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Spelet bakom siffrorna: En kvalitativ studie om hur prestationsmått formar anställdasbeteende i ett svenskt tillverkningsföretag
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Management.
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Management.
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Management.
2026 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title
The Game Behind the Numbers : A qualitative case study on how performance measures shape employeebehavior in a Swedish manufacturing company (English)
Abstract [en]

This paper examines the impact of performance measures that shape employeebehavior in Swedish manufacturing company. The focus lies on organizationalconditions that enable gaming. By taking the perspective of a qualitative singlecase study of a production unit, the data was collected through six semi-structuredinterviews. The interviews collected were with one middle manager and fiveoperationally employed workers.The findings of the study were that performance measures have a powerfulinfluence on behaviour, where measured tasks are systematically prioritized at theexpense of unmeasured but important work. The paper highlights and identifiesthree forms of gaming by using the study from Aboubichr and Conway´s (2023)typology. The forms that could be identified were cooking the books, gratuitousproliferation and playing it safe, while the evidence of collusive alliances wereambiguous and limited. Further in the study the analysis reveals a chain of goalconflicts between individual and collective performance, as well as between shortterm and long-term value creation.The contribution to existing research is to demonstrate that gaming takes place indifferent environment and forms, when employee autonomy is limited, and thephenomenon functions as a dynamic adaptation pattern where one form of gamingis replaced by another as the system changes. Helpfulness emerges as a structuraldisadvantage, where cooperative incentives are penalized by the measurementsystem. The conclusion is that gaming is primarily regulated by the system ratherthan the individual

Abstract [sv]

Denna studie undersöker hur prestationsmått formar anställdas beteenden inomsvensk tillverkningsindustri, med fokus på de organisatoriska förutsättningar sommöjliggör gaming. Genom en kvalitativ fallstudie av en produktionsenhetsamlades data in via sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med en mellanchef och femoperativt anställda.Studiens resultat visar att prestationsmåtten har en genomgripande påverkan påbeteende, där mätbara uppgifter systematiskt prioriteras på bekostnad av omätbaramen viktiga arbetsmoment. Med utgångspunkt i Aboubichr och Conways (2023)typologi identifieras tre former av gaming. De identifierade formerna är Cookingthe books, gratuitous proliferation och playing it safe. Stödet för collusivealliances var däremot svagt och begränsat. Analysen visar vidare att systemetskapar en kedja av målkonflikter, dels mellan individuell och kollektiv prestation,dels mellan kortsiktig prestation och långsiktigt värdeskapande.Studiens bidrag till befintlig forskning är att visa att gaming förekommer även näranställdas handlingsutrymme är begränsat, samt att fenomenet fungerar som ettdynamiskt anpassningsmönster där en form av gaming ersätts av en annan i taktmed att systemet förändras. Ett ytterligare bidrag är att hjälpsamhet framträdersom en strukturell nackdel, där samarbetsinriktat beteende missgynnas avmätsystemet. Sammantaget visar studien att gaming primärt är en systemfrågasnarare än en individfråga.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. , p. 66
Keywords [en]
Performance measurement, gaming, management control, manufacturing industry, dysfunctional behavior, goal conflict
Keywords [sv]
Prestationsmätning, gaming, ekonomistyrning, tillverkningsindustri, dysfunktionellt beteende, målkonflikt
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-148817OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-148817DiVA, id: diva2:2087820
Subject / course
Business Administration - Management Accounting
Educational program
Business Administration and Economics Programme, 240 credits
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2026-07-24 Created: 2026-07-22 Last updated: 2026-07-24Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
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  • Other style
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Language
  • de-DE
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  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
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  • asciidoc
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