The Role of Visual Attention in the Managerial Judgment of Balanced-Scorecard Performance Evaluation: Insights from Using an Eye-Tracking Device, authored by Prof. Chen Yasheng from the accounting department of SMXMU, was published in the first edition of Journal of Accounting Research in 2016. （DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12102 ）The journal is one of the three most influential academic journals in the field of accounting internationally. It is also one of the 24 internationally recognized top journals in UT / DALLAS Economics and Management.
Introducing the concept of visual attention and the eye tracking technology for the first time, the research team led by Prof. Chen, analyzed the managers’ attention distribution and its influences on the quality of the management decisions when they were doing performance evaluation using balance score sheets. The application of eye tracking technology makes it possible to study visual attention as an intermediate variable between accounting information and management decision-making. It is a major breakthrough in accounting theory and research methods. The result of the experiment proves that the distribution of the managers' visual attention has a direct impact on the quality of their decision-making. At the same time, it also breaks the limitations of previous studies, which only emphasizes the influence of the presentation of accounting information on decision-making, and finds that information content’s influence on attention is more significant than the influence of the presentation of information. The publication of the paper indicates that the research team led by Prof. Chen has reached world-class level in the application of eye tracking technology and is at the forefront of the field of behavioral accounting research.
Prof. Chen attained his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He used to teach at the University of Western Ontario and Simon Fraser University in Canada. In 2014, he was invited to join SMXMU as a “Talents Plan” professor of the accounting department. He has been engaged in the research of management accounting, behavior accounting and enterprise innovation management. He has presided over 3 projects of Humanities and Social Science Fund of Canada and 1 research fund project of National Accounting Institute of Canada. After went back to China, he presided over the projects of China Natural Science Foundation and the projects of Fujian Disciplines Leading Talents, helping establish the eye tracking laboratory, and participated in the accounting special research projects of the Ministry of Finance and the major projects of the Humanities and Social Sciences Key Base, the Ministry of Education. (Department of Accounting, School of Management)
