اثر سیستم های اندازه گیری عملکرد جامع روی وضوح نقش، توانمندسازی روان شناختی و عملکرد مدیریتی

This study examines how comprehensive performance measurement systems (PMS) affect managerial performance. It is proposed that the effect of comprehensive PMS on managerial performance is indirect through the mediating variables of role clarity and psychological empowerment. Data collected from a survey of 83 strategic business unit managers are used to test the model. Results from a structural model tested using Partial Least Squares regression indicate that comprehensive PMS is indirectly related to managerial performance through the intervening variables of role clarity and psychological empowerment. This result highlights the role of cognitive and motivational mechanisms in explaining the effect of management accounting systems on managerial performance. In particular, the results indicate that comprehensive PMS influences managers’ cognition and motivation, which, in turn, influence managerial performance.

In recent years organizations have sought to develop more comprehensive performance measurement systems (PMS) to provide managers and employees with information to assist in managing their firm’s operations (Fullerton and McWatters, 2002, Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003, Lillis, 2002, Malina and Selto, 2001 and Ullrich and Tuttle, 2004). Prior research indicates that more comprehensive PMS include a more diverse set of performance measures, and performance measures that are linked to the strategy of the firm and provide information about parts of the value chain (Chenhall, 2005, Malina and Selto, 2001, Nanni et al., 1992 and Neely et al., 1995). Comprehensive PMS have been popularised in techniques such as the balanced scorecard (Kaplan & Norton, 1996), tableau de bord (Epstein & Manzoni, 1998) and performance hierarchies (Lynch & Cross, 1992). In this paper I examine how comprehensive PMS affect managerial performance. Prior research has focused on the relation between comprehensive PMS and organisational performance (perceived or actual) (Chenhall, 2005, Davis and Albright, 2004, Hoque and James, 2000, Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003 and Said et al., 2003), and on the use of multiple performance measures in performance evaluation judgements (Banker et al., 2004, Lipe and Salterio, 2000 and Schiff and Hoffman, 1996). However, there is limited empirical research that examines the behavioural consequences of comprehensive PMS (Ittner and Larcker, 1998 and Webb, 2004). Studies examining links between management control systems and organisational outcomes assume that such systems affect the behaviour of individuals within the organization, which then facilitates the achievement of organisational goals. However, as Chenhall (2003) notes, this assumption involves broad leaps in logic and there is no compelling evidence to suggest that these links exist. Similarly, Covaleski, Evans, Luft, and Shields (2003) argue that studies at the organisational level of analysis remain somewhat limited because they are based upon assumptions about, rather than a detailed investigation of, individual behaviour. Further, there is little empirical research that examines whether control system components have direct and/or indirect effects on work performance (Shields, Deng, & Kato, 2000). This is important because there can be theoretical differences between direct- and indirect-effects models that can have practical implications (Shields et al., 2000). Psychological theories indicate that cognitive and motivational mechanisms are likely to explain the relation between comprehensive PMS and managerial performance (Collins, 1982, Ilgen et al., 1979 and Luckett and Eggleton, 1991). As such, I examine how the relation between comprehensive PMS and managerial performance can be explained by the intervening variables of role clarity and psychological empowerment. Recent research indicates that the information dimensions of management accounting practices, such as PMS, are not captured effectively by labels such as the balanced scorecard (Chenhall, 2005 and Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003). In particular, Ittner, Larcker, and Randall (2003) argue that researchers need to devise improved methods for determining what firms mean by contemporary PMS. As such, in this study, I draw on descriptions of PMS from the performance measurement literature to develop a definition of a comprehensive PMS. Based on this definition, I develop an instrument to measure empirically the comprehensive PMS construct. Data collected from a survey of strategic business unit (SBU) managers are used to examine how comprehensive PMS is related to managerial performance. I focus on SBU managers as the information provided by comprehensive PMS is expected to be useful at this managerial level because of SBU managers’ information requirements. The results show that comprehensive PMS is indirectly related to managerial performance through the intervening variables of role clarity and psychological empowerment. Consistent with theory, the results highlight the role of cognitive and motivational mechanisms in explaining the effect of management accounting systems on managerial performance. In particular, the results indicate that comprehensive PMS influences managers’ cognition and motivation, which, in turn, influence managerial performance. This contributes to prior research that has examined the direct and indirect effects of management control systems on work performance (Shields et al., 2000), and also extends the limited body of prior research that has examined the effect of management control system attributes on psychological empowerment (Smith and Langfield-Smith, 2003, Spreitzer, 1995 and Spreitzer, 1996) and role clarity (Chenhall & Brownell, 1988). Finally, the study responds to calls to develop improved methods for examining the attributes of management accounting practices by developing a reliable and valid instrument to measure the comprehensive PMS construct. The remainder of the paper contains four sections: the next section develops the theoretical model, including presentation of the hypotheses. The research method, including sample selection and variable measurement, is then presented. This is followed by presentation of the results. The final section discusses the results and concludes the paper.

In this study I examined how comprehensive PMS is related to managerial performance. As such, the study is among the first to provide empirical evidence regarding the behavioural consequences of comprehensive PMS (Webb, 2004). A structural model was tested using PLS to examine whether the relation between comprehensive PMS and managerial performance is direct, or indirect through the intervening variables of psychological empowerment and role clarity. Results indicate that comprehensive PMS is not directly associated with managerial performance; rather, comprehensive PMS is indirectly associated with managerial performance through dimensions of role clarity and psychological empowerment. These results are consistent with arguments that cognitive and motivational mechanisms help to explain the effects of management control systems on work performance (Collins, 1982, Ilgen et al., 1979 and Luckett and Eggleton, 1991). In particular, the results indicate that comprehensive PMS influences managers’ cognition and motivation, which, in turn, influence managerial performance. As such, the study contributes to prior research that examines the direct and indirect-effects of management control system components on work performance (Shields et al., 2000). From a theoretical perspective, the study indicates that the development of theoretical models that include relevant cognitive and motivational variables can help to improve our understanding of how management control systems affect managerial work behaviour. In addition, the study also illustrates how PLS can be used to examine the nature of the relation between management control system components and work performance. Researchers have called for improved methods for determining what firms mean by contemporary PMS (Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003). This is because labels, such as the balanced scorecard, are unlikely to capture effectively the information dimensions of management accounting practices (Chenhall, 2005 and Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003). In this study, I used descriptions from the performance measurement literature to develop an instrument to measure the important attributes of comprehensive PMS. These attributes include providing performance measures that describe the important parts of the SBU’s operations and integrating measures with strategy and across the value chain. (Chenhall, 2005, Ittner, Larcker, & Randall, 2003, Malina and Selto, 2001, Malmi, 2001 and Neely et al., 1995). Empirical results indicate that the instrument is a reliable and valid measure of the comprehensive PMS construct. The findings need to be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study. As noted above, a new instrument was developed to measure the comprehensive PMS construct. Although the instrument exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties, future research could refine and further validate the instrument. The study presents statistical associations that are consistent with the theory developed in the study; however, the cross-sectional research design precludes any claims regarding causality of relations among the variables in the model. A further limitation is the use of self-assessed performance ratings. Although managers are considered the best judges of their own performance (Brownell, 1995), future research would benefit from confirmation of managers’ ratings using supervisor ratings, if possible within the research design. I included job tenure in the analysis to address endogeniety concerns; however, it is possible that there are other correlated variables that were omitted from the model tested in the study. The study focused on SBU managers, thus further research is required to assess whether comprehensive PMS is useful at other managerial levels. Although tests indicate an absence of non-response bias, the relatively low response rate is a limitation of the study. The study points to several avenues for future research. Prior research indicates that the relation between attributes of performance information and managerial performance is influenced by contextual factors, such as the level of task uncertainty (Chong, 1996 and Mia and Chenhall, 1994). Future research could investigate whether contextual factors influence the relations reported in this study. In particular, comprehensive PMS may be more important in uncertain environments as a mechanism to reduce uncertainty surrounding decision tasks (Chapman, 1997 and Galbraith, 1973). A further avenue for future research is to examine the specific attributes of the performance measures that comprise a comprehensive PMS; for example, the number of measures and/or the mix of financial and non-financial performance measures. Recent research indicates that simply adding more performance measures does not necessarily improve the comprehensiveness of a PMS (Cheng & Luckett, 2004). Finally, the results of this study show that comprehensive PMS positively affect managerial work performance by enhancing role clarity and psychological empowerment. In contrast, prior research indicates that the use of comprehensive PMS for performance evaluation and compensation purposes can be problematic (Ittner et al., 2003 and Lipe and Salterio, 2000). As such, an important avenue for future research is to investigate the simultaneous use of comprehensive PMS for providing feedback and evaluating/compensating managers (Sprinkle, 2000 and Sprinkle, 2003).