Two theories have emerged in the managerial control literature as to the best way for organizations to ensure that managers are acting in the firm's best interest: agency theory, which stresses controlling decision-makers through monitoring and incentives aligned with organizational goals, and stewardship theory, which stresses that decision-makers will act in the organization's best interest even in the absence of controls. Much of the research investigating the utility of these two positions is based on archival data where actual decision-making can only be inferred. In this study, we utilize a laboratory methodology in order to determine if decision-makers actually make different decisions when under the types of control (or lack thereof) suggested in these two theories. The results of this study show that individuals under agency controls invest more in alternatives that maximize profits of an organization than individuals under stewardship controls. Copyright 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..
This study explored how context influences accountability in a performance appraisal context. Results demonstrate that audience characteristics influence rating quality, as raters accountable to higher status or mixed-status audiences provided more accurate ratings, whereas those accountable to a lower status audience provided more inflated ratings. Participant note taking also mediated the relationship between accountability to higher status or mixed-status audiences and rating accuracy. Raters required to account for ratings in person as opposed to in writing were more accurate when accountable to higher status or mixed audiences and provided more positive indicators of behavior when accountable to a lower status audience.
This paper examines whether multiple motivational sources uniquely influence task performance. Using the established framework in the goal‐setting literature that suggests a pattern of mediated relationships, we test the relationship between assigned goals, incentives, and intrinsic motivation and task performance. The results show that assigned goals, incentives, and intrinsic motivation each positively influence task performance. However, the magnitude of the relationship varies considerably. The relationship for assigned goals was fully mediated by self‐efficacy and self‐set goals, whereas only a direct relationship emerged for incentives. The data reveal both direct and indirect relationships associated with intrinsic motivation.
This study tested the idea that some personality variables are related to interpersonal aspects of job performance primarily through interpersonal knowledge and skill, just as cognitive ability has been shown to be related to technical aspects of job performance primarily through technical knowledge and skill. We measured personality factors, cognitive ability, customer service knowledge (through a structured interview), customer service skill (through role-play simulations), and customer service performance (through supervisory ratings) in a sample of 140 retail store associates. As expected, results showed that interpersonally oriented personality characteristics are related to customer service knowledge even when effects of ability, conscientiousness, and experience are taken into account, and that customer service knowledge and skill together carry the indirect effects of personality characteristics, ability, and experience to customer service performance. We also found that conscientiousness moderates the relation between knowledge and performance such that knowledge predicts performance best for people who are highly conscientious.
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