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Discussion of “Communicated Values as Informal Controls: Promoting Quality While Undermining Productivity?”
Author(s) -
Lynn Hannan R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
contemporary accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.769
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1911-3846
pISSN - 0823-9150
DOI - 10.1111/1911-3846.12246
Subject(s) - statement (logic) , affect (linguistics) , value (mathematics) , productivity , quality (philosophy) , task (project management) , social psychology , psychology , positive economics , marketing , business , economics , management , epistemology , political science , law , mathematics , philosophy , statistics , communication , macroeconomics
Kachelmeier, Thornock, and Williamson ([Kachelmeier, S. J., 2016]) investigate experimentally whether an employer's value statement can affect the way employees cognitively represent how they should approach a multi‐attribute task, and therefore performance. Counter‐intuitively, but consistent with their theory, they find that the value statement negatively affects performance for piece‐rate incentivized participants. In my discussion, I elaborate on my comments from the 2013 CAR Conference. Specifically, I discuss contexts where a firm's value statement may have positive effects on performance, and the importance of conducting research investigating how the decisions made by management accountants affect learning.