their Relationship to the Functioning of a Continuing Education Organization (University Extension).

Abstract

The present study examined the congruence between the goals of an academic unit and those of its employees. It focused on university extension with the characteristics of: academic linkage to a university campus, entrepreneurial activity by a university unit, and managerial administrative structure. Two extension units were examined. There were seventy-six respondents from an urban extension unit and sixteen respondents from a semi-rural extension unit. They responded to a 43-item questionnaire extracted from a st and ardized instrument developed by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Four basic premises were examined: (1) Goal integration is significantly related to individual satisfaction. (2) Goal integration is significantly related to the functioning of a continuing education organization. (3) Satisfaction is significantly related to the functioning of a continuing education organization. (4) Goal integration is a logical construct which can be defined and measured. The data supported premises one, two, and four. The results show that goal integration is significantly related to a continuing education organization's functioning on the individual, work group, and organization levels and can be increased through collective decision-making. Satisfaction was found to be significantly related to goal integration but the results of its effect on the functioning of the organization were mixed. Through factor analysis, goal integration as a measurable construct was supported. It was concluded that there is optimum work accomplisment when there is high congruence between personal and organizational objectives. Committed people enhance the functioning of a continuing education organization.