Presentation of the material
The content of the paper is formatted clearly and it is stylistically sound. The topic of the article has been placed on the top and in bold print. This has been done to bring emphasis and to draw the attention of the reader to the topic of discussion. The names of the author have been presented after the title to clearly show the owners of the work. The article also has an abstract that summarizes the content of the paper and prepares the reader for what he or she expects to find in the paper.
This is necessary to show the relevance of the content to the reader. The paper is divided into sections that adhere to the style of writing a research paper. It also adheres to APA guidelines for expressing ideas and reducing bias in language. For example, when expressing ideas concerning no particular organization, the authors say ‘an organization’ and not ‘the organization’.
Statistical analyses
The authors use tables extensively in the analysis of the data to facilitate understanding. For example, they provide a table of the use of performance management tools by the organizations. This provides a summary of the various performance management tools in percentages. This provides a visual aid to the reader and facilitates understanding. Another table was used to show the staff perception of performance management.
This table showed if the employees believed that they received a particular form of reward due to their performance. The forms of rewards include performance-related salary, training, performance-related bonuses, among others. The summary of this information in a table facilitates its understanding. Even looking at the tables alone, one can get sufficient information concerning the study.
The statistical analyses used in the paper are appropriate for the subject. First of all, the use of percentages was appropriate in summarizing certain information. Where the specific number of employees was known (n), the percentages were appropriate for use to indicate the percentage number of the total number of employees that provided certain views. For example, the authors talk of 65 percent of the employees perceiving that they received training and feedback due to performance. This is appropriate to indicate that 65 percent of the total number of employees had this particular perception.
The use of percentages was also appropriate in making comparisons between two groups of data. For example, in the third table, the authors provide a comparison of Espoused policy and Practice of performance management. Presenting the percentages side-by-side was appropriate in providing a visual aid in comparison. Correlation analyses were also used appropriately to show comparisons.
The statistical analyses used were conducted appropriately. They were also useful in supporting the conclusion reached by the authors. For example, the analyses helped the authors conclude that performance management tools were underutilized. They were also able to conclude that performance management was positively associated with employee outcomes. This was facilitated by the analysis of the employee perceptions of performance management.
There are no additional analyses that I may perform on the data to gain further knowledge. However, some of the outcomes may be biased. For example, the authors show the link between performance management and major employee outcomes (Selden & Sowa, 2011). It would be more appropriate to show the connection between different performance management systems with the outcome from all the employees and the entire organization. Therefore, this requires the intervention of further research.
Reference
Selden, S., & Sowa, J. (2011). Management and appraisal in human service organization: Management and staff perspectives. Public Personnel Management, 40(3), 251-264.