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Abstract:
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Performance feedback plays an important role in management accounting , as it is integral to performance measurement and evaluation . The timing of performance feedback is a critical characteristic of accounting information systems and is often a choice variable for managers and management accountants . In this dissertation , I examine the relation between the timing of outcome -based performance feedback and individual performance .
I find that immediate outcome -based performance feedback , while benefiting current performance , can limit individuals’ propensity to seek learning opportunities , reducing future performance . Further , I find that feedback given after intermediate delays benefits future performance with a small cost to current performance . Lastly , feedback given after too long of a delay not only limits current performance , but also limits future performance due to the effects of information overload . Overall , I find support for an inverted -U relation between the timing of performance feedback and future performance .
In a two -period setting in which the timing of outcome -based performance feedback is manipulated in the first period and feedback is unavailable in the second period , I find that participants given intermediate feedback perform significantly better in the second period than those given feedback either after no delay or after a long delay .
I also investigate the processes by which performance is affected by the timing of performance feedback . These results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of performance feedback timing in complex task environments and provide insight into how delays in performance feedback can benefit or harm future performance . |