performanceappraisalforchinesestate-ownedbanking.docVIP

Performance Appraisal for Chinese State-owned Banking Industry Yongmei Zhang and Dr Ian Lovegrove, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, John Foster Building, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5UZ, United Kingdom Main author contact details: 0151 231 3592 (work); 07738011682 (mobile); Email: y.zhang@livjm.ac.uk Abstract Performance appraisals, which are used to assist individual development and organizational planning, are considered an important part of effective human resource management. Studies of performance appraisal are invariably based on Western theories, which can create issues when they are applied in different cultures, with China being identified as one such area. With China’s entry to the WTO and the rapid accession of foreign banks, the Chinese financial sector is an extremely sensitive area of development for the nation’s economy. It is important, therefore, to understand the factors surrounding performance appraisal and what the process adds to efficiencies in the Chinese state-owned banking industry. This paper is based on data collected from employees of Chinese state-owned banks from 2005 to 2007. The findings suggest that the appraisee’s perceptions of fairness have a positive relationship to their overall satisfaction with both the performance appraisal process and its outcomes. However, statistically significant differences were found in relation to whether appraisees had received training in performance appraisal or not. 1. Introduction Performance appraisal, as a process of identifying, observing, measuring and developing human performance in organisations (Carroll Schnair, in Cardy Dobbins, 1994), has attracted the attention of both academics and practitioners. The process is also viewed as making an important contribution to effective human resource management, as it is closely linked to organisational performance (Erdogan, 2002). Studies on performance appraisal are invariably based on Western theories and m