Empirical performance management research: observations from AOS and MAR

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to respond to Otley's calls for future research to take an integrated and longitudinal approach to examining the operation of performance management in real organizations. The paper reviews 120 field studies published in Accounting, Organizations and Society and Management Accounting Research over the past 15 years.

Design/methodology/approach

The Otley's performance management framework is used to classify the field studies in terms of five central issues that relate to objectives, strategies, target setting, reward systems, and information flows.

Findings

The key findings are that only nine field studies examine the integrated performance management framework in any depth, and the research to date is fragmentary with regard to, for example, the performance management issues studied and theories used.

Research limitations/implications

Implications from this research include the need to examine the operation of the integrated performance management framework together with in‐depth research methods to understand the system in use, rather than the intended design of performance management processes. Future theoretical development could also be enhanced by better selection of research sites and building on prior studies. The limitations of this review include journal bias and limitations associated with classifying the diverse range of field studies using any framework, including the Otley's framework.

Originality/value

The novelty of this review lies in using Otley's framework to classify the expansive performance management literature and to document the extent of the integrative nature of the field studies, the depth of the studies, and the diversity of theories applied.

Citation

Stringer, C. (2007), "Empirical performance management research: observations from AOS and MAR", Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 92-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/11766090710754187