This study has sought to advance a balanced and systematic understanding of how different performance measure types—financial, nonfinancial, and subjective—may contribute to effective management.
Taken as a whole, a rather clear implication of the findings is the need to be cautious about popular claims that nonfinancial measures are “superior” to traditional financial measures across the board. Rather than being an either/or choice, the challenge is to select the optimal combination of measures across the different types. This inference is supported by our finding that the different measure types are seen as having different strengths and weaknesses (e.g., encouraging risk taking vs. supporting decision making). While some types can be used occasionally as substitutes for others, it may be best to look at the different types of measures as complements to each other. Further support is provided by the pattern of performance measurement usage across firms with different emphases on quality in manufacturing.
While our study sheds some light on the use and selected characteristics of each measure type, much more can be learned about how the attributes and effects of the different measures may vary across contexts and for specific purposes (such as supporting decision making vs. conducting performance evaluations and providing incentives). We hope that, in addition to reporting findings of value to managers and management accountants, our study also stimulates future studies in these areas.