Nonfinancial and financial performance measures: How do they affect employee role clarity and performance?

Two recent studies have found that comprehensive performance measurement systems comprising both financial and nonfinancial measures (e.g., balanced scorecard) are positively related to managerial performance through role clarity. It is, however, unclear if these results are from the use of financial measures or from the use of nonfinancial measures. It is also unclear if these effects are achievable by using nonfinancial measures alone. This study provides insights into prior studies' findings by distinguishing those effects arising from nonfinancial measures from those arising from financial measures. Based on a sample of 121 managers, the results indicate that nonfinancial measures, by themselves, significantly influence managerial performance through role clarity. More importantly, they also indicate that the effect of nonfinancial measures on role clarity is substantially stronger than that through financial measures.