The Role of Financial Incentives in Balanced Scorecard-Based Performance Evaluations: Correcting Mood Congruency Biases

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ding, Shujun; Beaulieu, Philip
• 署名单位: University of Ottawa; University of Calgary
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00421.x
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1223-1247
• 关键词: monetary incentives; negative affect; judgments; ACCOUNTABILITY; INFORMATION; Auditors; SUBJECTIVITY; motivation; IMPACT; memory

摘要

Moods are low-intensity affective states that individuals bring to a decision, and may be especially important when the balanced scorecard (BSC) is used for performance evaluation purposes. We propose that financial incentives can motivate decision-makers to correct mood congruency biases, in which judgments and decisions are consistent with moods. In experiment 1, participants rated the performance of one division manager based on two accounting measures and another manager based on a 16-measure BSC; there were mood congruency biases at both levels of information load. Financial incentives to make benchmark-consistent judgments eliminated bias in the former condition but not in the BSC condition. In experiment 2, incentives were offered and performance evaluations were based on an eight-measure BSC; mood congruency bias was eliminated. Results suggest that management control systems, specifically financial incentives, should be included in future affect correction research.