The role of information or the information from roles? A meta-analysis of planning and performance

Abstract

We use meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) to examine how organizational planning leads to managerial performance. Specifically, we test a theoretically-driven model of how participative budgeting and strategic performance measurement systems can positively impact managerial job performance through role clarity. Our analyses of 60 studies (containing 99 effect sizes) from multidisciplinary literature indicate role clarity mediates the relationship between planning implementation processes and managerial job performance. Additionally, and contrary to previous research, path analysis suggests job-relevant information mediates the relationship between role clarity and managerial job performance. We explain how participation in planning may prompt managers who are clear about their roles to seek additional information in order to perform well. Finally, we identify a need in future research for a greater diversity of the operationalizations of the constructs, levels of analysis, and data collection methods.

Keywords:

• Control and coordination mechanisms
• meta-analysis
• organizational behavior
• performance management
• organizational planning

Notes

1 A critical level of ρ = 0.04 was used since ρ = 0.00 is not a valid critical level in the Orwin formula, and 0.04 is the largest correlation that rounds to null rather than to the conventional definition of a small effect of ρ = 0.10 (Cohen, 1992; Derfuss, 2016).

2 The authors thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott David Williams

Scott David Williams is a Professor of Management at the Raj Soin College of Business. He served as executive director of the Center for Innovation Management at Wright State University and senior strategy consultant for Mound Advanced Technology Center. He earned his doctorate in management from Texas A&M University.

John A. Martin

John A. Martin is a Professor of Strategic Management at the Raj Soin College of Business. His primary research interests include corporate governance, firm performance, and international business. He has published in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Business Research, Family Business Review, and Human Resource Management Review, among others.

Yongjun Choi

Yongjun Choi is an Assistant Professor of Management at Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea. He completed his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His research interests include new employee socialization, career success, work relationships, and emotions at work.

Oliver Stoutner

Oliver Stoutner is an Assistant Professor of Management and Director of Business Fellows at High Point University. His research interests include work roles and the intersection of technology and behavior in the workplace.

Rachel Sturm

Rachel Sturm is an Associate Professor of Management and International Business at Wright State University. Her research interests including leader character, interpersonal power, and self-other agreement, has been published in elite academic outlets such as the Journal of Management. She is currently an Associate Editor at The Leadership Quarterly.