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Managers' Commitment to the Goals Contained in a Strategic Performance Measurement System *
Author(s) -
WEBB R. ALAN
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1506/khw0-g7py-aqea-718j
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , antecedent (behavioral psychology) , set (abstract data type) , performance measurement , business , goal setting , knowledge management , process management , marketing , psychology , computer science , social psychology , communication , programming language
A strategic performance measurement system (SPMS) is a set of causally linked nonfinancial and financial objectives, performance measures, and goals designed to align managers' actions with an organization's strategy. This study identifies and tests features unique to the cause‐effect structure of an SPMS likely to affect an important antecedent to managerial performance: goal commitment. Companies often set difficult goals for the multiple performance measures contained in an SPMS, but research shows difficult goals are significantly more likely to lead to performance gains if individuals are committed to achieving them. Two features central to the SPMS approach are predicted to affect goal commitment: (1) the strength of the cause‐effect links among the nonfinancial and financial performance measures contained in an SPMS and (2) managers' beliefs in their ability to achieve the SPMS nonfinancial goals. Results from an experiment conducted with experienced managers show both SPMS features have a positive effect on goal commitment.