Performance Appraisal System (PAS) in the civil service of Pakistan has been established to fulfill various purposes. Previously, this aspect of PAS in the civil service has not been investigated. In this study we examine perceptions of the civil servants regarding various purposes of the PAS. Data was collected from the civil servants working in the two departments of far flung district Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The results show that appraisees have mixed responses regarding purposes of PAS. It implies that appraisees are not fully aware to all the purposes of PAS, with exception of a sole purpose i.e. support to promotion decisions. In the article we discuss the factors affecting appraisees' perceptions about purposes of the appraisal system. Subsequently, we proffer few recommendations for making the appraisal system purposeful in minds of appraisees. Finally, we give directions for future research in the PAS of civil service.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for the effectiveness of performance appraisal (PA) systems by using a competing values approach. Design/methodology/approach -The review employs a three-step approach: first, the paper discusses the existing criteria to determine the effectiveness of PA systems, and presents criticisms of these criteria. Second, the paper reviews the literature on the competing values model of organizational effectiveness. Third, the paper integrates the PA system in the competing values model to develop a comprehensive framework for the effectiveness of PA systems.Findings -A practical model is developed, taking into account the processes and procedures involved in PA systems. Originality/value -The paper is designed to provide a guideline for managers to consider the effectiveness of a PA system. The paper suggests that assessing the effectiveness of a PA system on any single criterion ignores various important aspects of the system. Moreover, the effectiveness of a PA system should be based on the values and preferences of all major stakeholders of the system, i.e., appraisers, appraisees and the organization.

This paper looks at the relationship among elements of an organisational structure (i.e. formalisation, centralisation and integration) with project success, and examines whether the relationships are mediated by knowledge sharing. There is limited understanding with regard to how various elements of organisational structure relate to knowledge sharing and project success. Taking a contingency approach and grounding our argument in the resource-based view of the firm, we show that certain elements of organisational structures have positive implications for the project organisation. We draw on survey data from 220 respondents serving in (public and private) project-based telecom service provider firms in Pakistan. Our results show that formalisation and integration are conducive to project success, but centralisation is negatively related to project success. Knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between integration and project success for both the public and private telecom firms, but in case of formalisation, knowledge sharing mediation exists only for the public firms. Based on these results, we draw some implications for theory and practice.

This paper seeks to understand the association between ratees’ relational justice perceptions and their feedback acceptance, both directly and through leader–member exchange (LMX). The paper also examines the moderated mediation effect of supervisory trust. The paper presents the findings of two studies. Study 1 utilized two data sets collected through an online survey from 280 part-time students working full-time (Sample 1) and 292 working professionals (Sample 2) in Pakistan. Study 2 utilized data collected from N = 167 students recruited for a scenario-based experiment that manipulated whether a manager was fair or unfair. Results revealed that relational justice positively predicted feedback acceptance in Studies 1 and 2. LMX positively mediated the above-mentioned relationship in both studies. As expected, supervisory trust negatively moderated the relational justice–feedback acceptance relationship in Study 2. The present study contributes to performance management theory and practice by illuminating that raters can stimulate performance partnership by employing a relational justice approach that increases the likelihood that employees accept performance feedback.

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between workplace bullying (WPB) and the turnover intentions (TIs) of nurses, both directly and indirectly, i.e. through serial mediation of psychological contract violation (PCV) and poor employee wellbeing (EWB). And that with the moderating effect of servant leadership (SL) on its final path to TIs of nurses.Design/methodology/approachA total of 285 nurses voluntarily participated in the survey through convenient sampling from 13 different district hospitals. The authors performed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the study's measurement and structural models.FindingsOverall, results indicated 62% prevalence rate of WPB and TIs of nurses had 67% variance explained by the exogenous factors. Workplace bullying was found to have direct as well as indirect relationship with TIs of nurses. For the latter, PCV and poor EWB were found to have partially mediated, both singly and serially. The moderating effect of SL on the serial mediation pathway was negative and significant.Originality/valueDrawing on a tripartite theoretical perspective, this study illuminates the mechanism underlying WPB-TIs relationship with an advanced multivariate statistical technique in the nursing work setting in a developing country.

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PurposeThis study seeks to examine the links between employee agreeableness, group performance, and peers' perceptions of threat of retaliation, through relationship conflict.Design/methodology/approachIn a laboratory setting, 42 groups of undergraduate students (N = 182) from a Pakistani university were assigned to group projects to be completed within four months. Data collected from three different questionnaires at four different times and actual scores awarded by the course instructor to each group were used for the analyses. Based on rWG(J) and ICC(1), level 1 (182 students') data were aggregated to level 2 (groups), and then analysed using regression analysis followed by Preacher and Hayes' bootstrapping procedure.FindingsResults suggest that high agreeableness predicts group performance positively and peers' perceptions of threat of retaliation negatively. Moreover, relationship conflict among group members significantly mediates the agreeableness-group performance relationship. The above relationships may be sensitive to national culture.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, groups were formed for a few months, whereas in real organizational life, workgroups are formed for different durations. Therefore, the range of situations to which these findings generalize remains an open question.Practical implicationsAgreeableness of group members can be constructive for performance of the group. Managers may utilize this insight while forming groups, and rating performance.Originality/valueThere is dearth of research illuminating how employee's personality traits affect group performance and appraisal ratings. The study tests the effects of employee agreeableness on: (1) group performance, as rated by supervisors; (2) the threat of retaliation, as perceived by peer raters; and (3) the mediating effect of relationship conflict.