Research commonly assumes that performance gap relative to return on assets (ROA) aspiration (manifested in the difference between a firm’s actual ROA and its prior ROA as a referent) exerts a similar influence on organizational change as the performance gap relative to analyst earnings forecasts (reflected in the difference between a firm's actual earnings and earnings forecasts as a referent). We posit that performance information can emanate internally from agency-driven firms or externally from securities analysts, and these distinct types of referents from different sources are conceptually unique and operate differently, thereby giving rise to dissimilar change behaviors. To facilitate a deeper understanding of these relationships, we investigate how alternate income streams from business unit (BU) performance at a lower level moderate the way corporate managers remedy corporate performance shortfalls at a higher level. Our study contributes to the behavioral theory by examining distinct influences of corporate performance goals derived from internally- vs externally-imposed referents and their interactions with BU performance within the organizational hierarchy on new market entry activities. Empirical evidence from a sample of multiunit firms listed in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector over the period 1998-2016 supported the hypotheses.