Comparative performance appraisal practices and management values among foreign and domestic firms in India

Countering culture-based analyses indicating homogeneity in Indian management practices, this empirical study compares performance appraisal practices and management values in India by firm ownership. Differences in Indian private investor corporations, public sector enterprises, foreign/joint ventures and private family businesses are examined to assist managers to adapt selectively to firms in the changing Indian economy. Theoretical and managerial implications, as well as future directions for research are discussed.     

微格在东南亚、南亚语种师资培训中的应用

本文分析了当前东南亚、南亚语种师资培训存在的普遍问题,并结合微格教学的基本原理与特点,提出了微格教学在东南亚、南亚语种师资培训中的可行性及相应的对策,为培养国际化复合型的东南亚、南亚语种师资队伍提供有效途径。     

Contextualizing performance appraisal practices in Chinese public sector organizations: the importance of context and areas for future study

Abstract

Public sector organizations (PSOs) continue to undergo pressures for change due to economic globalization and the changing role of the state, resulting in increased focus on performance management, particularly employee performance appraisal. New public management’s emphasis on transparency, accountability, efficiency and performance highlights the multiple and often conflicting roles and performance outcomes of PSOs, the social and economic contexts in which PSOs operate, and the multiple ways they measure and manage performance. Responding to this special issue and calls for a richer understanding of performance management in PSOs we examine the impact of context on performance appraisal in Chinese PSOs. As China continues its transitions to a market-driven economy, Chinese PSOs have engaged in managerial reforms to improve governance, efficiency and productivity, including the strategic implementation of western-based HRM practices to manage employee performance. Our analysis demonstrates the challenges context poses for analysing HRM practices in Chinese PSOs.     

Performance management in context: formative cross-functional performance monitoring for improvement and the mediating role of relational coordination in hospitals

Recent research suggests that to fully realise its potential, performance management should be bespoke to the social context in which it operates. Here, we analyse factors supporting the use of performance data for improvement. The study purposively examines a developmentally oriented performance management system with cross-functional goals. We suggest that these system characteristics are significant in interdependent work contexts, such as health care. We propose and test that (a) relational coordination helps employees work effectively to resolve issues identified through formative and cross-functional performance monitoring and (b) that this contributes to better outcomes for both employees and patients. Based on survey data from management and employee representatives across Irish acute hospitals, the study found that perceptions of relational coordination mediated the link between formative cross-functional performance monitoring and employee outcomes and partially mediated the link between formative cross-functional performance monitoring and patient care. Our findings signal potential for a more contextually driven and interdependent approach to the alignment of management and human resource management practices. While relational coordination is important in health care, we also note potential to identify other social drivers supporting productive responses to performance monitoring in different contexts.     

The cultural characteristic of individualism/collectivism: A comparative study of implications for investment in operations between emerging Asian and industrialized Western countries

This study provides insight into the importance of national culture, investment in operations, and performance in the context of emerging Asian economies with a collectivist orientation, which are compared to industrialized Western nations with an individualist orientation. Hypotheses are developed and tested based on the cultural concept of individualism/collectivism, the theory of performance frontiers, and the extent of economic development. More specifically, data collected from 639 manufacturing plants in nine countries are used to first assess the influence of the cultural trait of individualism/collectivism on the extent of investment in structural assets (specifically: physical and capital-based) and infrastructural assets (specifically: team-based methods and improvement programs). Second, the influence of the extent of economic development on these investment factors is measured. Third, evidence is provided supportive of the theory of performance frontiers, and the nature of resource investments in the context of the cultural construct of individualism/collectivism. And fourth, support is provided for the efficacy of this theory, as well as for its compatibility and association with the resource-based view of the firm. Overall, this study makes important contributions to both theory and practice, and provides evidence for the role played by the cultural characteristic of individualism/collectivism in determining plant level investment outcomes in emerging Asian economies.