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This study examines the circumstances under which public organizations establish easy performance goals, analyzing nationwide data collected from cabinet departments in central and local government agencies in South Korea. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the tendency of public organizations to set easily achievable goals. Firstly, local governments tend to establish less challenging performance standards compared to central government agencies. Secondly, public organizations with higher financial resources per employee ratios are inclined to set easy performance goals. Lastly, the presence of a strong innovation-oriented culture or transparency requirements decreases the likelihood of setting easy performance goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the attitudes of labor unions toward job evaluation and ingrade progression. Labor unions usually prefer to have rate range wage structures with rapid ingrade advancement as a means of securing wage increases. Although the new rate is accompanied by a job evaluation plan, the trade unionist never mind that at all. A spokesman of labor says the return of peace and the removal of wage controls exposed several problems concerning job evaluation which were overlooked during the period of war.

It has been 13 years since the last comprehensive review of the performance management (PM) literature, and a lot has changed in both research and practice in that time. The current review updates (identifying new research directions post 2004) and extends this previous work by creating a systems-based taxonomy and conceptual model of PM. We then use this model to interpret and integrate the extensive work in this area and to identify fruitful and systems-based directions for future PM work. As input to our conclusions, we reviewed the last 36-plus years of PM research (1980-2017) and conducted a comprehensive coding of all empirical PM articles. We offer several specific directions for future PM research, with the ultimate goal of improving PM in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In least developed countries, nonprofit organizations play a critical role in ensuring the wellbeing of the populations they serve. However, despite their importance, the body of literature examining the performance of nonprofit organizations in such contexts is underdeveloped. This research seeks to address this dearth in the nonprofit literature, focusing in particular upon the role of accountability in such organizations. We do so by discussing the bases for accountability arrangements in these organizations and how they relate to performance management practices. As such, the objective of this study is to discuss how accountability is incorporated into the performance management practices in nonprofit organizations in least developed contexts. We address this research objective based upon insights drawn over the course of a weeklong intensive training session that was delivered by the author to senior level managers of nonprofits dealing with water and sanitation services located in Ghana, Niger and Burkina Faso. Findings suggest that the chief barrier to implementing effective accountability based management regimes relates to a lack of organizational capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We look at a simple service system with two servers serving arriving jobs (single class). Our interest is in examining the effect of routing policies on servers when they care about fairness among themselves, and when they can endogenously choose capacities in response to the routing policy. Therefore, we study the two-server game where the servers' objective functions have a term explicitly modeling fairness. Moreover, we focus on four commonly seen policies that are from one general class. Theoretical results concerning the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium are proved for some policies. Further managerial insights are given based on simulation studies on servers' equilibrium/off-equilibrium behaviors and the resulting system efficiency performance under different policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors investigate organizational conditions influencing the allocation of decision rights made by headquarters of multinational corporations (MNCs) to their foreign R&D subsidiaries. The authors draw on the logic of management control theory to build their conceptual model and then develop this model using arguments from the R&D and time use literatures in order to test the direct and indirect effects of advanced R&D processes within the subsidiary. They find that control theory makes correct predictions in terms of three organizational conditions, namely, research nature, information asymmetry, and interdependencies, but not in terms of social controls. In addition, the authors uncover a significant interaction between research nature and advanced R&D processes that indicates a breakdown in control logic in situations of high time pressure and intense R&D effort. Their study extends the body of literature on organizational conditions that influence how R&D decision rights are allocated in the MNC by drawing attention to the task environment in the locations where R&D is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines two potential causal mechanisms underlying the observed entrepreneurial orientation (EO)-performance relationship. We find empirical support for the notion that EO might be a performance-variance-enhancing strategic orientation rather than a performance-mean-enhancing orientation. With such a conceptualization, performance variance (along with, or instead of, mean performance) and failure take center stage. To address the question of 'where to from here,' we discuss a number of research opportunities that we believe are going to make important contributions to the entrepreneurship and strategy literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management systems (PMSs) are being increasingly implemented in public sector organizations, although it is usually argued that a gap exists between the intended and the actual results. The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that affect the use and implementation of PMSs in municipalities and how these drivers could influence their effectiveness. A multiple case study approach is used with extensive document analysis and direct interviews in four municipalities (two in Spain and two in Italy) that have implemented effective PMSs. Findings provide evidence of the factors that play a role in the implementation of these systems. In particular, time related concepts—duration, paths, windows of opportunity, cycles, causal mechanisms, and multiple perspectives—help to understand the time related factors which have a positive impact on final configuration of PMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We draw on Lacan's notion of language to study employee subjectivity in a public sector organization (Publica) in the Netherlands. Our main contribution lies in using Lacan's theorization of language and subjectivity as a basis for a detailed textual analysis of how local organizational discourses shape and inform the subjectivities of employees. We situate our approach within the literature on subjectivity, language and power in work organizations before describing how we carried out interviews to elicit interviewees' accounts of performance management. The mechanisms of metonymy and punctuation, two central features of a Lacanian conceptualization of language, are analysed by means of a relational analysis of key performance signifiers that we identify in the interview texts. We show how the signification of performance in Publica is pinned down by a central empty signifier which can be understood as a 'quilting point' and serves as a site for employee desire and identification. Finally, we show how desire and identification are channelled in specific ways to activate employee self-regulation in achieving the devolvement of responsibility and labour intensification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrasting views are presented on the nature and rationale for public management reforms in China. One school argues that they are strongly influenced by international practice, whereas the other holds that they reflect the characteristics of Chinese politics and administration. The authors explore this proposition in the arena of performance management, where they pay particular attention to whether future prospects for performance management are likely to be associated with international practice or Chinese characteristics. The authors' concern with the future leads them to implement a Delphi study focusing on performance management in city governments, from which they find that performance management has particular Chinese characteristics and that it will continue to be used as a control mechanism. However, expert respondents also indicate the desirability of orienting performance management and evaluation outward to citizens and other key stakeholders, and of enhancing service delivery and performance, in keeping with the international performance management movement. The authors conclude by discussing the research and practice implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A striking feature of the performance measurement system in Chinese local governments is the emphasis on non-mission-based targets. Drawing on data collected in a 5-year field research project in one inland Chinese county, this article examines the causes, dynamics, and consequences of the rise of non-mission-based targets in local China. It argues that non-mission-based targets are largely an expedient policy adopted by Chinese reformers to deal with the pressing political need to ensure effective governance in local areas. However, the implementation of a performance measurement system with non-mission-based targets has unexpectedly given rise to serious governing problems. In the long run, the widespread use of non-mission-based targets may create daunting challenges that jeopardize the basis of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study of the performance management system in the U.S. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program identifies challenges and prospects for implementing performance management systems effectively in public agencies. The analyses of performance standard setting processes and relationships among standards and state performance levels demonstrate that setting performance targets is a key task that determines the nature of incentives in the performance management system. In the absence of regular adjustments to performance standards for changing local conditions, the WIA system appeared to promote increased risk for program managers rather than shared accountability. Program managers, in response, appeared to make undesirable post-hoc accommodations to improve measured performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of public employment services (PES), performance can be measured primarily in terms of employment outcomes - such as the employment rate, unemployment rate and earnings - achieved by the clients of each local employment office or employment service provider. An increasing number of OECD countries now have performance management systems in place within the national PES or under nationwide or localized subcontracting arrangements. The principal in these systems needs to renew or discontinue contracts with service providers according to the estimated net impact of their services, i.e. gross outcomes relative to a "benchmark" or "target" level, which will vary according to local-labor-market and client-group characteristics. These benchmarks can be explicitly estimated using econometric methods, but they can also be generated automatically under an institutional set-up that ensures that multiple service providers are handling comparable client groups on equal terms. An alternative contracting model involves paying providers the actual value of the summary gross outcome measure but with lump-sum co-payments, which are set to ensure that no large economic rents arise. As various principles are better understood and operational systems are developed, explicit performance management arrangements may increasingly outperform traditional hierarchical management and ad hoc management-by-objectives approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management systems that provide (relatively) quick feedback to program operators play an important role in employment and training programs around the world. This paper brings together evidence on the effects of such systems, drawn primarily from the widely studied U.S. Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program. The questions addressed include the effects of performance standards systems on who gets served, on what services they receive, on the technical efficiency of program operation, on the economic efficiency of program operation, and on strategic behavior by program managers to "game" the system. Though incomplete on important dimensions, the available evidence makes it clear that the JTPA standards did little to enhance the impact of the program on employment and earnings, while at the same time inducing attempts to "game" the system by actions such as terminating participants at a time that would maximize measured performance rather than when services are no longer provided. We conclude by drawing policy conclusions from the available evidence and making suggests for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to develop a selection test for staffing work teams. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for effective teamwork (Stevens & Campion, 1994) were used to develop a paper-and-pencil test of teamwork situations. KSAs reflected conflict resolution, collaborative problem solving, communication, goal setting and performance management, and planning and task coordination. Standard test construction techniques were used, and the test contained 35 multiple-choice items on hypothetical teamwork situations. Two validation studies were conducted involving production employees in a pulp mill (n = 70) and box plant (n = 72). Results showed criterion-related validity with supervisory and peer ratings of teamwork and overall job performance. However, a key unexpected finding was the large correlation with employment aptitude tests, suggesting that the Teamwork Test has a significant general mental ability component. The study also has secondary implications for the literatures on both contextual performance and situational tests. It was concluded that a consideration of individual level KSAs can have both conceptual and practical value in the staffing of work teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance standards are reconceptualized as the interface between measurement and evaluation. A job's performance standards are theorized to be equitable to the extent that they require levels of effectiveness equal to those collectively viewed as justified by the standing of the job's pay rate relative to the labor market median. Methodology for creating equitable performance standards is presented, and the implications of implementing such performance standards are discussed in reference to compensation strategy and practice and to the potential financial benefits to organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to analyze cognitive characteristics and situational moderators associated with sex bias in performance appraisal. The results of this study suggest that sex bias does not emerge as an influential factor during rater recall. Ratees performing in sex-incongruent occupations were found to receive deflated ratings in situations where their gender was not distinct within the group of ratees to be evaluated. Interpretations, limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of inconsistent empirical evidence, the membership-performance model pervasive in strategic group analysis is re-examined. We propose that individual firm capabilities, which reflect capacity to implement or change strategy, moderate the effect of member's shared strategy characteristics on performance. Controlling for market structure, we defined two strategic groups based on common strategy characteristics among 55 manufacturing firms. We found significant differences in performance and capabilities within each group. There was also evidence of a significant correlation between capabilities and performance within each group. We conclude that effects of firms' capabilities should be accounted for to increase the explanatory power of strategic groups in competitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on developing an employee appraisal system to enhance productivity in a county government in the U.S. The following objectives were kept in mind while developing the performance appraisal system: increased consistency across raters both within and across departments; improved communication between superiors and subordinates; a legally defensible performance appraisal system; increased employee productivity as a result of clearer job expectations; consistency in performance standards across departments for jobs with the same job classification; and a system that could be used as the basis for pay-for-performance in the future. Four criteria were identified in order to meet these objectives. These are: the use of behaviorally-based statements about the job performance to enhance validity and reliability; the identification and definition of several levels of job performance; the development of standards that are based on the job not the person; the utilization of employee participation in the development of the performance standards to develop a sense of commitment to and ownership of the standards. The format ultimately developed to meet these criteria incorporated some of the essential elements from several different types of appraisal systems and utilized the concept of a performance standards system. It goes beyond the typical performance standard system by defining and specifying the work behaviors associated with performance at two levels above and two levels below the required standard. The use of standards allows the organization to state clearly and specifically the work behaviors it desires, expects, and must have if the organization is to accomplish its goals. Commitment to and understanding of the standards are achieved by having managers, supervisors, and employees participate jointly in the process of developing these standards.