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pdf - Nyenrode Business Universiteit

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94 CHAPTER 4. OPPORTUNISM MITIGATION EFFECTIVENESS<br />

unit manager. A situation characterised by high goal ambiguity can be exploited by a selfinterested<br />

manager. Ambiguous goals provide the manager with room to argue for his own<br />

preferred course of action, which may not be aligned with the goals of the firm. Therefore,<br />

this study considers goal ambiguity as the second facilitator of managerial opportunism. I<br />

formalize this expectation as follows: goal ambiguity has a positive effect on the room for<br />

managerial opportunism.<br />

Measurability of Outputs The third opportunism-driving factor in the model is measurability<br />

of outputs, which refers to the degree to which an organization can measure its<br />

output in a reasonably undistorted manner. If the measurability of outputs is high, the<br />

business unit’s output metrics correspond well with the actual goals that the business unit<br />

needs to accomplish. High levels of output measurability facilitate the manager’s ability to<br />

communicate goal achievement to his superiors. However, if the measurability of outputs is<br />

low, monitoring becomes more difficult (Ouchi 1979, Langfield-Smith & Smith 2003). Because<br />

the actions of the business unit manager are less observable under conditions of low<br />

output measurability, low measurability creates leeway for the manager to act opportunistically<br />

without being caught by his superior. Based on this reasoning, this study argues<br />

that a low level of output measurability increases the room that managers have to behave<br />

opportunistically. This expectation is formalised as follows: measurability of outputs has a<br />

negative effect on the room for managerial opportunism.<br />

Decentralization of Decision Rights Decentralization of decision rights refers to decisions<br />

at the business unit level concerning, for example, the business unit’s investments<br />

or marketing choices. If an organization transfers decision rights from the CEO to the<br />

business unit manager, the business unit manager has more room to engage in opportunistic<br />

behaviour. The choices that are in the BU manager’s best interest are not necessarily<br />

in the organization’s best interest. For example, the business unit manager may choose to<br />

implement projects that he finds interesting but that are not in the firm’s best interest.<br />

Additionally, the manager might exploit the firm’s high-quality brand name to market the<br />

business unit’s lower-quality products to maximize the BU’s profits and/or the manager’s<br />

individual bonus. By delegating the decision rights to the BU manager, the organization<br />

provides the manager an opportunity to make self-interested decisions. Therefore, this<br />

study argues that the decentralization of decision rights increases the room for managerial<br />

opportunism. The final expectation in this study is formalized as follows: decentralization<br />

of decision rights has a positive effect on the room for managerial opportunism.<br />

4.2.3 Summary of the Model<br />

The model, which consists of the research hypothesis and the additional expectations, is<br />

summarized in figure 4.2.

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