Performance Attributions: A Cross Cultural Study Comparing Singapore, Japan and US Companies

Introduction Attribution theory is one about perceptions, of how people construct and understand their world. Attribution formulation is an activity carried out countless times each day, either purposefully or subconsciously, by everybody. Attributions regarding phenomenon of all sorts not only pacify one's curiosity and emotions, supplement one's knowledge archive to guide future behavior, but are further deployed to steer others' attribution formulation and subsequent actions. Its omnipresence in rational thought and social interaction warrants its received attention. While Heider (1958) initiated attribution research with his basic conceptions, latter scholars supplement it by: deriving relationships between certain information types and resulting attributions; such structured relationships' applicability in diverse situations; systematic differences in attribution behavior between individuals of certain characteristics (e.g. country of residence); differing attention for each information type; and possible underlying purposes of formulating attributions. For example, Jones and Davis's (1965) Theory of Correspondence Inference, Kelley's (1967) ANOVA model, Kruglanski's (1980) Lay Epistemology and the Expectancy-Covariance model identified properties of a phenomenon (e.g. observed behavior) that are considered in attribution formulations. But Kelley, recognizing his model's reduced applicability under time constraints and multiple feasible attributions' coexistence, subsequently derived the Causal Schemata and Discounting & Augmentation Tendency theory respectively. Daryl Bem's (1967) Theory for Self-perception advocated an additional use for attributions: to discover individuals' own internal state through self-observations. Furthermore, Actor-Observer Differences, Fundamental Attribution Error, Self-serving tendency and Self-presentation Theory (with both self-enhancing/protecting and counter-defensive attribution approaches) noted systematic attribution differences under various circumstances. These are better understood considering attributions' informational and identity-protection/enhancement functions. Other differences commonly studied involve those between individuals of different nationalities, who possess different sets of cultural values. Information and the Stock Exchange The stock exchange is a medium for allocating limited capital resources of society to prospective ventures, achieving greater wealth generation for all. But severe economic losses, unemployment, and social instability brought about by recent collapse of multinational corporations cast doubt upon its effectiveness. The problem lies in unavoidable information asymmetry between company management and investors, and the resulting agency problem. To reduce this information disparity, governments and regulatory bodies worldwide set policies and procedures to boost resource allocation effectiveness and lower company costs-of-capital. Examples include requirements for public disclosure of company performance, supporting documents, and auditor reports. Such discretionary narrative disclosures like Letters to Stakeholders, Operational Review, and Management Discussions not only present accounts of past company activities, but also attributions for performance. These fulfill the dual purposes of aiding the public's investment decisions and providing a public relations tool for nurturing a certain corporate image (Hopwood, 1996). Annual reports are reputed to be "undisguised advertisement" or "platforms for preaching [management's] philosophies and [for] touting themselves and their companies" (Ingram & Frazier. 1983, pp. 49). Accounting narratives enclosed are viewed as "carefully crafted public relations documents with little, if any, substantive content" (McConnell, Haslem, & Gibson, 1986). Despite such unflattering comments, discretionary narrative disclosures are vital to skilled users like financial analysts (Schipper 1991). …