We investigate the impact of business strategy on the use of performance-linked compensation (PLC) and long-term incentive plans. We also examine the relation between strategy and compensation structure fit and performance. Using cluster and content analyses to classify a firm’s business strategy, we predict and find that product differentiation firms use a higher proportion of PLCs than cost-leadership firms. Furthermore, we find that the misfit between business strategy and compensation structure has a negative impact on performance. This study contributes to the executive compensation literature by recognizing that business strategy influences the compensation structure and that a strategy and compensation structure misfit negatively affects performance."> We investigate the impact of business strategy on the use of performance-linked compensation (PLC) and long-term incentive plans. We also examine the relation between strategy and compensation structure fit and performance. Using cluster and content analyses to classify a firm’s business strategy, we predict and find that product differentiation firms use a higher proportion of PLCs than cost-leadership firms. Furthermore, we find that the misfit between business strategy and compensation structure has a negative impact on performance. This study contributes to the executive compensation literature by recognizing that business strategy influences the compensation structure and that a strategy and compensation structure misfit negatively affects performance."> We investigate the impact of business strategy on the use of performance-linked compensation (PLC) and long-term incentive plans. We also examine the re">
[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v54y2014i1p113-134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business strategy, executive compensation and firm performance

Author

Listed:
  • Yasheng Chen
  • Johnny Jermias
Abstract
type="main" xml:lang="en"> We investigate the impact of business strategy on the use of performance-linked compensation (PLC) and long-term incentive plans. We also examine the relation between strategy and compensation structure fit and performance. Using cluster and content analyses to classify a firm’s business strategy, we predict and find that product differentiation firms use a higher proportion of PLCs than cost-leadership firms. Furthermore, we find that the misfit between business strategy and compensation structure has a negative impact on performance. This study contributes to the executive compensation literature by recognizing that business strategy influences the compensation structure and that a strategy and compensation structure misfit negatively affects performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Yasheng Chen & Johnny Jermias, 2014. "Business strategy, executive compensation and firm performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(1), pages 113-134, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:54:y:2014:i:1:p:113-134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-629X.2012.00498.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerdin, Jonas & Greve, Jan, 2004. "Forms of contingency fit in management accounting research--a critical review," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 303-326.
    2. Ittner, Christopher D. & Larcker, David F., 2001. "Assessing empirical research in managerial accounting: a value-based management perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 349-410, December.
    3. Richard M. Burton & Jørgen Lauridsen & Børge Obel, 2002. "Return on Assets Loss from Situational and Contingency Misfits," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(11), pages 1461-1485, November.
    4. Ke, Bin & Petroni, Kathy & Safieddine, Assem, 1999. "Ownership concentration and sensitivity of executive pay to accounting performance measures: Evidence from publicly and privately-held insurance companies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 185-209, December.
    5. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    6. Murphy, Kevin J., 1999. "Executive compensation," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 38, pages 2485-2563, Elsevier.
    7. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2485-2563 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Gani, Lindawati & Jermias, Johnny, 2006. "Investigating the effect of board independence on performance across different strategies," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 295-314.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Jesper Banghøj & Gorm Gabrielsen & Christian Petersen & Thomas Plenborg, 2010. "Determinants of executive compensation in privately held firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 481-510, September.
    11. Core, John E. & Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F., 1999. "Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 371-406, March.
    12. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    13. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    14. Raghavan (Raj) J. Iyengar & H. James Williams & Ernest M. Zampelli, 2005. "Sensitivity of executive pay to accounting performance measures in all‐equity firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(4), pages 577-595, December.
    15. Danny Miller, 1987. "The structural and environmental correlates of business strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 55-76, January.
    16. Garen, John E, 1994. "Executive Compensation and Principal-Agent Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1175-1199, December.
    17. Otley, David T., 1980. "The contingency theory of management accounting: Achievement and prognosis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 413-428, October.
    18. Bruns, Wj & Waterhouse, Jh, 1975. "Budgetary Control And Organization Structure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 177-203.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chien Chi Chu & Xiu‐Fen Su & Yu‐En Lin & Akihiro Omura & Bin Li & Adrian Wai‐Kong Cheung, 2023. "Love thy neighbour: Evidence from capital structure decisions," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 2907-2933, September.
    2. Chih‐Wei Peng, 2020. "The role of business strategy and CEO compensation structure in driving corporate social responsibility: Linkage towards a sustainable development perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 1028-1039, March.
    3. Ahsan Habib & Dinithi Ranasinghe & Ahesha Perera, 2024. "Business strategy and strategic deviation in accounting, finance, and corporate governance: A review of the empirical literature," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 129-159, March.
    4. Che Wan Jasimah Bt Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi & Maisarah Binti Hasbullah, 2015. "Firm Sustainability Performance Index Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Rosalia Santulli, 2022. "“Fairness of CEO Compensation. A multi-faceted and multi-cultural framework to structure executive pay” by M.A. Eklund (Springer, 2019)," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(1), pages 315-325, March.
    6. Xueyan Dong & Kam C. Chan & Yujia Cui & Jenny Xinjiao Guan, 2021. "Strategic deviance and cash holdings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3-4), pages 742-782, March.
    7. Kong, Xiaowei & Jiang, Fan & Zhu, Ling, 2022. "Business strategy, corporate social responsibility, and within-firm pay gap," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    8. Yuan Yuan & Louise Yi Lu & Gaoliang Tian & Yangxin Yu, 2020. "Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 359-377, March.
    9. Richard A. Schneible Jr & Neil Fargher, 2016. "Information transfer and firm-level strategy," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(4), pages 1119-1148, December.
    10. Mahmoud Al-Rdaydeh & Ammar Yaser Almansour & Mohammad Ahmad Al-Omari, 2018. "Moderating effect of competitive strategies on the relation between financial leverage and firm performance: evidence from Jordan," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(3), pages 626-641, June.
    11. Lin, Yu-En & Li, Yi-Wen & Cheng, Teng Yuan & Lam, Keith, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and investment efficiency: Does business strategy matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Zhu, Ling & Kong, Dongmin, 2022. "Does government transparency shape firm decentralization? Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. Veda Fatmy & John Kihn & Jukka Sihvonen & Sami Vähämaa, 2022. "Does lesbian and gay friendliness pay off? A new look at LGBT policies and firm performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 213-242, March.
    14. Muhammad Siddique & Zain Naeem & Arooma Mahjabeen & Muhammad Adil, 2024. "The Pure and Hybrid Corporate Strategies Performance during the Crisis Periods for Sustainable Performance," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 13(2), pages 703-711.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adel Elgharbawy & Magdy Abdel-Kader, 2013. "Enterprise governance and value-based management: a theoretical contingency framework," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 99-129, February.
    2. James, Hui & Benson, Bradley W. & Wu, Chen (Ken), 2017. "Does CEO ownership affect payout policy? Evidence from using CEO scaled wealth-performance sensitivity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 328-345.
    3. Pamela Kent & Kim Kercher & James Routledge, 2018. "Remuneration committees, shareholder dissent on CEO pay and the CEO pay–performance link," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(2), pages 445-475, June.
    4. Jesper Banghøj & Gorm Gabrielsen & Christian Petersen & Thomas Plenborg, 2010. "Determinants of executive compensation in privately held firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 481-510, September.
    5. Manika Kohli, 2017. "How Responsive Executive Compensation is to Corporate Performance? An Indian Perspective," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 8(2), pages 07-18, May.
    6. Muurling, Rutger & Lehnert, Thorsten, 2004. "Option-based compensation: a survey," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 365-401.
    7. Chen, Chao-Jung & Hsu, Chung-Yuan & Chen, Yu-Lin, 2014. "The impact of family control on the top management compensation mix and incentive orientation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 29-46.
    8. Justin Law & Wayne Yu, 2018. "Corporate spinoffs and executive compensation," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Li, Donghui & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Pascal & Tan, Liwen, 2007. "Corporate governance or globalization: What determines CEO compensation in China?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 32-49, January.
    10. Nohel, Tom & Todd, Steven, 2005. "Compensation for managers with career concerns: the role of stock options in optimal contracts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 229-251, March.
    11. Loureiro, Gilberto & Makhija, Anil K. & Zhang, Dan, 2020. "One dollar CEOs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 425-439.
    12. Fernandes, Nuno, 2008. "EC: Board compensation and firm performance: The role of "independent" board members," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 30-44, February.
    13. Roberto Barontini & Stefano Bozzi & Guido Ferrarini, 2017. "Executive remuneration standards and the “conformity gap” at controlled corporations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 573-597, September.
    14. Jermias, Johnny & Gani, Lindawati, 2014. "The impact of board capital and board characteristics on firm performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 135-153.
    15. Chalevas, Constantinos G., 2011. "The Effect of the Mandatory Adoption of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Executive Compensation," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 138-174, June.
    16. Manika Kohli, 2018. "Impact of Ownership Type and Board Characteristics on the Pay–Performance Relationship: Evidence from India," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 11(1), pages 1-34, June.
    17. Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc & Sun, Sunny Li, 2015. "The political determinants of executive compensation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 69-91.
    18. Takao Kato & Cheryl Long, 2004. "Executive Compensation, Firm Performance, and State Ownership in China: Evidence from New Panel Data," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-690, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    19. Broye, Géraldine & François, Abel & Moulin, Yves, 2017. "The cost of CEO duality: Evidence from French leadership compensation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 336-350.
    20. Benson, Bradley W. & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2009. "Reexamining the managerial ownership effect on firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 573-586, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:54:y:2014:i:1:p:113-134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.