tions, even if it is about doing a job not related to the organisation. The existence of the
culture of forgiveness permitted bad performers to continue work as observed by Gard-
ner (1996) ‘... regardless of the seriousness of the transgression, whether theft or drunk-
enness at work, once the transgressor goes to beg for forgiveness should be forgiven...
at times a politician is used to mediate’ (Gardner 1996: 496). This culture waters down
the whole idea of enforcement of performance appraisal. The same observations on the
influence of cultural and political dimensions on employee productivity are well ad-
dressed by Kamoche et al. (2004).
Some of the other reasons as to why managers do not take performance management
seriously include a failure to take further steps towards rewarding or punishing. For ex-
ample, if the organisation cannot improve work through better training due to lack of
funds or cannot increase remuneration as recognition of excellent performance, the ef-
fectiveness of performance assessment is watered down. In the worst case scenario,
when an employee has to be fired, the legal process is lengthy and demanding for man-
agers to justify such decisions in the eyes of the law. In Tanzania, the employment and
labour relations act 2007 defines the terms and conditions for the termination of em-
ployment due to poor performance, which makes it very difficult for the employer to
comply, as presented in Appendix 6.2.
Review questions
- What is performance management?
- Describe how you would introduce performance management in an organisation.
- Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of performance management systems in
the third world organisations. - Explain how you would measure work performance.
- Examine the main lessons from performance contract in Kenya.
References and recommended reading
ARMSTRONG, M. (2008), Performance Management. Key Strategies and Practical Guidelines. London:
Kogan page.
BACAL, R. (1999), Performance Management. New York: McGrawHill.
BUDHWAR, P & Y. DEBRAH (2004), Human Resource Management in Developing Countries. London:
Routledge.
COLIN, F. (2005), Performance Management and Performing Management. In: J. Leopold, L. Harris &
T Watson, eds, The Strategic Managing of Human Resources. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
DADA, J. (2006), Motivating the Public Service for Improved Service Delivery in Nigeria. 28th African
Association of Public Administration and Management Roundtable. Arusha: Unpublished.
DESSLER, G. (2005), Human Resource Management. Pearson: Prentice Hall.
GARDNER, K (1996), Managing in different cultures: The case of Ghana. In: B. Towers, ed., The
Handbook of Human Resource Management. Oxford: Blackwell.
KAMOCHE, K.N., Y.A. DEBRAH, F.M. HORTWITZ & G.N. MUUKA (2004), Managing human resources in
Africa. London and New Delhi: Routledge.
KOBIA, M. (2006), The Kenyan experience with performance contracting. 28th AAPAM annual
roundtable conference. 4th-8th December 2006.
LOCKE, E.A & G.P. LUTHANS (1990), A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance. Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall.
MARCHAND, M. & L. RAYMOND (2007), Researching Performance Measurement Systems. An
Information Systems Perspective. International Journal of Operations and Production Management
28(7): 664-686.
OECD (1999), In search of Results. Performance Management practice. Paris: OECD.