Prestationsmätningars roll i revisionsbyråer : En kvalitativ studie utifrån revisorers perspektiv

Sammanfattning: Abstract Management control system is meaningful for corporations.  It aims to define overall company-goals and develops strategies that eases the achievement of these goals. The purpose of the strategies is to create desirable performances through guidance of employees. The strategy and performance evaluation are correlated since both creates desirable performances. This is achieved through performance evaluation as it monitors and examines employees’ performances.  Prior research highlights performance evaluation through corporations' perspective, but does not present a connection between performance evaluation and its effects on auditors. Although, it has been established some effects of parts within performance evaluation. Due to that the research has been based on corporations' perspective, it becomes interesting to study the subject through auditors’ perspective. Performance evaluation is used in a wide variety within the large audit firms, thus relevant to study.  The purpose of the thesis is to create a broader understanding of which role performance evaluation has in audit firms. This has been studied through observations of how performance evaluation is executed and which effects it has on auditors. The thesis’s research-strategy is qualitative, though empirical data has been generated through interviews with eleven auditors.  All of the researched audit firms include overall company-goals, individual goalsetting, time budgets, feedback and monetary incentives in the process of execution of performance evaluation. This study presents which effects performance evaluation has on auditors. Positive effects of performance evaluation are increased performances and motivation. This increment is based on increased self-efficacy, clear expectations and guidelines, and active participation during goal-setting and feedback processes. The negative effects of performance evaluation are based on the work procedure that is created by the management tool, in terms of time pressure, stress and pressure regarding acquisition of customers.