Performance appraisal systems and public sector efficiency in small island developing states. The case of Fiji
| Pages | 974-992 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-01-2018-0013 |
| Published date | 22 November 2019 |
| Date | 22 November 2019 |
| Author | Patricia Loga,Anand Chand |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Performance appraisal systems
and public sector efficiency in
small island developing states
The case of Fiji
Patricia Loga
School of Management, College of Business,
Massey University, Albany, New Zealand and
School of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics,
The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, and
Anand Chand
School of Management and Public Administration,
University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
Abstract
Purpose –There is extant literature on performance appraisal systems (PAS) in public sector globally;
however, most of the literature focuses on PAS in public sector in large developed and large developing
countries. To the best of t he authors’knowledge , there is scant litera ture on PAS in the public s ector
of small developing co untries. Hence, the pur pose of this paper is to f ill the research gap and a nalyse
employee perception s of the annual performance appraisal (APA) system and its implica tions in the Fiji’s
public sector. It exami nes the APA more specifically in the case st udy of Ministry of Health and Medical
Services in Fiji.
Design/methodology/approach –A mixed methods approach was undertaken and information collected
from each research method was triangulated to ensure the reliability and validity of the findings.
Findings –This study found that the APA system shows promise of delivering on the expectedoutcomes for
PAS. Similarly, staff morale was found to increase while employee behaviour improved with employee
involvement and simple key performance indicators. However, much work needs to be done at the macro,
meso and micro level of policy planning and implementation in order to ensure the success of APA.
Research limitations/implications –The limitations of this research are that it is based solely on Fiji’s
experience and future research could expand this study to other developing country contexts, especially small
island states.
Originality/value –After conducting a literature review on developed nations and research in a small
developing country (Fiji), this paper produces two models: a PAS model in the developed country context and
another in Fiji’s small developing country context. This paper contributes to the existing literature of PAS in
the public sector and more specifically in the context of developing small island countries.
Keywords Public sector, Qualitative, Quantitative, Developing countries, Small island developing states,
Mixed methodologies, Public sector efficiency, Performance appraisal systems
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This paper is an analysis of the annual performance appraisal(APA) system within the Ministry
of Health and Medical Services (MoHMS) in the Fiji islands located in the South Pacific region.
It explores and analyses the employee perceptions of the effectiveness of the APA system.
According to Hughes (2012), because a style of management such as the New Public
Management (NPM)[1] has been successful in the developed world, the same should not be
assumed for less-developed countries. In an earlier finding, Sharma and Lawrence (2009)
argued that the transition from the old traditional model of management to the NPM model
during public sector reforms in Fiji was difficult. This implied the need for research based
on the application of NPM features in developing countries such as Fiji. A study based on a
Personnel Review
Vol. 49 No. 4, 2020
pp. 974-992
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-01-2018-0013
Received 10 January 2018
Revised 8 April 2019
14 August 2019
9 September 2019
Accepted 22 September 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
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PR
49,4
research sample of local institutions will be able to further prove or disprove this, or at least
interrogate the assumptions that Hughes (2012) mentioned.
The public sector reform process in Fiji began around 1984 as a recommendation by the
World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (Chand and Karan, 2010). The reform was
categorised as follows: civil service reforms, public enterprise restructuring and financial
management reforms. The impetus for reforms also included the need for enhancing
efficiency and cutting costs within the government.
One such feature of Fiji’s reform process and the NPM model is the reform of human
resources and the use of Performance Appraisals (PA) in the public sector. In the case of Fiji,
as of 2009, a performance appraisal system (PAS) was implemented in the public sector by
use of the APA system (Interview with Former Senior PSC Official, 2017). The APA replaced
the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) after the Public Service Commission and the
Fiji Public Service Association had indefinitely rejected the APA in 2006 after its
implementation in 2004 (Radio New Zealand, 2006) only to re-introduce APA in 2009.
The need for research in this area is compounded by three main reasons:
(1) Research gap: to date, there is a limited amount of research focusing on the effects
PA in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) especially for the South Pacific region.
(2) Policy transfer issues: Fiji, like many other developing countries adopts reforms like
the PA system through donor agencies and a difficulty faced by aid agencies are
issues in policy transfer between donor agencies and the states that are adopting
reform policies (Karini, 2017). This could render the reform policy less or in-effective.
Research in this area could reduce this gap in performance-related reforms and
advocate for reform policies that are tailored to fit within the context that it is being
implemented in. It could then reduce the number of pendulum implementation or
failed reform policies; this would save resources that are already limited in SIDS.
(3) Government as a primary provider for goods and services: in SIDS, citizens are
highly dependent on government services due to their inability to afford alternatives
(Nhede, 2019). Therefore, it is useful to study the effectiveness of performance
efficiency tools like the PA system because much of the nations’basic needs depend
on the output produced by government.
In this paper, the effects of PA in the public sector are organised into the following key
themes: cost-effectiveness, efficiency, staff behaviour and morale and facilitation of PA
reform. Findings from the literature review on developed countries have been analysed and
adapted to create a model on PA in the developed country context and findings from
primary research conducted have been modelled into a framework of PA in a small island
developing country context with Fiji as the case study.
2. Literature review
2.1 PA in the global developed country context
There is a more comprehensive pool of research of PA in developed countries when compared to
PA in developing nations. Keeping in mind the differences in contexts, this research will first
review literature on developed countries and from this, a conceptual model will be developed to
capture a general overview of PA in developed countries. This model can then be compared to
that drawn from the findings of this study to address the second research gap identified earlier.
2.2 PA –positive effects on civil servants
There are some benefits of implementing PA. For example, Campbell (2015) explored the
link between a PA and Change Oriented Organisation Citizenship Behaviour and found that
PA had a positive effect on change-oriented behaviour mainly because of employee
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