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The purpose of this study is to test and analyze the significant effect of competence on employee performance in PDAM Makassar City, test and analyze the significant effect of service quality on employee performance in PDAM Makassar City, and test and analyze competence and service quality simultaneously. a significant effect on employee performance in PDAM Makassar City. This research was conducted at the Makassar City PDAM Office, with a population of 477 people and a sample of 265 people ( Slovin formula). The data analysis used is descriptive to explain the research data, while to analyze quantitative data using Multiple Linear Regression analysis. The results found that competence showed a positive and significant influence on employee performance. The competencies shown by employees based on knowledge, skills, experience and mastery attitudes determine the achievement of PDAM Makassar City employees' performance. Service quality has a positive and significant effect on employee performance. The quality of service applied by employees is in accordance with the variety of expertise, task identity, task significance, service autonomy and feedback, thereby contributing to the improvement of PDAM Makassar City employee performance. Simultaneously, competence and service quality have a positive and significant effect on employee performance. Improving employee performance in quantity, quality, efficiency, effectiveness and loyalty cannot be separated from the competence of employees and the quality of services applied to PDAM Makassar City customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to identify the criteria used in evaluating the performance of library workers and identify areas and aspects of benefit from them, such as the standards, in addition to identifying the indicators that resulted from the experiences of some major libraries which serve libraries since the emergence of the idea of establishing them, determining their location size and target audience until managing them and achieving the desired success The study relied on the theoretical approach, through a description of the subject of performance from all sides, using the best available sources in various ways, including books, references, articles and specialized periodicals in the field of performance and management, as well as the use of Internet sites to obtain some sources and access to reports, guides and pamphlets. as well as I dealt with the use of the presentation of the ( Damik) model as an indicator to solve the reasons for the low level of performance of the library and the study reached a set of results, the most important of which are: 1- The difference between indicators and standards is that the indicator is considered more specific and that the use of indicator is used in case the standard is difficult to use. 2- The performance indicators are characterized by credibility, validity, appropriateness, media content, and comparability. 3-there are standards specifications and performance indicators covering the field of libraries and information, including (11621), including those related to national libraries (28118) and (16439) those related to methods and procedures for evaluating the return from the library It also suggested a set of recommendations, the most important of which are: 1- The necessity of establishing specialized workshops that are specific to performance indicators and how to measure them, and to overcome the problems of declining performance indicators through professional associations (national or international) 2- The necessity of linking performance indicators with management, as the performance indicators, whether they are achieved or not, are mainly related to the administrative performance of the library. and technology to overcome it. 3- Qualified cadres should be prepared in libraries of all kinds, whose main task is to achieve highperformance indicators in these libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee performance stands as a crucial determinant of organizational success. This research article investigates the impact of training and development programs on enhancing employee performance within organizational settings. The study examines various dimensions of training and development initiatives and their influence on employee productivity, job satisfaction, and overall organizational effectiveness. The research employs a comprehensive review of literature and empirical studies to elucidate the multifaceted relationship between training, development programs, and employee performance. It explores how structured training programs, continuous learning opportunities, skill enhancement workshops, and career development initiatives contribute to improving employee capabilities, competencies, and job-related skills. Key findings highlight that well-designed training and development interventions significantly enhance employee performance. Effective training programs not only equip employees with necessary job-related skills but also foster a positive work environment, bolster morale, and increase job satisfaction. Furthermore, ongoing development initiatives contribute to employee engagement, retention, and their ability to adapt to changing job requirements. The research also delves into the challenges and limitations associated with implementing training and development programs, including cost implications, time constraints, and measuring the impact on tangible performance metrics. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the pivotal role of training and development initiatives in fostering a skilled workforce, improving employee performance, and sustaining organizational competitiveness. It advocates for strategic investment in continuous learning programs and tailored development initiatives as integral components of organizational growth and success in today's dynamic and competitive business landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance evaluation is an important process that can evaluate qualitative and quantitative criteria together and contribute to more effective and efficient decision-making of enterprises. At the same time, although it is important for businesses to remain strong in competition, it helps employees to evaluate and increase their performance in order to achieve their goals. Our aim in this study is to evaluate the performances of 3 civil servants who are determined jointly by the Strategy Monitoring Unit and Training Directorate, which are affiliated to the Human Resources department in an institution that has an important place in the public transportation system in Istanbul, and to determine the criteria that cause their performance. AHP method, one of the Multi Criteria Decision Making methods, was used in our study. It is a guide to the studies in this field by showing a simple, understandable way with the determined criteria and analysis, using an applied software program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 15 years, the work of staff at the University of Arizona (UA) Libraries has transformed significantly to meet the evolving needs of library users, the changing profession, and the economic climate. To keep pace with these changes, the UA Libraries have gradually shifted to a new, competency-based hiring and performance management model. This article will describe the process of moving to a competency-based model both for librarians and classified staff at the University of Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial body of literature holds that industrial policies work best when their beneficiaries are subject to demanding performance standards. By conditioning access to their low-cost loans and lucrative markets on foreign sales and local content, for example, East Asian officials forced their manufacturers to improve quality, cut costs, and develop linkages to allied industries – that generated jobs and foreign exchange revenues of their own – in the so-called miracle years. But the politics of performance standards are themselves unclear. Why are they more common in some countries than others? Are they more likely to be imposed by autocratic than democratic regimes? And, if so, why? I address these questions by examining cross-national data on export and local content requirements in the auto industry in 1980; find that they all but presupposed autocracy in labour-surplus – but not labour-scarce – countries; explore the interactions of political regimes, productive assets, and performance standards in South Korea in particular; and discuss their theoretical and methodological implications. The results not only imply that efforts to build new comparative advantages over the long run by means of performance standards that put existing comparative advantages at risk in the short run are unlikely to succeed in labour-surplus democracies but, in so doing, speak to the merits of ‘middle-N’ methods and typologies that try to reconcile the at times competing goals of generality and historical detail in cross-national research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Perceptual grouping modulates performance in attention tasks such as partial report and change detection. Specifically, grouping of search items according to a task-relevant feature improves the efficiency of visual selection. However, the role of task-irrelevant feature grouping is not clearly understood. In the present study, we investigated whether grouping of targets by a task-irrelevant feature influences performance in a partial-report task. In this task, participants must report as many target letters as possible from a briefly presented circular display. The crucial manipulation concerned the color of the elements in these trials. In the sorted-color condition, the color of the display elements was arranged according to the selection criterion, and in the unsorted-color condition, colors were randomly assigned. The distractor cost was inferred by subtracting performance in partial-report trials from performance in a control condition that had no distractors in the display. Across five experiments, we manipulated trial order, selection criterion, and exposure duration, and found that attentional selectivity was improved in sorted-color trials when the exposure duration was 200 ms and the selection criterion was luminance. This effect was accompanied by impaired selectivity in unsorted-color trials. Overall, the results suggest that the benefit of task-irrelevant color grouping of targets is contingent on the processing locus of the selection criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to investigate the thermal conductivity, viscosity and thermal performance in a single-phase natural circulation mini loop of Ag-water nanofluid which can be a potential working fluid for natural convective flat-plate solar collectors. The silver-water nanofluid with 5 wt% concentration, which contains also polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with 1.25 wt%, was purchased. Then, the sample was diluted with de-ionized water to four different concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 wt%. Thermal conductivity and viscosity were measured by 3ω method and Brookfield rheometer, respectively. An effectiveness factor was used to define the thermal performance of Ag-water nanofluids for different inclination angles and heating powers. The results showed that nanofluid samples are thermally less conductive than the literature, at ambient temperature (23 °C). The viscosity of nanofluid decreases significantly with increasing temperature and increases with increasing concentration. Our measurements appear to be more compatible with PVP solution results available in the literature. Effectiveness is enhanced up to 11% with 1 wt% concentrated nanofluid compared to de-ionized water and the effectiveness of the mini loop indicates an enhancement with increase in inclination angle and particle concentration at whole applied power. According to obtained results, it is concluded that Ag-water nanofluid has a promising potential to be used in natural convective flat-plate solar collector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance based assessment is currently receiving renewed attention as an alternative to conventional testing. We argue that performance based assessment, supported by a microcredentialing system, is particularly well suited to corporate environments that stress strategic development of their workforce capacities. There are important implications for job task analysis, integration of assessment and training, and training management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Performance appraisal is one of the most critical and indispensable human resource practices for organisations. However, it generates dissatisfaction among employees as it is often viewed as complex and ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to present a new performance management system that integrates multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods – the analytic network process (ANP) and PROMETHEE – with the visual techniques of the GAIA plane and the stacked bar chart. MCDA methods allow a structured and consistent evaluation integrating qualitative and quantitative criteria. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a structured and transparent performance management system. It is based on the MCDA methods PROMETHEE and ANP. It also incorporates the visual techniques: GAIA and stacked bar chart. Feedback for trainings and developments can precisely be formulated. Findings – Visual techniques permit clear identification and quantification, for each employee, of the areas that need improvement through training and development, which contributes to the resource-based view of organisations. A real case study has been portrayed to show the added value of the MCDA methods and the visual techniques in employee performance management. Originality/value – The paper describes a new employee performance system adopted in an organisation. The multi-criteria analysis transparently combines qualitative and quantitative decision criteria into a holistic and transparent evaluation. The visual techniques permit us to gain a deep insight into the employees’ skills profile and capture fine details where individuals perform or underperform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orientation: Intrinsic rewards are personal, psychological responses to the work that employees perform, which stem from the manner in which their work is designed. Research purpose: This study sought to discover in what ways non-profit employees are psychologically rewarded by the nature of their work tasks. The use of a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis ensured that in-depth responses from participants were gained. Motivation for the study: Intrinsic rewards are of particular importance to non-profit employees, who tend to earn below-market salaries. This implies that their motivation originates predominantly from intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic rewards; yet, research into this area of rewards is lacking. Research approach, design and method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted using a sample of 15 extrinsically rewarded non-profit employees working within South Africa. Thematic analysis was utilised in order to generate codes which led to the formation of five intrinsic rewards categories. Main findings: Intrinsic rewards were classified into five categories, namely (1) Meaningful Work, (2) Flexible Work, (3) Challenging Work, (4) Varied Work and (5) Enjoyable Work. These rewards each comprise of various subcategories, which provide insight into why such work is rewarding to non-profit employees. Practical/managerial implications: Traditional performance management systems should be re-evaluated in the non-profit sector to shift focus towards intrinsic rewards, as opposed to focusing only on the use of extrinsic rewards such as incentives to motivate employees. Contribution/value-add: The study provides a qualitative understanding of how extrinsically rewarded non-profit employees perceive their work to be intrinsically rewarding, which bridges the empirical gap pertaining to intrinsic rewards within this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the challenge of setting performance standards in a non-Western context. The study is centered on standard-setting practice in the national learning assessments of Trinidad and Tobago. Quantitative and qualitative data from annual evaluations between 2005 and 2009 were compiled, analyzed, and deconstructed. In the mixed methods research design, data were integrated under an evaluation framework for validating performance standards. The quantitative data included panelists’ judgments across standard-setting rounds and methods. The qualitative data included both retrospective comments from open-ended surveys and real-time data from reflective diaries. Findings for procedural and internal validity were mixed, but the evidence for external validity suggested that the final outcomes were reasonable and defensible. Nevertheless, the real-time qualitative data from the reflective diaries highlighted several cognitive challenges experienced by panelists that may have impinged on procedural and internal validity. Additional unique hindrances were lack of resources and wide variation in achievement scores. Ensuring a sustainable system of performance standards requires attention to these deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the effects of different levels of column axial load on seismic performance of Welded Flange Plate (WFP) connections with different panel zone strength are presented. Finite element method was used to do this investigation and reliability of the modelling method was verified by comparison with experimental available records in documents. Fifteen sub-assemblages of WFP connections were generated by means of ABAQUS software. The aim was to enhance the knowledge about the consequence of column axial load level on cyclic behaviour and fracture potential of the connections with different panel zone strength for external joints in Steel Moment Resisting Frames (SMRFs). Results showed that cyclic behaviour including hysteresis loops and energy dissipation were not affected significantly by increasing column axial load regardless of the panel zone strength. It was also found that increase of the fracture potential due to increase in column axial load became less pronounced when the panel zone strength was decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive to temperature changes over their life. High operational temperatures can negatively affect the battery and lead to capacity fade and lifespan reduction. Air-cooled thermal management systems are widely used in electrified vehicles. A novel air-cooled battery design is introduced. Aluminum fin cooling features are directly integrated onto prismatic cells rather than established by the use of an auxiliary polymer component. When the cells are arranged in a battery array, the on-cell features generate cooling channels. A forced-convection testbed is used to determine thermal management performance. Shear resistance experiments are used to measure the mechanical resistance of the battery cell assemblies. The study demonstrates that a configuration with parallel channel cell-wall integrated fins recovers the performance of the system with the standard polymer space but provides a 20% improvement in temperature uniformity under fan power control. This configuration, however, lacks mechanical resistance in the assembly. A poka-yoke based configuration with tapered channels enhanced by secondary fins provides mechanical resistances and also performs better in both flow and fan power control. This configuration maintains the cell maximum temperature as the assembly via polymer spacers but improves the temperature uniformity by 50%. • Advantageous cooling performance of battery cells with cell-body integrated features is demonstrated. • Optimization of cooling performance achieved through tapered channels and secondary fin features. • Interlocking of battery assembly by using segmented cooling features leading. • Advantageous assembly process and mechanical shear resistance due to segmented features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A formal employee performance appraisal is regarded as one of the tools of human resources performance management. People, their knowledge and skills are currently considered to be the most valuable resource a company has. The article focuses on methods of employee performance appraisal in agricultural organizations in the Czech Republic. The first part of the article deals with the theoretical background of the term "formal appraisal" and employee performance appraisal methods as defined by Czech and foreign specialists. Further, the article describes, based on a questionnaire survey, employee performance appraisal methods that are considered important for the agricultural organizations in the Czech Republic. The aim of the article is to identify the current state of formal employee appraisal in a sample group of agricultural organizations and to test dependencies between selected qualitative characteristics. The outcomes show that the most commonly used methods of employee performance appraisal in agricultural organizations include predefined goal-based performance appraisal, predefined standard outcome-based performance appraisal and appraisal interviews. Agricultural organizations apply these methods in particular due to the fact that their findings are further utilized in other areas of human resource management, such as reward system and personnel planning. In statistical terms, dependency between the method of employee performance appraisal according to predefined goals applied by agricultural organizations and personnel planning (an area of human resources management) has been proven (p-value: 0.032, Phi coefficient: 4.578). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the impact of an antecedent intervention in the form of a daily posted schedule on the interobserver agreement (IOA) assessment of educational goals implemented within a classroom at a private school serving individuals with disabilities. During baseline, the percentage of academic goals with interobserver agreement was low and stable (M = 5%). Teacher performance improved during the intervention (M = 92%). A reversal replicated this effect and performance maintained during 6-week, 6-month, and 1-year follow-up probes. Results suggest a daily posted schedule can effectively increase interobserver agreement assessment by direct-care teaching staff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Managerial performance is viewed with great interest at any organization; its determination is an ongoing objective in the medium and long term. Conditionalities generally recognized by experts in this area of scientific concerns are clear: only good management exercised by professional managers, is capable of performance management, generating economic, financial and social performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance appraisal systems are often considered primarily in their role as criterion measures for validation studies. Even when they are considered in other organizational roles, there has traditionally been a strong focus on improving the accuracy of the appraisals. The present article argues that the proper focus of performance appraisal is to change employees' behavior on the job—both task performance behavior and contextual performance. Specifically, appraisals are best considered as part of a larger performance management system, where the entire focus is on improving performance. Such a focus has important implications for how concerned we are about perceived accuracy and fairness. Furthermore, when viewed in this way, it is clear that we must consider how to leverage individual level performance up to the level of the firm, since improving firm performance is critical to any organization's strategic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a result of the globalization of economic activities, an increase in the accumulation of knowledge, technology, and capital transfer have brought a change in the sense of management, consumer preferences, the dynamics used in production environment. This process of change, by greatly influencing the size and the intensity of competition has produced important opportunities for companies in terms of realizing, understanding, and effecively managing the change. Of these opportunities, setting up a strategic knowledge system and assessing the success of information gathered by this system is the most significant. For this reason, some performance assessment systems that will guide companies in determining strategies have been developed. However, in time, it has been observed that these systems are not sufficient in measuring performance and different methods have been used in order to obtain effective performance measurement. In this study, the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard Technique, EFQM Excellence Model and Baldrige Performance Excellence Program together for an efficient performance measurement in terms of its importance for enterprises and probable benefits of such performance measurement combination for enterprises will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do information technology capabilities contribute to firm performance? This study develops a conceptual model linking IT-enabled information management capability with three important organizational capabilities (customer management capability, process management capability, and performance management capability). We argue that these three capabilities mediate the relationship between information management capability and firm performance. We use a rare archival data set from a conglomerate business group that had adopted a model of performance excellence for organizational transformation based on the Baldrige criteria. This data set contains actual scores from high quality assessments of firms and intraorganizational units of the conglomerate, and hence provides unobtrusive measures of the key constructs to validate our conceptual model. We find that information management capability plays an important role in developing other firm capabilities for customer management, process management, and performance management. In turn, these capabilities favorably influence customer, financial, human resources, and organizational effectiveness measures of firm performance. Among key managerial implications, senior leaders must focus on creating necessary conditions for developing IT infrastructure and information management capability because they play a foundational role in building other capabilities for improved firm performance. The Baldrige model also needs some changes to more explicitly acknowledge the role and importance of information management capability so that senior leaders know where to begin in their journey toward business excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents findings from a study of first tier managers (FTMs) within further education. While studies of managerial resistance are rare, this research highlights a range of resistant behaviours employed by first tier managers as they struggle to meet demands from students, their teams and the organisation. Resistance here is considered on a continuum from overt acts such as principled dissent to covert acts such as cutting corners and cognitive escape. While first tier managers primarily resisted acts of surveillance, performativity and managerialism, resistance was also found to be pragmatic, a means to cope with too much work and too little time. However, first tier managers also resisted the managerial identity that was implicit in their role. The article concludes that resistance, rather than being detrimental to the organisation, could potentially be seen as an act of participation rather than separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the subject of management control and tries to create a performance measurement system for social enterprises, that is, how to measure success. Three reference fields for management are analyzed: (a) economic-financial performance, linked to the determination of general performance (profits, value added, etc.) and analytic results (production-cost of services, efficiency indicators, etc.); (b) social effectiveness, to measure the quantity and quality of work undertaken and to identify its impact on the intended beneficiaries and the community; and (c) institutional legitimacy, verifying conformity with law and mission statement. In integrating these aspects, we propose a multidimensional controlling framework that is appropriate to the management of a social enterprise. We try to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical model through the illustration of an Italian empirical case: the work integration social enterprise “Ulisse.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the upward evaluation of supervisors at the Arizona Health Sciences Library, exploring the benefits of employee feedback to their supervisors. It describes the annual performance appraisal process at the University of Arizona, the interdepartmental relationship between the medical library and the university's human resource department, and the employee satisfaction regarding their supervisor's skills in leadership, judgment, and communication. Other subjects under discussion include employee concerns about confidentiality, the use of web-based surveys to conduct upward evaluations, and the relationships between those in middle management and the executive directors.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the jobs and duties involved in Korean academic libraries and to provide a clear picture of relative issues. This research will assist universities with the HR management and institutional development that are essential for appropriate role division, organizational diagnosis and rational reform, and increasing the expertise of librarians. Design/methodology/approach - All of the various duties being executed in academic libraries were identified. Korean academic libraries were requested to assist with the survey. Questionnaires were collected surveying the level of awareness of all the duties involved in the academic libraries and survey responses analyzed to determine the importance, difficulty, and professionalism of 189 library duties. Findings - Through this study, perceived levels of frequency, importance, and difficulty of duties related to academic libraries were surveyed and average values for each duty were compared and analyzed to formulate a duty model and action plan. Originality/value - This paper presents a basic library duty model reflecting the rapidly changing information technologies and information types of Korean academic libraries based on the job analysis. Through this process, university libraries will be able to optimize human resources management and achieve efficiency in organizational management, as well as creating materials to support education/training and performance management, thus ultimately helping with the rationalization of their operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focus on results and accountability in public performance management is now firmly entrenched. Governments around the world, at all levels, have invested significant time and resources into measuring and reporting performance, with very mixed results. In 2000, Ontario became the first state or province in North America to mandate a municipal performance measurement program for all municipalities. One measure of the system's effectiveness is the documentation produced to show citizens how their government is doing - in this case, an annual performance report. Although the legislation is clear in terms of measurements and some reporting standards, there are clear differences in the overall quality of the annual reports produced by each of the 445 municipalities. This article will focus on the reports as the primary communication tool between the municipalities and citizens. The primary question that frames this research is the current quality of municipal performance reports in Ontario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-business company is a complex entity. Evaluating corporate performance of such an organisation is even more challenging. Corporate performance is inherently multidimensional in nature, is viewed from various perspectives, and has to satisfy multiple objectives. It is multi-dimensional in the sense of being a function of many variables that drive firm performance; multi-perspectival, from various stakeholders' standpoints; and multi-objectives are to be optimised. So there is no single corporate performanceevaluation tool that can be prescribed as a stand-alone gauge; however, a unified and holistic corporate performance management system can be developed from multiple tools. This paper attempts to bring together a variety of performance management tools that have evolved and developed in theory, and have been tested and applied in practice. In developing this convergence, first a set of criteria that answers the multi-dimensional, multi-perspectival, and multi-objective requirements of a firm's performance will be identified and weighted. Second, management tools that have been used either singly or in combination by multi-business companies are reviewed and ranked against the chosen criteria. Finally, an integrated model or framework that brings together and unifies the elements of these ranked performance management tools is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines the importance for managers of public universities to pay close attention to performance management practices and information communication technology (ICT) adoption. It explores the method of the study uses disproportionate stratified purposive approach to determine responses from 900 employees from public universities in Uganda. The findings of the study reveal the importance of performance management practices in agency relations and goal setting with ICT adoption to achieve managed performance in public universities.

Comparative performance evaluation has taken different forms depending upon the purposes of performance monitoring and the types of measures available. This paper investigates the different performance measurement systems in place in the social care setting, in particular for older people receiving community care services. In England, earlier systems to assist performance management within organizations have been eclipsed by national systems of regulation with top- down implementation of standards and measures. In Northern Ireland, by contrast, organizations have been compared descriptively without the use of national targets. Internationally, in Japan, organizations arranging similar services have had more local information available collected in a bottom-up fashion with greater employment of service user-level data. These differences in performance evaluation are located within an analytical framework permitting comparisons of system design and the use of measures. Conclusions are drawn concerning the breadth of evidence available for successfully monitoring service provision in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International comparison of performance has become an influential lever for change in the provision of public services. For health care, patients' views and opinions are increasingly being recognized as legitimate means for assessing the provision of services, to stimulate quality improvements, and more recently, in evaluating system performance. This has shifted the focus of analyses towards the use of individual-level surveys of performance from the perspective of the user and raises the issue of how to compare appropriately self-reported data across institutional settings and population groups. Using data on health systems responsiveness across 17 EU countries contained within the World Health Survey, this paper outlines the issues that arise in comparative inference that relies on respondent self-reports. The problem of systematic reporting behaviour is described and illustrated together with potential solutions brought about through the use of anchoring vignettes. Our results show large differences in the rankings of country performance once adjustment for systematic country-level reporting behaviour has been undertaken compared to the ranking observed in the raw unadjusted data. The use of anchoring vignettes as a means to obtain comparability in self-reported survey instruments of performance promises to be a fundamental tool for international comparative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, external assessments of organizational effectiveness have played an increasingly pivotal role in the regulation of UK local authorities. Unlike most approaches to evaluation, which are concerned with the implementation and outcomes of policies, programmes or interventions, these assessments are concerned primarily with internal organizational processes. And in contrast to traditional forms of public services inspection, which focus on specific services, they seek to judge the capacity of an organization as a whole. Inspectors in England, Scotland and Wales have taken different approaches to assessments of local authorities, but in all three cases their judgements have excited considerable interest among policy-makers, achieving a much higher level of utilization than is usual for evaluative activities and being credited with leading to significant improvements in public service organizations. There are, however, important questions about the validity of the measures they use and the sustainability of this approach to driving public services improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Little is known about the overall appropriateness and value of the various programs available internationally for assessment and remediation for individual physicians whose performance in their clinical practice has been identified as giving cause for concern. Method: A questionnaire was e-mailed to members of the International Physicians Assessment Coalition and/or the Coalition for Physician Enhancement—organizations that were thought to provide this type of assessment (n = 20). Questions covered the aims, organization, methods, and outcomes of assessment programs and associated remediation. Results: Responses came from 15 regulatory bodies, universities, not-for-profits, and health service organizations in 5 countries. The assessment programs and remediation activities identified were small in scale. Their focus ranged from a narrow concern with identifying and repairing specific knowledge and skills deficits to a wider interest in the biopsychosocial functioning of the physician as a whole. Both “diagnosis” and “treatment” of problems focused on the individual physician. Less attention was given to broader systems or contextual factors that might impact performance. Although progress through remediation was carefully monitored, none of the programs undertook regular systematic follow-up to ascertain the success of their interventions in the longer term. Discussion: This field of activity is characterized by the use of sophisticated methods for measuring performance/competence, but provision of remediation is more patchy and variable. The small scale of these programs raises questions about the relationship between scale of provision and potential need for remediation. Gaps in information about impact and outcomes mean that the overall impact and value of this type of assessment and remediation is hard to determine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a design for performance management of SMS systems. The design takes as input the administrator’s performance objectives, which can be adjusted at run-time. Based on these objectives, the design takes the necessary actions to achieve them and it dynamically adapts to changing networking conditions. It does so by periodically solving a linear optimization problem that computes a new configuration for the SMS system. We have evaluated the design through extensive simulations in various scenarios using traces from a production SMS system. It has proved effective in achieving the administrator’s performance objectives, and efficient in terms of computational cost. Our experiments also show that the design is adaptive, i.e., it effectively adapts the systems’s configuration to changes in the networking conditions, in order to continuously meet the performance objectives. Finally, the feasibility of our design is proved through the development of a prototype on a commercial SMS platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various analyses have used the transfer rate as a performance indicator for community colleges, but the question of what constitutes an appropriate denominator in the transfer-rate equation remains a point of contention. This article examines the potential drawbacks of using student-reported educational goals to determine which students are included in the denominator and notes how the behavioral signal approach — based on the courses students take and complete — may be a more appropriate alternative. In addition, the article discusses the prospects of employing a "transfer opportunity diagnosis" based on multiple indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, the subject of this study is the relationship between organizational culture and performance measurement systems (PMS) in the context of the Turkish Business environment. Specifically investigated in this study are the changes in the aims and measures of PMS used in different organizational cultures by managers. For this, the model developed by Jean-Francois Henri (2006) is used to understand and analyze the relationship under Turkish conditions. In this way, the basic question is that in any organization how does culture affect the aims and measures of a performance measurement system used? To test this relationship empirically, data is gathered from 122 manufacturers of the top 500 firms in Turkey. According to the results of logistic regression analysis, firms with a flexible culture tend to use non-financial performance measures, and use PMS for aims such as organizational attention-focusing and supporting strategic decision-making more than firms which have a control culture. On the other hand, firms with a control culture tend to use PMS for aims such as monitoring and legitimization more than firms which have a flexible culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new concept 'iconic biography' (IB) is explained. Its impact on managers who aspire to lead their organisations to outstanding performance is described using contrasting examples from the public sector. The relationship between a leader's IB and their ability to influence organisational ethos and culture is also described with survey evidence as to the impact on staff attitudes and morale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'performance management' has an aversive 'managerial' aspect, is unappealing to many public sector staff and has an 'image problem'. Perhaps as a consequence, it has failed to make a significant impact on Irish public sector workers, notably mental health nurses. In this paper, performance management is introduced and examined within an Irish healthcare context and with reference to its use in other countries. Some of the challenges faced by Irish mental health nurses and the potential benefits of working within a performance managed workplace are discussed. The paper concludes that performance management is likely to increasingly affect nurses, either as active agents or as passive recipients of a change that is thrust on them. The authors anticipate that the performance management 'image problem' will give way to recognition that this is a fundamental change which has the potential to enable health services to change. This change will bring high standards of transparency, worker involvement in decision making, an explicit value base for health services and individual teams. It provides the potential for clear practice standards and high standards of transparency as well as worker welfare in all aspects, including supporting employment and career progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is a pilot study that investigated the suitability of adopting an automated balanced scorecard for managing and measuring the performance excellence of academic staffs in the higher education setting. A comprehensive study of related literature with requirements elicited from the target population in a selected premier university in Malaysia through document analysis, interviews and survey questionnaires provided the foundation for the system development. By adopting the balanced scorecard, the proposed system provided a means for top down alignment of organisational objectives while creating a medium of communication between the lecturers and management. Though the method suggested in this study primarily focuses on the academic staff, it addresses the lack of a representative form of performance measurement for lecturers that accommodates the complexities of the profession while providing the potential adoption of an unconventional method to encourage excellence and development amongst all levels of employees in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In general meaning, performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation which is made through comparing one's skills, potential talent, work routines, behaviors and such qualities with others, besides forms a basis to determine the needs of Human Resources for the future. Therefore, the existence of a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that will support human resources administration during the decision process became absolutely necessary. Effective use of performance appraisal by current Human Resources Information System practices in companies became much more important with the Labour Law No. 4857/2003, which provides regulations for companies on securing employees' rights. The aim of this study is to reveal the effectiveness of performance appraisal with Human Resources Information System by how the HRIS -- Performance Appraisal is effective and whether it is used in the way of desired degrees (if it is effective in point of time and cost) or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) research and practice may be characterized as either behavior focused or results focused. These two approaches stem from different origins and have different characteristics. The behavior-focused approach stems from applied behavior analysis (ABA) methods and emphasizes direct observation of and intervention on target behaviors of employees. In contrast, the behavioral systems approach encourages a shift from focusing on behavior exclusively toward focusing more on business results. A systems-oriented, results-focused approach toward Organizational Behavior Management is suggested as a means of making the field more relevant to the concerns of the business world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to illustrate how to conduct a Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) to aid in the design of targeted performance improvement interventions. BSA is a continuous process of analyzing the right variables to the right extent to aid in planning and managing performance at the organization, process, and job levels. BSA helps to build alignment among activities within an organization to better provide value-adding products or services to the organization's consumers, which ultimately determines its survival. This paper provides an overview of the BSA approach, a Behavioral Systems Analysis Questionnaire (BSAQ) to guide the performance analyst, and an example of the BSAQ applied to an organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We isolate and describe four key elements that distinguish different forms of forced distribution systems (FDS). These key elements are the consequences for low performers, differentiation of rewards for top performers, frequency of feedback, and comparison group size. We examine how these elements influence respondents’ attraction to FDS. Undergraduate students ( n = 163) completed a policy capturing study designed to determine how these four FDS elements influence their attraction to FDS. We examine the relative importance of these elements that most influence attraction to different FDS, as well as individual attributes (i.e., cognitive ability, gender, and major) that may affect those preferences. Respondents were most attracted to systems with less stringent treatment of low performers, high differentiation of rewards, frequent feedback and large comparison groups. Consequences for low performers were nearly twice as influential as any other element. Respondents with higher cognitive ability favored high reward differentiation and males were less affected by stringent consequences for low performers. Before practitioners implement FDS, it would be prudent to consider all four elements examined in this study—with the treatment of low performers being the most salient issue. Future accounts of FDS should clarify the nature of these elements when reporting on FDS. Such precision will be useful in generating a knowledge base on FDS. We add precision to the discussion of FDS by identifying four key elements. This is one of the first studies to examine perceptions of FDS from a ratee perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between job satisfaction and employe's performance has always been discussed in organisational behaviour and human resource management literature. A highly satisfied employee need not necessarily be a profound performer. However, an employee, who is dissatisfied, can cause irreparable damage to the orgnisational effectiveness. Performance management system should be based on ideological underpinnings and a holistic context by strengthening the linkages among the key components such as performance planning, performance execution, performance appraisal, recognition and reward, and performance improvement on a continuous basis. The paper discusses performance management and job satisfaction of university library professionals in Karnataka. Present study is based on the primary data collected from 188 library professionals through a pre-tested, structured, comprehensive questionnaire. The key issues were identification and definition of key performance areas, role clarity and direction, performance feedback and potential appraisal, and job rotation as a powerful tool to develop and unleash employee's potential. Factor analysis highlighted the significance of three sub-systems of performance management system, i.e., performance planning and development, employee involvement and empowerment, and orgnisation-employee rapport. The paper concludes that the conducive and congenial physical, social, and psychological conditions present in the workplace have potential to enhance the job satisfaction of the library professionals. The bottom line is that library administration should pay proper, adequate, and timely attention to the interaction and reinforcing nature of 'motivation-performance-satisfaction (MPS)' cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel mode control device is described, comprising a point-load mode scrambler in tandem with a mode filter. The device may be tuned to ensure compliance of fibre test equipment with new link performance standards. Improvement in the reproducibility of insertion loss measurements on concatenated fibres is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study replicated and refined research on the effects of escalation of commitment in performance ratings. We utilized experimental manipulations in a laboratory setting to determine whether positive escalation or negative escalation (or both) could be responsible for the effect. In one session, participants (N = 210) were assigned to the perspective of the potential employee's supervisor and chose 1 of 2 candidates for a sales position. In a second session, participants rated the performance of (a) the individual they selected; (b) the individual they rejected; or (c) a third individual, whose preselection information they never viewed. Results replicated previous findings, such that ratings were biased upward when participants rated the performance of the salesperson they had originally selected. Results were not biased downward when individuals rated the performance of the salesperson they had rejected, however. Thus, our results suggest that positive escalation, and not negative escalation, was the cause of the bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the general idea that people in different organizational positions can have different perspectives on what performance means in a particular job and that these different perspectives are reflected in their implicit trait policies (ITPs) about performance in that job. We test the hypothesis that prison inmates harbor ITPs about the importance of agreeableness and conscientiousness in correctional officers' performance that are different from the ITPs harbored by officers and supervisors. Our results show that critical incidents of officers' performance that are generated by inmates emphasize agreeableness more and conscientiousness less than critical incidents generated by officers and supervisors. Our results also show that inmates' ratings of the effectiveness of officers' behavior described in critical incidents are more strongly associated with the agreeableness of the behavior and less strongly associated with the conscientiousness of the behavior than are officers' and supervisors' ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shows how student and peer evaluation of teaching relate to performance appraisal principles. • Exposes risks of bias in qualitative approaches to teaching evaluation. • Clarifies how robust behavioral ratings instruments can be used for evaluating teaching. • Identifies job analysis as a fundamental step in evaluating teaching. • Clarifies how to collect targeted teaching evaluation data from multiple stakeholders. As research on student evaluations of teaching (SET) has dominated our understanding of teaching evaluation, debate over SET implementation has turned attention away from basic principles for appraising employee performance as established in human resources literature. Considering SET research and its practical significance in isolation from relevant human resources literature not only risks unlawful remedies for issues such as bias in SET but also risks replacing one form of bias with another. Meanwhile, the full potential of human resources tools to support consistent evaluation of teaching remains unrealized. To address this gap, this article clarifies how teaching evaluation can be conducted as sound performance appraisal by deploying SET and peer review of teaching within a larger framework of established human resources techniques. A review of recent literature articulates prominent themes in research on SET and peer review of teaching and outlines key principles for performance appraisal and performance management. Those principles are used to analyze representative faculty evaluation policies and procedures and clarify the weaknesses of both traditional and recently revised approaches to teaching evaluation. The final section elaborates performance appraisal techniques relevant to teaching evaluation. These include planful use of results and/or behavior approaches to performance appraisal, robust rating instruments for behavioral performance appraisal, targeted collection of information from multiple stakeholders, and job analysis. Efforts to de-emphasize quantitative SET data to address issues such as bias can be strengthened through the incorporation of performance appraisal tools that clearly articulate performance criteria and standards and that gather both qualitative and quantitative data on employee performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past two decades schools and teachers in New Zealand and elsewhere have been the subject of and subjected to intense public scrutiny of their performance and professional activities. In effect, policy solutions have cast teacher and school performance as a 'problem' to be solved/resolved via the intervention of the State. Consequently, the policy remedy has been the introduction of audit mechanisms such as systems of performance management to define, regulate and control teaching and teachers. That is, the State has directly intervened in the professional work and activities of teachers based on the flawed assumption that teachers cannot be trusted and therefore require the intervention of the State and its agencies to ensure their performance is aligned with organisational objectives. And while one of the hallmarks of a profession and professional practice is adherence to a set of prescribed standards, performance management has rendered teachers accountable to the State, not professional peers. And, as this article outlines, this has served to de-professionalise teaching and teachers' work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As residential programs face increasing accountability, measuring performance takes on added importance. This paper presents several frameworks for understanding what quality is and how it can be measured in a residential treatment setting. To assess performance, quality indicators and standards must be created. Two contributions to measuring program quality are presented and reviewed. Recommendations are made regarding future directions in developing quality measures. Research advancements in measuring performance must be guided by practitioners and other stakeholders. Research-practice collaborations will be pivotal in moving quality residential care forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on what some sceptics see as disillusionment with conventional evaluation practice, in that many governments experience only limited use of evaluation findings. This has contributed to a significant increase in results-based performance measurement. Yet not everyone in the evaluation community welcomes this development. The authors make the point that significant complementarities exist between evaluation and performance measurement and therefore the boundaries between these practices may need to be redefined. In other words, evaluators will need to enter into a constructive dialogue with performance management practitioners. By investigating their methodological similarities and differences, the authors argue that evaluation studies and performance measurement are highly complementary forms of knowledge production. Finally, they argue that evaluation tools may in fact strengthen a number of the identified shortcomings of performance measurement systems when applied in performance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the approaches for and benefits of CUSUM as a tool for ongoing assessment of clinical performance. CUSUM which stands for the cumulative sums method has been the most commonly used process control methods in medicine along with the sequential probability ratio test and the exponentially weighted moving average. Key considerations, processes and implications of CUSUM for improving clinical performance are cited.