Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

Too Much Feedback? The Effects of Relative Performance Information on Task Performance and Task Persistence

• In Event: Break and Research Exhibition 2
  In Paper Session: Room 1

Abstract

Advances in information technology have made the question of how relative performance information (RPI) affects and shapes learning and productivity a salient question in employee performance measurement and bench marking in academia and industry alike. Whereas extant research mostly identified the positive effects of RPI, we report the results of two experimental studies that captures the negative effects of RPI. Specifically, our results indicated reduced levels of learning and performance in an investment task, not only for average performers - but also for the entire cohort relative to a control group without RPI. In addition, we showed that these negative motivational effects may lead participants to switch tasks. This effect is less pronounced when participants did not know how they performed relative to others. Our results suggest that introducing RPI in a multitasking environment may lead to misallocation of efforts by prompting employees to shift to other tasks, resulting in retraining or replacement costs.

Authors

• Puya Kahhali, UC Riverside

• Numan Aksanyar, Uludag University

• Boris Maciejovsky, UC Riverside

• Birendra Kumar Mishra, University of California-Riverside