2012年6月大学英语六级真题试卷及参考答案(17)

unethical （不道德的）behavior in general.

“Goals are widely used and promoted as having really beneficial effects. And yet, the same motivation that can push people to exert more effort in a constructive way could also motivate people to be more likely to engage in unethical behaviors,” says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate professor at Penn’s Wharton School.

“It turns out there’s no economic benefit to just having a goal---you just get a psychological benefit” Schweitzer says. “But in many cases, goals have economic rewards that make them more powerful.”

A prime example Schweitzer and his colleagues cite is the 2004 collapse of energy-trading giant Enron, where managers used financial incentives to motivate salesmen to meet specific revenue goals. The problem, Schweitzer says, is the actual trades were not profitable.

Other studies have shown that saddling employees with unrealistic goals can compel them to lie, cheat or steal. Such was the case in the early 1990s when Sears imposed a sales quota on its auto repair staff. It prompted employees to overcharge for work and to complete unnecessary repairs on a companywide basis.

Schweitzer concedes his research runs counter to a very large body of literature that

commends the many benefits of goal-setting. Advocates of the practice have taken issue with his team’s use of such evidence as news accounts to support his conclusion that goal-setting is widely over-prescribed.

In a rebuttal (反驳) paper, Dr. Edwin Locke writes:“Goal-setting is not going away.

Organizations cannot thrive without being focused on their desired end results any more than an individual can thrive without goals to provide a sense of purpose.”