The Effects of Information, Data and Redundant Cue Load on Multi-Perspective Performance Reporting

Multi-perspective performance reporting systems have become popular in recent times due to problems associated with traditional financial systems. The most common multi-perspective performance reporting system is the balanced scorecard (BSC). The BSC reports performance information about four perspectives (learning and growth, internal business processes, customer, and financials). BSC theory argues there is a cause and effect relationship from the first to the last perspective. There are broader multi-perspective systems in practice that commonly have two additional perspectives to these four – social and environmental. Atkinson et al. (1997), Ittner and Larcker (2001), and Libby et al. (2004) have argued that the BSC is among the most significant developments in management accounting and that it deserves intense research attention. However, although these systems are an important development, research in the area has only just scratched the surface. The motivation for this paper comes from the importance of BSC and other multi-perspective systems and the lack of knowledge about them. The objectives of this research are to: (1) explore the dimensions of multi-perspective performance reporting and the emphasis being given to each dimension in practice, (2) explore the dimensions of organisational performance, and (3) study the association between (1) on (2). A possible problem with multiperspective systems is that they may cause information/data/redundant cue (I/D/C) overload and thus detrimentally affect performance. A further research objective is to study this issue. Our study found 11 dimensions of performance reporting information, two of I/D/C load, and 13 of organisational performance. The findings indicate that multi-perspective performance reporting is positively associated with performance. In contrast, I/D/C overload is negatively associated with performance