Performance Management Practices in Institutions of Higher Education: An Instrument Development.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument for measuring and assessing perceived performance management practices in Institutions of Higher Education in Uganda. These practices are based on metaphors derived from the agency, upper echelon, resourcebased view, dynamic capability and goal setting theories. Design/methodology/approach: Item development was a result of an intensive literature review, reliability assessment, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. A survey that involved a sample of 447 respondents in four Institutions of Higher Education in Uganda was conducted. Findings: Results show that the items are related to individual member’s perceived performance management practices that were based on appropriate employer-employee relationships, locus of decision making, identifying and utilising available resources and involving employees in goal setting to achieve performance in an ever changing environment. Using the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)/ structural equation modelling (SEM), moderate model fit indices and construct validity results plausibly yielded a model that fits the data. Goodness-of-fit index (GFI= .961), comparative fit index (CFI = .977) and normed-fit- index (NFI = .944) and Tucker Lewis Index (TLI = .969) were above suggested threshold values >.90 and RMSEA = .039 was obtained. Research limitations/implications: The data used is a single sample from a studied population even when a systematic procedure of instrument development (i.e. descriptive statistics, reliability and inter-correlation analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) was conducted could limit generalisability of the results. The procedure could be replicated using different samples in the same population. Originality/value: Scores at the individual level could be used to promote performance management practices in Institutions of Higher Education in Uganda.
