Johnny Jermias

Cognitive dissonance and resistance to change: the influence of commitment confirmation and feedback on judgment usefulness of accounting systems☆

Abstract This study investigates the effects of commitment, confirmation and feedback on peoples judgment about the usefulness of costing systems and, in turn, peoples resistance to change. Building on the theory of cognitive dissonance, this study predicts that commitment to a particular course of action will cause people to become insensitive to the potential benefits of the rejected alternative. A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine why people are motivated to resist change and what mechanisms they use to rationalize their judgment. Results from the experiment indicated that peoples judgments about the usefulness of costing systems were influenced by their commitment to their favored system. People assessed only a subset of their knowledge to support their desired conclusion. Consequently, committed people refused to change their chosen system even when facing negative feedback. In addition, the results confirmed that people normatively know that their judgment should be objective yet they unconsciously make prejudiced judgments biased toward their committed course of action.

The Role of Visual Attention in the Managerial Judgment of Balanced-Scorecard Performance Evaluation: Insights from Using an Eye-Tracking Device

This paper investigates the role of visual attention in managerial judgments during balanced-scorecard performance evaluations. Using the Locarna eye tracker to establish the amount of time managers spent focused on visual cues, we found that managers who look more at strategically linked performance measures are more likely to make decisions consistent with the achievement of their subordinates’ strategic objectives. When aware of strategy, managers focused more on strategically linked performance measures than on nonlinked measures. The presentation format of the strategy information did not significantly affect this focus. Our findings indicate that awareness of strategically linked performance measures, but not their presentation, appears to be important in helping managers to make better decisions. This study contributes to the management accounting literature by generating useful insights into the impact of visual attention on judgments and decision-making processes.

The Performance Implication of Goal Achievability in Incentive Contracts and Feedback

This study investigates the performance feedback and goal achievability in incentive effects on employees’ effort and performance. We perform an experiment to examine whether the use of goal-specific feedback and incentive contracts have an interaction effect on task performance. Using the Mirametrix S2 eye tracking device to measure the level of effort, we find that the feedback effect on effort depend on goal achievability specified in the incentive contract. Specifically, we find that when employees are contracted based on achievable goals, feedback decreases their level of effort. By contrast, when employees are contracted based on more challenging but attainable goals, feedback increases their level of effort. Furthermore, we find that the level of effort has a significant positive impact on task performance. These findings have important implications for the design of control and compensation systems in organizations that aim for a higher employees’ performance.