MANAGERIAL TIME ORIENTATION: POTENTIAL DIMENSIONS AND MEANINGS

Abstract

Managerial time orientation (MTO) is a topic that has received increasing attention in recent decades by the accounting literature. However, confusion still exists regarding the understanding of what MTO really means. It is argued that one of the reasons for this is the lack of studies that seek to conceptually specify the dimensions of MTO. The general objective of this study is to highlight evidences of the literature based in economics that contributes to a broader understanding of MTO. Specifically, it is intended to (i) show that managerial myopia is only one dimension of a broader concept called intertemporal choices and (ii) propose a conceptual framework which can be the base to identified and precisely defined each dimension identified based on two criteria: a) consistency of behavior, where individuals have different levels of consistency between the desired behavior and current behavior; and b) timing of the benefits of the choices made by individuals, such benefits may be concentrated in short term or long term. Based on these two criteria, it may be suggested the existence of four dimensions for MTO: managerial myopia, managerial hyperopia, procrastination and anticipation. As challenges for future research there are both the development of measurement tools able to capture each of these dimensions and the consistency between the theory used, size of explored MTO and interpretation of the evidences obtained in the same study.