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Purpose – The adoption of performance measurement and evaluation systems comprising nonfinancial measures has rendered the investigation of behavioral consequences of such measures an increasingly important research issue. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which the use of nonfinancial measures affects employees’ perceptions of procedural fairness. It proposes that the effects of nonfinancial measures on procedural fairness are indirect through the mediating variables of (1) job relevant information and (2) role clarity.

Methodology – Data collected from a survey of 276 managers in different functional areas are used to test the models. The data are analyzed using structural equation modeling (Partial Least Square).

Findings – Results from structural models indicate that the use of nonfinancial measures has a positive impact on job relevant information, role clarity, and procedural fairness. In addition, the findings suggest that the use of nonfinancial measures is indirectly related to procedural fairness through job relevant information and role clarity. Specifically, the results indicate that the use of nonfinancial measures affects job relevant information. Job relevant information then influences role clarity. Role clarity, in turn, is positively related to procedural fairness.

Value of paper – This study provides systematic empirical evidence on how the use of nonfinancial measures for performance measurement and evaluation can affect employee perceptions of procedural fairness. It helps organizations to understand how this process occurs and provides them with some assurance that the adoption of nonfinancial measures may be beneficial particularly through the higher information content of such measures and the consequential enhancement of employee role clarity and perception of fairness. By studying the effects of nonfinancial measures, in isolation, this study also helps to demonstrate to organizations that some of the beneficial effects on employee outcomes found by prior management accounting studies involving a combination of financial and nonfinancial measures may be achievable from the use of nonfinancial measures alone without the need of financial measures. This may assist organizations in designing simpler performance measurement systems.

This study, based on our analysis of survey data from 1,242 partners and employees of a U.S. national public accounting firm, examines the impact on psychological well-being from the moderating effects of flexibility and role clarity on work-home conflict experienced by public accountants. Most prior research in public accounting deals with the antecedents and consequences of role stress and primarily focuses on job outcomes of turnover intentions and job satisfaction as dependent variables. Public accounting firms have responded to stressors with worker-friendly policies, largely by introducing flexibility and clarity in their organizational culture. Using a multi-disciplinary research model, we analyze the causal relationships of flexibility and clarity as moderators of the bi-directional nature of work-home conflict (work interference with home and home interference with work) on psychological well-being. Our study finds that perceptions of flexibility and role clarity drawn from a career position in public accounting can mitigate role conflict between work and home environments and contribute to enhanced psychological well-being. We also find that certain relationships described in the model are moderated by family status and age, but not by gender. Results of our study have implications to both individual public accountants and to their firms.

This study examines one of the managerial practices inspired by local value systems and ethics. The masaza system of governance is valued by the respective authorities in Uganda. Role clarity which is fundamental to social service delivery is one of the central tenets in the strategy. This calls for the adoption of role clarity in order to promote its application as an approach to effective service delivery. The masaza system in Buganda was applied under the guidance of the value and ethical arrangements of the Baganda people that reside in central Uganda and has been in use for a long period of time. Prior to colonisation, Buganda kingdom in central Uganda employed this structure of governance (ssaza-single/masaza-many) under the strict adherence to role clarity. The kingdom was divided into 18 administrative units (masaza). Each of which was under the stewardship of a head (owessaza), there were smaller units of eggombolola, omuluka, and obutongole whose roles were clearly defined to trickle down to the village level for equitable social service(s) provision. This study, therefore, examined the contribution of role clarity in promoting social service delivery in Uganda. The researchers used qualitative data, analysed and summarised information of vignettes to demonstrate the relevancy of applying role clarity in enhancing social services delivery in public institutions. The study concluded that role clarity influences social services in public institutions.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which nonfinancial performance measures affect employee perceptions of how fair are their organizations' performance evaluation procedures. With increased interest in performance measurement systems that rely heavily on nonfinancial measures (e.g., balanced scorecard), it is important to understand the ramifications of these measures.

Methodology – Data are drawn from mail survey questionnaire responses of 121 Australian managers and analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Findings – The results provide support for the proposition that employees perceive the use of nonfinancial measures as fair. However, these effects are found to be indirect through (1) the enhancement of employee role clarity, and (2) the enhancement of the trust the employees have in their supervisors.

Research limitations and practical implications – This study does not directly address the issue of whether nonfinancial measures will ultimately lead to improved overall organizational performance. However, the results do suggest that the use of nonfinancial measures for employee performance evaluation is beneficial. Hence, there may scope for increasing their role in the workplace. This may ultimately lead to improved organizational performance.

Value of paper – The current interest in multidimensional performance systems clearly necessitates systematic empirical investigation to ascertain their effectiveness and benefits. This study contributes in this regard by focusing on nonfinancial measures, a key component of multidimensional performance measurement systems. It also adds to our understanding of the process by such systems influence employee reactions and ultimately overall organizational performance.

Through an inductive approach, I examine the process in which autonomy is exercised in the board-executive director relationship. A further contribution of the current study is the exploration of the antecedents of the delegation process.

Utilizing the benefits of semi-structured critical incident interviews, and analysis of organizational documentation, I study the process in which autonomy is exercised in the board-executive director relationship.

Evidence is found within organizations of times when it is clear that board members understand that there are boundaries to their role, respecting this autonomy, and times when board members overstep their role. Next, in the current study, I explore the antecedents of the delegation process, including identification of role boundaries, role clarity, clear expectations, trust in the executive director, and trust in the governance control systems.

Autonomy has historically been examined within seemingly paradoxical frameworks; this has included investigating autonomy as part of the definition of laissez faire leadership, as a key feature of transformational leadership and as one component of the jobs characteristics model, while others have characterized it as a stream of shared leadership. In the current project, the process of providing autonomy takes on characteristics consistent with both vertical leadership and distributed leadership. The executive director similarly plays a role in maintaining previously defined role boundaries, which is evidence of bidirectional influence. However, the board plays a disproportionately larger role in delineating and maintaining role boundaries – characteristics I demonstrate as being consistent with transformational leadership.

In this chapter, I provide a refreshing divergence from typical board prescriptions, in that I examine the board-executive director relationship through a behavioural lens. A clear understanding of the mutual influence and antecedents of autonomy are important to practitioners seeking to enhance performance through the delineation of roles.

This chapter briefly reviews findings from recent socialization research to provide an updated view of the socialization literature. To help advance the literature, this chapter then takes an instructional system approach, viewing socialization fundamentally as a process of learning about a new or changed role and the environment surrounding that role. As such, attention will first be given to further understanding exactly what needs to be learned during socialization. In doing so, an expanded socialization content typology is presented. In addition, two other components are added to this typology to reflect the fact that (a) each of those content dimensions needs to be learned relative to different organizational levels (e.g., job, work group, unit, organization) and (b) socialization occurs over several months and there are temporal considerations relating to the different socialization content dimensions. This chapter then examines how to best facilitate the learning of that expanded socialization content. The Gagné-Briggs theory of instruction is used in connecting socialization content with the means of learning that content. The socialization and orienting activities commonly used by organizations to help new employees in the adjustment process are also identified and then mapped onto the learning outcomes they could best help facilitate. Finally, the conceptual, measurement, and research needs suggested by these extensions to the socialization literature are identified.

Workplace voice is well-established and encompasses behaviors such as prosocial voice, informal complaints, grievance filing, and whistleblowing, and it focuses on interactions between the employee and supervisor or the employee and the organizational collective. In contrast, our chapter focuses on employee prosocial advocacy voice (PAV), which the authors define as prosocial voice behaviors aimed at preventing harm or promoting constructive changes by advocating on behalf of others. In the context of a healthcare organization, low quality and unsafe patient care are salient and objectionable states in which voice can motivate actions on behalf of the patient to improve information exchanges, governance, and outreach activities for safer outcomes. The authors draw from the theory and research on responsibility to intersect with theories on information processing, accountability, and stakeholders that operate through voice between the employee-patient, employee-coworker, and employee-profession, respectively, to propose a model of PAV in patient-centered healthcare. The authors complete the model by suggesting intervening influences and barriers to PAV that may affect patient-centered outcomes.

This chapter focuses on the barriers women of color (WOC) in the professoriate face in their pursuit of tenure and promotion and provides selected strategies that build bridges for their success. It draws on critical race theory (CRT) to identify structural as well as individual changes that must be made in academe. The chapter addresses selected strategies for African-American, Latina American, and Asian/Pacific American women to successfully traverse the perilous road from untenured assistant professor to tenured full professor. The Newcomer Adjustment framework of the Organizational Socialization Model (OSM; Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, & Tucker, 2007) is used as a systematic approach to addressing barriers and building bridges for WOC in the professoriate. Gaps in the research are also identified.

Communication aids sports teams in achieving physical feats through the process of teamwork. Working in fast-paced, high-pressure environments, sports teams are epitomized by their focus on effective physical and mental coordination, constantly adapting as a team to changing information and dynamic opponents. However, successful physical and mental coordination in sports teams are dependent on communication that may occur well before gameplay. For this reason, coaches and team leaders focus on various communicative activities throughout the life of a sports team, such as knowledge sharing, role clarity, goal setting, motivation, culture, and cohesion. Sports teams also provide unique insights into how teams communicate in single-gender groups, how heightened emotion affects team performance, and how event finality plays a role in team process.