How control system design influences performance misreporting

8 important questions on How control system design influences performance misreporting

What are the main findings of this article?

* Performance misreporting will be higher if performance reports have a positive impact on peer managers'wealth than if performance reports have a negative impact on peer managers' wealth
* Performance misreporting will be lower under an open policy than under a closed policy
* The difference in misreporting between situations in which performance reports have a positive impact on peer managers' wealth and situations in which performance reports have a negative impact on peer managers' wealth is larger under an open than under a closed information policy.

Homo economicus model

Managers will overstate their performance unless there is a mechanism in place to detect his and getting caught will decrease wealth.

When is the homo economicus model not applicable and why?

It is not applicable when it requires employees to be dishonest, because:
1) Social preferences: not only care about own wealth, but also the wealth of other people
2) Dishonesty represent a norm violation (personal or social norm)
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Interdependence within the compensation structure

Compensation structure in which one unit mangers'pay is contingent upon other unit's performance.

Internal information policy

The extent to which an organization has a policy of informing managers about the performance levels of each of their peers -> closed or open

Managers can can maximize their wealth by breaking personal norm of honesty, how does the design of control system affects their reporting choice in this setting?

If managers can increase their own payoff by overstating their performance, they are more likely to do so if their peers also benefit from this overstatement than if their peers are harmed by it. If managers care about other managers' wealth, and performance reports affect this wealth, their social preferences will be reflected in their reporting decisions.

How will the reporting manager anticipate on that?

Relying on the theory about social norms and lying aversion, managers prefer to perceived as honest. Higher performance reports are more likely to be perceived as overstated by peers, this will reduce the incentives to misreport.

What does the open information policy does?

Open information policy does not only induces pressure to conform to a social norm of honesty, but also induces pressure to act in the group's best monetary interest.

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