Performance Appraisal in Action in Jimma University Does Administrative Culture Matter

Abstract

Performance Appraisal (PA) nowadays is practiced in most organizations worldwide asan instrument of ensuring effectiveness. Culture has also become an important arenabased on which effective practice of PA can be studied. The major aim of this study wasto explore the influence of administrative culture on the effective practice of PA in JimmaUniversity (JU), Ethiopia. The study employed a case study strategy with mixed method approach. It was informed by theoretical discussions of “culture is what organization is”and “culture is what organization has.” Hofstede’s cultural dimensions such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism/ collectivism were applied to map administrative culture in JU. Multi stage simple random sampling technique was employed to select 78 respondents for the survey and 29 key informant interviewees’were selected purposively. Hence, the impacts of each cultural dimension on the effective practice of PA system in JU were analyzed by triangulating the data obtainedfrom each method of data collection. It was found out that, a relatively high power distance in JU has resulted in a centralized organization reducing participation fromlower level units like departments. This has reduced academics’ participation in setting performance targets for evaluation. A somewhat high uncertainty avoidance culture onthe other hand has led to more tendencies to seek for structures and rules. This has affected the initiative for innovation and readiness to change, making the introduction ofnew goals in to the evaluation system a challenging endeavor. JU’s academics culture isalso found to be more collectivist than individualist. Interpersonal ties and interactions inline with conformity to groups are dominant. Hence, considerations to personal and group ties reduced trustworthiness of evaluation results and effective administration ofthe feedback system.