Image and Substance: The Management of Performance as Rhetoric or Reality?
- 1 February 1993
- journal article
- Published by Emerald Publishing in Personnel Review
- Vol. 22 (2) , 3-21
- https://doi.org/10.1108/00483489310028190
Abstract
Much has been written about performance appraisal (PA) in terms of its outcomes: little however, has been focused on the mediation of actual practice, beyond simple descriptions informing its implementation. Seeks first to understand the historical implications of contemporary PA; second, examines the modern usage of PA with regard to its emphasis on managing and controlling the “image” of performance, which is then illustrated by the use of survey research, gathered from West Midlands organizations. Concludes that the original intentions of PA to manage physical performance have increasingly failed, and become superseded by the management of the “impression” of performance by both employers and employees.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Performance Appraisal as Effective Management or Deadly Management DiseaseGroup & Organization Studies, 1991
- Consumers' Reports: Management by Customers in a Changing EconomyWork, Employment & Society, 1991
- In the Way of WomenPublished by Bloomsbury Academic ,1991
- Influence tactics, affect, and exchange quality in supervisor-subordinate interactions: A laboratory experiment and field study.Journal of Applied Psychology, 1990
- Organization: From Substance to Image?Organization Studies, 1990
- Myths and Politics in Organizational ContextsGroup & Organization Studies, 1989
- Book ReviewsJournal of General Management, 1988
- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS[1]Journal of Management Studies, 1987
- Shared values make a difference: An empirical test of corporate cultureHuman Resource Management, 1985
- Leadership: The Management of MeaningThe Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1982