| Organizational culture as a contextual factor in performance management has not been rigorously researched. The goal of this research was to develop an understanding of the role organizational culture plays in how managers implement performance management to evaluate and communicate to employees their performance against expectations and developmental needs.; The design of the study was based on the qualitative methodology developed by Sackmann (1991) that combined aspects of grounded theory research and ethnography. Data were collected through participant interviews, observations, and related organizational documentation.; Findings demonstrated that organizational culture impacted how managers conducted performance management activities. The culture of the organization presented barriers to performance management effectiveness that organizational members often recognized and found ways to navigate. Other significant findings included the enduring influence of the founder as a source of organizational culture, the impact of psychological ownership on the ability and willingness of organizational members to change behavior, inherent problems with performance management systems that serves multiple purposes, and the need for organizational culture and organizational practices such as performance management to be aligned to and in support of the overall business strategy.; The pervasiveness of performance management as a fundamental human resource management and development practice in organizations supports the notion that human resource professionals and organizational managers benefit from an understanding of organizational culture as a contextual factor in developing, implementing, and changing performance management processes. |
