Abstract Motivation is the source and drive of human’s action. Probably no motivational principle has received more attention than the hedonic principle that people gain pleasure and avoid pain, but it does not distinguish the different approaches and avoidance operated. Regulatory focus theory serves this purpose. This article focuses on the application of regulatory focus in organizational management. It gives a brief introduction to the regulatory focus theory, identifies the chronic regulatory foci and situational regulatory foci, and presents their measurement scales. It also explores the antecedents, consequences and mechanism of regulatory foci and finally expresses a need for future research.
