Booker, D. M., Heitger, D. L., & Schultz, T. D. (2011). The effect of causal knowledge on individuals' perceptions of nonfinancial performance measures in profit prediction. Advances in Accounting, 27(1), 90-98.

Type: Non-experimental study

Experience level of reader: Fundamental

Annotation: Measuring performance is a perfunctory aspect of research and development. Outcomes can be interpreted differently depending on the context in which progress is framed. This study tested individual perception of a business’ success as influenced by additional supporting knowledge. Participants presented financial information only rated performance lower than subjects presented with casual knowledge about other performance measures such as customer satisfaction. Ratings increased were positively correlated with more casual knowledge.

Setting(s) to which the reported activities/findings are relevant: Federal Lab, Government, Large business, Small business, University 

Knowledge user(s) to whom the piece of literature may be relevant: Policy makers, Clinicians, Brokers, Manufacturers, Developers, Intermediaries, Users, Advocates, and Researchers.        

Knowledge user level addressed by the literature: Individual, Organizations, Sectors

This article uses the Commercial Devices and Services version of the NtK Model

• Reporting financial outcomes only presents an incomplete representation of success or failure of a whole project or product. Literature review findings
  Occurrences within the model: NtK 2.1, 3.4, 3.9, KTA 6.A

• Non-financial performance measures often correlate with financial performance. This is useful for forecasting success. Customer satisfaction ratings and website performance are such metrics. Literature review findings
  Occurrences within the model: NtK 2.1, 3.4, 3.9, KTA 6.A
• Linking measures to strategic initiative reduces the common measures bias in evaluating performance. Literature review findings
  Occurrences within the model: NtK 3.9, 5.3 KTA 6.A