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To evaluate a proposed prescriptive model for the design of effective combinations of performance goals and pay‐for‐performance plans for the performance management of teams.

The idea underlying the model – in which task, goal, and reward interdependence and their fit play a dominant role – is that a pay‐for‐performance plan should support the team goals and the goals of individual team members as well as support the way in which team members need to cooperate. To obtain a first notion on the model's validity, it was applied to evaluate a pay‐for‐performance plan for management teams at a large IT company. This evaluation consisted of an in‐depth study of three management teams, using a case study methodology.

Combinations of fit among type of team, performance goals, and pay‐for‐performance plan (established by a fit between the interdependence constructs and/or by an overlap in the content of the goal and pay indicators) are more effective than combinations of misfit.

The case study was limited to intra‐team interdependence relationships and did allow for a analysis of the separate effects of a fit between the interdependence constructs versus content fit.

This study shows that pay‐for‐performance plans should not be designed in isolation, but rather in alignment with performance goals and existing task interdependencies.

This is the first study to investigate the three inter‐dependence constructs in conjunction in a field setting.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how individual perceptions by employees of a goal‐setting program and personality traits influence job satisfaction and goal commitment.

Using the German version of Locke and Latham's goal‐setting questionnaire, 97 production employees judged the quality of the goal‐setting program in their company with regard to content‐related problems of goals (e.g. goal clarity), process in dyad (e.g. supervisor support), and setting‐related aspects (e.g. rewards). Data were also collected on the participants' conscientiousness and neuroticism.

The results showed that job satisfaction is predicted by content and setting‐related aspects, whereas content‐related aspects affected goal commitment. Conscientiousness explained variance in goal commitment independent of individual perceptions of the goal‐setting program, whereas neuroticism affected job satisfaction indirectly via the perceptions of goal content.

Performance management programs that incorporate goals belong to the most widely used management techniques worldwide. The study provides evidence on critical success factors from the view of staff members, which helps to design or optimize current goal‐setting programs. Furthermore, the study implies practical consequences in terms of person‐job fit based on personality traits.

The study helps to build a more comprehensive picture of how content, process, and setting‐related perceptions of a goal‐setting program influence job satisfaction and goal commitment. In addition, it provides important insights into the processes through which individual differences affect work behavior.

Crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic pose extraordinary challenges to the decision making in management teams. Teams need to integrate available information quickly to make informed decisions on the spot and update their decisions as new information becomes available. Moreover, making good decisions is hard as it requires sacrifices for the common good, and finally, implementing the decisions made is not easy as it requires persistence in the face of strong counterproductive social pressures.

We provide a “psychology of action” perspective on making team-based management decisions in crisis by introducing collective implementation intentions (We-if-then plans) as a theory-based intervention tool to improve decision processes. We discuss our program of research on forming and acting on We-if-then plans in ad hoc teams facing challenging situations.

Teams with We-if-then plans consistently made more informed decisions when information was socially or temporally distributed, when decision makers had to make sacrifices for the common good, and when strong social pressures opposed acting on their decisions. Preliminary experimental evidence indicates that assigning simple We-if-then plans had similar positive effects as providing a leader to steer team processes.

Our analysis of self-regulated team decisions helps understand and improve how management teams can make and act on good decisions in crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic.

This paper aims to investigate the intersection between corporate governance and management accounting information within the board meeting of an English further education college.

The empirical fieldwork uses an interventionist approach. Board members’ mental models of a management accounting boundary object are analysed.

The paper supports Parker (2007) and Cornforth and Edward’s (1999) observation that within a board meeting, collaborative “micro-management” type talk is considered to lie outside the acceptable remit of non-executive and executive board member interaction. Such an attitude can prevent an intertwining of management accounting information and other mental models of an organisation occurring. This can preclude management accounting information from rendering an organisation visible, in an expansive manner, within a boardroom.

Interventionist researchers working within the black box of the board are encouraged to design more radical and collaborative interventions than the interview/report format used here.

Non-executive directors might benefit from being offered the opportunity to interact with management accounting information outside the formal board meeting and committee structure.

A deeper understanding of how directors’ mental models, boardroom behaviours and attitudes influence their interaction with management accounting information is offered. Insight into the limitations of using management accounting information in the boardroom is developed.

An increased level of self‐organization, particularly in autonomous work teams, is widely believed to be a necessary part of a successful firm and a factor in many modern restructuring initiatives. This article investigates the limitations of self‐organized groups and surveys these limitations from two important perspectives: (1) limits that are inherent to the production structure and equipment, and (2) limits that relate to the firm’s workforce. With respect to the first issue, the predictability of markets and the standardization of production situations provide strong reasons for limiting the opportunities for self‐organization. In terms of a firm’s workforce, problems such as learning capability, motivation, identity, ambition, and prestige must be taken into account before introducing self‐organizational practices. Additionally, the delegation of authority, the resulting redundancy of middle managers and the relevant compensation for the workers concerned must also be considered. In conclusion, self‐organizing teams relate to many constraints, all of which should be considered before putting these teams into practice.

This paper aims to review and analyze the validity and relevance of the conceptualization of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model, especially within an African context. The BSC model was developed to address the problems and limitations of relying solely on traditional financial measures. This paper carries out a critical review and detailed analysis on perspectives surrounding the BSC model.

The paper critically reviews relevant literature on the BSC model by focusing on the pertinent issues surrounding the applicability of the BSC model in modern business environment. A critical review of conceptualization issues regarding the BSC model especially with a focus toward its application within an African framework was also done.

It is established that the BSC model plays a pivotal role in assisting business executives in making holistic long-term management decisions. However, the model puts undue emphasis on shareholders’ wealth maximization at the sacrifice of other equally important stakeholders. The model puts less emphasis or completely ignores such stakeholders as competitors, suppliers, lenders, government, the local community and the natural environment. The model is fraught with many conceptualization assumptions that are not realistic in the modern environment.

It is envisaged that the study should add to the literature on corporate performance measures and the BSC model. The revelations gained through this paper will enable researchers to have an open mind on the way the BSC model is supposed to be modified and applied for various business environments.

The revelations of the paper point out application limitations of the BSC model, there is an imperative need to upgrade and redesign the BSC model to reflect realities of modern business activities, especially within an African context.

The authors proposed that participation in large-scale, structured events designed to match students to employers' internship opportunities could support students' employability by focussing students' career goals, strengthening students' career self-efficacy and growing students' social capital.

Interviews were carried out with 49 students both before and after the students took part in the event to assess whether students career goals, self-efficacy or social capital changed after taking part in the events. In the second interview, the authors also asked students what outcomes students gained from the event and how the event process had contributed to these outcomes.

Students' descriptions of their outcomes from the event aligned with social capital theory and self-efficacy theory. The students valued the information, connections, skills and experience they developed through taking part in the interviews and connecting with employers and students. The longitudinal analyses revealed that most students career goals did not change, but students' career self-efficacy improved and students could identify more actions for achieving their career goals after taking part in the event. Importantly, these actions were often explicitly connected with information or connections that students gained from the event.

The interviews illustrate that students can build social capital from short, one-on-one engagement with employers that then enable them to identify ways of furthering students' career goals. The authors' findings suggest that structured, event-based engagement with employers can provide an efficient and equitable means of enhancing students' social capital and career self-efficacy.