Loading...
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Keywords
Breaks, Managerial Accounting, Error Detection, Working Memory Capacity
Department
Business Administration
Major
Finance
Abstract
Individuals take breaks on a majority of their workdays. This study explores the effect of these work breaks and the working memory capacity (WMC) levels of managers on managerial accounting task performance. To do this, we administer a survey to assess individuals’ stated break habits and then conduct an experiment to see if perceived benefits of breaks translate to reality. Most individuals believe that the majority of breaks taken are beneficial, rather than harmful, to work performance. However, when assessed together with WMC, low WMC participants who took a break between tasks did not perform better than those who did not take a break. Break taking was most beneficial to task performance for individuals with high WMC. Additionally, we find that in a managerial accounting setting, individuals with a high WMC may not receive the same benefit of increased levels of task performance as they do in other settings.
Faculty Mentor
Alyssa Ong
Funding Source or Research Program
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative, Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Presentation Session
Session D
Start Date
23-4-2021 3:00 PM
End Date
23-4-2021 3:15 PM
Do NOT Take a Break! The Impact of Work Breaks on Managerial Accounting Task Performance: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry
Individuals take breaks on a majority of their workdays. This study explores the effect of these work breaks and the working memory capacity (WMC) levels of managers on managerial accounting task performance. To do this, we administer a survey to assess individuals’ stated break habits and then conduct an experiment to see if perceived benefits of breaks translate to reality. Most individuals believe that the majority of breaks taken are beneficial, rather than harmful, to work performance. However, when assessed together with WMC, low WMC participants who took a break between tasks did not perform better than those who did not take a break. Break taking was most beneficial to task performance for individuals with high WMC. Additionally, we find that in a managerial accounting setting, individuals with a high WMC may not receive the same benefit of increased levels of task performance as they do in other settings.