The effect of monetary rewards on autonomous motivation in an enabling performance measurement context

This paper investigates the impact of monetary rewards on autonomous motivation in a context of an enabling performance measurement system (PMS). The study uses survey data from 314 managers. The results indicate that organizations benefit from PMSs that are perceived as highly enabling. A highly enabling PMS leads to a higher level of autonomous motivation, when compared to a situation with a minimally enabling PMS or no PMS at all. In companies where the PMS is perceived as minimally enabling, the results indicate that perceived fairness of individual monetary rewards positively affects managers’ autonomous motivation. The findings also reveal that the more the PMS is perceived as enabling, the less effective a fair individual bonus is for enhancing autonomous motivation