Performance feedback plays an important role in management accounting, as it is integral to performance measurement and evaluation. The timing of performance feedback is a critical characteristic of accounting information systems and is often a choice variable for managers and management accountants. In this dissertation, I examine the relation between the timing of outcome-based performance feedback and individual performance. I find that immediate outcome-based performance feedback, while benefiting current performance, can limit individuals’ propensity to seek learning opportunities, reducing future performance. Further, I find that feedback given after intermediate delays benefits future performance with a small cost to current performance. Lastly, feedback given after too long of a delay not only limits current performance, but also limits future performance due to the effects of information overload. Overall, I find support for an inverted-U relation between the timing of performance feedback and future performance. In a two-period setting in which the timing of outcome-based performance feedback is manipulated in the first period and feedback is unavailable in the second period, I find that participants given intermediate feedback perform significantly better in the second period than those given feedback either after no delay or after a long delay. I also investigate the processes by which performance is affected by the timing of performance feedback. These results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of performance feedback timing in complex task environments and provide insight into how delays in performance feedback can benefit or harm future performance. / text

<p>The aim of this investigation was to find out how students react to and make use of oral and written feedback given to them in class. Another aim was to find out if they preferred one form over the other and whether they make more use of that form. The investigation was conducted at a Swedish upper secondary school and consisted of a questionnaire survey and interviews with groups of students and with their teachers. The interviews with the students focused on clarifying some of the results from the questionnaire. The teacher interviews gave the teachers a chance to give their version of what they thought worked better and why they chose to work that way.</p><p> </p><p>The results showed that students welcome feedback, especially positive feedback used for encouragement. However, they also thought that there was a higher limit to the amount of feedback they could benefit from. Too much of one sort could be ignored or perceived as discouraging. The feedback mostly used in class was oral feedback. This was also what the students thought they benefited from the most since it invited to discussion about their work. Most of the students thought the feedback should be delivered in private because it could be embarrassing to receive feedback in front of their peers. Nevertheless, feedback on pronunciation and smaller errors that could be of use for their peers as well was acceptable in front of the class.</p>

The aim of this investigation was to find out how students react to and make use of oral and written feedback given to them in class. Another aim was to find out if they preferred one form over the other and whether they make more use of that form. The investigation was conducted at a Swedish upper secondary school and consisted of a questionnaire survey and interviews with groups of students and with their teachers. The interviews with the students focused on clarifying some of the results from the questionnaire. The teacher interviews gave the teachers a chance to give their version of what they thought worked better and why they chose to work that way.   The results showed that students welcome feedback, especially positive feedback used for encouragement. However, they also thought that there was a higher limit to the amount of feedback they could benefit from. Too much of one sort could be ignored or perceived as discouraging. The feedback mostly used in class was oral feedback. This was also what the students thought they benefited from the most since it invited to discussion about their work. Most of the students thought the feedback should be delivered in private because it could be embarrassing to receive feedback in front of their peers. Nevertheless, feedback on pronunciation and smaller errors that could be of use for their peers as well was acceptable in front of the class.