O estudo da sustentabilidade e da gestão de recursos humanos é um tema atual e importante para o desenvolvimento das organizações em um ambiente corporativo globalizado. A integração de sistemas de avaliação de desempenho e a sustentabilidade se faz necessária para as empresas que tem como objetivo se adequar aos parâmetros de índices e certificados sustentáveis. Estes, são importantes para o crescimento nos mercados em que se inserem. Assim, a pesquisa mostra a possibilidade de integrar as dimensões da sustentabilidade junto às dimensões do sistema de avaliação de desempenho utilizado pela organização. Neste contexto, o problema de pesquisa deste trabalho formulou-se da seguinte forma: como a avaliação de desempenho pode estruturar os objetivos sustentáveis e estratégicos da Gestão de Recursos Humanos? O presente trabalho visa, então, verificar se os processos de avaliação de desempenho dos colaboradores estão incorporando aos objetivos estratégicos de sustentabilidade das organizações. O trabalho foi realizado por meio de pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando a técnica do grupo focal. Na qual contribuiu para a elucidação de fatores que envolvem a Gestão de Recursos Humanos e do desenvolvimento sustentável em empresas do interior de São Paulo. Os momentos de discussão e reflexão culminaram em algumas considerações relevantes sobre o entendimento da estrutura das avaliações de desempenho e dos processo de sustentabilidade nas organizações. A principal conclusão deste trabalho está contida na necessidade da criação da gestão de desempenho sustentável. E, esta será possível quando as organizações delegarem responsabilidades sociais/ambientais aos colaboradores; estabelecerem metas para a performance sustentável; e, estabelecerem políticas para o uso de produtos insustentáveis, energia renovável e para redução de elementos tóxicos. Este trabalho é relevante, pois ratifica a necessidade da elaboração de ferramentas de mensuração da sustentabilidade dentro da organização e a estruturação do processo de avaliação de desempenho sustentável. / The study of sustainability and human resource management is a current topic and important for the development of organizations in a globalized business environment. The integration of performance appraisal systems and sustainability is necessary for companies that aim to fit the parameters of sustainable indexes. These are important for market growth in which they operate. Thus, the research shows the possibility of integrating the dimensions of sustainability along the dimensions of performance evaluation system. In this context, the work of this research problem was formulated as follows: how the performance evaluation can structure sustainable and strategic objectives of Human Resource Management? The present work addresses the topic of whether the employees\' performance evaluation process is incorporating the organizations\' sustainability strategic objectives. The study was conducted through qualitative research, using the focus group technique. In which, it contributed to the elucidation of factors involving Human Resources Management and sustainable development in São Paulo state companies. The moments of discussion and reflection culminated in some relevant considerations on the understanding of of performance assessments structure and sustainability process in organizations. The main conclusion of this work is the need to create sustainable performance management. And this will be possible when organizations delegate social/environmental responsibilities to employees; set goals for sustainable performance; and establish policies for the use of unsustainable products, renewable energy and for toxic elements reduction. This work is important because it confirms the need to prepare for sustainability measurement tools within the organization and the structuring of sustainable performance assessment process.

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Thesis (M.A. (Human Resource Management))-- University of Limpopo, 2009. / While the current trend among a number of organisations is to integrate performance appraisal with performance management systems or even ‘replace’ it with performance management systems, it is still extremely highly utilized process. The probable reason for this is that the major use of performance appraisal is as a management tool whereby the quality of personnel decisions can be enhanced when an effective system is in place. Ideally the use of a formal process, focused on objective, job orientated criteria, will empower management to make meaningful decisions which will not only be to the benefit of individual workers but will contribute to the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation. Some other objectives apart from fact that it is used as management tool are to determine the administrative and development as well as that of the organization. There are therefore, two fundamental parties involved in appraisal, being the appraisee and the appraiser and it is inevitable that the approach to, or the perception of the subject should be different in some, or many ways. Aspects such as ethics, fairness, motivation, accuracy, validity, rating errors, effectiveness and feedback, should therefore be examined in more detail in order to determine where specific problem areas may lie between males and females. Serious perceptual differences concerning the process will surely create obstacles and eventually lead to an inefficient system. The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which differing perception play a role in the acceptance or rejection of the system with regard to males and females in terms of the aspects mentioned above. The diagnostic instrument used in this study was adapted from those of Mount (1983) (named the Leadership Analysis Questionnaire) and Le Roux (1989) to IV include aspects which are more in line with features of the performance appraisal system unique to the participating organisation. The results indicated statistically significant differences in perception between males and females in terms of fairness, motivation, and feedback. It is recommended that future research should be directed at the underlying reasons for perceptual differences between supervisors and subordinates, regarding the factors mention above, with the aim of improving communication and relationships.

Organizational justice theory suggests employees are more likely to accept appraisal outcomes if they believe the process to be fair. As an increasing percentage of the workforce is made up of knowledge workers with job characteristics that are less structured and more autonomous, the shift in appraisal research from measurement accuracy to perceptions on fairness is fitting. This research investigates the relationships between justice perceptions and performance appraisal satisfaction by knowledge workers. The study extends previous research with the creation of composite measures to examine whether perceptions of fairness vary according to the characteristics of work performed. The research was conducted at a medium-sized, niche consultancy that specializes in data analytics and data science. Interviews served as an initial pilot study to obtain contextual data to identify relevant justice measures in the procedural and informational justice domains. A questionnaire survey was selected to analyze whether knowledge work characteristics moderate the relationship between justice perceptions on appraisal satisfaction. Results support the underlying premise that positive justice perceptions lead to greater overall appraisal satisfaction. Median regressions were used to model the significant effect of procedural justice and informational justice on appraisal satisfaction. Consistent with prior research, the most autonomous workers reported the lowest levels of appraisal satisfaction. This may be explained by the heightened challenge in evaluating autonomous work that is not observed directly and may be difficult to measure. However, the moderating effect of knowledge work components produced some puzzling results. As expected, the knowledge work component of autonomy correlated negatively with the knowledge work components related to structure. Yet, autonomy and structure had similar moderating effects on the relationship between procedural justice and appraisal satisfaction. Although it was speculated that more autonomous workers would place less importance on procedural justice, the results indicated greater levels of autonomy strengthened the effects between the justice perceptions and appraisal satisfaction. Justice theory as it is applied to appraisal satisfaction is limited without considering the impacts on other constructs such as job satisfaction and motivation. Herzberg’s two-factor (hygiene) theory provides an example of how knowledge work components and procedural justice might be viewed as job “satisfiers” versus job “dissatisfiers”. The theory posits there are factors that contribute to job satisfaction that are separate and distinct from factors that contribute to dissatisfaction. "Satisfiers” include factors such as autonomy and achievement. In contrast, performance appraisals represent administrative processes within the category of “dissatisfiers”, or hygiene factors. When absent, these processes cause frustration and result in dissatisfaction. Practical implications from this study include the creation of composite measures for describing the abstract nature of latent measures such as justice perceptions and knowledge work. These measures serve as a heuristic to facilitate the analysis of human resource processes such as performance management.

This qualitative study identified the formal and informal performance management (PM) practices in use in Australian public universities for academic staff Levels A, B and C. It asked the following research questions. • What PM practices are currently in use in these universities? • What are the similarities in approach and what issues does PM raise? • How do academic staff who take part in these practices (as either staff or management) experience them? • What cultural and contextual factors (if any) contribute to this experience? • What are the perceived effects of these practices on the performance of individuals, teams and the organisation? • Which system elements do academic staff and academic managers perceive to be most effective in academic cultures and why? The context of substantive change within Australian universities was outlined and literature pertaining to the field of PM in general, and in educational organisations in particular, was explored. The existence, structure, purposes and other factual details of formal PM systems were identified, although the study focused on the opinions, perceptions and attitudes of the respondents. Findings suggested that current PM practice in Australian public universities did little to meet the needs of any of the key stakeholders and remained fundamentally unsatisfying to all concerned. Furthermore, the failure to clearly articulate the purposes and to consider the implementation and ongoing costs of a formal PM system typically resulted in widespread cynicism and a ritual dance of compliance that demonstrated palpably low engagement with systems. Formal PM systems helped to clarify objectives and workload allocation for some staff, but were found to be poorly linked to organisational planning processes, poor at differentiating levels of performance, not valued by academic staff as a vehicle for meaningful feedback, failing to follow through on development outcomes and thus did little to build team, individual or organisational capability. Study recommendations suggested that developmental models of PM were more appropriate and acceptable in academia and that considerable work would be required to incorporate evaluative links such as performance-related pay successfully. More rigorous evaluation, consultation processes regarding user preferences, piloting of PM systems prior to full implementation, and dedicated resources for the PM function and its outcomes (such as staff development), would be required as a part of a comprehensive change management strategy to overcome historical resistance. A thorough capability analysis of the people management skills for Heads of School and above was seen as a priority, given that feedback skill and the management of under-performance were consistently identified as problematic. The costs of under-performance warranted this expenditure. A national evaluation study of PM practice in higher education was recommended to assess the real outcomes, costs and benefits and determine whether continued investment in PM systems was actually merited. Alternative models and approaches such as modular PM systems for the different stages of an academic career, promotion portfolios, reflective practice or peer learning groups were suggested as potentially more successful in enhancing the accountability and performance of academic staff than mandated hierarchical PM.

This thesis explores the application of personal construct psychology and the repertory grid to performance management in a technical consulting organisation. The research examines what is important for a manager in assessing work performance and how each manager's mental model for performance compares with his/her peers. Managers acting as raters are the critical link in the observation and assessment of performance and in the feedback process. Rater observations and judgements are affected by their personal mental models regarding what is important. These views may or may not accord with those of their peers, resulting in inconsistency and unfair assessments, or with what the organisation's strategy demands. Understanding rater views on what is important, and how well these align with strategy, is a key to ensure that the appraisal process supports, rather than hinders, both individual and organisational needs. Each manager's personal constructs relating to appraisal were elicited through a repertory grid interview. The elicited constructs were taken together and categorised to derive broad performance categories summarising the views of the entire management team. Each individual's personal constructs were then allocated to the relevant common category to develop a view of how each manager related to the group's overall approach to appraisal. A measure for the importance of each category in making performance judgments (importance score) was derived based on the correlation of the constructs in each category with an overall performance construct. A second measure of a manager's preparedness to discriminate between levels of performance was also derived (discriminant score) based on the variation in each manager's construct structure. In keeping with the personal construct psychology approach, the process emphasizes the importance of discussion with the individual concerned to verify the sorting and ranking pro cess. A ranking process to establish the overall management group priorities for judging performance (team mental models) was demonstrated and a charting process was developed to facilitate presentation and discussion of the results. The research has demonstrated the strength of the repertory grid process as a means of getting at a rater's framework for thinking about appraisal and provides a way to identify possible voids or blind spots in a rater's approach. Understanding the most important categories of performance used by raters provides an opportunity for management to determine whether these are likely to achieve the objectives of the company, and if necessary, to introduce and inculcate different approaches.

The present thesis explores talk in institutional settings, with a particular focus on how institutionality and institutional norms are constructed and reproduced in interaction. A central aim is to enhance our understanding of how institutional agendas are talked into being. In line with the ethno­methodological approach, norms are viewed as accomplished in everyday interaction, whereas institutionality represents dimensions of talk where participants demonstrably orient to particular contextual constraints. Five studies were conducted using Conversation Analysis (CA), focusing on how institutional constraints impact sequential trajectories and shape different opportunities for participants. The data consists of two corpora of video recordings: group tutorials at a Swedish university (UTs), and performance appraisal interviews in an organ­ization (PAIs). The thesis pays particular attention to the interactional management of knowledge, entitlement and stance, and analytic foci include how speakers manage epistemic claims and rights at a certain point in interaction, and how they accomplish social positioning. The UT studies examine the negotiation of rights to speak for others in a group (Study I), and how diver­ging understandings of the institutional activity-at-hand can be negotiated on the basis of students’ advice-seeking questions (Study II). In Study III, orientations to institutional and sociocultural norms are investigated in the PAIs, where managers and employees treat negative stances on stress as problematic. The relationship between theory and institutional practice in the use of question templates in PAIs is also examined, through an analysis of the delivery and receipt of a particular question in different interviews (Study IV). Focusing on different adaptations of a preset item, this analysis shows how the same question sets up for a variety of subsequent actions. Finally, deployment of the verb känna (‘feel’) in managing epistemic access and primacy is examined (Study V). It is argued that ‘feel’ allows for a reduction of accountability when making epistemic claims. The studies highlight the relationship between linguistic formats and social actions and illustrate how institutional agendas have consequences for participant conduct. Attention to the details of actions in institutional interaction can thus shed light on social and linguistic underpinnings of the enactment of institutional norms.

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Whether it is Forbes, The Globe & Mail, The Wall Street Journal or Harvard Business Review, one can¡¦t help but notice that most accounts of business mergers are about what went wrong! In fact, over 70% of all mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve original financial expectations. That is a traumatic statistic. Additionally, although the merging entities give a great deal of importance to financial matters and the outcomes, HR issues are the most ignored ones. To be ironical, many studies have shown that most of the mergers fail to bring out the desired outcomes due to ¡§people-related¡¨ issue. The uncertainty brought out by poorly managed HR issues in mergers and acquisitions have been the major reason for these failures. The human resource issues in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can be classified in two phases the pre-merger phase and the post merger phase. Some literature provides ample evidence of difference in between the human resource activities in the two stages: the pre-acquisition and post acquisition period. However, we will focus on post acquisition period. The post acquisition period involves an assessment of the cultural and organizational differences, which will include the organizational cultures, role of leaders in the organization, and the management styles. The usual impacts, such as high turnover rate, decrease in the morale, motivation, and even lead to M&A failures. The other issues in the M&A activity are the changes in the HR policies, downsizing, layoffs, stress on the workers, and information system issues. As a result, human resource system issues in M&A activity are occupying a crucial position, indeed, human resource planning, compensation designs, performance appraisal system, employee development and employee relations should be given in the priority. Beside, the M&A activity also causes changes in their well defined career paths and future opportunities in the organization. Some employees also have to be relocated or assigned new jobs. Accordingly, HR will place employees in a completely different situation with new job profiles and work teams or design the job rotation programs. This may pose a tremendous impact on the performance of the employees. Therefore, HR may also need to develop a variety of training system and communication system to rebuild self-esteem of each employee. Those programs will enhance employees to obtain ability and create their potentials. Finally, the compensation structure among the organizations may also have a unavoidable difference, for example, one of firms may have performance based pay while other may have higher component of fixed pay; Hence the differences in compensation structure and performance appraisal systems also need to be re-evaluated so as to bring equity in the human resource systems and to treat employees at the equal level. Simultaneously, the employee relations issues will gain more importance in the acquisitions of Taiwan¡¦s industries. The power equation between management and unions is bound to change with the acquisition. The acquiring management also needs to keep track of number of unions in the workplace and equations between HR department and unions. Hence, developing a harmony relationship should be put in the first place. To sum up, this will require study of management-union equation, employee contracts, political linkages of the unions, compensation related clauses, number of union and dynamics between the unions. To sun up, once company accomplish those conditions, it will elevate the successful rate of M&A.

The electronics industry has become the main industry in Taiwan due to the progress in information technology and emergence of globalization. Generally the management in high technology industry represents¡¨Speedy¡¨,¡¨Systematic¡¨and¡¨Professional¡¨. However, does this management system really mean optimal? Does highly work specialization work better? This study adopts narrative inquiry as the methodology, sharing my working experiences of different management styles and different solutions in similar cases... Based on the reflection of my working experiences, this study finds that the management in traditional industry may work more efficiently than in hi-tech industry. In traditional industries, most employees do not follow standard operating procedure and they even do not build up a complete information platform, but its management is much more ¡§Speedy¡¨¡B¡¨Systematic¡¨ and ¡¨Professional¡¨ than the high technology industry. Furthermore, employees in the traditional industry display more organizational cohesion than employees in the high technology industry. Although the high technology industry builds up a perfect information platform, it also changes and alienates the relationship between employees.