The effects of performance evaluation on punishment in organisations
| Author | Seungwon Yu,Eun Ji Yoo,Suhee Kim |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523211043362 |
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The effects of performance
evaluation on punishment
in organisations
Seungwon Yu
Korea National Police University, Republic of Korea
Eun Ji Yoo
SungKyunKwan University, Republic of Korea
Suhee Kim
University of Seoul, Republic of Korea
Abstract
This article expands understanding of the relationship between punishment and per-
formance in organisations. We analyse Korean data on performance and punishment
as follows. While prior literature has focused on the effect of punishment on perform-
ance, this article examines the effect of performance gaps on punishment. Based on
behavioural theory, strategic reference point theory and principal–agent theory,
it sheds light on the negative relationship between performance gaps (cause) and pun-
ishment (effect). The article demonstrates that low performers are more often punished
and high performers less so (i.e. a negativity bias). Our results also show that organisa-
tions prioritise light punishment over heavy punishment when disciplining employees in
response to performance.
Points for practitioners
•Low-performing organisations are more often punished and high-performing organi-
sations less often so.
•The degree to which negative performance increases punishment is greater than that to
which positive performance decreases punishment.
Corresponding author:
Suhee Kim, Department of Urban Administration, University of Seoul, 163 Seoulsiripdaero, Dongdaemun-gu,
Seoul 02504, Republic of Korea.
Email: shkim070@gmail.com
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2023, Vol. 89(2) 484–500
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00208523211043362
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
•Organisations prioritise light punishment over heavy punishment when disciplining
employees in response to performance.
Keywords
negativity bias, performance, performance gap, public organisation, punishment
Introduction
Punishment is bound to occur in organisations. The purpose of punishment is to signal
appropriate actions or judgement, as defined by an organisation, and to discourage
inappropriate actions or judgement (Yang and Rutgers, 2017). If an organisation is infer-
ior to other competing organisations or their own current performance is lower than it was
in the past, punishment may be used to overcome the difficulties that put the organisation
in that position. Also, it may be used to prevent members of the organisation from com-
mitting certain actions or making poor judgements (Dwivedi, 1985). Punishment is one of
the many management tools selected by organisations that can be used for performance
management.
The term ‘punishment’may be used in many ways. However, the term as used in this
article refers to the consequences of breaking the law for a person who broke the law; in
addition, punishment must be administered and imposed intentionally by an authority
within a legal system, and must involve a loss (Brooks, 2012). In our research setting,
a punisher is a public agency and a punished person is a public employee. In our
context, punishment is administered against public employees who fail to meet their obli-
gations as prescribed by law and who cause any kind of loss. The term covers expulsion,
dismissal, demotion, suspension, reprimands and pay cuts.
Prior literature has tended to focus on whether punishment affects organisational per-
formance by deterring illegal behaviour (e.g. Podsakoff et al., 1982) and under what con-
ditions it affects performance (e.g. the position of employees (Brewer and Walker, 2013)
and the nature of the work performed by employees (Sims and Szilagyi, 1975)). This
article expands our understanding of the relationship between punishment and perform-
ance in organisations as follows. First, it demonstrates that organisational performance
may affect punishment. While prior literature has tended to focus on the effect of punish-
ment on performance, we analyse the effect of performance on punishment based on
behavioural theory, strategic reference point theory and principal–agent theory.
Performance gaps –the difference between actual and standard levels of performance
(Flink, 2019) –may cause tension in an organisation, and managers punish employees
in response to this tension (Flink, 2019; Meier et al., 2015). Second, we investigate
how punishment may be used discriminately depending on organisational performance.
In responding to high and low performance, organisations may show differences in the
extent to which punishment is administered, demonstrating a negativity bias (Rozin
and Royzman, 2001). Third, our results show that organisations may prefer light punish-
ment to heavy punishment when responding to performance results.
Yu et al. 485
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