Racial Diversity and Task Performance: The Roles of Formalization and Goal Setting in Government Organizations

• Date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026019826157
• Author: Jaehee Jong
• Published date: 01 December 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

826157PPMXXX10.1177/0091026019826157Public Personnel ManagementJong
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Public Personnel Management
2019, Vol. 48(4) 493 –512
Racial Diversity and Task
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of Formalization and Goal
Setting in Government
Organizations
Jaehee Jong1
Abstract
Previous studies on demographic diversity have yielded inconsistent results with
respect to several individual and organizational outcomes. The current study proposes
that structural characteristics can enhance the positive influence of racial diversity on
employee outcomes. Specifically, this study examines the roles of formalization as a
moderator and goal setting as a mediator in the relationship between racial diversity
and employee task performance. Using a sample of New York state employees from 42
state agencies, this study found that (a) in organizations where tasks are formalized, the
effects of racial diversity on employee perception of goal specificity and goal difficulty
were positive and (b) some of the interaction effects between racial diversity and
formalization were, in turn, positively related to task performance through perception
of the goal difficulty. Overall, while the results confirm the complex nature of diversity
effects mentioned in previous research, they contribute further evidence regarding the
positive impact of racial diversity and the notion that the contextual environment of
public organizations—in this case, formalization—contributes to positive performance
in demographically diverse workforces.
Keywords
workforce diversity, goal setting, formalization, moderated mediation
Theoretical approaches used in diversity research tend to address the psychological
processes by which diversity can influence work outcomes (Van Knippenberg, De
1Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
Corresponding Author:
Jaehee Jong, Department of Public Administration, School of Public and Global Affairs, Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA.
Email: jjong@niu.edu

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Public Personnel Management 48(4)
Dreu, & Homan, 2004). Williams and O’Reilly (1998), for example, identify two
competing perspectives in diversity research: the information-decision-making
perspective and the social categorization perspective. On one hand, the idea that
demographic diversity may offer some advantages is based on the information-
decision-making perspective, which suggests that diverse groups tend to possess “a
broader range of task-relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities that are distinct and
nonredundant” (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004, p. 1009), allowing individuals to
solve complex and nonroutine problems (Chowdhury, 2005) and stimulating
increased creativity and innovation (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004). Therefore,
diverse groups are regarded as more effective in group decision making and
effectiveness because they use broader perspectives and bring together different
ideas (Milliken & Martins, 1996).
On the other hand, demographic diversity could have detrimental effects.
According to the social categorization perspective, group members categorize
self and others on the basis of similarities and differences and form in-group and
out-group distinctions whereby group members may favor and cooperate more
with members of their in-group more than with members of an out-group (Van
Knippenberg et al., 2004). Such “intergroup bias” formed by social categoriza-
tion negatively influences “affective-evaluation reactions” within diverse groups
(Van Knippenberg et al., 2004, p. 1015), which results in the potentially negative
effects of diversity. Empirical studies based on the social categorization perspec-
tive indicate that demographic diversity may yield negative outcomes such as
decreased cooperation and cohesion, communication problems, task/emotional
conflict, turnover, and reduced team effectiveness (Milliken & Martins, 1996;
Pelled, 1996; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1999; Van Knippenberg et al., 2004;
Williams & O’Reilly, 1998).
In line with these two competing perspectives, previous research focusing on the
effects of workforce diversity has yielded both positive (e.g., better problem solv-
ing) and negative outcomes (e.g., low performance; Riccucci, 2002; Van
Knippenberg et al., 2004; Wegge, Roth, Neubach, Schmidt, & Kanfer, 2008). Not
surprisingly, the inconsistent patterns obtained in prior research have led to calls for
additional investigation into the mechanisms by which diversity influences indi-
vidual perceptions and attitudes, emphasizing the role of the contextual environ-
ment of work groups to fully understand the complexity of diversity in organizations
(Joshi & Roh, 2007; Pelled et al., 1999; Schippers, den Hartog, Koopman, & Wienk,
2003). Thus, diversity scholars assume that individuals in diverse organizations
have the opportunity to either promote or hinder organizational outcomes, with
individuals’ actions being influenced by their perceptions of contextual character-
istics of the organization. Diversity scholars have thus expanded the scope of their
research, including new types of variables in the search for intervening or contex-
tual variables (i.e., mediators or moderators; Bell, Villado, Lukasik, Belau, &
Briggs, 2011) that may play a role in the diversity–work outcomes relationship.
Focusing on racial diversity, the current study investigates the process by which
racial diversity can affect the public organization workplace.

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Jong
495
Figure 1. Research model.
Current Study
The present study considers the information-decision-making perspective in
proposing that racial diversity would be associated with employees’ goal set-
ting—operationalized here as goal specificity and goal difficulty (Locke &
Latham, 1990, 2002). In addition, this study investigates formalization as a mod-
erator and goal setting as a mediator in the relationship between racial diversity
and employee outcomes (Figure 1).
The present study builds on and extends previous studies in public administration
in several ways. First, it is the first to test the relationship between racial diversity and
goal setting, which will help explain how goal setting is influenced by an organiza-
tion’s racial diversity. Literature suggests that public employees are susceptible to
experiencing greater goal ambiguity than their counterparts in the private sector (Chun
& Rainey, 2005; Rainey, 2009). Given the importance of goals in public organizations,
one could argue that goal setting, which public administration scholars have generally
overlooked in their research on the effects of organizational diversity, may be an
important variable to consider.
Second, this study assesses the moderating effect of formalization in the relationship
between racial diversity and task performance in a state government agency context. A
review of public administration research focusing on diversity indicates that there is
little research examining the effects of structural characteristics in this domain. Recent
work by Langbein and Stazyk (2013), however, emphasizes that diversity research
should consider job aspects, indicating that the benefits of diversity may be partly deter-
mined by organizational structures and hierarchies. Indeed, much research in public
administration has touched on the functions and nature of bureaucratic characteristics
in public organizations such as rules, procedures, and hierarchies, arguing for their
positive aspects (Adler & Borys, 1996; Portillo & DeHart-Davis, 2009; Stazyk &
Goerdel, 2011). In this study, formalization, one of several structural characteristics, is
expected to influence the effect of diversity on goal setting. It should be noted here that
prior investigations into various potential-intervening variables (e.g., task process,
emotional conflict cognitive process, and behavioral processes; Ancona & Caldwell,
1992; Elsass & Graves, 1997; Pelled et al., 1999; Schippers et al., 2003) have yielded
important insights into how individuals within diverse groups/organizations interact

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Public Personnel Management 48(4)
with each other and perceive the tasks, rules, or processes of their organizations (Pelled,
1996; Pelled et al., 1999). This suggests that it may be particularly critical to explore
how public sector employees in diverse groups share their values and goals and commu-
nicate among members.
Finally, this study examines the demographic information of 42 state government
agencies in conjunction with the participants’ individual perceptions of goals and task
performance, taking advantage of existing archival data produced by a State Workforce
Management Report.
Literature Review and Hypotheses
Goal Setting Theory
Goals motivate individuals to search for new knowledge as well as to use their existing
abilities and “stored” knowledge, and are viewed as the mechanism by which values
lead to action (Latham & Pinder, 2005). According to goal setting theory, specific and
challenging goals improve task performance by directing attention, mobilizing effort
and persistence, and encouraging the development and use of task strategies (Locke &
Latham, 1990, 2002). These findings have been supported by numerous empirical
studies conducted in both laboratory and field settings (Ambrose & Kulik, 1999;
Kleingeld, van Mierlo, & Arends,...