This study investigates how hierarchical level and line of service affect the behavioural effects of
performance management systems (PMS) features such as performance evaluative style and goal
difficulty, as well as the effects of organisational commitment. Our study provides empirical evidence
of the incidence of dysfunctional behaviour in a UK accounting firm, and also show that hierarchical
levels impact on the behavioural effects of PMS. We find a high incidence of dysfunctional behaviour
among accounting firm staff relative to prior studies, but no evidence to suggest a difference in the
incidence of dysfunctional behaviour across hierarchical levels or lines of service. We find that high
organisational commitment generally tends to result in lower dysfunctional behaviour, while both
target-focused evaluative style and goal difficulty generally induces more of such behaviour.
However, the strength of these effects differs significantly across hierarchical levels. On one hand,
where a target-focused evaluative style is used, dysfunctional behaviour only increases significantly at
low hierarchical levels, while difficult performance targets only results in significant increases in
dysfunctional behaviour at mid hierarchical levels. On the other hand, strong organisational
commitment leads to significantly lower dysfunctional behaviour only at low and high hierarchical
levels. Thus hierarchical level is an important context affecting the use of PMS. Organisations need to
fit the use of PMS to the organisation's hierarchical levels.