Controllability of performance measures and managerial performance: the mediating role of fairness

Purpose: This study aims to examine the mediating role of the fairness of the performance evaluation system on the association between the controllability of financial and non-financial measures and managerial performance.

Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected using an online survey questionnaire, with 220 responses received from middle and lower-level managers in Australian manufacturing organisations. Covariance-based structural equation modelling using software AMOS 25 was applied to analyse the data. Specifically, Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988) two-step approach was followed with confirmatory factor analyses first conducted to ensure that the measurement model was valid and reliable before running the structural model.

Findings: The findings reveal that the influence of managers’ controllability of performance measures on managerial performance is enacted through their perceptions of fairness. Specifically, the impact of controllability of financial (non-financial) measures on managerial performance is enacted through managers’ perceptions of distributive (interpersonal) fairness.

Originality/value: The empirical findings contribute to the literature investigating the empirical consequences of managers’ controllability of performance measures on performance evaluation processes, with the results revealing that the controllability of both financial and non-financial performance measures is positively associated with managerial performance via managers’ perceptions of different dimensions of fairness. Such results suggest that organisations, most of which do not prioritise the use of controllable performance measures in the design of their performance evaluation systems, need to reconsider the importance of the controllability of both financial and non-financial measures in the performance evaluation processes.