Factors Affecting the Implementation of Performance Appraisal - Research Proposal Example

Final Research Proposal Name Tutor Unit Code Date Table of Contents Introduction to Business Research Topic 2 A Brief Literature Review 4 Objectives of the Study 7 Research Questions 7 Research Methodology and Technique 8 Project Plan 8 Research Process 9 Data Collection and Analysis 10 Expected Research Outcomes 10 References 11 ETHICS CHECKLIST FOR STUDENT RESEARCHERS 13 Introduction to Business Research Topic The current business environment is characterised by stiff competition. Besides, the customer demands have gone up. Companies find themselves in a situation where they have to ponder over the delivery time, technology and service. A lot of organisations have had to adopt the project-based structure. However, there have been a myriad of concerns regarding the human resource function in a project-based organisational structure. Human resources plays a crucial role in improving the overall performance of a company. This function has for all times been regarded as a cost to the organisation that needs be minimized. That’s why there has been an increase in company employee layoffs. However, there has been the desire to justify the value creation of the human resource function to the organisation. The first research efforts inspecting any positive association human resource management and organisational performance to the general business strategy materialised in the mid-1980s. From that to date a lot of research activities have been carried out on the field with several improvements overtime. Bowen and Ostroff (2004) underline the significance of the context under which human resource management practices ought to be executed. According to Bowen and Ostroff (2004) human resource management process is seen as a way through which the management can communicate to employees regarding the desired and rewarded actions required to uplift organisational performance. Performance appraisal is among the four key HRM practices that have been widely researched on independently. The other three include: training and development, recruitment and selection and group reward and payment schemes. Srivastava and Purang (2011) state that performance appraisal is a key component of any human resource management system. Performance appraisal is vital in the creation of the desirable human resource strategy that informs important decisions, such as spending on employee training, recruitment, selection, and hiring of expert employees, and employees reward schemes, among others. This study focuses on the identification of factors that affect the implementation of performance appraisal in project-based organisations. A Brief Literature Review Performance appraisal involves the identification of common goals between the appraiser and the appraised. These goals must connect to the overall organizational goals so as to increase productivity and quality of output. DeNisi & Pritchard (2006) define performance appraisal as a “judicious, official and organisationally authorised occasion that, as a rule, takes place one or two times in a year”. Huemann et al. (2007) asserts that performance appraisal helps the organization to identify three major things: performance standards, core competences, and communication standards to employees. Moreover, he states that managers and human resource experts belief that a performance appraisal is a good tool for human resource management and performance improvement. Armstrong (2001) states that in performance appraisal, precision and fairness in measuring employee performance is very crucial. Performance appraisal echoes on the past performance and supports the organisation to plan well for the coming times. According to the Directorate of Personnel Management, Kenya (in Kipchumba et al, 2010), performance appraisal ought to be carried out on a regular basis; once or twice in a year. Moreover, for performance appraisal to succeed, the top management has got to be support the process. They have to provide the required information and set clear performance standards. However, performance appraisal is influenced by a number of factors. One main factor involves the complexity in project-based organisation. Project-based organisation in principle have dispersed teams across different geographic locations. Team members will usually be based in different countries and time zones. They, therefore, miss out on the collaborative advantage of co-location. Managing a project whose resources are geographically dispersed poses a unique challenge. The challenges are compounded by cultural differences and regulatory differences. To a large extent, the separated project team members may be accustomed to following dissimilar practices and procedures at work, and maybe they use different tools and formats. In addition, members of a distributed project team are disposed to have conflicting schedules, with each of them having their own agenda (DeNisi & Pritchard, 2006). Moreover, the number and the size of the projects carried out by an organisation change continuously. Performance evaluation in such an environment is tricky (Boselie & Boon, 2005). Performance appraisal is also disposed to be influenced by the rating system. A good rating system must shelter the organisation against any potential charges of unfair treatment on employees. For there to be an effective performance appraisal, employees need to be allowed to report any faults on the rating system. Employees may appeal against a rating system that may be alleged to discriminate against other employees. The rating system must be from bias through allowing others from within the organisation to conduct reviews. Besides, Shrivastava and Purang (2011) states that the quality of interactions and communication for the period of the appraisal is likely to influence the performance appraisal process. Regular meetings should be set up during which action plans would be established and areas where they may not agree on looked into. A reputable rating system should measure employee's contribution to the job as opposed to the employee's behaviour. Such systems should be custom-made to match the employee’s as well as organisational attributes. The system should also be subjective to human judgments. Performance appraisal systems play an important role in the efficient and effective management of organisations. Significant time ought to be devoted to the questions – what and how should we measure. Although many organisations have undertaken projects to design and implement better performance measures, little consideration appears to have been given to the way in which measures evolve following their implementation (Boselie & Boon, 2005). It is important that performance appraisal systems be dynamic, so that performance measures remain relevant and continue to reflect the issues of importance to the business. Apparently, few organisations have systematic processes to manage changes in their appraisal systems. Furthermore, a wide array of criteria has been developed demonstrating the aspects of effective performance measures and appraisal systems. For instance, some of the measures relate directly to the organisation’s mission and objectives. By and large, measures and appraisal systems should mirror the context to which they are applied. Huemann et al. (2007) acknowledge the need for performance measures to be reviewed and changed to ensure that measures remain relevant. They highlight the need to ``re-evaluate the appropriateness of the established performance measurement systems in view of the current competitive environment’’. Employee attitude toward the appraisal is also strongly correlated to the performance appraisal process. Perceptions of fairness of the appraisal process are an important aspect that contributes to its effectiveness. Employees will be dissatisfied with a biased, extraneous or partisan performance appraisal process. Employee reaction to the appraisal process is a dire aspect of the acceptance and effectiveness of the undertaking. The organisational climate must be cooperative rather than competitive (Levy & Williams, 2004). Objectives of the Study i. To find out how the effect of the complexity of the organisation on the implementation of performance appraisal. ii. To find out the effect of the rating system on the implementation of performance appraisal. iii. To find out the effect of the appraisal system on the implementation of performance appraisal. iv. To find out the effect of employee perceptions on the implementation of performance appraisal. Research Questions i. How does complexity of the organisation affect the implementation of performance appraisal? ii. How does the rating system affect the implementation of performance appraisal? iii. How does the appraisal system affect the implementation of performance appraisal? iv. How do employee perceptions affect the implementation of performance appraisal? Research Methodology and Technique This research study will be conducted on a descriptive research design. Murray (2003) observes that a descriptive research design is preferred given its specific nature and the fact that it supports a general understanding and interpretation of the problem under study. The research design is not merely confined to the fact finding mission, but also may result in the formulation of pertinent principles of knowledge and solution specific to the problem. The descriptive research design is meticulously designed to guarantee a wholesome depiction of the situation and certify minimum bias in collection of the data. Moreover, the research design is contemplated to reduce the errors in analysing and interpreting the data collected. Project Plan Figure 1: Gantt chart for Milestone Activities Research Process The research process entails the collection of several objects from a population. The target population represents the entire group of items or individuals from whom the samples under consideration are presumed to come from (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999). For this research study, the target population is taken to mean all the employees of the study organisation. The chosen group elements are representative of the attributes found in the entire group. There are no certain rules that guide the process of acquiring an adequate sample. There are quite a number of sampling techniques broadly classified into two categories; probabilistic and non-probabilistic. In this research study, probabilistic sampling; in particular, stratified sampling is adopted given that the group was heterogeneous and the researcher wished-for each one member of the target population to have an equal chance of contributing to the research study. The preferred sample size is above 30 respondents in order to go along with the rules of normality (Murray, 2003). Data Collection and Analysis Data is collected using various techniques. This can involve a specific tool, such as a questionnaire, an interview, or participant observation whereby the researcher listens to and watches others (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Data for the study will be collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires are preferred because they give primary data regarding the problem under study, which is deemed appropriate for this research. The data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and was represented in form of tables, charts, and graphs. A descriptive approach is able to provide a clear picture of the phenomenon under study. The descriptive approach is particularly appropriate because it presents the required level of accuracy and authentic description. Expected Research Outcomes This research study seeks to investigate the factors that affect the implementation of performance appraisal. The main factors under study include the complexity of the organisation, rating system, appraisal system, and employees’ perceptions as discussed under the brief literature review section. The expected outcomes can well be captured using a conceptual framework. Bogdan and Biklen (2003) define a conceptual framework as a basic structure comprising of particular abstract blocks that characterise the observational, experiential and analytical aspects of a process being considered. The interconnection of these blocks completes the framework for certain outcomes based on the dependent and independent variables. Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Independent Variable Dependent Variable Source: Author (2015) References Bowen, D. E., and Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: the role of the 'strength' of the HRM system. The Academy of Management Review, 29 (2), 203-221. Boselie, P., Dietz, G. and Boon, C. (2005). Commonalities and contradiction in HRM and performance research. Human Resource Management Journal, 15 (3), 67-94. Bryman A. and Bell E. (2007). Business Research Methods, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. De Marrais, K. and Lapan, S.D. (2004). Foundations for Research, Methods of Inquiry in Education and the Social Sciences, Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum. Associates. DeNisi, A. S. and Pritchard, R. D. (2006). Performance Appraisal, Performance Management and Improving Individual Performance: A Motivational Framework. Management and Organization Review, 2 (2), 253-277. Huemann, M., Turner, R. and Keegan, A. E. (2007). Human resource management in the project-oriented company: a review, International Journal of project management, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 315-323. Kuvaas, B. (2007). Different Relationships between Perceptions of Developmental Performance Appraisal and Work Performance, Personnel review, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 378-397. Levy, P.E. and Williams, J. R. (2004). The Social Context of Performance Appraisal: A Review and Framework for the Future, Journal of Management, 30, pp. 881-905. Shrivastava, A., and Purang, P. (2011). Employee perceptions of performance appraisals: a comparative study on Indian banks. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22 (3), 632-647. Murray, R. T. (2003). Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Theses and Dissertations, Corwin Press, Inc. ETHICS CHECKLIST FOR STUDENT RESEARCHERS This checklist is designed to alert you to your ethical obligations when you conduct research involving human subjects. 1 These questions must be answered when a research project is proposed and before a research project is implemented. Attach the completed checklist to your final research proposal in week 12. Student Name and ID: _______________________________________ Title of the Project: ___________________________________________________________________ Please circle your answers: 1) Will the human subjects be informed of the nature of their involvement in the collection of data and of features of the research that reasonably might be expected to influence willingness to participate? Yes No 2) Will the human subjects be told that they can discontinue their participation at any time? Yes No 3) Will the human subjects in your study be aware that they are the targets of research? Yes No 4) If the subjects are underage, will their guardians be asked to sign the consent form? Yes No N/A 5) Is the confidentiality of the human subject’s identity positively ensured? Yes No 6) In cases where there is a possibility that the human subject's identity can be deduced by someone other than the researcher, is the subject's right to withdraw his/her data respected? Yes No 7) Will the researcher fulfil all the promises made to the human subjects including providing the summary of the findings upon request? Yes No 8) Will all necessary measures be taken to protect the physical safety of the human subjects from dangers such as faulty electrical equipment, poor grounding, lack of oxygen, falls, traffic & industrial accidents, possibility of hearing or vision loss etc.? Yes No 9) Will the human subject be debriefed (told the true nature of the study) after the data has been collected? Yes No 10) In cases in which the human subject is dissatisfied or a complaint about the researcher or procedure, will the researcher explain to the human subject that he or she may express this complaint to the Subject Coordinator? Yes No 11) Does the study involve concealment from and/or deception of the human subject? Yes No 12) Will deception be used in order to obtain agreement to participate? Yes No 13) Will the study involve human subjects who are legally or otherwise not in a position to give their valid consent to participate such as children, prison inmates, and mental patients? Yes No 14) Will information on your human subjects be obtained from third parties? Yes No 15) Will any coercion be exerted upon subjects to participate? Yes No 16) Will the study involve physical stress to the human subjects such as might result from heat, noise, electric shock, pain, sleep loss, deprivation of food and drink, drugs, alcohol? Yes No 17) Will the study cause any mental discomfort to the human subjects such as fear, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, shame, guilt, embarrassment etc.? Yes No 18) Could publication of the research results possibly interfere with strict confidentiality? Yes No 19) Could publication of the research results possibly harm the human subject - either directly or through identification with his/her membership group? Yes No 20) Are there other aspects of the study that may interfere with the protection of the well-being of the human subjects? Yes No If you have selected NO for any of the questions 1 to 10 and/or you have selected YES for any of the questions 11 o 20, please provide comments to clarify your choice (use additional pages if necessary). Signature of the Student Researcher: ________________________________________________________ APPROVED: _______________________________________ Date: ___________________________ Signature of Subject Coordinator Read More