Communitarian norms and employee performance management in Africa

Abstract

PurposeThe paper aims to critically evaluate the day-to-day processes of employee performance management and control (EPMC) in an African-based organization and sheds light on formal and informal management controls, social relations and worker responses.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on research undertaken within an Ugandan-based agricultural research organization. A case study approach was used to facilitate an understanding of everyday organizational practices and context. The paper uses ethnographic research and grounded theory, with methods including interviews and observation of work practices.FindingsThe findings provide a nuanced understanding of how performance management and control plays out in practice and show that the unquestioning imposition of Western practices that ignore traditional norms is unlikely to result in desired outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsSince the paper took on a cross-sectional study, a longitudinal study might reveal whether and how the values of managers and employees in Africa-based organizations change over time.Practical implicationsThe study's findings indicate the need for a more critical examination of EPMC that takes account of employee attitudes, behaviors and social relations at the intersection of both the formal and informal organization.Originality/valueAlthough cultural and institutional approaches have been used to evaluate human resource management (HRM) practices in Africa, organizational behavior approaches to performance and control at the micro-level had been underexplored.