The Use of Performance Information under Conflict: A Large-N Study

Abstract

The effect of organizational conflict on the use of performance information is enigmatic and understudied. A study of the use of workplace assessments (WPAs) in 1669 Danish agencies shows that conflict operates in two ways. On the one hand, conflict is associated with lower levels of factors conventionally known to enhance use, including stakeholder participation, management support, and perceived reliability of the information. On the other hand, conflict is associated with an increase in the documentary function of WPAs (meaning the formal provision of documentation of knowledge already existing in the organization). This function may be central for the use of WPAs in formal organizational decision-making and helps explain how performance information can be consequential in contemporary organizations, even when people disagree about whether it provides a reliable picture of reality. The findings suggest that both theorists and practitioners should pay more attention to how different pathways to use of performance information hinge on variations in the level of conflict.

Keywords:

• evaluative information
• organizational conflict
• pathways to use
• performance information
• workplace assessments

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Anna Sundby and Adiilah Boodhoo to data collection and analysis in this project.

Notes

1 Newly appointed OSHRs often claimed they were not able to answer questions about the use of the most recent WPA which took place before they were appointed. We tested seniority in the OSHR position, but it was not statistically correlated with use, so we are not so concerned about a non-response bias.

2 OLS regression analysis with pairwise exclusion of cases. To secure the robustness of our findings, we also carried out a similar analysis with a listwise exclusion of cases. The same variables were found to have significant effects, with only slight changes in betas and significance levels. We also ran different regression analyses for each of the components in our use index. Here, we found that use of WPAs in the physical domain and the psychosocial domain do not share all predictors (not surprisingly). We also found that WPA reliability is a predictor of perceived usefulness, not actual action in the physical or the psycho-social domain. We remain confident in the general findings of predictors of the use index.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was received from the Danish Working Environment Research Fund [112338].

Notes on contributors

Peter Dahler-Larsen

Peter Dahler-Larsen, PhD, dr. scient. pol., is professor and leader of CREME (Center for Research on Evaluation, Measurement, and Effects). He is author of “The Evaluation Society” (Stanford University 2012).