Browsing by Author "McAulay, Laurie"

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Open Access
Examining a positive psychological role for performance measures
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2011) Marginson, David E.; McAulay, Laurie; Roush, Melvin; van Zijl, Tony
Emerging evidence suggests that management control systems may generate positive psychological effects, leading to higher levels of managerial performance. We extend this literature by examining the extent to which (1) financial vis-à-vis non-financial measures and (2) diagnostic vis-à-vis interactive utilisation of performance measures may be associated with decreasing role ambiguity and increasing psychological empowerment with performance as the ultimate outcome variable. We find that the interactive utilisation of non-financial performance measures can be particularly important for generating a positive psychological experience and (indirectly) increasing performance. Our study contributes further evidence of the psychologically beneficial role played by management control systems.
Open Access
Performance Measures and Short-Termism: An Exploratory Study
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2009) Marginson, David; McAulay, Laurie; Roush, Melvin; van Zijl, Tony
We examine the relationship between performance measurement systems and short-termism. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of senior managers drawn from a major telecommunications company to determine the extent to which the diagnostic and interactive uses of financial and non-financial measures give rise to short-termism. We find no evidence to suggest that the use of financial measures, either diagnostically or interactively, leads to short-term behaviour. In contrast, we find a significant association between the use of non-financial measures and short-termism. Results suggest that the diagnostic use of non-financial measures leads managers to make inter-temporal trade-off choices that prioritise the short term to the detriment of the long term, while we find interactive use is negatively associated with short-termism. We find an imbalance in favour of the diagnostic use over the interactive use of non-financial performance measures is associated with short-termism. Overall, findings highlight the importance of considering the specific use of performance measures in determining the causes of short-termism.