The interactive effects of ex post goal adjustment and goal difficulty on performance

Khim Ong Kelly, R. Alan Webb, Thomas Vance

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Despite the common use of performance goals to motivate employees and the use of ex post goal adjustments to filter out the effects of unforeseen and uncontrollable events, minimal research has examined the consequences of employing them jointly. We predict that the availability of ex post goal adjustments will have a positive effect on performance and that this effect will be stronger when the ex ante goal difficulty level is moderate rather than difficult. Moreover, we predict that these effects will be mediated by perceptions of procedural justice. Results from an experiment completed by 142 undergraduate students support our predictions. The availability of ex post goal adjustments has positive effects on procedural fairness perceptions and performance under the moderate goal, but has no such effects under the difficult goal. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-25
Number of pages25
JournalJournal of Management Accounting Research
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2015

Keywords

  • Goal adjustment
  • Goal difficulty
  • Goals
  • Incentives
  • Subjectivity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Accounting

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