Discretionary Performance Research Articles

The Effects of Span of Control and Temporal Disaggregation of Performance Reports on Discretionary Performance Evaluations

ABSTRACT Span of control and temporal disaggregation of performance reports are two important control system elements that jointly determine the benchmarks that managers have available when evaluating employees’ performance. Using an experiment, we investigate whether widening managers’ span of control and temporally disaggregating performance reports affect managers’ evaluation decisions. We predict and find that managers with a wider span of control evaluate their best performing employees more favorably and their worst performing employees less favorably. We also find that disaggregating performance reports, i.e., providing quarterly performance figures in addition to annual performance figures, has a negative effect on managers’ evaluations of their best performing employees, but only when their span of control is wide. We discuss the implications of our findings for management accounting research and practice. Data Availability: The data and research instrument are available from the authors upon request. JEL Classifications: M10; M40; M50; D91.

Does the Capital Structure Affect the Discretionary and Non-discretionary Firm Performance? Evidence from Vietnam

This study strives to describe how the nexus between capital structure (CAS) and firm performance (FIP) changes with and without earnings management (EAM), which previous studies have not fully addressed. For this purpose, we divide the FIP into discretionary performance (DIP) and non-discretionary performance (NDIP). Subsequently, we examine the effect of CAS on both with each studied separately to recognize the conceptual drivers in the nexus between CAS and FIP. We use the dataset of firms listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) during the period from 2018 to 2022. Our findings reveal that there is a negative and noteworthy impact of CAS proxied by leverage on both DIP and NDIP, which is in line with trade-off theory (TOT) and pecking-order theory (POT). Because non-discretionary accruals (NDA) play an important role in EAM, firm action is consistent with TOT or POT and, thus, this study suggests dividing EAM into discretionary accruals (DA) and NDA to test CAS theories. Additionally, Vietnamese firms use EAM to lessen the negative effect of CAS and firm size. Finally, besides the theoretical contributions, the findings of this study have important empirical implications for managers, shareholders and other stakeholders.

The State of the Psychological Contract, Justice and Engagement Drive Nurses' Performance Behaviors.

This paper investigates the links between the psychological contract and organizational justice variables on to performance behaviors through the mechanisms of engagement, job satisfaction and psychological distress, beyond the perception-oriented individual factor of negative affectivity. Nursing staff (n = 273) from a medium to large Australian hospital completed a self-report survey. Structural equation modeling found differential effects of psychological contract breach and psychological contract status, the mediating roles of engagement, job satisfaction and distress on to performance behaviors, while noting the role of individual negative affectivity. Engaging nurses is critical to both their in-role and discretionary performance behaviors. Reducing negative impacts, particularly those due to breaking promises and unfair processes, while protecting the nurses’ mental health, enables performance levels to be maintained. This study demonstrates that nurses’ general perceptions of their employment relationship impacted their in-role and discretionary performance behaviors, especially through the mechanism of engagement. The complexity of managing nurses is highlighted by those variables that enacted positive impacts via engagement as versus the variables that led to distress and acted as brakes on performance, as well as the impact of the negative affectivity trait of the nurses.

Masculinity contest culture reduces organizational citizenship behaviors through decreased organizational identification.

Masculinity contest culture (MCC) encourages fierce competition and race for status at all costs. Across three experiments (Ntotal = 554), we investigated how MCC affects discretionary performance at work (i.e., organizational citizenship behaviors; OCBs). Compared to an alternative culture (i.e., feminine nurturing culture; FNC), participants in the MCC condition reported lower levels of OCBs toward the organization and its members. Further results showed that MCC diminished individuals' intentions to engage in discretionary performance through reduced organizational identification. We did not find a moderating effect of gender, suggesting that MCC thwarts discretionary performance and organizational identification for both women and men. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Discretionary Performance in the 21st Century Workplace: Expanding Theory, Research, and Practice

This symposium broadens our sight by expanding theory, research and practice of discretionary performance: organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs; or deviance), which are important components of job performance. The papers in the symposium present new theoretical directions and ways to conceptualize and study these behaviors. These include utilizing a person-centered approach to study profiles (rather than separate traits or behaviors). Specifically, the first paper studies how personality profiles (i.e., combinations of traits) predict discretionary behaviors. The second paper identifies deviance profiles and examines how they relate to traditional antecedents of deviance in non-traditional ways. The third paper examines how between- and within-person variance in CWBs depends on the total study duration and the time intervals between measurements. The second focus of this symposium is on discretionary behaviors in the context of the modern day workplace, thus expanding our understanding of the role that these behaviors play in aligning individual and organizational values in this dynamic environment. Specifically, the fourth paper examines how the interface (i.e., conflict vs. enhancement) between a gig-work identity and an environmental identity affects positive and negative discretionary behaviors. Finally, the fifth paper studies the effects of employee promotive and prohibitive voice on empowering leadership, and how this effect depends on a dynamic work environment. In sum, the papers in this symposium have implications for theory, research and practice in organizational behavior and human resources, as the papers enrich our understanding of attributes and processes related to job performance. Personality Profiles as Predictors of Job Performance: A Person-Centered Approach Presenter: Peng Zhao; Indiana U. - Kelley School of Business Presenter: Christopher M. Berry; Indiana U. - Kelley School of Business The Profiles of Workplace Deviance: A Latent Class Analysis Approach Presenter: Jason Kautz; U. of South Carolina Presenter: Bailey A. Bigelow; U. of Central Florida Presenter: Nichelle Carpenter; U. of South Carolina An Examination of Temporal Variability in CWB Presenter: Casey Giordano; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Brittany Kathleen Mercado; Elon U. Presenter: Deniz S Ones; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Stephan Dilchert; City U. of New York, Baruch College The Effects of Environmental and Work Identities on Discretionary Performance in Gig Economy Work Presenter: Maria Rotundo; U. of Toronto Presenter: Ravit Hezkiau-Ludwig; U. of Toronto Presenter: Chloe Kovacheff; U. of Toronto Presenter: Joyce He; U. of Toronto Fostering Manager’s Trust in Employees: When and Why Does Employee Voice Lead to More Empowerment? Presenter: Shuqi Li; Eli Broad School of Business, Michigan State U. Presenter: Yao Wang; Renmin U. of China Presenter: Russell Eric Johnson; Eli Broad School of Business, Michigan State U.

Earnings Management: Do Firms Play “Follow the Leader”?

AbstractIn this study we examine whether the reported performance of one firm affects the discretionary reporting behavior of another firm. We do this by identifying the leader within each industry, defined as the first large announcing firm. We find that the discretionary performance of followers (those firms announcing after the leader) relates positively to the leader's reported performance. Specifically, when the leader misses analysts’ expectations, followers report lower discretionary accruals, have fewer income‐decreasing special items, and are less likely to meet analysts’ expectations. In contrast, when leaders report good news, followers report higher discretionary accruals and are more likely to meet expectations (although we do not find evidence of a positive association between leaders’ good news and followers’ income‐decreasing special items). Overall, the results are consistent with managers of followers perceiving that earnings news of the leader will affect investors’ and others’ performance expectations for their firms.

The discretionary use of performance information by different local government actors – analysing and comparing the predictive power of three factor sets

In recent years, empirical research on performance information use has gained momentum, but quantitative studies, which include different actor groups, are less widespread. Building on prior research within this field, our study offers insights into various antecedents for performance information use – including individual, performance-measurement-specific, and organizational context factors. By applying a quantitative survey of different actor groups at the local government level in Austria, we draw a picture of different user profiles for mayors with administrative authority, chief officials and chief financial officials. Hence, we are able to confirm findings from former studies with other national backgrounds and contribute to a better understanding regarding some new individual aspects influencing discretionary performance information use in a strategy formulation context. Points for practitioners It is important to gather insights on the factors driving performance information use, as the latter is a crucial indicator for whether the introduction of performance measurement is worth the effort. Moreover, the results show that the performance information use intensity of mayors, chief officials and chief financial officials is driven by different factors. The study not only contributes to a better understanding of performance measurement utilization in general, but also points to the existence of different user profiles, therefore offering implications for the development of performance management implementation strategies.

Earning Management: Do Firms Play 'Follow the Leader'?

In this study we examine whether the reported performance of one firm affects the discretionary reporting behavior of another firm. We do this by identifying the leader within each industry, defined as the first large announcing firm. We find that the discretionary performance of followers (those firms announcing after the leader) relates positively to the leader’s reported performance. Specifically, when the leader misses analysts’ expectations, followers report lower discretionary accruals, have fewer income-decreasing special items, and are less likely to meet analysts’ expectations. In contrast, when leaders report good news, followers report higher discretionary accruals and are more likely to meet expectations (although we do not find evidence of a positive association between leaders’ good news and followers’ income-decreasing special items). Overall, the results are consistent with managers of followers perceiving that earnings news of the leader will affect investors’ and others’ performance expectations for their firms.

Impact of competitiveness on salespeople's commitment and performance

This study analyzes the work performance of salespeople with a competitive disposition. The results show a positive link between dispositional competitiveness and discretionary performance, and suggest that salespeople's affective commitment to their organization mediates this link. The relationship between dispositional competitiveness and affective commitment is more positive when salespeople perceive their psychological work climate to be competitive. The findings add to the research on dispositional competitiveness and affective commitment among sales staff.

Social exchanges as motivators of hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior: The proposition and application of a new three-dimensional framework

This study developed and empirically tested a three-dimensional framework of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the hotel industry. Using a social exchange perspective, the study expanded social exchange theory's emphasis on leader–member exchange to include coworker exchange and customer–employee exchange. The three types of social exchanges were tested as motivators for three types of OCB; organizational, interpersonal and customer. The findings support the distinctiveness of the three types of OCB and the importance of social exchanges as motivators for OCBs. This study contributes to the literature on OCB dimensionality in service organizations, as well as social exchange theory's application to discretionary performance in the hotel industry.

The Registered Nursesʼ experiences of workplace culture and workplace climatic factors as influences on nursing workloads: A systematic review

The Registered Nursesʼ experiences of workplace culture and workplace climatic factors as influences on nursing workloads: A systematic review

The Registered Nurses' experiences of workplace culture and workplace climatic factors as influences on nursing workloads: A systematic review.

Review question/objective: The objective of this review is to identify and synthesise current evidence on workplace cultural and climatic factors that influence the daily work of nurses in an acute health care setting Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest: This review will consider the experiences of Registered Nurses in busy acute care facilities, in regard to values, beliefs, attitudes, artefacts, rituals, routines and traditions that impact on nursing workloads. In addition, to this cultural aspect, the experiences of climate factors that include clinical governance, inter-professional relationships, collegiality, workplace support, non-nursing duties, organisational structure and processes, work redesign, work flow, nursing roles and demands on nurses practice context that influence nurses workloads, will be included. Patient clinical care factors will be excluded. Types of outcomes: This review will consider studies that include experiences of Registered Nurses of specific cultural and climatic factors that influence Registered Nurses' daily workloads in an acute care facility.

Making client values explicit in value management workshops

Value management is a project‐focused process that makes explicit and appraises the functional benefits of a product, process or service consistent with a value system determined by the client. The value system of the client necessarily requires a method for value setting using harder performance variables than the commonly described facets of time, cost and quality. Current value theory is critically appraised in the context of current value management practice. The research proposition is that the constituent parts of time, cost and quality can be made overt enabling a client to express satisfaction in terms of a finite number of variables enabling the explicit statement of client value within a value management workshop. An action research study into the discovery of the component parts of the client's value system at the early stages of construction projects concludes that the variables are the nine non‐correlated, high order, discretionary performance variables of capital expenditure, operational expenditure, time, esteem, environment, exchange, politics/community, flexibility and comfort.

A framework for assessing discretionary corporate performance towards the environment

This article reviews the existing models of corporate social responsiveness and develops a theoretical framework with which to examine corporations' discretionary performance with respect to one social issue, that of the environment. Discretionary indicators of corporate response to environmental issues are developed and tested within this framework. Twelve companies from five different sectors were selected for the survey, based on prior knowledge of their commitment to environmental concerns. Primary data was collected from personal interviews, and secondary data was obtained from company documents, annual reports, and other forms of publically disclosed information. Empirical results varied, but certain voluntary indicators, such as composition of the board of directors, the environmental affairs function, community support, and the annual report are considered to provide strong indications of discretionary corporate performance. Philanthropy and company products proved to be less satisfactory indicators of corporate commitment to the environment. The aggregated results revealed a correlation between the final rankings of firms' discretionary environmental performance and whether those companies are process or product oriented. Linkages between discretionary elements and those of economic and legal requirements were not explored.