The purpose of the study was to investigate the linkage between Performance Appraisal (PA) as a Human Resource Practice and the firm performance of the Kenyan state corporations. The study hypothesized that; there was a positive relationship between PA and OP and therefore the need to investigate the specific linkage between the two variables relate. The study adopted an Explanatory research design. The target population was 232 HRM from which a sample of 142 respondents was selected. The research tool was a questionnaire which constituted structured or closed ended items, unstructured or open ended items and likert items.
A pilot study was conducted to help establish the reliability and validity of the research tool. Quantitative and qualitative data was generated was analyzed using SPSS. Qualitative data was operationalized by arranging the data according to emerging themes or patterns with assigned numbers to make them measurable. As far as quantitative data is concerned, Correlation coefficients will be calculated for initial exploration of the relationships between variables. This helped to measure the size and direction of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.
The findings established that there was a significant correlation between PA and Firm’s Performance and therefore recommended to the authorities of the Corporations studied to give main focus to PA function to enhance OP.
1. Ahmad, O. & Schroeder, R.G. (2003), ‘The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Operational Performance: Recognizing Country and Industry Differences’, Journal of Operations Management, Vol.21, pp.19-43.
2. Babbie, Earl R. (1998). The Practice of social research. Wadsworth Pub. Co. (Belmont, CA)
3. Cooper, D. R. and Schindler, P. S. (2003) Business Research Methods Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
4. Ingram, H. McDonnell, B. (1996). ‘Effective Performance Management –The Teamwork Approach Considered’, Managing Service Quality, 6(6):38– 42 MCB University Press.
5. Kerlinger, F.N. & H.B. Lee, (2000, 4th Ed). Foundations of behavioral research. Wadsworth.
6. Kothari, C. K. (2011) Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (2nd Revised Edition) New Age International Publishers, New Delhi
7. Krejcie, R. V. and Morgan, D. W. (1970) Determining Sample Size for Research Activities Educational and Psychological Measurement 1970, 30, 607-610.
8. Lee, Feng-Hui, & Lee, Fzai-Zang. (2007). The relationships between HRM practices, Leadership style, competitive strategy and business performance in Taiwanese steel industry, Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 953-971.
9. Michael Simkovic, www.ssrn.com/abstract=1941070 Risk-Based Student Loans] (2012)
10. Mugenda, O. M. and Abel G. Mugenda, A. G. (2008) Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches: Nairobi, African Centre for Technology Studies
11. Mullins, J. L. (2002). Management and Firmal Behaviour, Prentice Hall.
12. Pfeffer, J. 1994. Competitive advantage through people. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
13. Sang, C. (2005). Relationship between HRM practices and the perception of organisational performance, roles of management style, social capital, and culture: comparison between manufacturing firms in Cambodia and Taiwan, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, Taiwan.
14. Sekaran, U. (2003) Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (4 Ed.) John Wiley and Sons
15. Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (2001). Using Multivariate Statistics. (4th edition), New York: Harper Collins College Publishers.
16. Tzafrir, S. S. (2006), A Universalistic Perspective for Explaining the Relationship between HRM Practices and Firm Performance At Different Points In Time: Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 21, No.2, pp. 109-130.
17. Verbeeten, F. H (2008). Performance Management Practices in Public Sector Firms Impact on Performance, Accounting, Auditing Accounting. J. 21(3): 427-454.
Copyright: © 2013 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
