2. WESTERN VIEW
2.1 CONCEPT OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
In order to start
a discussion of performance appraisal, to first comprehend its concept is
critical. According to Website (Ratzburg, cited in URL 1,
21/11/03), performance appraisal is a formal system; it measures, evaluates and
affects staff’s behaviours and actions, outcomes and attributes that related
with job. Its purpose is to decide how productive ability an employee has and
whether on not an employee’s productivity can be increased. The concept reveals
that performance appraisal is an important tool to manage staff in order to
achieve firm’s objectives and unique satisfy stakeholders.
Nevertheless, as Myland et al (1992:
1) emphasises that, performance appraisal is concerned about a regular relationship between
supervisor and his or her staffs. In his view, performance appraisal is a
systematic; it ensures that the top management level and subordinates can meet
together frequently to deal with historical and current performance issues, and
then to determine the future goals- the appropriate behaviours of both sides.
From this definition, it can be understood that, appraisal is a good chance to
promote good corporate and one-to-one communications. However, it needs to pay
a close attention to that, performance appraisal can only be useful when it
plays a communication role and adopted as part of an overall climate of good
communication. Otherwise, It causes many problems when it adopted as a
substitute of good corporate communication.
Many well
famous authors such as Armstrong (1997) and Smither (1998)
mentioned that, performance appraisal is relative with the performance
management approach. It is a formal, annual process. In the process, subordinates’
behaviours and performance for the year is analysed, evaluated by their top
management level i.e. supervisor or manager or their workmates (www1.faa.gov).
The author
thinks that performance appraisal has two meanings. First of all, it can be
viewed as a process of evaluating employees’ behaviour and performance; the
goal of the process aims to determine the employee’s productivity and then make
decisions. Secondly, performance appraisal can also be viewed as an interactive
process; in this system and process, it involves personnel (at various levels
in different degrees) in determining job expectations, writing job
descriptions, selecting relevant appraisal criteria, and so on. As Winston and
Creamer (1999) state that: “Performance appraisal is an organizational system
comprising deliberate processes for determine staff accomplishments to improve
staff effectiveness.”
2.2 EVOLUTION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
2.2.1 EARLY HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
After discuss about what is performance appraisal, its history now is discussed. According to an
Internet source (www. Performance-appraisal.com; 21/11/03), performance
appraisal can be traced back in the early 20th century: the studies of Taylor's
pioneering Time and Motion. As the source claimed that, in the late 19th and
early 20th century, performance appraisal was adopted largely by those
organizations of military and government. As
Wiese and Buckley (1998) point out that, this is because their large
size, hierarchical structure, geographic dispersal, and the necessity to
promote the top performers to higher organizational levels. Nonetheless, in
present time, most private organizations adopt informal measures to assess
employees’ performance and then make administrative decisions.
2.2.2 MODERN STUDY OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
According to the
Website source (www.performance-appraisal.com;
21/11/03), the evaluation process started in the early of 1950’s in the United
State American. As the source indicates that, when more and more academics and
managers realised that performance appraisals have many limitation, they began
to develop a new approach and systems, which was based on objective management,
to evaluate employees much more effectively.
In the early
stage, performance appraisal started as methods for justifying relative income
distribution. In other words, performance appraisal is adopted to determine the
justification of the salary of a staff (whether or not he or she gain a ‘right’
salary?). This process is relative with material outcomes. For example, if an
individual’s behaviour and action in organisation was realised to be worse than
ideal, then salary will be reduced. On the contrary, if the individual has an
excellent performance than what his or her supervisor thought, then the salary
will be increased.
Nonetheless, when appraisal evolution started, the traditional
perspective, which stresses on the importance of outcomes of reward, was
gradually reduced. From that time, those who recognised the potential role of
performance appraisal: a useful tool of stimulation and development,
established a new general system and model. As can be known that it is today
used widely.
As has been mentioned the above that, performance appraisal is concerned
as a systematic and formal interaction between employees (subordinates) and
employers (supervisors); through using some forms of interview such as
semi-annual or annual, the supervisor has right to examined, analysed, assessed
and evaluated the employee’s work performance within organisation; and to
identify and determined those employees’ strengths and weaknesses of work.
Besides these, it is also very important for supervisor to identify
opportunities for improvement and skills development (www. Performance-appraisal.com;
21/11/03).
Nowadays, a great number of organisations adopt performance appraisal
to decide employee’s reward directly or indirectly. By analysing the result,
those who behave excellent on their work, can obtain extra bonuses, promotions,
their salary is also increased. On the other hand, those who gained a poor
result of performance appraisal, can be required to reduced their salary or
dismissal (http://filebox.vt.edu;
21/11/03).
2.2.3 CONTROVERSY
As can be seen that, performance appraisal is a controversial
managerial issue. A large number of conflicting views have been declared on
this field. Many academics and researchers have already expressed that it is
doubt about the effectiveness and efficiency of the system; they frequently
question whether the validity and reliability of the appraisal model can be
trusted. On the other hand, there are also many advocates of this process. They
declared that performance appraisal could be one of the most important tools in
all human resource management tools.
About the topic of determination and allocation of reward in
organisation, there is also another debate about the usefulness of performance
appraisal. It is argued that performance appraisal plays a significant role to
employee development, which used to decide reward outcomes. This perspective
indicates that the reward-linked system is not perceived as an opportunity for
encouragement. Rather, it is regarded as a process of judgment that contains
potentially punitive.
As can be known that, within organisations, it is very common that the
supervisors know their subordinates very well. And thus those supervisors could
be reluctant to suggest that an employee requires improve performance and skill
if the appraisal result indicates a negative outcome that result in a reduction
of salary and wage. This is because that those supervisor or top management
level that participate the appraisal process may consider that the result of
appraisal can cause a serious negative issues, in particular, a damage of
employee’s morale, resentment, disruption of organisation, soured
relationships, and decrease of productivity.
Nevertheless, it
can be also argued that the assessing process of employees for reward purposes
is only a part of the elementary responsibilities of management and that the
reluctance to do so while appraising performance for developmental purposes is
based on muddled ideas of motivation and management.
According to
Bannister and Balkin (1990), scholars who advocate of the appraisal-reward
linkage consider that performance should be relative with rewards. They point
out that companies must have a assess system; in this system, rewards should be
openly and fairly allocated to those most deserving on the basis of merit and
effort. According to Equity Theory of Motivation, it can be known that
remunerative justice is critical. Performance appraisals offer a process
whereby fair and consistent rewards can be implemented.
Finally, a better
way of looking at formal performance appraisal more clearly is that, performance appraisal can be regarded
as a summary of the yearlong communications between appraisers and their
subordinates. The most notable point made by the above definition is that performance
appraisal and feedback to the subordinate about their work behaviour and
performance should be an on-going process. According to this, As a result, the
“formal performance appraisal” is only the conclusion or consummation of events
that could possibly be occurring per day. However, it is unfortunately that
within so many firms, the significance of informal feedback from appraisers is
overlooked. Instead, much more attention will be paid to the formalized annual
performance appraisals by those supervisors.
2.3 USES AND
ROLES OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Performance
appraisal offers a place for dialogue and communication about criterions and
standards of work, aspirations and concerns. It is created in order to ensure a
maximum of organisational effectiveness by bring participation to a much more
individual level. Consequently, it is a good chance for those subordinates to
have a much more affect upon the quality of their working lives (Myland, 1992:
1). In this section, in order to explore the uses and benefits of performance
appraisal in managerial area, it is intended to discuss the various opinions of
performance appraisals. The author unique to provide own opinions and also
hopes the discussion could improve performance appraisal in Chinese environment
and make it more consummate.
According to
Whisler and Harper (1962), information played a critical role at the history of
performance appraisal. Performance appraisal plays a role of basic input and
resource within organisation, and it provide many benefits and also associates
the administrative and managerial decision-making. Nonetheless, the purpose of
performance appraisal has been developed continuously in some extent.
As Wiese and Buckley
(1998) note that, 1950s is a watershed and a
critical breaking point because the system of formal performance appraisal was
created. Those who support management by objective (MOB) such as Drucker (1954)
and Odiorne (1965) proposed the purpose of appraisal is for corporate planning
function. McGregor (in DeVries et al., 1986) stressed that the key function of
appraisal is to provide feedback and training and developing staffs. The world
famous scholars such as Bernardin and Beatty (1984) and DeVries et al., (1986)
also point out that appraisal will be remain adopted in the field of the
planning and replacement of human resource. Through experiencing two important
Acts i.e. Civil Right Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act,
performance appraisal currently is used as a function that to prevent
corporations from those issues of discrimination lawsuit (cited in Murphy,
1995: 88-89).
In the present time, although performance
appraisals are expected to meet a number of objectives at the same time, the
tools cannot fulfil so many different purposes of corporate stakeholders (Wiese and Buckley, 1998). Before discussing the uses of
performance appraisal, at first it is crucial to distinguish the concepts of
organizational goals, rater goals, and ratee goals. Cleveland et al. (1989) divided uses of
performance appraisal into four types, they are: between person, within person,
systems maintenance and documentation. While organisation adopts performance
appraisal that is designed for one type of purpose, it also intends to satisfy
all requirements simultaneously. As a result, organizations can be unsatisfied
with the results while organizations believe they need a performance appraisal
system. This dissatisfaction has stimulated academics and scholars attempting
to improve the effectiveness of performance appraisals.
Through an
extensively literatures reviewing, the author summarises the uses and benefits
of performance appraisal as the follow: first of all, performance appraisal
system provides direction and guidance for organizations. As ‘Peter Principle’ indicates that,
the importance of planning one’s work and the work of those for whom one is
responsible as follow: ‘If you don’t know where you are going, you will most
likely end up somewhere else’. (Cited in Stewart, V and Stewart A, 1977: 1) It
can be claimed that at the most basic point, the assess process of performance
appraisal associates those who work in an organization to gain a clear plan and
firmly control implementation of work; it also helps those employees to learn
from mistakes of their work as well as to obtain benefits from achievement; it
helps to coordinate the work with whom they interact.
The second use
is that, appraisal provides the effective and quality feedback for organization
so that they can improve performance. It can be known that, nowadays,
productive feedback is a crucial input to an organization’s success while
information become increasingly important. As can be seen that, those
individuals and groups, who gain success, expect appraisers provide an
constructive assessment for their performance, yet this can impact whether they
are to achieve their full potential (Harvard, 2001). Effective appraisal has
many benefits and many beneficiaries. As Gillen (1998: 2-3) notes that, the
most notable advantage of appraisal is that performance requires an improvement
- and this provides benefits to all employees. Hence, this can be the most
important reason, which is also the key to modern management, for appraisal:
quality feedback improves performance.
Moreover,
performance appraisal also plays an important role that to provide
opportunities for top management level and employees to have a one-to-one
interview, which to deal with those significant issues in the work. As can be
known that conducting appraisal can help to offer greater emphasis on those
organisational activities and objectives of managerial level and employees and
provide a chance to find out and correct those mistakes and problems occurred.
According to the research of a website (www. Performance-appraisal.com;
21/11/03), general speaking, in the place where performance appraisal is
conducted successfully, both senior management level and employees have showed
the experience as beneficial and positive. Consequently, these encourage better
performance in the future as well as enhance the whole organisation.
Furthermore,
performance appraisal also has four main benefits to the practice of human
resource management. First, as many researches have discovered the power of
recognition as an incentive, performance appraisals offer chances to people
with recognition for their work efforts. The employers can show employees that
employee’s performance and development is cared and concerned by company. As a
result, it has a effectively impact to employees on the their sense of worth,
commitment and so on. (Ratzburg,
URL 1, 21/11/03; also see www2.hrnext.com/ 21/11/03).
Second, it
associates training and development of human resource. As can bee known that
thought an interview between appraisers and employees, some issues of
performance can be identified. As a result, the requirement for training can be
more relevant. Consolidated information provides a blueprint of the needs of
organizational training. As Crawley (1994: 3) points out that, performance
appraisal lets training relates services quality more closely and it is
possible to help employees in developing an appreciation of the organization’s
aims. Senior management level can play an active role to help their employees
to build on work skills and self-confidence.
Third,
appraisal data can be used for helping recruitment and monitor the
effectiveness of changes in recruitment strategies. Top management level can
know the past performance of employees hired. By comparing the historical
figures, it is able to analyse and evaluate the quality of the workforce, for
example, if it is improve or decreased.
Finally,
performance appraisal is the process of examining and evaluating the
performance of employees. However, some management academics argued that
appraisal might not fulfil the requirement of evaluation and development at the
same time (www2.hrnext.com; 22/11/03). The need to evaluate also causes
tension, as evaluative and developmental priorities appear to clash.
From the literature review, it can be known that, performance appraisals
play an important role in the long history to management in the western world.
In west, besides the USA, performance appraisal it also wide spread in
particular Great Britain. Acoording to DeVries et al. (1986), approximately 80
percent of organizations in Great Britain have various formal appraisal
systems, with a substantial increase in appraisals for non-management employees
during the past 10 years. Nevertheless, the uses of performance appraisal in
China did not be used so widely. The system of appraisal also lack of
effectiveness. The reasons and discussion will be presented in the next two
chapters in this dissertation.
3. THE CHINESE CULTURAL CONTEXT
The People’s
Republic of China has evolved in excess of the earlier period of 20 years and
is constantly varying. So are the nation’s cultural values. According to Fan
(2000), economic reforms and opening doors to the western world have not only
changed the social landscape, but also reshaped the value system. Among the primary
factors that induced the change is the country’s culture. Culture is important
and striking to enlighten the dissimilarities in organization performance or
management system. It affects a nation’s culture at different levels and is
affected by the culture (Fan, 2000: 7). This chapter will provide a discussion
of the effects of the Chinese culture on human resource management,
particularly in the aspect of performance appraisal. The cultural system is
influential in all aspects of Chinese social lives including business
management. Essentially, it is the unique Confucianism, family-ism, and group
orientation philosophy of life and mode of thinking that has made the Chinese
cultural system distinctive and powerful. Effective cross-cultural management strategies
in China should be based on the implications of the actual cultural mechanisms,
not on the temporary cultural fashions that run skin-deep and are likely to
generate cultural disorientation.
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