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Accounting work is characterized by high job demands and tight deadlines. With less task variety, accounting work is susceptible to employee disengagement. This paper aims to examine the role of enhanced performance management practices as intervention mechanism to the disengagement among accountants.

A total of 105 accountants participated in an online survey, answering self and social reports. Hypotheses were tested using regression analyses.

Enhanced performance management practices promote engagement among accountants. In turn, engagement promotes job satisfaction and affective commitment among accountants.

Further studies are necessary to test the study’s findings. Future research should focus on replicating this study in other settings.

Performance planning and implementation are critical to enhancing accountants’ work attitudes and behaviors.

The accounting literature has consistently addressed negative accounting work outcomes from the perspective of burnout (a negative approach). This paper addresses the issue from the perspective of engagement (a positive approach).

Many firms measure customer satisfaction on an attribute‐by‐attribute level. Past research has shown that halo errors can pose a serious threat to the interpretability of such data. Examines three factors that potentially reduce halo, using a combination of an experimental and quasi‐experimental research design. Three conclusions were drawn. First, measurement after consumption showed less halo than delayed measurement. Second, relative rating scales contained less halo than standard satisfaction scales. Third, an interaction effect was found between the number of attributes to be evaluated and the rating scale used. The evaluation of many attributes reduced halo in comparison to an evaluation of few attributes when a standard satisfaction rating scale was used. However, when the more complex relative rating scale was used, halo was not reduced when subjects had to evaluate a large number of attributes, perhaps due to the increased complexity of the task.

The purpose of this paper is to begin the integration of two separate but clearly related streams of research. Feedback and feedback-seeking have been separate areas of research for decades. In this paper, the authors argue that full understanding of feedback and its effects will not be possible unless these two literatures are integrated. Instead of just focusing on what would motivate people to seek feedback, how often and from whom, the authors argue that closer examination of how feedback-seeking affects feedback outcomes is warranted. Future directions for this research are discussed, including several research proposals.

Integrative review.

After a brief review of the feedback and feedback-seeking literatures, the authors use theory on cognition and judgment to argue that feedback that is sought may differ in content from feedback that is unsought. Additionally, employees who seek out feedback may react differently to feedback than those who receive feedback without seeking it out. As recipient reactions are critical in how (or whether) feedback affects performance, the full context of the feedback process must be considered, including the impetus for feedback.

These two streams of literature have been existing independent of each other for some years. Yet, is should be clear that not only why or how one seeks feedback but how one reacts to that feedback should be examined. Furthermore, whether people deal with sought feedback differently than with feedback that is not sought needs to be studied.

Existe una larga tradición que trata los efectos del feedback en los resultados, pero, tradicionalmente, esta investigación se ha centrado en el feedback que se da sin que este sea buscado. Más recientemente se ha desarrollado una literatura sobre el feedback buscado. Estas dos corrientes de la literatura se han desarrollado de manera casi independiente, aunque en última instancia ambas estén interesadas en como el feedback afecta al comportamiento. El objetivo de este artículo es revisar brevemente estas dos literaturas y después tratar de integrarlas en una visión más coherente del proceso de feedback. La revisión se traduce en una serie de preguntas de investigación relativas a las similitudes y diferencias entre ambos tipos de feedback. Esperamos que ello genere investigación que reconozca la necesidad de considerar ambos tipos de feedback.

Los autores revisan la literatura en las dos áreas de la investigación en feedback y sugieren una serie de preguntas de investigación sobre los efectos diferenciales de cada tipo de feedback.

Los autores utilizan la investigación en procesos cognitivos para sugerir como el feeback que se busca puede generar reacciones diferentes a cuando el feedback es dado, y como esto puede afectar a la efectividad de las dos formas de feedback.

El artículo representa la mayor integración de las dos literaturas sobre feedback. Como resultado, el artículo presenta implicaciones importantes sobre cómo debe administrarse el feedback para mejorar el desempeño organizativo.

Feedback, Busqueda de feedback, Gestión del rendimiento, Procesamiento de la información

Revisión general

Existe uma ampla tradição na investigação que trata dos efeitos do feedback nos resultados, mas tradicionalmente esta investigação se concentrou no feedback que acontece sem que este seja procurado. Mais recentemente se desenvolveu uma literatura sobre o feedback procurado. Estas duas correntes da literatura se desenvolveram de forma quase independente, embora na última instancia ambas estejam interessadas em como o feedback afeta al comportamento. O objetivo de este artigo é revisar brevemente estas duas literaturas e posteriormente tratar de integrar ambas numa visão mais coerente do processo de feedback. A revisão se traduz numa serie de perguntas de investigação relativas as semelhanças e diferenças entre ambos tipos de feedback. Esperamos que isso gere investigação que reconheça a necessidade de considerar ambos tipos de feedback.

Os autores revisam a literatura nas duas áreas da investigação no feedback e sugerem una serie de preguntas de investigação sobre os efeitos diferenciais de cada tipo de feedback.

Os autores utilizam a investigação em processos cognitivos para sugerir como o feedback que se procura pode gerar reações diferentes a quando o feedback acontece, e como isso pode afetar a efetividade das duas formas de feedback.

O artigo representa a maior integração das duas literaturas sobre o feedback. Como resultado, o artigo apresenta implicações importantes sobre como se deve administrar o feedback para melhorar o desempenho organizativo.

Feedback, Procura de feedback, Gestão do rendimento, Processamento da informação

Revisão geral

The halo effect is a systematic bias in attribute ratings resulting from raters′ tendency to rely on global affect rather than carefully discriminating among conceptually distinct and potentially independent brand attributes. Traditionally, researchers have regarded the halo effect as a source of measurement error to be avoided. Discusses how halo measurement can serve as a useful indicator of brand equity. Uses consumer rating data in three categories of commonly purchased household products to demonstrate the approach.

Consequence prediction is an emerging topic in safety management concerning the severity outcome of accidents. In practical applications, it is usually implemented through supervised learning methods; however, the evaluation of classification results remains a challenge. The previous studies mostly adopted simplex evaluation based on empirical and quantitative assessment strategies. This paper aims to shed new light on the comprehensive evaluation and comparison of diverse classification methods through visualization, clustering and ranking techniques.

An empirical study is conducted using 9 state-of-the-art classification methods on a real-world data set of 653 construction accidents in China for predicting the consequence with respect to 39 carefully featured factors and accident type. The proposed comprehensive evaluation enriches the interpretation of classification results from different perspectives. Furthermore, the critical factors leading to severe construction accidents are identified by analyzing the coefficients of a logistic regression model.

This paper identifies the critical factors that significantly influence the consequence of construction accidents, which include accident type (particularly collapse), improper accident reporting and handling (E21), inadequate supervision engineers (O41), no special safety department (O11), delayed or low-quality drawings (T11), unqualified contractor (C21), schedule pressure (C11), multi-level subcontracting (C22), lacking safety examination (S22), improper operation of mechanical equipment (R11) and improper construction procedure arrangement (T21). The prediction models and findings of critical factors help make safety intervention measures in a targeted way and enhance the experience of safety professionals in the construction industry.

The empirical study using some well-known classification methods for forecasting the consequences of construction accidents provides some evidence for the comprehensive evaluation of multiple classifiers. These techniques can be used jointly with other evaluation approaches for a comprehensive understanding of the classification algorithms. Despite the limitation of specific methods used in the study, the presented methodology can be configured with other classification methods and performance metrics and even applied to other decision-making problems such as clustering.

This study sheds new light on the comprehensive comparison and evaluation of classification results through visualization, clustering and ranking techniques using an empirical study of consequence prediction of construction accidents. The relevance of construction accident type is discussed with the severity of accidents. The critical factors influencing the accident consequence are identified for the sake of taking prevention measures for risk reduction. The proposed method can be applied to other decision-making tasks where the evaluation is involved as an important component.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

The objectives of this study were to verify and group the unintended consequences (UCs) of performance evaluation systems (PESs) reported by empirical studies in the literature; and to determine whether these consequences manifest themselves at the managerial or the operational level of organisations.

A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using the intervention instrument Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist. In total, 33 scientifically relevant empirical articles were selected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, representative of the theme of PESs’ UCs. The treatment of the data was due to critical reflection on the findings, synthesized in a literature map.

The study identified 24 UCs, most of which were negative. These were divided into two categories: feelings/emotions and attitudes/implications. Most conscious attitudes manifested themselves at the managerial level, whereas the unconscious ones appeared at the operational level. It was established that employees are more likely to be induced to adopt dysfunctional behaviours. Social aspects that interact with a PES, such as contextual and cultural factors, are fundamental for understanding how PES’s UCs occur.

The study provides insights for researchers and professionals in the field of performance evaluation who wish to delve deeper into the theme of UCs, based on the proposed structure of a literature map that consists of dividing consequences into feelings and attitudes; checking the occurrence level (managerial or operational); and identifying the nature of the attitude, whether it is conscious or unconscious.

This paper synthesizes the extant research on the outcome effect in the accounting domain, focusing primarily on the context of performance evaluation. It reviews the current state of our knowledge about this phenomenon, including its underlying cognitive and motivational causes, the contexts in which the outcome effect is observed, the factors that influence its various manifestations, and ways in which undesirable outcome effects can be mitigated. It also considers various perspectives about the extent to which outcome effects represent undesirable judgmental bias, and whether this distinction is necessary to motivate research on this topic. The paper is intended to motivate and facilitate future research into the effects of outcome knowledge on judgment in the accounting context. Therefore, we also identify important unanswered questions and discuss opportunities for future research throughout the paper. These include additional consideration of instances in which the outcome effect is reflective of bias, how this bias can be effectively mitigated, ways in which outcome information influences judgment (regardless of whether this influence is considered normative), and how the underlying causes of the outcome effect operate singly and jointly to bring about the outcome effect. We also consider ways that future research can contribute to practice by determining how to encourage evaluators to retain and incorporate the relevant information conveyed by outcomes, while avoiding the inappropriate use of outcome information, and by enhancing external validity to increase the generalizability of experimental results to scenarios frequently encountered in practice.