This dissertation seeks to further the current understanding of the development of a consideration set of potential successors in the ground-rules phase of family-firm succession. To do so, this dissertation uses goal systems theory and family social capital to consider goal prioritization as a mechanism through which the family influences the identification of potential successors. Goal system theory emphasizes the prioritization of multiple goals and the corresponding means-ends relationships. Family social capital provides a more nuanced understanding of the influence of the family on the strategic prioritization of goals in the family firm. This dissertation explores the influence of family social capital on the prioritization of the goals of financial growth, transgenerational succession, and the development of a consideration set of potential successors. To test this conceptual model, primary data were collected via an experimental vignette methodology regarding structural family social capital, succession-related goal prioritization, and consideration of potential successors from a sample of business owners within the United States.

Regular physical activity and the inclusion of fruits and vegetables in dietary intake contribute to a variety of positive health outcomes and improve quality of life. With more than half of college students falling short of government guidelines for exercise and nutrition (ACHA, 2009), effective interventions targeting young adults during this transitional time are critical. Mobile phone use has become increasingly common among college students, providing an opportunity to develop intervention strategies that may be better integrated into their daily lives. Research on intervention components delivered by phone is essential for developing easily utilized, efficacious nutrition and physical activity interventions for students. Study objectives were (1) to examine the utility of a combined web-based and text-messaging intervention for physical activity and nutrition among college students, and (2) to examine the value of text message tailoring to maximize improvement in these outcomes. Students recruited from introductory psychology classes (n=151) completed measures of physical activity and nutrition at baseline and one-month follow-up. Students were randomized into one of four conditions: assessment only, web-based health behaviors feedback only, web-based feedback with standardized daily text-messages, web-based feedback with tailored daily text-messages. Primary hypotheses were that the intervention that combined web-based feedback with tailored daily text-messages would result in increased physical activity, increased fruit and vegetable intake, and greater likelihood of meeting government standards for these behaviors at follow-up compared to the assessment control condition. Regression analyses were performed with planned contrasts between experimental conditions to examine the additive impact of each intervention component on primary outcomes. Secondary analyses were conducted on additional nutrition and physical activity outcomes. Exploratory analyses were conducted to examine whether individual difference variables moderated the influence of the intervention on outcomes. Study hypotheses were not supported. No significant effect was observed for the intervention on physical activity or nutrition outcomes. These findings may suggest the need for more intensive intervention strategies to impact behavior. Future iterations should include two-way text-message communication and feedback to increase depth-of-processing, alternative tailoring approaches based on self-reported goal-systems variables, and further exploration of intervention components that may improve physical activity and nutrition among college students.

The overall aim of this thesis is to present a model for rational goal-setting and to illustrate how it can be applied in evaluations of public policies, in particular policies concerning sustainable development and environmental quality. The contents of the thesis are divided into two sections: a theoretical section (Papers I-IV) and an empirical section (Papers V-VII). Paper I identifies a set of rationality criteria for single goals and discusses them in relation to the typical function of goals. It is argued that goals are typically set to enhance goal achievement. A goal that successfully furthers its achievement is “achievement-inducing”. It holds for each of the identified criteria that, ceteris paribus, improved satisfaction of a criterion makes a goal better in the achievement-inducing sense.Paper II contains an analysis of the notion of goal system coherence. It is argued that the coherence of a goal system is determined by the relations that hold among the goals in the system, in particular the relations of operationalization, means and ends, support, and conflict. Paper III investigates the rationality of utopian goals. The paper analyzes four arguments that support the normative criterion of attainability: that utopian goals are (1) too imprecise and (2) too far-reaching to guide action effectively, (3) counterproductive, and (4) morally objectionable. A tentative defence of utopian goal-setting is built on counter-arguments that can be put forward to weaken each of the four objections. Paper IV investigates the nature of self-defeating goals. The paper identifies three types of situations in which self-defeating mechanisms obstruct goal achievement: (1) situations in which the goal itself carries the seeds of its own non-fulfilment (self-defeating goals), (2) situations in which the activity of goal-setting contributes to goal failure (self-defeating goal-setting), and (3) situations in which disclosure of the goal interferes with progress (self-defeating goal disclosure). Paper V provides a brief description of the Swedish system of environmental objectives and a preliminary inventory of the management difficulties that attach to this goal system.Paper VI contains an investigation into the rationality of five Swedish environmental objectives through an application of the rationality criteria identified in Papers I-II. The paper identifies and discusses some difficulties that are associated with management by objectives and the use of goals in environmental policy. Paper VII analyses the rationality of the Swedish environmental quality objective A good built environment. Among the conclusions drawn in the paper are that some of the sub-goals to the objective are formulated in terms that are unnecessarily vague from an action-guiding standpoint and that others are problematic from the viewpoint of evaluability. / QC 20100715

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