Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

Taking the Blinders Off: The Behavioral Effects of Process versus Goal-Oriented Accountability on Managerial Decision Quality

• In Event: Managerial Decisions

Abstract

Process accountability is widely used to motivate individuals in complex and subjective tasks as it reduces the effect of noise on their motivations while still promoting sufficient effort. Whereas past research demonstrates this benefit, we bring to light a negative consequence of process accountability. Specifically, we predict and find that holding managers accountable to their process in a forecasting and investment decision task leads to a narrow conceptual focus that makes them susceptible to information-processing biases, negatively affecting decision quality. Further, we demonstrate that modifying the accountability requirement by drawing attention to the broader reason for performing the task (i.e., goal-oriented accountability) mitigates the influence of the bias. We also find supporting evidence for our theory, suggesting that goal-oriented accountability triggers a more comprehensive and longer-term forecasting approach than that of process accountability.

Authors

• Ziyang Li, Sichuan University

• Xiqiong He, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

• Jordan Samet, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Jason Kuang, Georgia Institute of Technology