Paper Status Tracking

Journals by Title

Journals by Subject

Contact us

	[email protected]
	3275638434

	Paper Publishing WeChat

Useful Links

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Article

Open Access

Performance Appraisal System in Technology Start-Ups: Strategic Implications for HR Managers

Author(s)

Nuria Calvo, María Bastida, Jacobo Feás

Full-Text PDF Download XML 700 Views

DOI:10.17265/1537-1514/2012.07.009

Affiliation(s)

Nuria Calvo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Economic Analysis and Business Administration Department, University of A Coruña.
María Bastida, Associate Professor, Business Administration Department, University of Santiago de Compostela.
Jacobo Feás, Associate Professor, Financing Department, University of Santiago de Compostela.

ABSTRACT

The survival of start-ups established in an environment as hostile as the one people are currently experiencing necessarily involves the clear and consistent definition of their strategic objectives, something which will enable them to steer the efforts of their employees towards a common goal, to plan and prioritise work and to be familiar with the resources, human and material, which are required for medium and long term success. The main goal of this work is to analyse the organisational implications of establishing a performance appraisal system in technology start-ups. Following a strategic management focus, we studied the process involved in setting up a performance management system in a group of new start-ups during the last five years, and proposed a series of practical organisational design and human resources policy initiatives aimed at ensuring the system works, as well as permitting this kind of organisation to steer the work of its professionals towards achieving the objectives in its business plan. Analysis of the performance management and appraisal process in technology start-ups, based on focus groups, allowed people to identify a series of organisational implications which should be kept in mind when establishing the conditions that will ensure it functions correctly. After this analysis, the authors were able to conclude that the success of a performance management system does not occur in isolation, but it requires that the design of wage, training, and professional development policies favours achievement of the objectives in the business plan, and an organisational structure which guarantees the consistency and fairness of evaluation criteria, on which the system’s credibility rests.

KEYWORDS

start-up, performance management, human resources, organisational design, strategic management

Cite this paper

References

Andersson, F., Brown, C., Campbell, B., & Chiang, H. (2005). The effects of HRM practices and R&D investment on worker productivity. Annual Meeting Sloan Industry Studies, December 14-16.

Capelli, P. (1999). El nuevo pacto en el trabajo. Ediciones Granica, S.A..

Capelli, P. (2007). Talent management is a business problem. Retrieved from http://www.consultoras.org

Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2001). Dynamic capabilities: What they are. Strategic Management Journal, 22, 387-401.

Fernández Ríos, M. (1995). Análisis y descripción de puestos de trabajo. Díaz de Santos.

Godbout, A. J. (2000). Managing core competencies: The impact of knowledge management on human resources practices in leading-edge organizations. Knowledge and Process Management, 7(2), 76-86.

Harrison, D. A., Virick, M., & Williams, S. (1996). Working without a net: Time, performance and turnover under maximally contingent rewards. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 331-345.

Lazear, E. P. (1998). Personnel economics for managers. John Wiley & Sons.

Lazear, E. P., & Oyer, P. (2004). The structure of wages and internal mobility. American Economic Review, 94, 212-216.

Likert, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes, Archives of Psichology, 140, 1-55.

Miles, R. E., & Show, C. C. (1984). Designing strategic human resource systems. Organizational Dynamics, 31(1), 36-52.

Orue-Echevarría, J. (2004). Manuel de valoración de puestos y calificación de méritos. Deusto S.A. Ediciones.

Rynes, S. L., Schwab, D. P., & Heneman, H. G. (1983). The role of pay and market pay variability in job application decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 31, 353-364.

Trevor, C. O., Gerhart, B., & Boudreau, J. W. (1997). Voluntary turnover and job performance: Curvilinearity and the moderating effects of salary growth and promotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 44-61.

Valle Cabrera, R. (1995). La gestión estratégica de los recursos humanos. Addison-Wesley Iberoamericana.

Warren, K. (2000). The softer side of strategy dynamics. Business Strategy Review, 11(1), 45-58.

Warren, K. (2004). Why has feedback systems thinking struggled to influence strategy and policy formulation?. Suggestive evidence, explanations and solutions. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 21, 331-347.

Wright, P. M., & Gardner, T. M. (2003). Theoretical and empirical challenges in studying: The HR practice—Firm performance relationship. In D. Holman, T. Wall, C. Clegg, Pl. Sparrow, & A. Howard (Eds.), The new workplace: People, technology and organizations (pp. 311-328). West Sussex, UK.