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Susanne Rauscher · Annika Zielke
Nudging in
Management
Accounting
Assessment of the Relevance of
Nudging in the Corporate Context
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Nudging in
Management
Accounting
Assessment of the Relevance of
Nudging in the Corporate Context
Susanne Rauscher Annika Zielke
Düsseldorf, Germany Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Diese Masterarbeit entstand mit Unterstützung von Herrn Prof. Dr. Carsten Homburg,
Seminar für ABWL & Controlling an der Universität zu Köln und unserem Betreuer,
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1
2 Part I: Literature Overview............................................................................... 5
2.1 The Concept of Nudging ........................................................................ 5
2.1.1 Origin and Definition ................................................................. 5
2.1.2 Heuristics and Biases ............................................................... 10
2.1.3 Perception ................................................................................ 13
2.2 Behavioural Impacts in Management Accounting ................................ 15
2.2.1 Drivers of Behavioural Issues .................................................. 15
2.2.2 Heuristics and Biases in Management Accounting .................. 17
2.2.3 Status quo of Nudging Application and Other Solutions ......... 21
3 Part II: Qualitative Study - Status quo in Accounting .................................... 25
3.1 Methodology of the Qualitative Study.................................................. 25
3.1.1 Interview Goal and Research question ..................................... 25
3.1.2 Research Method...................................................................... 25
3.1.3 Sampling and Questions........................................................... 28
3.2 Analysis of the Qualitative Study - Key Insights.................................. 30
3.2.1 Common Behavioural Biases in Accounting ........................... 30
3.2.2 Application of Nudging in Companies in Germany ................. 35
3.3 Limitations of the Qualitative Study ..................................................... 42
3.4 Intermediate Conclusion ....................................................................... 44
4 Part III: Experiment - Effect of Nudges in Accounting .................................. 47
4.1 Methodology of the Experiment ........................................................... 47
4.1.1 Experiment Goal and Hypothesis ............................................. 47
4.1.2 Settings and Conditions............................................................ 49
4.1.3 Case and Treatments ................................................................ 52
4.2 Analysis Approach ............................................................................... 55
4.3 Limitations of the Experiment .............................................................. 59
5 Critical reflection ........................................................................................... 61
6 Conclusion...................................................................................................... 65
List of References ............................................................................................... 69
Appendix ............................................................................................................ 79
List of Abbreviations
ANOVA Analysis of variance
BU Budgeting
BU (1-3) Issue number 1-3 in the area of BU, according to interview
questionnaire
C (1-9) Pre-condition (Nudging Checklist)
E (1-2) Interview Expert (Behavioural Economics)
IP Controlling Investment and Project Controlling
IP (1-4) Issue number 1-4 in the area of IP, according to interview
questionnaire
KPI Key Performance Indicator
MR Management Reporting
MR (1-3) Issue number 1-3 in the area of MR, according to interview
questionnaire
OI Other Issue
OI (1-4) Issue number 1-4 in the area of OI, according to interview
questionnaire
PMS Performance Measurement System
P (1-9) Interview Participant 1-9
List of Symbols
𝛽0 y-interesept
𝛽𝑖 regression coeficients
𝜀𝑖 error term (residual term)
List of Figures
Figure 1: Management Reporting Process .......................................................... 18
Figure 2: Budgeting Process ............................................................................... 20
List of Tables
Table 1: Biases driven by the Availability Heuristic .......................................... 11
Table 2: Biases driven by Emotions and Motivation .......................................... 12
Table 3: Classification of Nudges (in general) ................................................... 82
Table 4: Nudging Checklist for Measures from Literature ................................. 84
Table 5: Overview of Participants ...................................................................... 87
Table 6: Interview Issue List .............................................................................. 90
Table 7: Overview of Ratings ............................................................................. 93
Table 8: Experience of Participants .................................................................... 94
Table 9: Nudging Checklist for Measures for MR1............................................ 95
Table 10: Nudging Checklist for Measures for MR2.......................................... 96
Table 11: Nudging Checklist for Measures for MR3.......................................... 98
Table 12: Nudging Checklist for Measures for BU1 ........................................ 102
Table 13: Nudging Checklist for Measures for BU2 ........................................ 106
Table 14: Nudging Checklist for Measures for BU3 ........................................ 108
Table 15: Diligence Tests ................................................................................. 125
Table 16: Risk Aversion Test ........................................................................... 126
Table 17: Moral Compass Test ......................................................................... 128
Table 18: Trust Test .......................................................................................... 129
Table 19: Experience Test ................................................................................ 129
Table 20: Age Test............................................................................................ 129
Table 21: Gender Test....................................................................................... 130
1 Introduction
The concept of nudging has changed the way human decision making is per-
ceived.1 Defined as “… any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s
behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly
changing their economic incentives”2, nudging is a measure of behavioural eco-
nomics, intending to rationalise human decision making. As one of the founding
fathers of nudging, Richard H. Thaler supplements the research on behavioural
causes for irrational decision making done by Tversky/Kahneman (1974).
Thereby, he adds the perspective on how to use behavioural economics in the
form of nudging to counteract the respective irrationalities, which opens new
opportunities discussed in the following.
Over the last years, an increasing number of countries has recognized the po-
tential of the behavioural economics tool and therefore behavioural insights
teams (so-called Nudging-Units) have been increasingly introduced into the
national governments.3 Nudges have already shown an impact in tackling several
problems, such as organ donation, consumer health, and retirement savings.4 To
acknowledge the relevance of the concept, the Nobel Committee awarded Thaler
with the Nobel Prize in economics for his work as a pioneer within the field of
behavioural economics in 2017.5
Even though the applications of nudging initially focus on the social and po-
litical context, researchers currently investigate additional application potential
for nudging in various fields. 6 Thus, this leads to the question how this concept
would translate into a corporate setting, more precisely in the context of Ac-
counting. So far, within the corporate context, behavioural economics, or nudg-
ing, is mostly implemented to influence customer’s decision making and there-
fore applied in areas such as Marketing.7 In contrast, in Accounting, where em-
ployee’s decision making is in focus, the potential of behavioural economics to
1
See Kosters/van der Heijden (2015), p. 276 f.
2
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 6; Choice architecture is defined as the responsibility for organis-
ing the context in which people make decisions, see Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 3.
3
See Dams et al. (2015); Marron (2015); The Economist (ed.) (2017).
4
See Johnson/Goldstein (2003), p. 1339; Roberto et al. (2010), p. 316 f; McKenzie (2006), p. 418
f.
5
See The Economist (ed.) (2017); Thaler (2017).
6
See Valatin/Moseley/Dandy (2016), p. 31 f.; Ferriday et al. (2016); Fonseca/Grimshaw (2017), p.
214.
7
See Alderson (1952), p. 119.
8
See Ohlert/Weißenberger (2015), p. 52 f.
9
See Milkman/Chugh/Bazerman (2009), p. 379.
10
See Malina/Selto (2015), p. 27 ff.
11
In the following, Management Accounting and Controlling are used as synonyms.
12
See Hirsch/Schäffer/Weber (2008), p. 5.
3 Introduction
13
See Jolls/Sunstein/Thaler (1998), p. 1476 ff.
14
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 19 ff.
15
See Strack/Deutsch (2004), p. 220; Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124 ff.
16
See Langer/Blank/Chanowitz (1978), p. 641 f; Chew et al. (2016), p. 163; Strack/Deutsch (2004),
p. 220.
17
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124.
duced by heuristics and biases are costly for the individual and, depending on the
context, also for the company. These costs are assumed to increase in the future
as the risk of suboptimal decisions due to bounded judgment increases with the
growing time pressure, amount of information and multitasking of decision mak-
ers.18
The growing intention to the problems caused by human irrationality, on the
one hand, and the insights from Tversky/Kahneman (1974) which imply that
there is a chance to improve the economic decision theory by adding psychologi-
cal realism, on the other hand, build the basis for Thaler’s research and are essen-
tial to understand the mechanism of nudging. Nudging is applied to counteract
the irrationalities caused by biases and heuristics to guide human decision mak-
ing in a certain direction.19 Thereby, insights from psychologists about the above
described theory of System 1 and System 2 thinking are taken into account. When
properly applied, nudges can improve lives and help to tackle problems within
the society.20 To distinct nudging from any unethical manipulation, Tha-
ler/Sunstein (2009) base their definition on the concept of Libertarian Paternal-
ism. The libertarian aspect is grounded on the insistence that “people should be
free to do what they like – and opt-out of undesirable arrangements”.21 Moreo-
ver, the authors understand a policy to be paternalistic if “it tries to influence
choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves”.22
Combined, the concept of Libertarian Paternalism is a self-conscious attempt
that allows preserving autonomy by at the same time influencing an individual
from the outside and, with this, improving this individual’s decision making.23
The two scholars are fascinated by the effect of their libertarian paternalist nudg-
es that are based on small details, which are most likely of negligible importance
but still make a deep impact, e.g. on people’s choice to save for retirement.24
However, the definition of nudges, that Thaler/Sunstein (2009) provide, is
quite broad which comes with the risk of using the name of the concept as an
empty phrase.25 In order to prevent this from happening in the following analy-
18
See Milkman/Chugh/Bazerman (2009), p. 379 ff.
19
See Thaler (2018), p. 1266 ff.
20
See Sunstein (2014a), p. 211; Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 9.
21
Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 5.
22
Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 5.
23
See Sunstein/Thaler (2003), p. 1159.
24
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 117 ff.
25
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 6; Kosters/van der Heijden (2015), 297-280.
2.1 The Concept of Nudging 7
sis, it is necessary to have a closer look at (A) the definition of nudging and (B)
the categorization of the different types of nudges in a more detailed and struc-
tured approach. Currently, more and more researchers like Hansen (2016) reveal
their confusion and openly discuss the ambiguities and disagreements with the
definition of nudging. The original definition by Thaler/Sunstein (2009) only
provides two negative conditions, a short list of heuristics and a few examples of
nudges. Thus, both the acceptability and application of nudges are often dis-
cussed without making clear whether the intervention sufficiently counts as a
nudge, thus contributing to further confusion among researchers and practition-
ers.26 As such, it has been criticised that the original definition is too vague to
properly separate nudges from other standard measures such as providing more
information and rational convincing.27 Consequently, many interventions are
falsely interpreted as nudges. Thus, practitioners might not see the relevance as
they claim that they have always been nudging.28
As a result of the widespread confusion, researchers have already revised the
original definition by Thaler/Sunstein (2009).29 In this thesis, the work of Hansen
(2016) is further developed as it captures the latest development in the discussion
and provides a clearly structured and reasoned advancement of the original defi-
nition. Hansen introduces a definition of nudging by adjusting the original defi-
nition on a few important points, such as how nudges differ and relate to other
interventions.30 In his paper, he puts special emphasis on the consistency of his
definition with the guiding statement from Thaler/Sunstein (2009) who further
define a nudge as “any factor that significantly alters behaviour of Humans, even
though it would be ignored by Econs.”31 As introduced by the two authors in
their book, Econs are fully rational individuals who act according to the theory
of the Homo Economicus. Therefore, nudges are supposed to influence humans,
whereas they do not change the behaviour of a fully rational Econ.32
As the definition by Hansen (2016) still entails some ambiguities and as the
research question of this thesis focuses on the transfer of nudging to the corpo-
26
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 6.
27
See Hansen (2016), p. 156 ff.
28
See Hansen (2016), p. 156 f.
29
See Hansen/Jespersen (2013), p. 20 ff; Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 126 ff; Hansen (2016), p. 169.
30
A detailed explanation of the revised aspects of this definition can be seen in Deep Dive 1
(Download).
31
Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 9.
32
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 9.
8 Part I: Literature Overview
rate context, this definition is slightly enhanced for the purpose of applicability
in the changed environment. All changes to the original definition are highlight-
ed with an underscore.
Thus, a nudge amongst other things works independently of (i) forbidding or adding any
rationally relevant choice options, (ii) changing rational incentives, whether regarded in
terms of time, trouble, social sanctions, economic incentives and so forth, (iii) the sole
provision of factual information and rational argumentation, that fall squarely within
libertarian paternalism.”33
The introduction of self-interest in part (1) is refined by the words “direct and
indirect”, which allows for considering the additional corporate perspective and,
with this, covers all decisions that are made in favour of the business health.34
Even though the corporate interest might not be equal to the direct self-interest,
the stability of the employer, and with this, the employment is assumed to be an
indirect self-interest of the employee.
Another adjustment is made in part (iii). The definition by Hansen (2016)
seems to exclude nudges that operate through the provision of factual infor-
mation and rational argumentation. However, he does acknowledge cases in
which such intervention supplements a behavioural intervention, which for him
still count as nudges.35 Also, Thaler/Sunstein (2009) regard initiatives like educa-
tional campaigns, warning labels and hazard notification as nudges and it is ar-
gued that giving advice and providing information can be a tool of a nudge.36 To
avoid misinterpretations, the formulation is adjusted by adding the word “sole”.
The new formulation “[…] independently of the sole provision of […]”37 still
emphasizes that nudges should not exclusively be built on giving additional
information and rational argumentation but still allows the usage of this tool as
part of the intervention.
33
Based on Hansen (2016), p. 174 adjustments highlighted with underscore.
34
For the purpose of this thesis, business health is defined as the state of a company in which
business success is sustainable and, therefore, the ongoing business and jobs are secured.
35
See Hansen (2016), p. 169.
36
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 127; Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 200 ff.
37
Definition on p.6.
2.1 The Concept of Nudging 9
38
Hansen (2016), p. 174.
39
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 9.
40
See Jung/Mellers (2016), p. 65; Felsen/Castelo/Reiner (2013), p. 203; Coventry et al. (2016), p. 1
f;
Hagman et al. (2015), p. 439 ff; Kuhfuss et al. (2016), p. 642.
10 Part I: Literature Overview
in rules or biases, group decision making and decision support systems. 41 Both,
the theories acknowledge the necessity of improving decision making but target
the issue from different angles. In the following, the focus is on the potential
application of nudging (re-biasing). Therefore, biases and heuristics are investi-
gated as potential influence factors which cause suboptimal irrational decision
making as well as which have the potential to improvements irrational decision
making.
41
See Larrick (2004), p. 316 ff; Fischoff (1981), p. 3.
42
See Keren/Teigen K. (2008), p. 93.
43
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124.
44
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124.
45
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 84 f.
46
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1127; Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 7.
47
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 7.
2.1 The Concept of Nudging 11
If humans are able to remember easily similar examples, due by the fact that
Ease of Recall
they were very vivid or recent, they tend to overestimate the probability of
bias
occurrence.48
Retrievability Driven by, how information are stored in the human memory, people overes-
Bias timate the probability of the occurrence with easier to find information.49
48
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1127; Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 18.
49
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 20 f; Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1127.
50
See Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 26; Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124; Bazerman/Moore (2009),
p. 8.
51
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1124 f; Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 21.
52
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 23 f; Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1125 f.
53
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1128.
54
See Tversky/Kahneman (1974), p. 1128.
55
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 84 f.
12 Part I: Literature Overview
Lastly, the human brain has further cognitive boundaries and perceptions which
lead to the creation of biases. One aspect, which influence decisions, is the way
how information is presented. The Framing Bias defines, that decisions are in-
fluenceable by the way information are presented, which clouds the rationality.65
Specifically in correlation to the different perception of gains and losses, which
is known as Gain-Loss Bias.66 The human brain perceives losses stronger than
56
See Babcock/Loewenstein (1997), p. 110; Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 94 ff.
57
See Thaler (1980), p. 51 f.
58
See Weber/Schäffer (2014), p. 92 f.
59
See Sorg (1982), p. 350 ff; Taschner (2013), p. 190 f.
60
See Cyert/March/Starbuck (1961), p. 256; Statman/Tyebjee (1985), p. 30; Jolls/Sunstein/Thaler
(1998), p. 1524 f.
61
See Wömpener (2008), p. 173 f; Oskamp (1965), p. 264; Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 31 f; Here,
the focus is on overconfidence in own abilities, some scholars also define it as overconfidence in
precision (See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 36) or extend it with overconfidence in Information
quality and success probability (See Laschke/Weber (1999), p. 1.).
62
See Asch (1955), p. 34.
63
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 28 ff; Kunda (1990), p. 480.
64
See Staw/Fox (1977), p. 431.
65
See Tversky/Kahneman (1981), p. 453.
66
See Bazerman/Moore (2009), p. 65.
2.1 The Concept of Nudging 13
gains, and routing from this misperception a lot of behaviours are explainable
(e.g. Loss Aversion).67 The Prospect Theory defines a value function, starting at a
reference point, showing gains concave and losses convex.68 The Endowment
Effect describes the bias of seeing more value in things people possess, because
giving it up would feel like a loss.69 Also the Status Quo Bias is part of the result,
here humans prefer to stay at the reference point.70 Mental Accounting describes
how humans have separate mental accounts and do not necessarily optimize
overall, which lastly also results in the Sunk Cost Bias where the tendency is to
keep negative accounts open, in the hope to even it out, again driven by the loss
aversion.71 Even though the introduced list of biases is not all-embracing, the
respective biases and heuristics are chosen because of their significance in sever-
al Management Accounting disciplines.
2.1.3 Perception
67
See Kahneman/Knetsch/Thaler (1991), p. 199.
68
See Kahneman/Tversky (1979), p. 279.
69
See Kahneman/Knetsch/Thaler (1991), p. 196 f.
70
See Kahneman/Knetsch/Thaler (1991), p. 197 f.
71
See Thaler (1985), p. 207 ff; Weber et al. (2003), p. 25 ff; Thaler/Johnson (1990), p. 657 f.
72
See Hansen/Jespersen (2013), p. 7.
73
See Mitchell (2005), p. 1248.
74
See Goodwin (2012), p. 90 f; Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 136.
75
See Hansen/Jespersen (2013), p. 5.
76
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 132.
77
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 135.
14 Part I: Literature Overview
78
See Goodwin (2012), p. 86
79
See Thaler (2015), p. 1.
80
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 132; Thaler/Sunstein (2009), p. 9 ff; Sunstein (2018), p. 207 ff.
81
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 135.
82
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 133.
83
See Hausman/Welch (2010), p. 130.
84
See Hansen/Jespersen (2013), p. 10.
2.2 Behavioural Impacts in Management Accounting 15
not a question about whether humans should be nudged but in what direction
they are nudged. Still, if all humans are influenced by their irrational mind, the
question arises who keeps the choice makers in check when it comes to their
own biases, such as Overconfidence Bias.
As the last question is not conclusively answered by scholars, some research-
ers concentrate on the concern about human reaction towards nudging. First
studies show that people prefer firstly, nudges that target System 1 thinking over
nudges targeting System 2 thinking and secondly, conscious (overt) over subcon-
scious (covert) interventions when it comes to nudging. More information on the
studies by Jung/Mellers (2016) and Felsen/Castelo/Reiner (2013) on the percep-
tion of nudges can be followed-up in Appendix . Considering that the interpreta-
tion of the nudging definition, the scope and context differ in the introduced
studies, these findings cannot be directly translated into the research of this the-
sis. Nevertheless, the insights are taken as a general indicator that people’s atti-
tude towards nudging can be positive if nudges are applied correctly and that the
deception highly depends on the context and the individual who is targeted. Fur-
thermore, the already tested reactions towards different types of nudges are cau-
tiously considered when nudges are developed for the experiment in chapter 1.
To answer the research question for the qualitative study “in the context of Man-
agement Accounting, (1) what are issues which are caused by irrational decision
making of employees that could be tackled by nudges and (2) is nudging already
applied as a countermeasure according to academic literature?”85, it is neces-
sary to examine firstly the behavioural impacts in the area of Management Ac-
counting and the respective drivers.
The first driver is the role of the controller, which is a special one when it
comes to analysing mistakes introduced by human irrational behaviour, because
there are three levels of touchpoints.86 Firstly, controllers are object to biases and
misbehaviour themselves, when doing analysis, they could be influenced by
85
For the purpose of this study, issues that could be tackled by nudges and forms of nudges are
defined according to the definition in paragraph 2.1.1.
86
See Paefgen (2008), p. 80.
16 Part I: Literature Overview
biases and come up with not optimal conclusions.87 Secondly, there is an interac-
tion, relationship and information flow from the controller towards the manager,
considering also the interpretation of information for decision making from the
managers view point. Wrong interpretation of the results by the manager can also
be a cause for issues in decision making.88 Thirdly, the interactions with employ-
ees, who report data towards the controller as well as who are steered by control-
ling instruments.89 Here, reporting honesty as well as misguiding incentives or
PMS can create issues in human behaviour. Having this key role is the reason
that controllers are in focus in the following as the centre of the analysis.
To have a more detailed analysis of the possibilities in the corporate applica-
tion area regarding flawed decision-making, the second driver is the different
types of causes, which are classified into two subgroups.90 Thereby, it is not only
clearer to analyse where and with whom it occurs, but also what the underlying
cause of the bias is. The first subgroup contains decisions that are not optimal
from the company´s point of view, which are caused by conscious misbehaviour
of their employees. These deviations from the firm’s desired outcome are mainly
driven by direct self-interest and opportunistic behaviour of the employees, ena-
bled by a certain degree of information asymmetry.91 This issue is classified as
principal-agency theory.92 Oftentimes, this discrepancy between corporation and
employee goals, as well as between managers and their subordinates is ap-
proached with compensation benefits to encourage the desired behaviour.93 This
issue group will be classified as “willingness discrepancy” in the style of Weber
et al. (2003).94 Important is here to see direct self-interest, as pure egoistic and
short sited interest of the employee, different to the indirect self-interest intro-
duced in paragraph 2.1.1, which also considers what is best for the company.
The second subgroup concentrates on the mistakes that occur because of the
inability of humans to make decisions in a true rational way, as described in
87
See Hirsch/Schäffer/Weber (2008), p. 9; Paefgen (2008), p. 79.
88
See Taschner (2013), p. 187 f.
89
See Malina/Selto (2015), p. 28 ff; Paefgen (2008), p. 102 f.
90
See Weber et al. (2003), p. 9 ff.
91
See Dierkes/Schäfer (2008), p. 19.
92
Principal-Agency-Theory defined according to Jensen/Meckling (2000), p. 85 f; where the princi-
pal gives decision authority to an agent to act in his interest. Under the assumption that both par-
ties are utility maximisers, it is possible that the agent does not act in the interest of the principal
and therefore need to apply incentives and monitoring to ensure desired behaviour.
93
See Dierkes/Schäfer (2008), p. 19 f.
94
See Weber et al. (2003), p. 9 ff.
2.2 Behavioural Impacts in Management Accounting 17
2.1.1. The underlying heuristics and bias which result in not optimal decisions
have already found their way in Management Accounting to explain certain
mistakes.95 The second issue group will be therefore named “ability discrepan-
cy”, because the suboptimal behaviour is routed not in conscious misbehaviour
but the inability of humans to behave truly rational.96 After classifying the two
types of causes, there is a need to identify the tasks and situations, and behav-
ioural issues, which occur in the work of a controller and their surroundings.
Therefore, it is necessary to analyse different areas of Management Accounting
for possible issues driven by humans to find opportunities to improve decision
making with nudges.
In research there are several areas discussed where human irrational behaviour
leads to not optimal decisions. To have a more structured approach, the follow-
ing analysis will focus on two areas: Management Reporting and Budgeting. The
two areas are chosen, because the different interests and interplay of humans are
significant here, and they are often chosen in literature to elaborate on biases in
Management Accounting.97
Management reporting (MR): The task range which is considered in the field of
MR is defined according to two aspects: process steps and information intention
of the area, which allow to identify the issues and their drivers in a next step. In
this thesis, the definition of Taschner (2013) is followed for defining the inten-
tion of MR, which classifies it as report for internal recipients with leading func-
tion.98 The second specification in defining MR is the consideration of the pro-
cess and the tasks included. To cover all possible impacts from humans, the
following approach will use the widest definition of the process.99 Process steps
are defined as follow:100
95
See Hirsch/Schäffer/Weber (2008), p. 5.
96
See Weber et al. (2003), p. 9 f.
97
See Weber et al. (2003), p. 11 ff; Weber/Schäffer (2014); Taschner (2015). There is also an
analysis made for Investment and Project controlling, which can be found in Deep Dive 2 (Down-
load), which was through this thesis research design not further in focus.
98
See Taschner (2013), p. 36 ff.
99
Blohm (1982), p. 866.
100
Göpfert (2002), p. 144.
18 Part I: Literature Overview
1) Infor-
2) Acquir- 3) Creating 4) Commu- 5) Use of
mation
ing of Data Analysis nication Information
Need
While there are often several underlying biases and issues, there will be a focus
on the most prominent or characterizing ones for the named task. Starting with
the realization of 1) Information Need, two aspects come into play. One is the
interaction of controller and manager, the other one is the personality of both.
The Relationship Bias impacts if and how a manger requests or a controller of-
fers information, because both do not want to embarrass themselves in front of
the other or overstep their competencies.101 The other aspect is the characteristic
of both. This is partly due to the Overconfidence Bias, in the sense of “I know
what the manager needs” or from a manager’s perspective, the idea that he
knows best what is needed.102 The other part is attributable to the Halo Bias,
where the competency and trustiness of the counterpart is judged regarding to
some task unimportant traits, like looks or likability and therefore clouded.103
After identifying the need, the next step is 2) Acquiring of Data, where the issue
can arise through the controllers, because they are subject to the Availability
Heuristic.104 Additionally, issues can occur in this step through the employees,
which report their data wrongly, or are just reluctant to share data in a timely
manner because it is not in their direct Self-Interest.105 The Availability Heuristic
is one of the most pressing issues regarding behavioural impact in MR and it
effects nearly all steps. To specify the issue a bit closer, it can be said that con-
troller rely too much on remembered information sources and ways of processing
and showing data. They stop searching for new input to early and therefore
might miss out important insights.106 While the Availability Heuristic is more an
unconscious behaviour, there are also conscious impacts, which influence MR
101
See Sorg (1982), p. 350 ff, Taschner (2013), p. 190 f.
102
See Grob/Bensberg (2009), p. 71, Taschner (2013), p. 195.
103
See Weber/Schäffer (2014), p. 92 f.
104
See Taschner (2015), p. 32 f.
105
See Paefgen (2008), p. 102 f; Mueller (1998), p. 349 ff; Hoffjan (1998), p. 101.
106
See Taschner (2015), p. 30 f.
2.2 Behavioural Impacts in Management Accounting 19
107
See Höller (1978), p. 233 ff; Hoffjan (1998), p. 101.
108
See Taschner (2013), p. 200 ff.
109
See Taschner (2013), p. 205.
110
See Feldman/March (1981), p. 182.
111
See Taschner (2013), p. 209.
112
See Taschner (2013), p. 209.
113
See Kunda (1990), p. 482; Russo/Schoemaker (1992), p. 7.
114
See Dearborn/Simon (1958), p. 140 ff.
115
See Ewert/Wagenhofer (2014), p. 441 f.
20 Part I: Literature Overview
tion.116 Thus, it can be narrowed down to two major functions: planning / control
function as well as behavioural-steering function.117 These two different tasks of
budgeting already show the complexity in the interaction because, on the one
hand, it supports with planning, forecasting and coordination on a quite technical
level. On the other hand, it has a motivational prospect and is often linked to
performance measurements which therefore serves on a behavioural level.118 To
be able to have a structured analysis of the occurring issues, a general process is
derived, combining different approaches.119
Source: Own presentation according to Weber et al. (2003), Wömpener (2008), Lehmann (2011)
The analysis in BU is less chronological because the areas of planning and con-
trol is intertwined. An often-named issue in budgeting is the so-called budget
slack.120 It is defined in the behaviour that employees tend to underestimate fu-
ture revenues and overestimate future costs in the 2) Prediction step, to have the
opportunity to get an easier or bigger bonus when achieving the targets in the 4)
Control/Assessment step.121 This issue occurs through the dynamic of Planning
Phase with the Control Phase. The budget slack is driven by direct self-interest
of employees and occurs in the interplay of employees and controller.122 In con-
trast to MR, the self-interest impacts target setting and not reporting of actuals.123
Looking at the work of the controllers (managers) themselves, their work can be
biased by the representativeness heuristic in the 2) Prediction and 3) Execution
116
See Greiner (2004), p. 54.
117
See Greiner (2004), p. 60 ff; Wömpener (2008), p. 16 ff.
118
See Pfaff (2002), p. 231 ff ; Wetjen (2015), p. 10
119
See Weber et al. (2003), p. 40 f; Wömpener (2008), p. 23 ff; See Lehmann (2011), p. 25 ff.
120
See Höller (1978), p. 233 ff; Schiff/Lewin (1968), 19; Onis (1973), p. 535.
121
See Ewert/Wagenhofer (2014), p. 503; Höller (1978), p. 233 ff.
122
See Lowe/Shaw (1968), p. 306 ff.
123
See Jensen (2003), p. 379.
2.2 Behavioural Impacts in Management Accounting 21
step. For example, when the controllers (managers) are able to recall several
situations where something worked out they might overestimate that likelihood
now, and have wrong predictions or agree on wrong budgets.124 Lastly, in 5)
Steering, budgeting has a major impact on the motivation of the employees and,
therefore, the controller should acknowledge the impact budgeting has on the
behaviour of the team and be careful in how achievable the targets are and how
they are communicated.125 Here, an example could be motivational issues
through unachievable goals or misleading incentives.126
Concluding the literature review, part (2) of the research question is looked at.
Thus, the following literature focuses on whether nudging is already applied or
what other solutions are currently recommended to tackle behavioural issues in
Management Accounting.
The first attempt in exploring the impact of nudges in Accounting is the arti-
cle of Malina/Selto (2015). Their study identifies unconscious nudges in the
PMS of one company and was able to proof their effectiveness through inter-
views.127 While this paper considers only the effects of already used behavioural
influences, more research is recommended by the authors.128 In particular, nudg-
es that are deliberately used to improve deficits in the current PMS should be
explored.
Regarding the research on biases and heuristics in Management Accounting,
so far, scholars give mainly recommendations on how to handle the bias. These
recommendations for action are looked at exemplarily in the following. Moreo-
ver, they are classified using the introduced checklist to check whether any of
these measures already qualifies as a nudge or violates any of the pre-conditions
(C1-C9). The results of the analysis of all following measures can be seen in
Appendix .
Starting off, Weber/Schäffer (2014) give general recommendations for the
work of a controller. They argue that it is important for controller to know biases
in order to, firstly, estimate how much the results are deviating and, therefore, to
124
See Barnes Jr. (1984), p. 131 ff.
125
See Argyris (1952), p. 16; Kenis (1979), p. 707.
126
See Stedry/Kay (1966), p. 460; Locke (1966), p. 62.
127
See Malina/Selto (2015), p. 27 ff.
128
See Malina/Selto (2015), p. 42 f.
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ausgebreitet. Gar nicht, als ob sie es war, die sang. Als sänge etwas
Fremdes, Wundersames, Großes aus ihr heraus. Der Wirtin liefen
helle Tränen die Wangen herunter; sie schneuzte sich heftig. Auch
Karla fing an zu weinen. Sie war so glücklich. Es war so herrlich,
singen zu dürfen ... die ganze Seele hinzugeben.
„Was hätten Sie für eine Heirat machen können ... mit der
Stimme!“
Karla ließ den Klavierdeckel hart zufallen.
„Hab’ ich’s denn nicht gut getroffen? Ich wünsch’ mir gar nichts
Besseres.“
Die Wirtin stand auf.
„Na ja ... aber immerhin ... Ich will nichts gegen Ihren Mann
sagen. Ein feiner, solider Herr. Aber so richtig froh wird man nicht mit
ihm. Und wie er Sie immer plagt beim Studieren ...“
„Ja ... er meint es gut mit mir. Sie können mir’s glauben.“
Karla war verschnupft. Sie hatte nur den einzigen Gott. Den
wollte sie sich nicht verkleinern lassen.
Als Altmann nach Hause kam, umarmte sie ihn leidenschaftlich.
Fast schien es, als wollte sie ein Unrecht gutmachen.
„Na, was denn, was denn ...?“
Er klopfte ihr gönnerhaft, aber doch innerlich beglückt, die
Wangen. Sein kühles Blut erwärmte sich an ihrer heißen Erregung.
„Hast du etwa gesungen?“
„Ja ... ein bißchen.“
Er kannte den Ursprung ihrer Leidenschaftlichkeit.
Auch als Gatte fühlte er sich verpflichtet, zu dämpfen.
Gerade als ihr Gatte. Ihre Stimme mußte geschont werden, ihre
Frische. Er bezwang auch viel in sich selbst ... Er meinte es wirklich
gut mit ihr.
Eines Tages brachte Karla eine halbverhungerte Katze nach
Hause. Sie gab ihr warme Milch und ließ sie nicht von ihrem Schoß.
Sie übte auch nicht an diesem Tage, sondern streichelte immer nur
das struppige graue Fellchen. Abends machte sie ihr ein Körbchen
zurecht, füllte es mit weichen Lappen, legte ein Taschentuch
darüber.
„Niedlich ... wie ein Kindchen“, sagte sie und lächelte versonnen.
Altmann gab es einen Ruck. Das Wort Kind traf sein Ohr wie ein
greller Pfiff.
Das „Kind“ hatte er nicht mit einbegriffen in den sorgsam
ausgearbeiteten Plan der nächsten Jahre. Er fand mit dem besten
Willen kein Eckchen und keine Zeit, wo es einzuschachteln wäre. Er
stand knapp vor dem Abschluß mit Bremen für Karla. Das war ein
großer Fortschritt. Gegen Ende der nächsten Spielzeit waren
mehrere Gastspiele von ihm vorgesehen: in Lübeck, Danzig. Mit
Hamburg stand er in eifrigen Unterhandlungen. Er hoffte sehr, daß
das Hamburger Gastspiel zu einem Engagement führen werde.
Wie Ameisenkribbeln spürte er es im Rücken. Eine ihm sonst
fremde Nervosität bemächtigte sich seiner.
„Wie fühlst du dich, Karla? Ist dir gut?“
Sie blickte erstaunt. Warum sollte ihr nicht gut sein? Dann lachte
sie wieder mit drolliger Heimlichkeit, nahm das Kätzchen von seinem
Lager, wickelte es in das Tuch und schaukelte es in den Armen.
„Schlaf, mein Kindchen, schlaf ...“
Und sie wippte es so hoch in die Luft, daß sein Köpfchen bis zu
Altmanns Lippen hinaufreichte.
„Gute Nacht, Paachen ... gute Nacht.“
„Laß doch den Unsinn.“
Es war nicht ein überlegener Verweis wie sonst — er war wirklich
ärgerlich. Karla küßte die Katze und legte sie zurück in ihr Bett. Sie
flüsterte:
„Laß nur, Miezerle, Papa ist böse ... ich muß Papa wieder gut
machen.“
Es war nichts als Gedalbere. Aber echte Zärtlichkeit lag in ihrer
Stimme. So hatte sie früher zu ihren Puppen gesprochen, so mochte
sie später zu ihren Kindern sprechen.
Altmann gab dem Körbchen einen Schubs, daß es durchs ganze
Zimmer flog.
„Hör’ doch endlich auf!“
Karla sah ihn erschrocken an. Was war denn das mit ihm?
Verstand er denn gar keinen Spaß? Oder ....
Sie wurde plötzlich blutrot ... Mochte er Kinder nicht leiden?
Ihr wurde merkwürdig kalt im Rücken, und so leer schien ihr das
Zimmer, als ob er gar nicht mit darin stünde, ihr Mann.
Sie nahm das Kätzchen in den Arm und ging in die Kammer. Dort
saß sie lange, und die sanfte Wärme des kleinen, schnurrenden
Tieres beruhigte sie. Einzelne Tropfen fielen aus ihren Augen auf
das weiche Fellchen. Sie berührte mit ihren Lippen den kleinen
runden Kopf, die spitz aufragenden Ohrchen. Sie summte vor sich
hin ... kleine naive Liedchen aus ihrer Schulzeit ....
Sie dachte daran, wie sie als Kind Wärme und Zärtlichkeit bei
den Hunden und Katzen der Nachbarn gesucht, da sie sie zu Hause
nicht fand.
Warum hatte sie keine Brüder, keine Schwestern, wie die
anderen Kinder? ....
„Das hätt’ mir noch gefehlt!“ gab die Mutter zur Antwort.
Später fragte sie den Papa.
„Liebes Kind .... multipliziere nicht nur die Spiele und Freuden,
multipliziere auch die Zahl der Knuffe, Entbehrungen und
Krankheiten mit der Zahl der Geschwister!“
Vielleicht dachte auch ihr Mann so ...?
Am nächsten Tage schenkte sie das Kätzchen einer Kollegin.
Altmann brachte ihr einen hübschen seidenen Unterrock aus der
Stadt mit.
Sie hätte nicht gewagt, an solch einen Luxus auch nur zu
denken. Ganz blaß wurde sie.
Wie war der Mann gut — nein, wie war er gut! ....
Die Katze war vergessen.
Abends rief Altmann sie an seinen Schreibtisch und zeigte ihr die
Briefe der Theaterleiter, die Eventualverträge. Da ging ein Zittern
durch ihren Körper.
„In all den Städten soll ich singen? Ist das wahr? ... Wirklich
wahr? ...“
Sie fiel ihm um den Hals, sie küßte seine Stirn, seine Augen,
seine Hände. Sie lachte und sprang trällernd im Zimmer umher.
Wie ein Hündchen folgte sie ihm in den nächsten Wochen. Ein
Mann, der das alles zustande gebracht! Ein Mann, der sie zur
großen, berühmten Sängerin machte! ... Ein Mann, der ihr ein
heißes, begnadetes Leben schenkte! Ein Mann, der ihr die Tore
öffnete, zu allem, was es Großes, Wundervolles, Beglückendes in
der Welt gab! ... Und dieser Mann war i h r Mann! ...
Sie fing an, ihn zu lieben, mit scheuer, inniger Zärtlichkeit. Sie
lächelte sanft, wenn er sie während der Stunden verhöhnte, sie
zitterte, wenn er seine dunklen, geraden Brauen hob, und die tiefen
Mundwinkel seiner blassen, feinen Lippen sich senkten. Und ihr
Herz schlug glückschwer und erwartungsvoll, wenn er langsam die
eingelaufenen Briefe mit der langen Schere aufschnitt.
Es waren zumeist gute Nachrichten.
Bald nach Weihnachten holte sie sich eine Erkältung auf der
zugigen Bühne. Es war nicht das erstemal, und sie pflegte nie viel
Aufhebens davon zu machen, beurlaubte sich auf eine Woche, lag
mit Prießnitzumschlägen zu Bett, schluckte Aspirin und trank
Kannen heißer Limonade.
Altmann genügte nicht einmal der Theaterarzt, den er sofort zu
sich bat. Karla erschrak, als sie einen wildfremden Herrn an ihr Bett
treten sah, einen Herrn Geheimrat, dem sie Zunge, Hals und Brust
zeigen sollte. War sie denn so krank?
Altmann schaffte Inhalationsapparate an, allerhand Pinsel und
Arzeneien standen auf ihrem Nachttisch. Er wechselte ihr selbst die
Kompressen und pinselte ihr den Hals aus, unbarmherzig
gewissenhaft.
Als sie das erstemal zur Probe kam, schenkten ihr die
Kolleginnen Blumen.
Da fing sie an zu weinen. Sie küßte die Blumen und sprach den
ganzen Tag nur davon, wie lieb und gut die Kolleginnen wären.
Altmann wurde bitter. Zum ersten Male.
„Zu Blumen hat es nicht gelangt.“
Karla fand ihr Zimmer wieder trostlos und leer, und abends
graute ihr vor dem Bett, in dem sie solange krank gelegen.
Ausbrüche plötzlicher Leidenschaftlichkeit wechselten ab mit
Tagen stumpfen Hindämmerns. Wenn ihr auf der Straße Kinder in
den Weg liefen, bückte sie sich zu ihnen herab und küßte sie. Wenn
eins fiel, hob sie es auf den Arm, schaukelte, tröstete es. Zweimal
kam sie dadurch zu spät zur Probe.
Wenn Altmann mit ihr studierte, war sie oft unwillig, bestenfalls
zerstreut. Er zitterte oft vor verhaltenem Ärger. Sie tat, als merkte sie
es nicht, oder — vielleicht sah sie es auch wirklich nicht.
Sie knixte, wenn er ihr etwas sagte: „Jawohl, Herr Lehrer!“ Oder
aber sie weigerte sich zu üben; sie hätte Kopfschmerzen, es kratzte
sie etwas im Halse; sie hätte schlecht geschlafen und wäre matt.
Abends im Theater sang sie schöner denn je. Und kein einziges
Mal warf sie ihm einen Blick zu. Als ob sie nicht wüßte, daß er immer
da unten auf dem Eckplatz in der zehnten Parkettreihe rechts saß.
Sie fragte auch nicht: „Nun, wie war’s?“, wenn er sie aus der
Garderobe abholte. Hatte sie Blumen bekommen, so hielt sie sie
sorglich und auffällig im Arm, und wenn vor dem Bühneneingang die
üblichen jungen Enthusiasten warteten, dann schlich sie sich nicht
mehr scheu an ihnen vorbei, sondern hob den hübschen dunklen
Kopf und sah ihnen mit strahlendem Lächeln in die bewegten,
heißen Gesichter.
Eines Tages legte Altmann einen Gastspielvertrag zur
Unterschrift vor sie hin. Drei Abende. Als Pamina, Elisabeth und
Elsa. Und für jeden Abend zweihundert Mark. So viel, wie sie hier im
ganzen Monat verdiente.
Altmann wußte: Jetzt kam der große Jubel; jetzt sprang sie mit
dem Vertrag im Zimmer umher, stürzte ans Klavier und zerrte ihn auf
den Hocker. Jetzt ließ sie nicht ab von ihm, bis er nicht wenigstens
eine der drei Partien mit ihr durchgenommen. Jetzt gleich lagen ihre
Arme um seinen Hals, und ihre frischen, vollen Lippen drückten sich
in sein Gesicht ...
Es verging eine Minute, die zweite .. Nichts von alledem
geschah. Sie sah ihn gar nicht an, zählte nur an ihren Fingern irgend
etwas ab.
„Was rechnest du aus, Karla?“
„Ob ich noch auftreten kann, falls ... es sind noch drei Monate bis
dahin.“
Mit einem Satz war er bei ihr, riß ihre Hände an sich. Drückte sie
so fest, daß sie glaubte, er wolle ihr wehe tun.
„Glaubst du denn, Karla ... Hast du irgendwelchen Anhalt dafür,
daß ...“
Sie zuckte die Achseln.
„Ich weiß gar nichts ... aber es könnte doch sein, nicht wahr? Wir
sind verheiratet ... es wäre immerhin natürlich.“
Sie hörte seinen schweren Atem. Sie sah, wie er sich mit dem
Tuch über die Stirn fuhr ...
Sie hätte sich mit den Nägeln in sein Gesicht einkrallen mögen,
in sein schönes, vornehmes Gesicht.
Aber er faßte sich.
„Warum behältst du denn alles für dich? ... Wir wollen zum Arzt
gehen. Man muß doch wissen. Ich muß doch disponieren können!
Den ganzen Tag sitze ich am Schreibtisch, opfere meine Zeit,
verbrauche Papier, Marken ... zerbreche mir den Kopf, wie ich alles
am besten anordne und verteile — und nun wirfst du alles über den
Haufen durch ein Wort! Wann — glaubst du denn ...?“
Seine Stimme klang hart und doch unsicher.
Sie saß bequem zurückgelehnt und blinzelte vor sich hin.
Sie hörte seine Angst durch den harten Klang, und diese Angst
weckte ihre Lust, ihn zu quälen, ihn abhängig zu fühlen von ihr, von
dem Schicksal, daß sie selbst ihm schuf.
Aber — eigentlich wußte sie gar nichts Bestimmtes. Manches,
was sie als Symptom auslegte, war wohl nur Einbildung, weil sie so
tief in sich hineinhorchte. Weil sie es so heiß ersehnte. Weil der liebe
Gott sie zur Mutter erschaffen hatte — viel mehr als zur Sängerin.
Weil selbst ihr Singen nichts war als ein Schrei nach Verdoppelung
ihres Wesens.
Altmann drängte:
„So sprich doch, Karla ... so sag’ doch ...“
Aber sie wehrte ungeduldig ab. Er sollte sie doch
zufriedenlassen. Sie hatte das nur so hin gesagt. Zum Arzt gehen?
Der würde sie auslachen.
Altmann atmete auf. Er war jetzt wieder ganz ruhig. Junge
Frauen spielten wohl oft mit dem Gedanken der Mutterschaft. Es lag
so nahe. Sie wußten ja auch nicht, wie abhängig sie waren vom
Willen und der Beherrschung des Mannes.
Und er streichelte, wieder entlastet und nachsichtig, Karlas
Wangen.
„Wie wär’s, wenn wir ein bißchen übten?“
* *
*