Reliance on Accounting Performance Measures, Task Uncertainty, and Dysfunctional Behavior: Some Extensions

Abstract

The author discusses a "situational" method that he used to reconcile previous research that was done by A. G. Hopwood and D. T. Otley on accounting performance measures (APM). The study looks at employees' attitudes and how APM can impact tension and withdrawal in the workplace in low and high task uncertainty instances. A questionnaire was sent to college students in Sydney, Australia. For situations in which there was high task uncertainty, respondents claimed that their belief in APM was high whereas it decreased in low task uncertainty instances.