The definition of the appraisal system and strategic management incorporates objectives and goals. Consequently, strategic management and performance appraisal aims to deliver the existing objectives and stay ahead of competitors. The performance appraisal system denotes the type of assessment used by an organization to measure performance. There are different assessment methods. One of the evaluation techniques is the straight ranking appraisal, where employees are ranked from the best to the poor. Another assessment criterion is grading, where employees are assigned specific grades for their performance in different areas. There is also the management-by-objective method of review. The employees and managers set goals under the approach and measure them at the end of the agreed time. Organizations may also assess their employees based on their behaviors and conduct at the workplace. Lastly, organizations can adopt a 360-degree assessment method to evaluate employees and managers. Organizations use one or a combination of the frameworks for assessing employees and improving performance.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. The study will determine whether managers consider their strategies when selecting the appraisal system or consider other factors. Also, the study will assess the implications of choosing an appraisal system based on the existing strategic method in different organizations and the impacts of ignoring organizational strategies when deciding on the performance of the appraisal system. The findings will be crucial in the administrative and human resource management field, further research.

Statement of Problem

A brief literature review reveals little to no information on balancing appraisal systems and organizational strategies. Most researchers tend to focus on how appraisal systems boost organizational performance. Also, many scholars are interested in understanding how appraisal systems affect employee motivation, performance, and job satisfaction. Hence, the research study will focus on determining the roles of organizational strategies when formulating appraisal systems. Failing to conduct this study will mean that the appraisal system continuously does not contribute to strategic management. A case study for analysis is the McDonald’s performance appraisal system (Goldsmith & Carter, 2010). Before 2003, McDonald’s had an informal and less structured performance evaluation system that did not reflect its strategies (Goldsmith & Carter, 2010).

Consequently, it would not match its competitors or expand its business. The same challenge faces modern organizations. A lack of an appraisal system reflecting strategic approaches risks the success of an organization, business expansion, and employee empowerment.

I will approach the research using the system management theory. The theory acknowledges that all organizations are made of subunits that strive to achieve set goals, obtain new skills and improve their competencies (Garavaglia-McGann, 2019). The theory is vital in explaining employers’ approaches to appraisal systems. The goal orientation theory will provide employees with a clear focus on the company. They will dedicate their efforts towards enabling their organizations to achieve their strategies.

Purpose of Study

I will use a qualitative exploratory study design method to advance the study. The aim is to understand the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal that researchers could use in future studies. The variables in the research are strategic management and performance appraisal systems. The research will target managers and employees in American companies. The participants will give their views on the performance appraisal system and how they contribute to achieving organizational aims. In particular, the managers will state how they craft employee assessments within their organizations. The research will be conducted in California in the manufacturing industry. One hundred participants from five different companies will participate in the study. They will be selected randomly to participate in the study. Random sampling is preferable in the study because it creates an equal chance of selecting participants with different attributes (Reeger, 2019). I will collect data using questionnaires. Each participant will respond to thirty questions sent via their emails. Employees’ questions will be different from managers’. Data will be analyzed using the thematic data analysis approach. The study’s findings will help organizations create evaluation techniques that suit their organizational culture.

Introduction to Theoretical

The study aims at establishing the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. Organizations use performance systems to promote accountability, responsibility, and performance among the employees and the leaders (Subekti, 2021). Nevertheless, very little research shows the connection between strategic management and performance appraisal.

Organizations use strategies to gain a competitive advantage over others. The competitive advantage makes them unique and profitable in the markets. A competitive advantage is obtained through process and behavior, improving employee performance, proper human resource management that reduces turnover and dissatisfaction, and conforming to the legal provisions in the business environment. The research will be premised on the system management theory of management. The system theory of management is based on coordination between multiple components within an organization that works harmoniously to function appropriately (Management theories, 2019).

Based on the theory, employees are crucial components of any organization. Therefore, they must work together with other organizational entities to ensure that the organization succeeds. Employees work best when their work environment is motivating (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). One employee motivating factor that this research paper tackles is fair performance appraisal. However, many organizations fail to develop just employee evaluation mechanisms, and that demotivate the employees, creating system imbalances within the organization. Another core component in business organizations is management. The management’s actions can lead to the success or failure of organizations. One of their roles includes developing performance appraisals within organizations. Some assessments cause disagreements within organizations and could lead to high employee turnovers. Consequently, the managers must develop justifiable performance appraisals, which most have failed.

Other components within the organizational system include departments and business units. Each of these units has varying roles that the management must continuously evaluate. The appraisal system should capture the respective business objectives and that explains why strategic management and performance appraisal need to be integrated into business organizations.

Theoretical Model Diagram

The diagram shows that the entire organization is a system that depends on managers, employees, and departments. The managers create appraisals for all employees or individual departments. These appraisals can motivate or demotivate the employees, affecting the entire system. Therefore, the study will propose the integration of strategic management and performance appraisals to ensure that the organization remains intact since assessments based on business strategies will be perceived as fair by employees.

Introduction to Research Methodology and Design

The study aims to help managers understand the correlation between strategic management variables and the performance evaluation system. The qualitative case study design method will help managers gain in-depth information on the topic (Roth, 2006). Also, the research will capture the detailed findings from the study that will assist in decision-making for managers with an interest in aligning organizational management and performance appraisal systems. Also, case study analysis will allow for analysis of existing company documents to get the correct, accurate information for the research.

The study will involve 100 participants from five American companies. The participants will include managers and employees working in the selected company. The participants in the research will be identified through a random sampling technique. The rationale for using the random sampling technique is to provide an equal chance for participants to partake in the study (Zondo, 2018). Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant. To gain in-depth information, I will visit the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational management in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on five companies will provide reliable and valid data on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management.

Research Questions

RQ1

How does strategic management affect the nature of performance systems in organizations?

RQ2

How do organizations align strategic management with performance appraisal systems?

RQ3

How does lack of alignment between strategic management approaches and performance appraisal systems affect organizational performance?

RQ4

How can performance appraisal systems be aligned to strategic management to enhance organizational productivity?

Significance of Study

In the field of organizational behaviors, the study will facilitate the emergence of more studies to understand whether the performance appraisal system is part of strategic management or a particular activity in management. Also, it will highlight the crucial considerations that managers should incorporate when formulating their strategies. The research will also equip managers with the knowledge to apply the concept of strategic management and performance appraisals concurrently in their management. Lastly, the study will enable managers to align strategies to organizational assessments, improving overall success.

Summary

Strategic management and appraisal systems are of concern to many stakeholders because; there is yet an approach that can enable them to integrate strategic management and appraisal systems. The solution to the challenge will redefine the strategic management landscape. First, appraisal systems and strategic management are at the heart of all business organizations. Therefore, integrating the two tools will help managers enhance organizational and employee performance through an appraisal system (Al Khajeh, 2018). Secondly, there are no articles to explain the relationship between strategic management and appraisal systems in organizations. The study will address the existing gaps in the literature. Lastly, the study will help stakeholders to implement a strategy-oriented appraisal system.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The research paper focuses on integrating performance appraisal and strategic management in organizations. This section reviews various studies to understand the state of assessments, their role on employee and manager perception, and their impacts on employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Further, the section evaluates strategic management articles to bolster understanding of strategic planning and sustainable development concepts. The main gaps in the review are identified and discussed. All reviewed articles are recent to ensure that the current state of appraisals in organizations is captured.

Performance Appraisal

The human resource department or top managers can conduct performance appraisals in organizations depending on the size of individual organizations. Evaluation data is collected and stored in the form of HR analytics. HR analytics is then applied in improving employee performance in the respective organizations (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). HR analytics largely influences employees’ willingness to improve by encouraging or discouraging improvement. (Sharma & Sharma, 2017) found that subjective biases in the existing HR analytics prevents employee improvement. Their study adopted a conceptual framework that integrated academic and practitioner knowledge in HR analytics. The study’s main strength is that it highlights the importance of performance appraisal in improving employee performance. However, it lacks a statistical basis as it relies on concepts that may be hard to prove.

Organizations achieve their goals by constant and efficient evaluation of the employees. Consequently, many organizations have executed performance appraisals at their workplaces to improve employee performance (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Nevertheless, few organizational managers comprehend the role of appraisal results in their organizations except as a basis for reward and punishment. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016) postulate that performance appraisal outcomes can improve internal communication in organizations. The results assist managers in understanding whether organizational goals are adequately communicated to the subordinates (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Also, they state that performance appraisal is critical in motivating employees in organizations through reward and punishment (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). The management rewards best-performing employees with monetary incentives or promotion while punishing poor performers through dismissal or demotion.

Besides motivation and improving communication, organizations may use performance appraisal to design training and career development programs. The appraisal outcomes highlight employees’ weaknesses, which the management can address through training (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Additionally, performance appraisals are crucial in improving overall organizational success. Involving every employee in the evaluation process creates room for creativity and trust among employees (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The research study succeeds in highlighting the uses of performance appraisal systems in organizations. However, the authors fail to consider the impacts of biasness on the effectiveness of performance appraisal. Partiality in performance appraisals demotivates employees and creates mistrust between the staff and managers (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Also, the study does not discuss how organizations can integrate performance appraisal with strategic management.

Performance appraisals and appraisers can impact employee performance positively or negatively. Also, the existing challenges in the appraising method can culminate into mistrust within an organization (Dangol, 2021). Descriptive research by Dangol (2021) showed that the performance appraisal system has a significant role in the organization’s survival. The study’s setting was in a Service Industry in Nepal and comprised 120 participants who served as employees. The research design method was cross-sectional, and data was collected through questionnaires. He discovered that the factors that affect the influence of appraisals include rating accuracy, clarity in the purpose of the assessment, and the prospect of skill development (Dangol, 2021). The appraisers should be respectful, competent, and impartial for the outcomes of appraisals to motivate employees. One challenge that faces performance appraisal is providing accurate feedback to the employees and setting performance expectations. Each employee has unique expectations, which, when unmet, may create mistrust.

The researcher’s findings resonate with the study by (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). They both recognize the motivating role of performance appraisal in organizations. Further, both studies acknowledge that performance appraisal is crucial in training employees. However, while Dangol (2021) recognizes the challenges that emanate from the reviews, Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) do not. Both studies fail to provide statistical evidence and do not discuss strategic management’s role in the success of performance appraisal.

The quality of performance appraisals is measured in terms of trust, clarity, communication, and fairness. The quality of assessments determines the employees’ perceptions of it. Evaluations that seek to empower employees are associated with increased employee trustworthiness of the performance appraisals (Baird et al., 2020). Communication is also a crucial asset in assessments. The appraisers should discuss the progress made by employees towards attaining organizational goals (Baird et al., 2020). Moreover, the managers should help employees improve their weak areas through different approaches such as initiating development programs. In fairness, employees are fulfilled with appraisals that accurately assess them reasonably and justifiably. Assessments may encourage employees when done fairly (Krishnan et al., 2018, Sharma & Sharma, 2017).

Furthermore, the managers should focus on clarity before undertaking performance appraisals. According to (Baird et al., 2020), the employees must understand the appraisals’ purpose and functioning. Also, the employees ought to understand performance expectations within their organizations (Baird et al., 2020). These requirements show that performance appraisal quality determines its usefulness among the employees. However, the study by (Baird et al., 2020) emphasizes quality appraisals for employee empowerment instead of improvement. Also, the researchers compare the quality of estimates based on fairness, communication, trust, and clarity instead of how it contributes to achieving business goals.

The effectiveness of appraisal varies from sector and organization. (Homauni et al., 2021) investigated the effectiveness of performance appraisals on the employees working in the health sector. The researchers examined the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). The number of participants in the study was 504 employees at TUMS. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, Post hoc, and Tukey statistical tests. The analysis results showed that the performance appraisal at the organization was not practical from the employees’ standpoint (Homauni et al., 2021). The leading cause of ineffectiveness in performance appraisal is the lack of inclusivity of employees. The study reinforces other research on the use of performance appraisal systems. All researchers agree that performance appraisals are only effective when they are inclusive, fair, and well-communicated to the employees (Sharma & Sharma, 2017; Baird et al., 2020; Homauni et al., 2021). However, all these studies do not consider the role of strategic management on the quality and success of performance appraisals.

Performance Appraisal Perception

Performance appraisals are used to evaluate employee performance in many organizations. However, most managers have negative attitudes towards performance appraisal (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Consequently, most of them do not align their strategies with performance appraisal because of their perceptions. Also, the managers’ attitudes toward appraisals affect employees who view them as political and unnecessary (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Research by (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017) found that performance appraisal is an emotive issue for managers and causes discomfort making most of them distance themselves from the process. The researchers adopted a qualitative research approach that involved eight participants from the private sector in medium-size financial organizations. They selected the participants through purposeful sampling and collected data using in-depth interviews and naïve sketches. Their main finding was that managers felt uncomfortable with the appraisal system because it is politicized and distractive (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). The study’s main weakness was using small sample size, potentially invalidating its findings. Future studies should use a large sample size for more accurate and reliable results.

Other studies have found differing attitudes towards performance appraisals between managers and employees. On the one hand, the managers may be optimistic about the appraisal system, while the employees may be unconvinced. (Mehraban et al., 2017) compared the perceptions of managers and the nursing staff towards performance appraisal. The study’s setting was Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. The researchers adopted a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study in their research. The participants were selected through a two-stage quota-random sampling. Seventy-five managers and 313 nursing staff participated in the survey, and data were collected through a researcher questionnaire.

They analyzed data using descriptive and statistical tests. The analysis showed that the managers’ perception of performance appraisal was 56.8%, while the nursing staff stood at 51.4%. Also, they found a significant difference between the managers’ and nurses’ perceptions of the performance appraisals. The variables used to measure the employee perception included the performance appraisal method, the consequences of the assessment, and the appraisal’s necessity. The results showed that the managers were more optimistic about the performance appraisal than the nursing staff. However, these findings differ from those by (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017), who found that managers had negative attitudes towards the performance appraisal. The study’s strength was using a relatively large sample size that makes the findings valid. However, the researchers failed to measure the perception towards performance appraisal based on organizational strategies.

Some organizations may reap from performance appraisal, while others may break. (Mehraban et al., 2017) found that managers may be more optimistic about performance appraisal than employees, creating mistrust. In other instances, the managers may also harbor an undesirable attitude towards the performance appraisal, diminishing its importance (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). In other settings, both the managers and employees may support or reject performance appraisal (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The other issue that emerges with performance appraisals is that they are not used for performance improvement but as a means to reward or punish employees (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The motivation behind the implementation of performance appraisal impacts the employees’ reactions. The managers/supervisors have the mandate of developing and implementing performance appraisals. In that sense, they have to gain employee trust to succeed in the assessment. However fair the rating could be, employees may still feel betrayed by the managers or supervisors (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The result is the breaking of the organizations.

The way employees perceive performance appraisal impacts their organizational commitment in the respective organizations. (Krishnan et al., 2018) researched the impacts of employee perceived fairness of the reviews on employee commitment. They used a descriptive study design and investigated selected employees’ group traits. The study included 108 non-executive staff selected through probability sampling. All the staff worked in the Malaysian oil industry. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed by coding in the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Their findings showed that organizational commitment was directly proportional to perceived fairness. Organizations with higher perceived fairness prompted employees to commit more to the respective organizations, unlike organizations with low appraisal perceived fairness. The researchers conjecture with Mehraban et al., (2017), Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, (2017), and Kim & Holzer, (2014) that performance appraisal may elicit emotions among the employees and managers.

The studies on employee/manager perception towards the performance appraisal system manifest weaknesses. First, it is evident that the appraisal system is created for reward and punishment and does not advance organizational strategies. Such an approach contributes to managers’ and employees’ mistrust and negative attitudes. Secondly, most employees rate the performance appraisal based on its consequences and the appraisal method and not how well it aligns with organizational strategies. Such a mindset is misinformed because the performance appraisal method should conform to the plan regardless of the consequences of the managers’ tactics.

Performance appraisal is an indispensable human resource tool that continues to apply in most organizations. Various institutions, including banks, have adopted performance appraisals in their management. The growth of the banking sector has necessitated in India the need for banks. Few studies have compared employee perceptions on performance appraisals in the private and public banks. Using a sample t-test, (Shrivastava & Purang, 2011) found that employees in the public sector perceived high fairness of performance appraisals compared to employees in the public firms. The higher perceived fairness resulted in increased employee satisfaction within the public firms (Shrivastava & Purang, 2011). The study shows that there could be a problem regarding performance appraisals in public organizations. That makes public organizations a focal point of the research.

Performance Appraisal, Employee Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Performance

Appraisal hugely impacts employee performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. The level of impact depends on communication, clarity, trust, and fairness (Baird et al., 2020). Fair and transparent appraisals encourage the staff and culminate into job satisfaction. A study on the association between appraisal satisfaction, work-family conflict, and job stress revealed that justifiable assessment reduced work-family conflict and job stress (Ismail & Gali, 2016). Employees react emotionally to appraisals, which affect their mental wellness and interpersonal relationships. Organizations that utilize satisfactory assessments motivate their employees, unlike organizations using biased evaluations.

The level of employee motivation and job satisfaction affects employee performance. Subekti (2021) found that performance appraisal impacts employee motivation and satisfaction. Using an explanatory research process and a sample size of 140 employees, Subekti (2021), discovered that the nature of the appraisal system had impacted job satisfaction and motivation. However, the appraisal system had no impact on employee performance. On the other hand, job satisfaction and motivation impacted employee performance. Therefore, organizations’ type of appraisal method affects job fulfillment and enthusiasm.

Studies using large sample sizes also show a relationship between employee performance appraisal and job satisfaction. (Bakotić, 2016) researched the relationship between performance appraisal and job satisfaction among 5806 employees drawn from 40 large and medium-sized organizations in Croatia. His findings revealed that performance on either side affected job satisfaction. High-performing organizations led to increased job satisfaction while poor performances decreased job satisfaction. (Dangol, 2021) also found a relationship between appraisal and employee motivation. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016), in their article on the uses of performance appraisals, they mention employee motivation.

Strategic Management

Most organizations currently use strategic management to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. Strategic management refers to the processes of strategizing adopted by different businesses and which integrates strategy formulation and implementation (Bryson & George, 2020). It mixes processes, procedures, tools, and techniques carefully selected and executed after thorough evaluations. Organizations use the approach to create and achieve goals (Bryson & George, 2020). Strategies connect an organization’s abilities and aspirations and incorporate individuals, teams, and groups. Further, managers use strategic management to identify and solve challenges that occur within organizations.

Strategic management is also a crucial tool in corporate sustainability. Organizations must develop long-term strategies that will maintain their uniqueness in the markets (Engert et al., 2016). Internal and external drives influence the plan. Organizations achieve sustainability when they make determined efforts to maintain their superiority or gain an advantage over their competitors (Barbosa et al., 2020). Strategic management is a challenge in small organizations due to the energy required to develop and execute various strategies (Barbosa et al., 2020).

Strategic planning is a crucial part of strategic management and is influenced by organizational structures. The development of strategies is taken through various stages influenced by organizational goals, culture, and leadership, among other factors (Neis et al., 2017). Some elements may support the development and execution of respective strategies, while others may turn out to be a hindrance (Neis et al., 2017). Communication of various methods determines the failure or success of strategic planning and management. Strategic management enhances the understanding of public and private organizations (Ongaro & Ferlie, 2020). Strategic management constitutes strategic planning and performance measurement. Strategies are improved continuously by learning the successes and failures after implementation (Kools & George, 2020). Also, changes in the immediate environment prompt alterations to existing strategies to harmonize them with the new needs (Kools & George, 2020). Management of strategies involves its implementation, while planning outlines actions required for the success of the strategies.

Summary of Literature Review and Gaps

The first use of performance appraisal in organizations is for motivation through reward and punishment. Top performers receive monetary or promotion rewards while poor performers are demoted or dismissed from work. Secondly, organizations use appraisals for employee training and career development. Through evaluation, managers identify the staff’s weaknesses and address them through training programs. Also, from the review, some managers and employees have negative attitudes towards performance appraisals. Some managers oppose appraisals because the appraising system is highly politicized, creating battles with the staff. On the other hand, the employees have negative feelings towards assessments because of perceived fairness, lack of moral purpose for evaluation, lack of training and development programs, and poor communication. Stakeholders measure the quality of performance appraisals based on clarity, trust, communication, and fairness.

The significant gap in the literature is that while different researchers acknowledge that performance appraisal faces organizational challenges, none of the studies seem to provide a solution. Most authors opine that perceived fairness, clarity, trust, and proper communication are vital ingredients for implementing acceptable appraisals. None of the studies highlight how strategic management can address the challenges associated with performance appraisals. Also, none of the organizations evaluated shows how to integrate strategic management with performance appraisal. Since fairness and clarity may be achieved by integrating assessment and strategic management tools, this study will focus on the relationship between the two instruments (strategic management and appraisal).

Theoretical Framework

The study aims at establishing the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. Organizations use performance systems to promote accountability, responsibility, and performance among the employees and the leaders (Subekti, 2021). Nevertheless, very little research shows the connection between strategic management and performance appraisal.

Organizations use strategies to gain a competitive advantage over others. The competitive advantage makes them unique and profitable in the markets. A competitive advantage is obtained through strategy and behavior, improving employee performance, proper human resource management that reduces turnover and dissatisfaction, and conforming to the legal provisions in the business environment. The research will be premised on the system theory of management. The system theory of management is premised on the concepts of coordination between multiple components within an organization that works harmoniously to function properly (Management theories, 2019).

Based on the theory, employees are crucial components of any organization. Therefore, they must work together with other organizational entities to ensure that the organization succeeds. Employees work best when their work environment is motivating (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). One employee motivating factor that this research paper tackles is fair performance appraisal. However, many organizations fail to develop just employee evaluation mechanisms, and that demotivate the employees, creating system imbalances within the organization. Another core component in business organizations is management.

The management’s actions can lead to the success or failure of organizations. One of their roles includes developing performance appraisals within organizations. Some appraisals cause disagreements within organizations and could lead to high employee turnovers. Consequently, the managers must develop justifiable performance appraisals, which most have failed.

Other components within the organizational system include departments and business units. Each of these units has varying roles that the management must continuously evaluate. The appraisal system should capture the respective business objectives and that explains why strategic management and performance appraisal need to be integrated into business organizations.

Theoretical Model Diagram

The diagram shows that the entire organization is a system that depends on managers, employees, and departments. The managers create appraisals for all employees or individual departments. These appraisals can motivate or demotivate the employees, affecting the entire system. Therefore, the study will propose the integration of strategic management and performance appraisals to ensure that the organization remains intact since appraisals based on business strategies will be perceived as fair by employees.

Unit Department as Sub system

The head manager or divisional manager can lead departments. They may be defined based on their functions or seniority. Departments have a crucial role in ensuring that organizations meet their overall objectives. They may set their goals that could facilitate the attainment of the organization’s overall vision. Departments within the same organization could use different approaches to help the organization meet its visions. Examples of departments include accounting and HRM. The accounting department’s role is providing information for setting financial goals and budgets. The HRM department recruits and hires employees. However, these two organizations could exist within the same organization that aims to promote community health. Therefore, the performance appraisal should be based on strategic management so that the unique roles of the organizations are based on how they facilitated the achievement of the overall organizational goals (Poister, 2010).

Owing to the critical role of departments, managers in organizations should transform strategic planning in organizations to strategic management. Strategic management can help departments and organizations manage issues effectively and efficiently (Poister, 2010). Also, the performance appraisal should be more holistic to capture the different roles of individual departments to ensure that they contribute to the attainment of the overall goals of the organization (Poister, 2010). Contemporarily, departments’ roles are changing and becoming more advanced. New technologies catalyze these changes that can help organizations achieve their goals. Consequently, the nature of appraisals should also shift to reflect the new changes in technology.

Departments are effective in communicating the organization’s goals to the employees. Information from top management flows to departmental heads before the employees. Therefore, departments communicate the goals and visions of the organizations (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Communication helps organizations to reflect on organizational goals and adjust organizational strategies. Also, communication is crucial in enhancing innovation within the organization. Organizations adopting strategic management must ensure constant information exchange between them and their departments (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Different subsystems or departments must work as strategic partners to ensure that the overall goals of the whole system are achieved. Consequently, the performance appraisals can go beyond employee performance and evaluate how various organizations function together to achieve overall goals (Jacobson et al., 2013). The stakeholders in different departments need to undergo training to understand how they can collaboratively work as strategic partners within organizations instead of independent levels (Jacobson et al., 2013).

Departments can contribute to process improvements, customer satisfaction, and process improvements. The quality improvement department can enhance the quality of products, leading to improved customer satisfaction (Gremyr et al., 2019). On the other hand, they can facilitate improvements in the existing processes to ensure that the organization moves closer to its objectives (Gremyr et al., 2019). Different factors influence strategic alliances among departments and organizations. Some factors that influence departmental or organizational alliances include the manageability of the alliances and likely outcomes (Shah & Swaminathan, 2008). Within the context of organizations, departments should be manageable and contribute to the achievement of the overall goals within the organization.

In summary, various researchers have researched the formation of departments, their roles, and how they contribute to the achievement of the organization’s overall goals. Departments are created based on the needs of the individual organization. For instance, not all organizations may have IT departments. Also, some researchers suggest that departments must work as strategic partners to achieve the organization’s goals (Jacobson et al., 2013). The collaboration should be based on their manageability and the predicted outcomes (Shah & Swaminathan, 2008). The impacts of collaboration must favor the overall vision of the organization. Roles of departments based on the research include process improvement, customer satisfaction, communication, and quality improvement. Communication is core to overall organizational success (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Consequently, the departments must be strategic in sharing information with other departments and employees.

In the context of the focus of this research on integrating strategic management and performance appraisals, it is clear that departments, which act as a sub-system within the organization, play critical roles. Therefore, to combine strategic management and performance appraisal, individual departments should be evaluated to determine their validity and relevance. For instance, when evaluating the performance of employees in delivering their mandate, organizations should also appraise the communication strategies of individual departments to employees. Departments should also be evaluated based on how they coordinate amongst themselves to ensure that the overall objectives of organizations are achieved. Departmental evaluation will contribute to integrating strategic management and performance appraisal because they work on organizational strategies. The results can be used for continuous improvements of the organization.

The Roles of Managers

Managers have four crucial functions in organizations. These roles include planning, organizing, leading, and control. Planning includes setting goals to help organizations achieve their goals. The control function involves supervision to ensure that employees work within the set standards within the organization. In terms of leadership, managers use various leadership techniques to influence their followers towards particular goals. As leaders, they should have a good mastery of communication, team-building, problem-solving, and dispute resolution skills.

Different studies on the role of managers and management exist. An organization could have the head manager and unit managers or head managers alone. The manager’s title could depend on their functions. For example, an IT manager controls information and manages data within the organization (Tohidi, 2011). The managers ensure that the data is used constructively to help the organization improve its operations or products. With increasing technology, many organizations employ IT managers to control data use. Some organizations have middle-level managers. Middle Managers (MM) play a crucial role in an organization’s success. A study survey using interpretive synthesis that analyzed both qualitative and quantitative studies revealed that MMs were at the heart of most organizations (Boutcher et al., 2022). Some of their roles include innovation and influencing others. The MMs undertake innovation action through research and contribute to improving the company’s performance. They also convince employees in the organization to adapt to strategies set by the head managers and different departments (Boutcher et al., 2022). Their activities are influenced by several factors, both internally and externally. Some of these factors include leadership commitment, availability of resources, and equality within their organizations.

Besides spearheading innovations, the managers also implement them. They participate in activities such as disseminating the innovation information through meetings and training (Birken et al., 2015). Their implementation roles make the managers crucial in the strategic management process and, consequently, performance appraisal. They also have the task of setting goals and ensuring the equal participation of employees. Goal-setting and participation need fairness, and thus, managers are expected to be just in all their activities (Sholihin et al., 2011). Also, the managers have pivotal roles in the strategy-making process. They analyze the usefulness of various strategies and their impact on their organizations.

Further, they coordinate all the activities during strategy formulation. The managers also act as communicators (O’Shannassy, 2014). The middle managers pass information from the head managers to the employees. They are consulted both by the top managers and employees on how to shape various strategies. The MMs also compare performance among peers and offer insight to the head management of what strategies to undertake (Tarakci et al., 2018). They also identify with their organizations and work attentively to ensure that organizations achieve their goals. The MMs offer suggestions to the head managers on improving corporate services (Tarakci et al., 2018).

On the other hand, the head managers compare yearly performance to evaluate whether their organizations are on track (Belasen & Belasen, 2016). Their executive span and hierarchical depth can impact their managerial performance. A greater executive span and reduced hierarchical depth devalue middle management and reduce their autonomy. In turn, reduced autonomy lowers employee morale and increases their susceptibility to stress (Belasen & Belasen, 2016). Consequently, organizations must balance executive span and hierarchical depth to ensure that the manager sustains a sense of autonomy.

Most managers believe in similar competencies that are requisite for the effective running of their organizations. Managers’ key competencies include resourcefulness, change management, and building and mending relationships (Gentry & Sparks, 2011). Resources help managers to exhaust all the available options to make organizations successful. Also, building relationships with the staff and solving initial conflicts bolster collaboration between the management and the employees and grants an opportunity to focus on the organization’s objectives.

From the published articles, it is evident that managers are the engine of their organizations. They perform different tasks such as goal-setting, communication, coordination, strategy analysis, and problem-solving (O’Shannassy, 2014). The managers have the mandate of ensuring equal employee participation when undertaking various organizational processes. The other managerial role is innovation and encouraging innovativeness among the employees. The competencies required to excel in managerial tasks include resourcefulness, change management, building relationships, and solving disputes (Gentry & Sparks, 2011). They participate in the performance appraisal of employees.

Based on the system theory of management, managers form part of the organization’s system. Therefore, the research on performance appraisals and strategic management identifies managers as critical players. Like employees, the managers’ roles should be appraised in organizations. Organizations can appraise managers based on their roles, core competencies, and how they implement the strategic management of organizations. By doing so, organizations can successfully integrate strategic management and performance appraisals. When managers are not appraised, they may fail to perform their managerial tasks effectively. Their failure affects both performance appraisal processes and strategic management.

Appraising Appraisals

Performance appraisals were initially used as a basis of reward and punishment by organizations. However, currently, the functions of appraisals in management have evolved. Appraisals are used to enhance performance, encourage collaboration, promote job satisfaction, and improve employee retention (Dangol, 2021, Zondo, 2018). Consequently, many organizations are quickly adopting performance appraisals, however. They evaluate employee performance based on their respective tasks and other vital aspects.

Nevertheless, most organizations are yet to realize the aspect of evaluating appraisals. Based on the system theory of management, an appraisal or appraising process is considered part of the system activity. It can hurt or improve organizations (Kim & Holzer, 2018). The literature review of various articles has shown that appraisals have created rifts between the managers and employees in some instances. Also, various researchers have detailed how appraisals can create unfairness in organizations when employees perceive them as biased.

Evaluating appraisal can deal with challenges emanating from their applications in the respective organizations. Managers can evaluate the robustness of their appraisals annually to ensure that they are aligned with the organization’s strategies. The appraising process can be done by seeking employees’ reactions towards the appraisals. Data could be collected through surveys or questionnaires, or any means deemed appropriate by the organization. The evaluation results should be used to improve subsequent appraisals. Performance appraisal could be evaluated based on how it is streamlined to strategic management or contributes to employee improvement. Therefore, organizations must constantly appraise their performance appraisals to successfully integrate them with strategic management in organizations.

Summary of theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework analyzes the system theory of management and how it applies to organizations. According to the theory, organizations are composed of various sub-systems which make a whole. Some of the sub-systems include departments, employees, and managers. The organization’s success depends on the level of collaboration between these sub-units.

Researchers have identified the roles of various subsystems within the organization. Most studies have focused on a single sub-system such as department, managers, employees, or performance appraisal. The theoretical framework section has provided a summary of some of the organization’s sub-system’s roles, such as departments, managers, and performance appraisals. Departments play a significant role in linking the management to the lower-level employees. The departmental heads can also initiate micro-strategies that complement the primary organizational strategy. They control employees and supervise tasks assigned by the top management to the department. On the other hand, the managers communicate information within the organization. They act as the only source of information within the organization. They develop, plan and execute strategies within their organizations. The managers spearhead innovation within the organization and work with other managers in the industry on various issues. They also create a conducive workplace environment for employees by dealing with workplace issues. The performance appraisals evaluate employees to their tasks. They can demotivate or motivate employees. The appraisals can also indicate whether the organization is moving closer to its objectives or not. Therefore, to integrate performance appraisal with strategic management in organizations, the research paper has to place employees, managers, and various departments at the center of the process. That is why the system theory of management will work best in the research. All the previous studies did not approach the sub-systems together but independently.

One advantage the system theory of management can have in organizations is increasing their adaptability to different environmental conditions. Research studies have explored the role of managers and departments in organizations. From the studies, departments and managers play communication, coordination, problem-solving and analytical roles in organizations. The collaboration between the sub-systems of departments and managers can help organizations pursue their strategies. Furthermore, the collaboration between the two entities can promote resilience to different situations within the organization. The theory has also magnified the relevance of interdependence in organizations. The managers, employees, and different units depend on each to ensure that the organization functions. For example, a manager will develop a strategy and communicate to the department; the department will share the information with the employees who will work on it.

The only challenge weakness of the system theory of management is its failure to offer a unified approach to management. From the lens of the theory, the success of the management is dependent on various sub-units and not the entire organization. Nevertheless, the weakness does not underscore the theory’s ability to apply in this research paper focused on integrating strategic management and performance appraisal.

Summary of the Literature Review

Uses of Performance Appraisals

Based on the evaluated literature, appraisals can encourage or discourage employees from improving (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Scholars have examined how managers use HR analytics and its impact on the employees. Cleveland et al., (1989) found that performance appraisals could be used for multiple purposes. Their study showed that the appraisal outcome impacted salary administration, performance feedback, and the identification of employee weaknesses and strengths (Cleveland et al., 2019). The management may improve salaries for top performers to retain them for the long term. Regarding feedback, the administration responds to evaluation outcomes by introducing different training programs, dismissals, or encouraging employees to take individual steps to improve. Different parts of appraisals may have different roles. The appraisal success in organizations is dependent on how fair they are perceived by employees (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). There is always an unwillingness to improve if the appraisals are discriminatory.

More scholars have provided different perspectives on using performance appraisals in improving organizational performance. (De Andrés et al., 2010) define appraisal as “a process used by some firms to evaluate their employees’ efficiency and productivity in order to plan their promotion policy, salary policy, and layoffs policy.” Their definition of appraisal incorporates some actual uses of appraisals, such as setting salary policies and provisions. Consequently, there is a consensus between (De Andrés et al., 2010) and (Cleveland et al., 1989) that performance appraisals are crucial in determining employee salaries in various organizations. A 360-degree evaluation framework that also evaluates supervisors, reviewers, and collaborators is used in most organizations to wholly enhance fairness and address organizational issues (De Andrés et al., 2010).

Besides appraisals being used to develop salary policies, they highlight the company’s progress towards its goal achievement. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016) note that many organizations have applied performance appraisals towards improving employee performance. The authors elaborate that comprehensive, practical, and fair assessments prompt increased employee productivity. In terms of overall organizational progress, the performance of each employee or department can predict whether organizations are improving. Based on the system of management theory adopted in the research, an organization is composed of various subunits that make a whole. Subsequently, the performance of multiple subunits indicates how the entire organization is performing.

Still on the uses of performance appraisals, Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) assert that they are crucial tools in improving internal communication. Most organizations have adopted a top-down communication strategy. The role of executives in organizations is to communicate the goals and the visions of an organization. The appraisals can also bolster goal clarification and setting of expectations. The supervisors should have open dialogues with employees on the need for reviews and what they need to achieve. Many organizations also use appraisals to motivate employees through reward and punishment. Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) allude that managers reward top performers with promotions or increased salaries while poor performers are demoted, dismissed, or paid less. However, appraisals motivate employees only when they are fair and related to organizational or departmental goals (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Therefore, the motivation impact of performance appraisal is dependent on their effectiveness.

The other vital use of performance appraisal as derived from the literature review is for career development and employee training. Training refers to the systematic development of attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behavior patterns required by an individual to perform adequately a given job or task (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). All organizations expect the employees to remain committed to delivering on organizational goals and must help the employees improve their performance by training them. Training helps employees advance their skills, be ready for higher positions, have increased feeling of job security, and improve their performance (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The performance appraisals are used to establish performance standards and core competencies and communicate them to employees. Based on the appraisals’ outcomes, employers organize training programs to assist their employees in acquiring the requisite competencies that facilitate top performance. Thus, workplace evaluations are pivotal in designing training programs for employees (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The fairer the employees perceive the appraisals, the more they are likely to embrace the employers’ training and career development programs.

Employee appraisals can also enhance employee performance, depending on their purpose, administration, and feedback communication. Improved performance and career development and training are directly linked. Employees identify their strengths and weaknesses and some develop improvement plans. Others seek help from their managers or colleagues on how they can improve. Moreover, since appraisals can have a motivating effect, inspired employees feel encouraged to perform better at their workplace. The evaluation feedback also facilitates the development of training and career development programs. Therefore, through informing the training programs and motivating employees, appraisals improve employee performance.

Factors Influencing Appraisals Usefulness

Appraisals are undeniably relevant to all organizations. The literature review summarizes that assessments influence employee performance, communication, and training programs. However, some businesses have not benefited from appraisals based on the current analyzed literature. This section of the summary looks at dynamics that influence the relevance of performance appraisals and how they impact the employees and manager.

As established within the system theory of management that applies to the research, organizations are made up of subunits that combine to form a whole. In that context, and regarding performance appraisals, the critical subunits are employees and managers. The way employees and managers perceive performance appraisal affects how important they become in organizations. Consequently, researchers have published different articles on employee and/or manager perceptions towards performance appraisals and how they affect the appraising process. Perceptions refer to attitudes favoring or against the appraising process influenced by intrinsic or extrinsic factors. These perceptions influence whether employees and managers support or oppose evaluations at the workplace.

(Getnet et al., 2014) studied the effect of employees’ fairness perception on their satisfaction towards the performance appraisal practices of the University of Gondar. Though the study was limited to one institution, it can offer some insights into some of the aspects that influence the relevance of appraisals. Fairness is also interpreted as organizational justice and refers to a personal evaluation of ethical and moral standing (Getnet et al., 2014). Organizational justice creates a culture of trust and teamwork between employees and managers. Studies show that organizations benefit from appraisals if they are fair in all aspects. Higher perceived fairness in appraising employees motivates them to perform their functions diligently and with less supervision (Getnet et al., 2014). While appraisals have numerous advantages, the authors showed that highly unfair reviews could result in a strike, increase grievance, and lead to physical or psychological withdrawal ranging from absenteeism and turnover to increased visits to the dispensary and poor mental health. Performance appraisal unrelated to the organization’s goals also increases the chances of employees’ assessments being perceived as unfair.

Besides perceived fairness, the other factor influencing the robustness of appraisals is politics. Politics in organizations emerge from the pursuit of personal interests. Some organizational scholars have found that politics influence performance appraisal. Intense political activities in organizations lower employee job satisfaction and performance (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). It also increased turnover rates in businesses. A review of existing studies shows that employees who are highly engaged in politics perform poorer than their contemporaries. Furthermore, increased organizational politics deter managers from implementing a performance appraisal system (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Some managers develop negative attitudes towards the appraisals as they break the unity of organizations and create division. As part of diminishing the impact of politics in organizations, suggestions have been made to make reviews a long-term process and enhance coordination between the employees and the management. Moreover, politics are avoidable if appraisals have increased perceived fairness and are in conjunction with the organizational goals.

The literature review also shows that the difference in attitudes between managers and employees on performance appraisals in organizations also affects their usefulness (Mehraban et al., 2017). In some instances, managers are opposed to checks while employees back them. The reason why managers could have negative attitudes towards appraisals is because they are highly politicized. On the other hand, employees may support assessment to receive the rewards associated with top performance. Another source of conflict may involve managers supporting appraisals as employees oppose them. Managers may backup checks to evaluate individual employee performance and use the feedback as a basis for reward and punishment. Employees become opposed to appraisals due to reduced perceived fairness (Mehraban et al., 2017). Also, employees may reject assessments if they deviate from organizational or departmental goals. In rare circumstances, the managers and employees may oppose appraisals because of the divisive impact they can have on the organizations. Therefore, the conflicting interests among the managers and employees weaken the importance of reviews in organizations.

The perceived importance of appraisals by managers impacts them. Scholars acknowledge that while some managers are optimistic about assessments, others harbor negative attitudes. Optimistic leaders strive to implement evaluation systems within their organizations. They also utilize the evaluation outcome to improve various organizational processes such as career training and development programs and improving employee performance. On the other hand, managers with negative attitudes towards appraisals are unwilling to introduce them in their organizations. Moreover, they hesitate in sharing feedback obtained from employee evaluations. Thus, management’s attitudes are influential in determining the importance of appraisals.

Performance Appraisal and Employee Wellness

Employee wellness is crucial to the success of organizations. Organizations should safeguard employees’ physical, emotional and mental fitness to ensure sustained productivity and performance. The analyzed articles using correlational studies show a positive association between employee wellness and fair performance appraisals. Increased perceived fairness of the appraisal yields increased employee motivation. High employee motivation at work reduces exposure to emotional and mental disorders (Ismail & Gali, 2016). On the other hand, the demotivated staff is vulnerable to stress and other mood disorders and depression, among other diseases. Therefore, organizations should continuously improve their evaluation approaches to protect employees from illnesses.

Job satisfaction is also associated with employee wellness. Numerous studies show that job satisfaction is correlated to mental health. On the other hand, appraisals are associated with job satisfaction (Subekti, 2021). Fair assessments and those that match with organizational goals enhance employee job satisfaction. In turn, job satisfaction increases employees’ mental health by reducing their exposure to workplace stress (Ismail & Gali, 2016). The improved employee health affects retention and turnover rates, affecting the company’s productivity. Therefore, organizations should maintain a healthy workforce by creating fair appraisals.

Linking Strategic management to Performance Appraisals

The paper focuses on whether organizations link their appraisal to strategies or each organizational process is independent of another. The review section has provided immense knowledge on assessments and strategic management in organizations. Before linking the two critical components in organizations, this summary section first looks at strategic management.

Strategic management involves two major components aimed at assisting organizations in achieving competitive advantage: setting goals and creating initiatives to achieve the goals (Bryson & George, 2020). Leaders use appraisals to plan for the future existence of their organizations in the market and ensure they remain highly profitable. Strategies set organizations apart and create a competitive advantage over rivals (Bryson & George, 2020). The literature review reveals that strategic management involves planning, monitoring, and assessment. Planning is where organizations consider their present positions, where they need to be in the future based on the current environment, and what needs to be done to achieve their goals (Engert et al., 2016). Monitoring involves constantly checking the established plan to determine its effectiveness in achieving the set goals, while analysis determines the difference between the actual goals and what is achieved.

Besides ensuring organizations a competitive advantage over rivals, strategic management has other roles. It creates sustainable growth by improving employee performance in organizations. Part of the critical components of strategic management is a satisfied workforce for maximum production. Human resource managers implement best employee practices such as increased compensation to retain their workers. It also enhances communication between employees and the management because the success of every strategy depends on the efficient flow of information.

On the other hand, performance appraisals are used to complement the established strategies. Based on the same literature review, organizations use performance appraisals to determine whether the employees achieve organizational goals. These goals are set during strategy formulation. The success of performance appraisal depends on the organization’s current state (politicized or not politicized), perceived fairness, and how they are connected to organizational goals (Getnet et al., 2014). Appropriate appraisals can improve employee performance, motivation, cohesion, communication, and sustainable growth like in strategic management. Moreover, organizations that properly utilize appraisal results could gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Therefore, strategic management and performance appraisals are linked.

State of Current Literature on strategic management and appraisals

Several inferences arise from the review. First, the perceived fairness of performance appraisals is correlated to organizational goals. Scholars have found that employees perceive assessments as fair if they incorporate what the specific organizations aim to achieve. Therefore, the appraisers need to integrate goals with performance appraisals to ensure employees perceive them as reasonable. The other finding from the literature is that performance appraisals could be more acceptable if they are continuous and long-term. Short-term assessments increase appraisal politicization and reduce the perceived fairness of the reviews. Consequently, organizations do not benefit from them.

However, a close analysis of the same literature review shows no attempt of stakeholders to address the existing gaps in appraisals and make them more appealing to employees. In other words, there are no suggestions that can help organizations incorporate organizational goals into performance appraisals and make them continuous, fairer, and long-term. These are the gaps the study wishes to address. Linking strategic management to organizational goals will help address the identified gaps and make performance appraisal a long-term process, just as is strategic planning. The first step towards connecting the two concepts will focus on strategic management and performance appraisal in selected organizations. The study will propose how organizations can integrate strategic management and performance assessment based on the findings.

Performance Appraisals, Strategic Management and the System theory of Management

The selected theory that will be critical in approaching the study is the system theory of management. According to the theory’s proponents, an organization is a system comprising small components. The organization’s subunits include departments, employees, and leaders. Each subunit has a role in ensuring that the organization attains its strategic goals. In most instances, the leaders (managers) have the function of preparing and administering appraisals. They also disseminate the feedback to employees and initiate training programs to address the weaknesses of employees. However, based on the factors that influence the usefulness of appraisals, employees can impact the success or failure of an organization. That implies that the entire subunits (employees, departments, top executives) of a system (organization) must collaborate for appraisals to be effective. The interdependence between the subunits validates using the system theory of management.

Like performance appraisals, strategic management demands the collaboration of employees, departments, and leaders. The leaders develop strategies; break them down into departments which further communicate to employees who finally execute. Moreover, various organizational components depend on each other. For instance, managers prepare performance appraisals based on the company’s objectives. The objectives are set during strategy formulation. Therefore, there is a relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal though most organizations have not formalized the association. Again, the correlation of various aspects in organizations that combine to influence performance renders the study’s system theory of management a practical approach.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS

Introduction

The chapter provides a clear and complete description of the specific steps to follow during the research process. Most organizations use strategic management and performance appraisals at their workplace. However, most organizations consider strategic management and performance appraisal independent concepts. Strategic management involves two major components aimed at assisting organizations in achieving competitive advantage: setting goals and creating initiatives to achieve the goals (Bryson & George, 2020). On the other hand, performance appraisals evaluate whether the set goals are met within the predetermined period or not.

There is a need to integrate strategic management and performance appraisals, but the current studies do not explain how organizations can achieve that goal. The research aims to determine the relationship between organizational strategies and appraisal systems. Also, the study seeks to determine whether the performance appraisal system should align with strategic management and how the stakeholders can achieve the objective (Zondo, 2018). The study’s results will inform different initiatives to maximize performance appraisals and strategic management benefits.

The investigator developed four research questions that will assist in identifying the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. The first question seeks to enhance understanding of how strategic management affects the nature of performance appraisals. Some organizations use 360-degree performance appraisal, while others adopt a 180-degree assessment. The variation in examining employees could result from different strategies, and the research findings will confirm or disprove that line of thinking.

The second question is intended to inquire how organizations match their strategies to performance appraisals. The answer(s) to the inquiry is critical as far as the study’s purpose is concerned. It will assist the researcher in understanding whether organizations align their strategies to performance appraisals or each action is independent of the other. The third question will identify the differences between organizations that align performance appraisals with strategic management and those that do not. The difference will be measured using the variables of employee performance, employee retention, employee perception, and organizational performance. Thus, question three will establish whether there is any significant difference in importance when corporate strategies are matched with performance appraisals and when they are not.

The last question aims to provide a guideline for integrating strategic management and performance appraisals. According to scholarly articles, employees are motivated when performance appraisals fit organizational goals. However, many organizations fail to align their strategies to performance appraisals. In that case, reviews are only used for reward and punishment, create salary policy and retain top performers. Helping organizations with appropriate ways to integrate strategic management and performance appraisals could be a turning point for many businesses.

Research Design and Research Method

The research will use the quantitative research method. The quantitative study involves evaluating a particular group or phenomenon using a sample population selected through different means. The quantitative approach is applied in the research study because it will help the researcher choose a sample population from several companies to study the current association between strategic management and performance appraisals and how they can be aligned. The research method will be used in the study to facilitate the using a small number of managers and employees to collect data.

The quantitative method uses numerical data or information transformed into numerical data. The research will utilize numerical data and information that can be converted to numerical data. The numeric data will be crucial in showing the differences between organizations that integrate performance appraisal and strategic management and those that approach the two concepts independently. Further, quantitative data will compare various variables related to the research purpose and question.

The first reason for using the quantitative research method is its high degree of objectivity (Savela, 2018). It reduces the researcher’s bias since all answers to research questions are based on the collected data. Neutrality will ensure that the researcher is not inclined to advance personal opinions regarding strategic management and performance appraisals for this study. Also, the second reason for opting to use quantitative analysis is its scientific nature (Savela, 2018). In that case, all data collected from the participants will be analyzed statistically based on the data available (Heale & Twycross, 2015). A statistical data analysis eliminates errors experienced when other forms of data analysis are used.

A quantitative study is focused on the research objective. The study aims to introduce the system theory of management into integrating strategic management and performance appraisal. Thus, at the end of the research process, it will be clear how the theoretical approach applies to organizations. The quantitative study method is more acceptable and valuable during decision-making (Heale & Twycross, 2015). In that regard, many scholars may accept the study as reliable and valid for future researchers. Validity is the extent to which a concept is accurately measured and analyzed (Heale & Twycross, 2015). The usefulness of the research findings in the practical and scholarly world depends on the results’ validity (Heale & Twycross, 2015). Lastly, quantitative study results are more generalizable. The data may predict future patterns and explain the current trends (Savela, 2018). Therefore, quantitative research is suitable for the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.

The study will use a quantitative correlational research design. A research design refers to a general strategy selected to integrate various components within a study. On the other hand, a research method is used to implement the research plan. Therefore, there is a difference between the quantitative research method and the correlation research design adopted in this study. A quantitative correlational study design measure is a non-experimental research approach used to find the relationship between two or more variables through statistical analysis (Curtis et al., 2015). The research study will focus on the variables of strategic management and performance appraisals and how they relate to each in the absence of any factor. Consequently, through correlational study design, the author will assess the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal alone and how they affect organizational performance. Furthermore, a correlational study will evaluate whether organizations use strategic management and performance appraisal independently or dependently.

Many reasons inform the selection of a correlational study design. First, correlation can show prevalence and relationships among variables (Curtis et al., 2016). In the research studies, the primary variables are strategic management and performance appraisal. Based on the collected data, the study design will show whether organizations currently integrate performance appraisal and strategic management (Curtis et al., 2016). If such organizations exist, the research design will show the extent of the relationship between the two variables. Other correlations that will be measured are the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal and employee performance, employee motivation, fairness perceptions, and overall organizational performance. The results of a comparison between the multiple variables will indicate the relevance of integrating strategic management and performance appraisals in organizations.

Correlational study designs can also provide a guide for future studies. (Curtis et al., 2015) opined that correlational studies offered invaluable information on the direction of prospective studies. Therefore, using correlational studies will allow for more robust research from other scholars in the field. Lastly, correlation research design allows the researcher to offer suggestions on how to control the relationship of various variables (Curtis et al., 2015). For this research, study correlation will allow the researcher to offer insightful recommendations on using strategic management and performance appraisals.

There are other quantitative research designs not used in the study. They are descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental research designs. Each of them was deemed inappropriate for several reasons, some of which emanate from the nature of this study. A quasi-experimental study is an interventional study used to measure the causal impacts of an intervention. The research design is used after an intervention is implemented to determine changes. A quasi-experimental study design is also called a nonrandomized, pre-post-intervention study design.

The first reason it was inappropriate to utilize a quasi-experimental design is its limited ability to compare various variables. The design does not use random sampling to assign variables, limiting comparability (Eliopoulos et al., 2004). Secondly, the design is incorrect for the research study because the researcher is not looking at any intervention to assess its effectiveness (Eliopoulos et al., 2004). What is being evaluated in the study is an association between the variables of strategic management and performance appraisal and how the relationship affects other factors such as employee motivation and performance appraisals. Quasi-experiment would be more suitable when comparing a new business strategy and the previous one. It is also more suited for health studies to assess the causal relationship between an infection and an intervention (Eliopoulos et al., 2004).

An experimental research design is intrinsically scientific. The design includes hypotheses and variables that the researcher can manipulate and those that can be measured, calculated, and compared. The researcher collects experiment data which then supports or rejects the research hypothesis. There is always a control group and an experimental group. The difference between the control and experimental groups after variable manipulation is crucial in rejecting or accepting the hypothesis. One of the challenges with experiments is overgeneralization (Samek, 2019). Consequently, the final results may not represent the actual scenario (Samek, 2019). The other reason why experimental study design is unfit for the research is that the researcher assesses the relationship between various variables, which cannot be done through experiments.

Lastly, a descriptive study approach focuses on obtaining information to describe a situation, phenomenon, or population. The descriptive data addresses the when, how, what and where questions. The first limitation of a descriptive study is that the final results are unreliable because they do not represent the entire population (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). Also, descriptive studies using cross-sectional studies are valid only when the study sample is representative of the population proposed to be studied and all the individual measurements are made using an accurate and identical tool, or not (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). In the research study, only one question (how to integrate strategic management and performance appraisal) can be answered using descriptive statistics. Also, descriptive data may not accurately show the interconnectedness between strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). Thus, it could be challenging to identify the impact of aligning strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations.

Population and Sample

The research participants will include managers, and employees from different companies within the United States. The study will involve one hundred participants from eight American companies. The participants in the research will be identified through a purposeful sampling technique. In purposeful sampling, the researcher selects cases with a particular purpose in mind. The rationale for using the purposeful sampling technique is to provide an equal chance for participants to partake in the study (Zondo, 2018). Purposeful sampling also reduces bias because the sample is constantly refined to meet the study aims (Smith & Noble, 2014).

Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. The participants will fill consent forms before proceeding to the research process. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews. The interview questions will be assigned a numeric value for easy comparison, as well as measurablity. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant and manager. Further, the participants will receive the questions before the research starts to give them more time to prepare responses. To gain in-depth information, they will undertake a follow-up visit to the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational leadership in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on eight companies will provide reliable and valid facts on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management.

From a hundred participants, the employees will form at minimum 80% of the sample. The companies will be selected from the United States. To qualify for participating in the research, participants must have worked at their current organizations for more than five years. Also, they should have been appraised a minimum of three times at their current organization. On the other hand, the managers/chief executive officers in the respective companies should have worked for their present organizations for more than seven years and organized for a minimum of three appraisals. The researcher estimates the total population of employees in the eight companies to be at 13000, while the number of managers (top, regional and departmental) to be 100. Therefore, it is expected that employees will constitute 80% of the participants in the sample. The selected companies will include those that align strategic management and performance appraisals and those that approach them independently.

The population is best suited for several reasons. First, the purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between organizational strategies and appraisal systems. The focus is on identifying whether the performance appraisal system should align with strategic management and how the stakeholders can achieve the objective (Zondo, 2018). The other goal was helping managers to integrate strategic management and performance appraisal. Managers head the strategy formulation processes. They also organize employee evaluations within their organizations. Therefore, they better understand whether their companies’ strategies match with the performance appraisals. The manager will be instrumental in helping the researcher investigate the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal. Also, the managers utilize the evaluation outcome within their organizations. They will be instrumental in understanding whether the performance appraisal outcomes are used to measure an organization’s progress based on the strategies or are merely for reward and punishment.

Also, the employee participants will be crucial in achieving the study’s purpose. While the managers create strategies, the employees implement them. Furthermore, while the managers prepare or organize performance appraisals, the employees do them. In other words, employees have a thorough understanding of an organization’s strategies and performance evaluations. They will help the researcher to understand whether the performance appraisals in selected companies are related to organizational goals or not. The other aim of the research is to compare whether there is a difference in variables of employee performance, motivation, and retention between companies aligning strategic management and performance appraisal and companies that use them independently. Therefore, by evaluating employees, it will be easier to determine the association between strategic management and performance assessments and how they are impacted (in terms of employee motivation, retention, and performance).

One of the research questions aims at understanding how strategic management and performance appraisal are aligned to one another. The reason for including some companies that have aligned strategic management and performance appraisal systems is to understand how they aligned the two organizational concepts. Consequently, their data could inform other managers linking strategic management and performance appraisal. Companies that do not align strategic management and performance appraisal are also included in the research. The primary objective for having them is to facilitate a correlational study design that seeks to understand the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal by measuring how (when used independently or dependently) affect employee performance, motivation and retention, and overall organizational performance.

Regarding employees, the selection criteria include having worked at their current organizations for a minimum of five years and taking at least three appraisals. The researcher assumes that employees who have worked in one organization for a minimum of five years better understand the organization’s culture and strategies. Also, those who have undertaken three or more appraisals understand the nature of organizational evaluations. Combined, the two criteria will ensure a high degree of accuracy when collecting employee data on the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal in their organizations.

The manager participants must have worked in their current organizations for seven years and overseen a minimum of three appraisals. Managers have the task of leading the employees towards the organizational goals outlined within the company strategies. Therefore, managers must understand or create designs and lead the rest in implementing them. With seven years of working in the same organization, the researcher assumes that the managers comprehensively understand the overall organizational strategies or have created their approaches. Also, having facilitated employee evaluations, the managers know whether the appraisals were related to their strategy or not.

Instrumentation

The study aims to identify the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. This section deals with instrumentation that will be used to collect data during the study. Instrumentation refers to the tools or means by which investigators attempt to measure variables or items of interest in the data-collection process (Salkind, 2010). Instrumentation involves the design, selection, construction, and conditions under which they are administered. Instruments are used to collect data which is then analyzed through appropriate data analysis methods before the conclusion is made. Types of instrumentation that can be used in a research paper include interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, and experiments. Each instrument has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of an instrument depends on the research goal and the type of data required. The research will use questionnaires and interviews.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires will help collect enough information to answer the four main questions regarding the association between strategic management and performance appraisals. The questions will be used to gather data from employees selected as participants for the research. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions to collect data from respondents. Questionnaires can be written or oral (Mcleod, 2018). They are administered face to face, through telephone calls, or via emails. Respondents’ answers are used to make findings on the study. Two types of question formats can be included in a questionnaire; closed and open-ended questionnaires. Closed questions provide predetermined answers to questions asked by the researcher, and the respondents have to choose among the responses (Mcleod, 2018). On the other hand, open-ended questions have no definite answers, and the researchers are allowed to put their answers.

In the research to find the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal, closed-ended questions will be used. The first reason for using open-ended questions is that the data collected could be manipulated into quantitative data (Mcleod, 2018). The research uses a correlational study design method, which is quantitative, meaning actual data is required. Correlational studies mainly use numerical data to assess the relationship between various variables. The second reason for using closed-ended questions is to standardize them. Thus, every respondent receives the same number of questions in the same order and with similar choices to pick one as a response (Mcleod, 2018). Thus, it will be easier for future researchers to check the reliability and consistency of the questions.

The other reason for using closed questions is to accommodate a relatively large sample size. In the previous studies, scholars have used small samples to conduct their studies which implies that they are less reliable (Rowley, 2014). Also, open-ended questions are economical in cost and time as it is easy to analyze data, interpret results and make conclusions (Mcleod, 2018). However, closed questions could also be disadvantageous because of a lack of depth. The participants are limited to the answers provided by the researcher and not their experiences. Subsequently, the data obtained could be biased (Mcleod, 2018). The challenge will be mitigated by ensuring that the questions contain three or more choices to give participants more options.

Open-ended questions are crucial because they allow the respondents to elaborate their answers. Thus, they provide rich qualitative data for researchers to assess various variables (Mcleod, 2018). Nevertheless, open-ended questions are not used in the research because of the nature of the study. The study is quantitative; thus, numerical data is crucial. While qualitative data may be very helpful, it does not suit the correlational study design. The other reason why open-ended questions will not be used in the study is that they are time-consuming to collect and analyze data (Mcleod, 2018). With limited time to collect and analyze data, it is viable to use open-ended questions.

Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. The participants will fill out consent forms before responding to the questionnaires. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant. Further, the participants will receive the questions before the research starts to give them more time to prepare responses (Mcleod, 2018). The questions will focus on the purpose of the study, which is to find the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. Also, the questions will establish whether organizations formulate performance appraisals based on organizational strategies (Rowley, 2014). Also, the questions sent to employees will determine the relationship between strategic management, performance appraisal, fairness perception, organizational performance, employee performance, and job satisfaction.

A maximum of thirty questions will be sent to each employee participant. The reason for limiting the questions to thirty is to ensure a high completion rate. When questions are too many, the participant turnover rate could be high while, if questions are too small, the answers obtained may not yield reliable findings (Mcleod, 2018). Thus, thirty questions are considered the most reliable. Employee participants will be deemed to have concluded the research study only if they give responses to all the thirty questions. Employees who exclude any of the questions will be deemed withdrawn from the research, and their information will not be considered in the study. All these guidelines will be communicated to selected participants before the onset of the data collection process to lower turnover rates.

Interviews

There are two types of population in the study, and each will play a pivotal though different role in identifying the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. Data from employee participants will be collected using questionnaires. However, data from top and HR managers will be collected through interviews. Interviews are the best data collection method for the leaders because their sample size will be smaller than employee participants since they are suitable when the sample size is smaller (Quantitative Data Collection and analysis, 2020). There are various ways of conducting interviews, such as telephone calls, emails, and face-to-face meetings. The email interviews will be used to collect data because they are cost-effective and time-saving compared to face-to-face interviews.

There are three types of interviews; structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. The study will use structured email interviews. The reason for using semi-structured email interviews is the nature of the study. Therefore, the data collected will be easy to manipulate to quantitative information. Secondly, like closed-ended questions, structured interviews are standardized, and thus, it is economical in terms of time and analysis process. Lastly, semi-structured interviews will help obtain factual and reliable information from the participants.

The structured interview questions will be sent to the participants a few days before the actual study period to give them more time to respond to questions. The participants will be declared to have completed the study only if s/he responds to all the interview questions.

To gain in-depth information, they will undertake a follow-up visit to the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational leadership in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on eight companies will provide reliable and valid facts on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management. Semi-structured interviews combine unstructured and structured interviewing formats. It is suitable when conducting mixed methods studies and, thus, ineffective for this particular study. Non-structured discussions lack prearranged questions and are used when qualitative information is required. Therefore, the interview approach does not fit the study because it is quantitative.

Ethical considerations will be made during the study as it involves human participants. Participation for employees and managers will be voluntary. Also, they will have to consent to participate in the survey before the data collection process begins. An IRB approval will be required before recruiting any participant in the research and collecting any data.

Operational Definitions of Variables

An operational variable is how researchers define and measure variables used in their research (Mcleod, 2019). The variables are pivotal in determining the reliability of research and could be utilized in other research studies (Mcleod, 2019). The variables may either be independent or dependent (Mcleod, 2019). This study’s two main variables are strategic management and performance appraisal. Other variables include perceived fairness, organizational performance, employee performance, job satisfaction, and motivation. These variables will help determine any relationship between corporate strategies and performance appraisal. If organizations integrating strategic management and performance appraisal show a significant difference to firms that do not incorporate the two concepts, then it will be concluded that there is a correlation between them (strategic management and performance appraisal).

Strategic Management

Strategic management is concerned with organizational goals and objectives, and it seeks to maintain a balance between corporate and environmental factors (Ansoff et al., 2019). Strategic management is developed and supported in organizations to help them remain consistent, pursue their objectives, and become adaptable to the existing environmental conditions (Ansoff et al., 2019). In the research paper, organizations that evaluate employees based on the organization’s goals will be considered, and environmental issues related to the specific industry will be regarded as integrating performance appraisal and strategic management. Organizations that do not assess employees based on their goals will be categorized as not integrating strategic management with performance appraisals (Ansoff et al., 2019). Consequently, the variables of organizational performance, employee performance, job satisfaction, and perceived fairness will be measured to get the difference.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is systematic employee evaluation to understand their abilities to perform tasks. Organizations use performance appraisals for training and development, reward and punishment, and communication (Cleveland et al., 1989). Performance appraisal elicits different feelings, and these emotions determine the employee attitudes. These attitudes are measured in employee job satisfaction, perceived fairness, and performance. Also, the organizational performance may reflect employees’ reactions towards the appraisals. Thus, the effectiveness of performance appraisals will be measured based on attributes such as job fulfillment, employee performance, employee perceived fairness of the appraisals, and organizational performance.

Job Satisfaction

Job/employee satisfaction is a measure of fulfillment that emanates from doing a particular job (Locke, 1969). Satisfied employees enjoy doing their work and can stay in the same organization for many years (Locke, 1969). On the other hand, dissatisfied employees are unhappy with their work and are likely to move to another employer. Job satisfaction will be measured based on the extent of employee happiness. The outcome will then show whether there is a relationship between performance appraisals and strategic management in organizations.

Perceived Fairness

Perceived fairness refers to the quality of being fair based on the previous standards or norms (Peiró et al., 2014). In the research context, perceived fairness is the extent to which employees perceive assessments based on earlier evaluations. Some scholars have found a significant relationship between performance appraisals and perceived fairness (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Employees perceive assessments that assess organizational goals as fair, while those that do not incorporate organizational goals as unfair. Employees may be detracted from the appraisals if the performance appraisals are perceived as unfair (Getnet et al., 2014. The research will measure the perceived fairness difference between firms integrating strategic management and performance appraisal and those that do not. The outcome will further address the main research question that seeks to identify the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.

Organizational Performance

Organizational performance is a fundamental concept in corporate management. It measures its actual outputs against intended results (Bakotic, 2016). Performance may exceed expectations or fail to meet the desired goals. The managers and employees determine organizational performance through their daily activities. However, the daily activities are influenced by job satisfaction, job motivation, and perceived fairness of the appraisals, among other essential variables. Thus, high performance may reflect high employee motivation and satisfaction (Krishnan et al., 2018). On the other hand, lower performance points to a disgruntled and demotivated workforce. The outcome of organizational performance will address the research purpose on whether organizations should integrate strategic management and performance appraisals.

Study Procedure

The study focuses on performance appraisals and strategic management. The four research questions will be addressed through the following hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1

Null: Performance appraisals and strategic management are correlated

Alternative: Performance appraisals are not correlated

Hypothesis 2:

Null: Integrating performance appraisal and strategic management improves organizational and employee performance, job satisfaction, motivation, and perceived fairness

Alternative Hypothesis: Integrating performance appraisal and strategic management has no impact on organizational and employee performance, job satisfaction, motivation, and perceived fairness.

Testing the hypotheses will require rigorous data from the participants. The existing research does not provide any information on the association between strategic management and performance appraisal. Most literature discusses the uses of performance appraisals, perceived fairness, and job and job satisfaction, among other variables. However, the research will focus on how the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal affects other organizational variables such as employees and performance.

The first procedure in the research process will be selecting the participants. The research participants will include managers and employees from different companies. The study will involve one hundred participants from eight American companies. The participants in the research will be identified through a purposeful sampling technique. In purposeful sampling, the researcher selects cases with a particular purpose in mind. Purposeful sampling also helps the researchers to arrive at reliable research outcomes using a small sample size. Another sampling method that the research study would use is convenience sampling. However, it is not applicable in the study because its results do not represent the entire population. Also, it is hard to replicate the findings from convenience samples.

Employee participants will be selected based on specified criteria described in the population and sample section. The participants must have worked in their current organizations for more than five years and taken three or more appraisals. The criteria will ensure that study participants have a clear background of their organizations and are knowledgeable on the appraisals within the organizations. The manager participants must have worked in their current organizations for seven years and overseen a minimum of three appraisals. The criteria will also ensure that the manager participants know their organizational strategies and performance appraisals. Subsequently, the research outcomes will be more accurate.

The selection criteria will be communicated to the potential participants before the data collection process. Afterward, each participant will be screened to ensure that they meet the stipulated guidelines either as managers or employees. The selected participants will be subjected to one-day training on the various concepts of strategic management, performance appraisal, job satisfaction, and employee performance.

The participants will fill out consent forms before accepting their participation in the study. Also, they will be assured of their information’s confidentiality during and after the research. Any participant will be free to drop out of the study without seeking permission from the investigators. Also, each participant will receive one questionnaire with thirty questions and with instructions. Participants will be deemed to have completed the study only if they respond to all thirty questions. Also, the manager partakers will respond to all interview questions for their data to be used in the study.

Participants will be drawn from eight American companies that will be selected based on their record of how frequently they conduct performance appraisals. Moreover, the companies should be administering appraisals annually or once every two years. The requirement will ensure an easy comparison of performance appraisals and strategic management. All the research participants will be drawn from the eight companies. Thus, each participating firm must allow its employees and managers to be used as participants in the study.

The interviews and questionnaires will be sent to the participants through their emails. The reason for using emails is that they are less costly, easy, and less time-consuming than meeting participants or using telephone calls. All participants will be given seven days to respond to all questions. One week is given to allow enough time for participants to respond to questions based on the facts from their various firms. At the end of one week, all respondents will be required to submit their responses. Beyond seven days, no responses will be allowed, and the respondents will be considered to have withdrawn from the research. Their data will not be included in the final analysis and conclusion.

Several variables will be measured using the thirty questions in each questionnaire and interview. The variables are both independent and dependent. Independent variables remain unchanged throughout the experiment while the dependent variables keep changing. The independent variables will include strategic management and performance appraisal. In the discussion on the operationalization of variables, strategic management is defined as setting out goals and planning how to achieve the goals. Each organization has unique goals based on the nature of the business. Strategic management must be consistent and incorporate external and internal factors. On the other hand, performance appraisal is assessing employees to know their abilities to perform tasks. In the study, the two variables will remain unchanged.

The dependent variables in the study will include perceived fairness of employee assessments, job satisfaction, employee performance, organizational performance, and job motivation. The study will measure how these variables are affected in organizations that integrate strategic management and performance appraisals. Also, the variables will be measured in firms that do not combine strategic management and performance evaluations. The differences will highlight the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals and answer both hypotheses and research questions.

Each of the eight companies will contribute a maximum of fifteen participants. The eight companies will be divided into two categories; those integrating performance appraisals and strategic management and those that do not. The classification of these companies into two groups will be done after interviewing the managers and other leaders within the selected companies. The responses from the manager/leader participants will be intended to help identify the nature of strategic management and performance evaluations in their respective companies, and afterward, group them into two distinct categories. On the other hand, the employees’ responses will determine how the connection between strategic management and performance appraisals affects other variables. The study will constitute both female and male participants who meet the research standards. Also, all races will be accepted in the study. The employee respondents will not be allowed to consult with their managers when responding to questions as that may lead to biased findings. After all the requisite data is collected, the analysis process will begin.

Data Analysis

Data analysis can be descriptive or inferential. Descriptive data uses percentages, frequency, and standard deviation, among other variables. On the other hand, inferential statistics include t-test, correlation, and regression analysis, among other methods. The section identifies and discusses a data analysis method that will be used to evaluate research data to answer the questions and hypotheses in the study.

The collected data in the study will be analyzed using a two-sample t-test and correlation analysis to determine if there is a significance difference between companies integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those that do not. The results of the analysis will either disapprove or approve the hypotheses. On the other hand, correlation results will show the nature of the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.

The study uses the two-sample t-test data analysis method to show whether the data collected is of statistical significance or merely a chance (Elliot, 2021). Also, a two-sample t-test will be essential in comparing variables from two different populations (i.e., companies that integrate strategic management and performance evaluations and companies that use them separately). The statistical significance will be represented by a p-value (Elliot, 2021). The significant value will be calculated at a confidence interval of 5%. Therefore, any p-value less than 0.05% will show a statistical significance of research variables between companies integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those that use them as two separate tools.

Also, the two-sample-test data analysis approach will be used to analyze the data because of the simplicity in the data analysis method. A comparison of the p-value and confidence level will be required to answer the two hypotheses. Also, the data analysis method simplifies the data collection method. Consequently, the study will only require basic information on the various research variables to determine if the data is statistically significant. The method is also robust compared to other methods that test significance differences. The research aims to provide reliable data that organizations can utilize in improving strategic management or performance appraisals. Therefore, using a two-sample t-test will ensure that the final results provide a reliable outcome that organizations can adopt.

Correlation analysis measures the extent of the relationship between different variables. In the study, correlation analysis will be used to measure the association between strategic management and performance appraisals and job satisfaction, employee and organizational performance, perceived fairness, and motivation (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). One of the research questions was to determine how the two concepts are related based on their effects on dependent variables. The correlation analysis will help answer the question because it can show the nature of the relationship between various variables. There are positive, negative, and zero correlations (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). In positive correlation, an increase in one variable leads to the same results in the other variable and vice versa. In a negative correlation, a decrease in one variable leads to an increase in the other and vice versa. In contrast, in zero association, the two variables do not impact each other (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). Therefore, the correlation analyses will help determine if integrating strategic management and performance appraisals affect employee and organizational variables.

The correlation data analysis method will be used in the study for various reasons. First, it is one of the quantitative data analysis methods. Secondly, one of the study’s goals is to identify relationships in the variables of job satisfaction, performance, motivation, perceived fairness, and organizational performance in organizations combining that link strategic management and performance appraisals and those that do not. The second reason for using a correlation study is to allow more robust future studies (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). The study will be the first to analyze strategic management and performance appraisals and other employee and organizational variables. Therefore, it could attract more interest from other researchers. Like a two-sample t-test, correlation analysis results are easy to interpret and make conclusions (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). The final results will therefore be accurate and reliable due to reduced errors.

The analysis data will be grouped based on the variables, the type of companies, and the respondents. The dependent variables in the study are job satisfaction, employee motivation and performance, perceived fairness appraisal fairness, and organizational performance. Job satisfaction was defined as the extent of fulfillment influenced by internal factors at the workplace, performance assessments included. Employee motivation is the intrinsic value that drives employees to perform their tasks at the workplace. Also, motivation is affected chiefly by workplace factors. Other variables are defined in the operationalization section. The means of each variable derived from the responses will be included in the two-sample t-test data analysis method.

In the data analysis and result section, the type of companies will refer to; those integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those using the two concepts independently. Thus, there will be two different types of companies in the grouping of the data. The dependent variables in the two companies will be measured differently. The two types of participants/population will refer to those working in the two different companies above. The manager/leader participants’ data will not be used in the analysis because; the interviews will help divide the participating companies into two categories. In the two-sample-test, the analysis will determine if there is statistical significance in the means of the two populations as derived from the dependent variables. Statistical significance will imply a relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal and approve the first null hypothesis.

Data obtained in the table will be tabulated in the study. The table will contain three columns containing the variables, the two populations. A sample of the table that will be included in the study is shown below. The variable column will have the five employee and organizational factors affected by the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations. The second and third column contains two types of companies with two different types of population. The responses will be recorded to allow the use of two-sample tests. Therefore, the means of responses for each variable will be used in the study instead of using each participant’s response. The existence of two companies will also enable correlation studies to be conducted to find the difference in the five variables between the two types of companies (indicated in the second and third columns).

Table 1: The Expected data table after data is obtained

Variables	Companies Integrating strategic management and performance Appraisals (A)	Companies not integrating strategic management and performance appraisals (B)
Employee performance
Job/Employee satisfaction
Employee motivation
Perceived employee fairness of appraisals
Organizational performance

The data for each variable will be presented as a mean. The number of employee respondents is expected to be eighty, while the number of leader/manager participants will be twenty. However, the data from leader/manager participants will only help categorize the companies into two types based on the features shown in the table above. There will be thirty questions for employee respondents from the selected companies. The thirty questions will be subdivided into five sections based on the variables provided (organizational performance, employee performance, perceived fairness of the appraisals, job satisfaction sections). Each section will contain six sections.

Table 2: The Expected Questionnaire Outlook (for one employee participant)

Section	Organizational performance	Employee performance	Job satisfaction	Employee Motivation	Perceived Fairness
Questions	1-6	7-12	13-18	19-24	25-30
Mean

Various tools can be used in analyzing the data. The two standard tools are SPSS and excel. The two-sample t-test and correlation analysis will be performed in excel. Excel is preferred over SPSS because of its ease of accessibility. Excel allows for the customization of various functions during the data analysis. Also, using Excel for data analysis is best and simple compared to other methods. The data obtained from the participants will be easily recorded in Excel, analyzed, and results obtained. Therefore, calculations will be done using Excel tools. The results will be interpreted to determine the connection between strategic management and performance appraisals based on their influence on the five variables (table 1).

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Strategic Management and Performance Appraisal System: Chapter 3 Draft

Dissertation Manuscript

Submitted to Northcentral University

School of Business

in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

by

Amenia Payne

La Jolla, California

January 2021

Abstract

Begin writing here…
Checklist:
☐ Briefly introduce the study topic, state the research problem, and describe who or what is impacted by this problem.
☐ Clearly articulate the study purpose and guiding theoretical or conceptual framework of the study.
☐ Provide details about the research methodology, participants, questions, design, procedures, and analysis.
☐ Clearly present the results in relation to the research questions.
☐ State the conclusions to include both the potential implications of the results on and the recommendations for future research and practice.
☐ Do not include citations and abbreviations or acronyms, except those noted as exceptions by the American Psychological Association (APA).
☐ Do not exceed 350 words. Strive for one page.

Acknowledgements
Begin writing here…
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction                                                                                                                    1
Statement of the Problem                                                                                                           2
Purpose of the Study                                                                                                                  3
Introduction to Theoretical or Conceptual Framework                                                              4
Introduction to Research Methodology and Design                                                                   5
Research Questions                                                                                                                    6
Significance of the Study                                                                                                           7
Definitions of Key Terms                                                                                                           9
Summary                                                                                                                                  12
Chapter 2: Literature Review                                                                                                         17
Theoretical or Conceptual Framework
Subtopic
Summary
Chapter 3: Research Method
Research Methodology and Design
Population and Sample
Materials or Instrumentation
Operational Definitions of Variables
Study Procedures
Data Analysis
Assumptions
Limitations
Delimitations
Ethical Assurances
Summary
Chapter 4: Findings
XXX of the Data
Results
Evaluation of the Findings
Summary
Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusions
Implications
Recommendations for Practice
Recommendations for Future Research
Conclusions
References                                                                                                                                      30
Appendix A   XXX
Appendix B XXX

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Chapter 1: Introduction

This research is intended to examine the relationship between strategic performance and appraisal systems in contemporary organizations. Strategic management in organizations refers to setting goals, procedures, and objectives to gain a competitive advantage. The strategies aim at making businesses distinct from their competitors while attracting consumers to the market. Stakeholders in business entities use strategic management approaches to execute short- and long-term organizational projects. Some strategies include innovation, product segmentation, and corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, a performance appraisal system refers to identifying, evaluating, and developing the work performance of employees to aid in the process of achieving the organization’s goals and strategies. The organization has to track the performance progress of each employee to keep them accountable for their roles at the workplace.
The definition of the appraisal system and strategic management incorporates objectives and goals. Consequently, strategic management and performance appraisal aims to deliver the existing objectives and stay ahead of competitors. The performance appraisal system denotes the type of assessment used by an organization to measure performance. There are different assessment methods. One of the evaluation techniques is the straight ranking appraisal, where employees are ranked from the best to the poor. Another assessment criterion is grading, where employees are assigned specific grades for their performance in different areas. There is also the management-by-objective method of review. The employees and managers set goals under the approach and measure them at the end of the agreed time. Organizations may also assess their employees based on their behaviors and conduct at the workplace. Lastly, organizations can adopt a 360-degree assessment method to evaluate employees and managers. Organizations use one or a combination of the frameworks for assessing employees and improving performance.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. The study will determine whether managers consider their strategies when selecting the appraisal system or consider other factors. Also, the study will assess the implications of choosing an appraisal system based on the existing strategic method in different organizations and the impacts of ignoring organizational strategies when deciding on the performance of the appraisal system. The findings will be crucial in the administrative and human resource management field, further research.
Statement of Problem
A brief literature review reveals little to no information on balancing appraisal systems and organizational strategies. Most researchers tend to focus on how appraisal systems boost organizational performance. Also, many scholars are interested in understanding how appraisal systems affect employee motivation, performance, and job satisfaction. Hence, the research study will focus on determining the roles of organizational strategies when formulating appraisal systems. Failing to conduct this study will mean that the appraisal system continuously does not contribute to strategic management. A case study for analysis is the McDonald’s performance appraisal system (Goldsmith & Carter, 2010). Before 2003, McDonald’s had an informal and less structured performance evaluation system that did not reflect its strategies (Goldsmith & Carter, 2010).
Consequently, it would not match its competitors or expand its business. The same challenge faces modern organizations. A lack of an appraisal system reflecting strategic approaches risks the success of an organization, business expansion, and employee empowerment.
I will approach the research using the system management theory. The theory acknowledges that all organizations are made of subunits that strive to achieve set goals, obtain new skills and improve their competencies (Garavaglia-McGann, 2019). The theory is vital in explaining employers’ approaches to appraisal systems. The goal orientation theory will provide employees with a clear focus on the company. They will dedicate their efforts towards enabling their organizations to achieve their strategies.

Purpose of Study

The study aims to determine the relationship between organizational strategies and appraisal systems. Each organization uses different strategic approaches to remain relevant and competitive (Subekti, 2021). The focus is on identifying whether the performance appraisal system should align with strategic management and how the stakeholders can achieve the objective (Zondo, 2018). The researcher’s goal is to aid managers in developing an appraisal system that would assist them in attaining organizational objectives while enhancing employee performance, attracting investors, and motivating labor capital.
I will use a qualitative exploratory study design method to advance the study. The aim is to understand the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal that researchers could use in future studies. The variables in the research are strategic management and performance appraisal systems. The research will target managers and employees in American companies. The participants will give their views on the performance appraisal system and how they contribute to achieving organizational aims. In particular, the managers will state how they craft employee assessments within their organizations. The research will be conducted in California in the manufacturing industry. One hundred participants from five different companies will participate in the study. They will be selected randomly to participate in the study. Random sampling is preferable in the study because it creates an equal chance of selecting participants with different attributes (Reeger, 2019). I will collect data using questionnaires. Each participant will respond to thirty questions sent via their emails. Employees’ questions will be different from managers’. Data will be analyzed using the thematic data analysis approach. The study’s findings will help organizations create evaluation techniques that suit their organizational culture.
Introduction to Theoretical
The study aims at establishing the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. Organizations use performance systems to promote accountability, responsibility, and performance among the employees and the leaders (Subekti, 2021). Nevertheless, very little research shows the connection between strategic management and performance appraisal.
Organizations use strategies to gain a competitive advantage over others. The competitive advantage makes them unique and profitable in the markets. A competitive advantage is obtained through process and behavior, improving employee performance, proper human resource management that reduces turnover and dissatisfaction, and conforming to the legal provisions in the business environment. The research will be premised on the system management theory of management. The system theory of management is based on coordination between multiple components within an organization that works harmoniously to function appropriately (Management theories, 2019).
Based on the theory, employees are crucial components of any organization. Therefore, they must work together with other organizational entities to ensure that the organization succeeds. Employees work best when their work environment is motivating (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). One employee motivating factor that this research paper tackles is fair performance appraisal. However, many organizations fail to develop just employee evaluation mechanisms, and that demotivate the employees, creating system imbalances within the organization. Another core component in business organizations is management. The management’s actions can lead to the success or failure of organizations. One of their roles includes developing performance appraisals within organizations. Some assessments cause disagreements within organizations and could lead to high employee turnovers. Consequently, the managers must develop justifiable performance appraisals, which most have failed.
Other components within the organizational system include departments and business units. Each of these units has varying roles that the management must continuously evaluate. The appraisal system should capture the respective business objectives and that explains why strategic management and performance appraisal need to be integrated into business organizations.

Theoretical Model Diagram

The diagram shows that the entire organization is a system that depends on managers, employees, and departments. The managers create appraisals for all employees or individual departments. These appraisals can motivate or demotivate the employees, affecting the entire system. Therefore, the study will propose the integration of strategic management and performance appraisals to ensure that the organization remains intact since assessments based on business strategies will be perceived as fair by employees.

Introduction to Research Methodology and Design

A case study research design shall be used in the research process. The case study involves a detailed study of a particular phenomenon or organization. I will use the case study design because my focus is to undertake a thorough analysis of the selected organization. I will assess the specific strategies and appraisal system in detail to understand the connection between organizational strategy and performance criteria. The rationale for favoring a case study method is the depth of collected data. Also, case study analysis requires less money and, thus, will be a convenient way to conduct the study. Lastly, the case study design will make comparing different information easily accessible (Yin, 2003).
The study aims to help managers understand the correlation between strategic management variables and the performance evaluation system. The qualitative case study design method will help managers gain in-depth information on the topic (Roth, 2006). Also, the research will capture the detailed findings from the study that will assist in decision-making for managers with an interest in aligning organizational management and performance appraisal systems. Also, case study analysis will allow for analysis of existing company documents to get the correct, accurate information for the research.
The study will involve 100 participants from five American companies. The participants will include managers and employees working in the selected company. The participants in the research will be identified through a random sampling technique. The rationale for using the random sampling technique is to provide an equal chance for participants to partake in the study (Zondo, 2018). Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant. To gain in-depth information, I will visit the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational management in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on five companies will provide reliable and valid data on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management.

Research Questions

RQ1

How does strategic management affect the nature of performance systems in organizations?

RQ2

How do organizations align strategic management with performance appraisal systems?

RQ3

How does lack of alignment between strategic management approaches and performance appraisal systems affect organizational performance?

RQ4

How can performance appraisal systems be aligned to strategic management to enhance organizational productivity?

Significance of Study

Strategic management and performance appraisals emerged and spread during the last half of the 20^th century. Strategic management is primarily based on economic theory, international theory, and industrial organization (The historical development of the Strategic Management Discipline, 2015). Currently, strategic management helps organizations work in a dynamic, complex, and uncertain business environment (The historical development of the Strategic Management Discipline, 2015). On the other hand, performance appraisal analyzes whether employees meet organizational expectations. The employers reward or punish employees based on the results of the performance appraisals. Understanding and establishing the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems will solve the problem of poor goal setting, which frequently occurs in organizations that adopt strategic management (Bouvier, 2019). Also, aligning strategies to performance appraisal will enable the employees to connect to the overall organizational system. Additionally, linking strategic management and performance appraisal will assist managers in tracking progress, adopting robust strategies, and dropping those that do not contribute to organizational success (Bouvier, 2019).
In the field of organizational behaviors, the study will facilitate the emergence of more studies to understand whether the performance appraisal system is part of strategic management or a particular activity in management. Also, it will highlight the crucial considerations that managers should incorporate when formulating their strategies. The research will also equip managers with the knowledge to apply the concept of strategic management and performance appraisals concurrently in their management. Lastly, the study will enable managers to align strategies to organizational assessments, improving overall success.

Summary

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction
The research paper focuses on integrating performance appraisal and strategic management in organizations. This section reviews various studies to understand the state of assessments, their role on employee and manager perception, and their impacts on employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Further, the section evaluates strategic management articles to bolster understanding of strategic planning and sustainable development concepts. The main gaps in the review are identified and discussed. All reviewed articles are recent to ensure that the current state of appraisals in organizations is captured.
Performance Appraisal
The human resource department or top managers can conduct performance appraisals in organizations depending on the size of individual organizations. Evaluation data is collected and stored in the form of HR analytics. HR analytics is then applied in improving employee performance in the respective organizations (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). HR analytics largely influences employees’ willingness to improve by encouraging or discouraging improvement. (Sharma & Sharma, 2017) found that subjective biases in the existing HR analytics prevents employee improvement. Their study adopted a conceptual framework that integrated academic and practitioner knowledge in HR analytics. The study’s main strength is that it highlights the importance of performance appraisal in improving employee performance. However, it lacks a statistical basis as it relies on concepts that may be hard to prove.
Organizations achieve their goals by constant and efficient evaluation of the employees. Consequently, many organizations have executed performance appraisals at their workplaces to improve employee performance (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Nevertheless, few organizational managers comprehend the role of appraisal results in their organizations except as a basis for reward and punishment. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016) postulate that performance appraisal outcomes can improve internal communication in organizations. The results assist managers in understanding whether organizational goals are adequately communicated to the subordinates (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Also, they state that performance appraisal is critical in motivating employees in organizations through reward and punishment (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). The management rewards best-performing employees with monetary incentives or promotion while punishing poor performers through dismissal or demotion.
Besides motivation and improving communication, organizations may use performance appraisal to design training and career development programs. The appraisal outcomes highlight employees’ weaknesses, which the management can address through training (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). Additionally, performance appraisals are crucial in improving overall organizational success. Involving every employee in the evaluation process creates room for creativity and trust among employees (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The research study succeeds in highlighting the uses of performance appraisal systems in organizations. However, the authors fail to consider the impacts of biasness on the effectiveness of performance appraisal. Partiality in performance appraisals demotivates employees and creates mistrust between the staff and managers (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Also, the study does not discuss how organizations can integrate performance appraisal with strategic management.
Performance appraisals and appraisers can impact employee performance positively or negatively. Also, the existing challenges in the appraising method can culminate into mistrust within an organization (Dangol, 2021). Descriptive research by Dangol (2021) showed that the performance appraisal system has a significant role in the organization’s survival. The study’s setting was in a Service Industry in Nepal and comprised 120 participants who served as employees. The research design method was cross-sectional, and data was collected through questionnaires. He discovered that the factors that affect the influence of appraisals include rating accuracy, clarity in the purpose of the assessment, and the prospect of skill development (Dangol, 2021). The appraisers should be respectful, competent, and impartial for the outcomes of appraisals to motivate employees. One challenge that faces performance appraisal is providing accurate feedback to the employees and setting performance expectations. Each employee has unique expectations, which, when unmet, may create mistrust.
The researcher’s findings resonate with the study by (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). They both recognize the motivating role of performance appraisal in organizations. Further, both studies acknowledge that performance appraisal is crucial in training employees. However, while Dangol (2021) recognizes the challenges that emanate from the reviews, Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) do not. Both studies fail to provide statistical evidence and do not discuss strategic management’s role in the success of performance appraisal.
The quality of performance appraisals is measured in terms of trust, clarity, communication, and fairness. The quality of assessments determines the employees’ perceptions of it. Evaluations that seek to empower employees are associated with increased employee trustworthiness of the performance appraisals (Baird et al., 2020). Communication is also a crucial asset in assessments. The appraisers should discuss the progress made by employees towards attaining organizational goals (Baird et al., 2020). Moreover, the managers should help employees improve their weak areas through different approaches such as initiating development programs. In fairness, employees are fulfilled with appraisals that accurately assess them reasonably and justifiably. Assessments may encourage employees when done fairly (Krishnan et al., 2018, Sharma & Sharma, 2017).
Furthermore, the managers should focus on clarity before undertaking performance appraisals. According to (Baird et al., 2020), the employees must understand the appraisals’ purpose and functioning. Also, the employees ought to understand performance expectations within their organizations (Baird et al., 2020). These requirements show that performance appraisal quality determines its usefulness among the employees. However, the study by (Baird et al., 2020) emphasizes quality appraisals for employee empowerment instead of improvement. Also, the researchers compare the quality of estimates based on fairness, communication, trust, and clarity instead of how it contributes to achieving business goals.
The effectiveness of appraisal varies from sector and organization. (Homauni et al., 2021) investigated the effectiveness of performance appraisals on the employees working in the health sector. The researchers examined the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). The number of participants in the study was 504 employees at TUMS. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, Post hoc, and Tukey statistical tests. The analysis results showed that the performance appraisal at the organization was not practical from the employees’ standpoint (Homauni et al., 2021). The leading cause of ineffectiveness in performance appraisal is the lack of inclusivity of employees. The study reinforces other research on the use of performance appraisal systems. All researchers agree that performance appraisals are only effective when they are inclusive, fair, and well-communicated to the employees (Sharma & Sharma, 2017; Baird et al., 2020; Homauni et al., 2021). However, all these studies do not consider the role of strategic management on the quality and success of performance appraisals.
Performance Appraisal Perception
Performance appraisals are used to evaluate employee performance in many organizations. However, most managers have negative attitudes towards performance appraisal (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Consequently, most of them do not align their strategies with performance appraisal because of their perceptions. Also, the managers’ attitudes toward appraisals affect employees who view them as political and unnecessary (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Research by (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017) found that performance appraisal is an emotive issue for managers and causes discomfort making most of them distance themselves from the process. The researchers adopted a qualitative research approach that involved eight participants from the private sector in medium-size financial organizations. They selected the participants through purposeful sampling and collected data using in-depth interviews and naïve sketches. Their main finding was that managers felt uncomfortable with the appraisal system because it is politicized and distractive (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). The study’s main weakness was using small sample size, potentially invalidating its findings. Future studies should use a large sample size for more accurate and reliable results.
Other studies have found differing attitudes towards performance appraisals between managers and employees. On the one hand, the managers may be optimistic about the appraisal system, while the employees may be unconvinced. (Mehraban et al., 2017) compared the perceptions of managers and the nursing staff towards performance appraisal. The study’s setting was Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. The researchers adopted a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study in their research. The participants were selected through a two-stage quota-random sampling. Seventy-five managers and 313 nursing staff participated in the survey, and data were collected through a researcher questionnaire.
They analyzed data using descriptive and statistical tests. The analysis showed that the managers’ perception of performance appraisal was 56.8%, while the nursing staff stood at 51.4%. Also, they found a significant difference between the managers’ and nurses’ perceptions of the performance appraisals. The variables used to measure the employee perception included the performance appraisal method, the consequences of the assessment, and the appraisal’s necessity. The results showed that the managers were more optimistic about the performance appraisal than the nursing staff. However, these findings differ from those by (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017), who found that managers had negative attitudes towards the performance appraisal. The study’s strength was using a relatively large sample size that makes the findings valid. However, the researchers failed to measure the perception towards performance appraisal based on organizational strategies.
Some organizations may reap from performance appraisal, while others may break. (Mehraban et al., 2017) found that managers may be more optimistic about performance appraisal than employees, creating mistrust. In other instances, the managers may also harbor an undesirable attitude towards the performance appraisal, diminishing its importance (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). In other settings, both the managers and employees may support or reject performance appraisal (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The other issue that emerges with performance appraisals is that they are not used for performance improvement but as a means to reward or punish employees (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The motivation behind the implementation of performance appraisal impacts the employees’ reactions. The managers/supervisors have the mandate of developing and implementing performance appraisals. In that sense, they have to gain employee trust to succeed in the assessment. However fair the rating could be, employees may still feel betrayed by the managers or supervisors (Kim & Holzer, 2014). The result is the breaking of the organizations.
The way employees perceive performance appraisal impacts their organizational commitment in the respective organizations. (Krishnan et al., 2018) researched the impacts of employee perceived fairness of the reviews on employee commitment. They used a descriptive study design and investigated selected employees’ group traits. The study included 108 non-executive staff selected through probability sampling. All the staff worked in the Malaysian oil industry. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed by coding in the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Their findings showed that organizational commitment was directly proportional to perceived fairness. Organizations with higher perceived fairness prompted employees to commit more to the respective organizations, unlike organizations with low appraisal perceived fairness. The researchers conjecture with Mehraban et al., (2017), Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, (2017), and Kim & Holzer, (2014) that performance appraisal may elicit emotions among the employees and managers.
The studies on employee/manager perception towards the performance appraisal system manifest weaknesses. First, it is evident that the appraisal system is created for reward and punishment and does not advance organizational strategies. Such an approach contributes to managers’ and employees’ mistrust and negative attitudes. Secondly, most employees rate the performance appraisal based on its consequences and the appraisal method and not how well it aligns with organizational strategies. Such a mindset is misinformed because the performance appraisal method should conform to the plan regardless of the consequences of the managers’ tactics.
Performance appraisal is an indispensable human resource tool that continues to apply in most organizations. Various institutions, including banks, have adopted performance appraisals in their management. The growth of the banking sector has necessitated in India the need for banks. Few studies have compared employee perceptions on performance appraisals in the private and public banks. Using a sample t-test, (Shrivastava & Purang, 2011) found that employees in the public sector perceived high fairness of performance appraisals compared to employees in the public firms. The higher perceived fairness resulted in increased employee satisfaction within the public firms (Shrivastava & Purang, 2011). The study shows that there could be a problem regarding performance appraisals in public organizations. That makes public organizations a focal point of the research.
Performance Appraisal, Employee Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Performance
Appraisal hugely impacts employee performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. The level of impact depends on communication, clarity, trust, and fairness (Baird et al., 2020). Fair and transparent appraisals encourage the staff and culminate into job satisfaction. A study on the association between appraisal satisfaction, work-family conflict, and job stress revealed that justifiable assessment reduced work-family conflict and job stress (Ismail & Gali, 2016). Employees react emotionally to appraisals, which affect their mental wellness and interpersonal relationships. Organizations that utilize satisfactory assessments motivate their employees, unlike organizations using biased evaluations.
The level of employee motivation and job satisfaction affects employee performance. Subekti (2021) found that performance appraisal impacts employee motivation and satisfaction. Using an explanatory research process and a sample size of 140 employees, Subekti (2021), discovered that the nature of the appraisal system had impacted job satisfaction and motivation. However, the appraisal system had no impact on employee performance. On the other hand, job satisfaction and motivation impacted employee performance. Therefore, organizations’ type of appraisal method affects job fulfillment and enthusiasm.
Studies using large sample sizes also show a relationship between employee performance appraisal and job satisfaction. (Bakotić, 2016) researched the relationship between performance appraisal and job satisfaction among 5806 employees drawn from 40 large and medium-sized organizations in Croatia. His findings revealed that performance on either side affected job satisfaction. High-performing organizations led to increased job satisfaction while poor performances decreased job satisfaction. (Dangol, 2021) also found a relationship between appraisal and employee motivation. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016), in their article on the uses of performance appraisals, they mention employee motivation.
Strategic Management
Most organizations currently use strategic management to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. Strategic management refers to the processes of strategizing adopted by different businesses and which integrates strategy formulation and implementation (Bryson & George, 2020). It mixes processes, procedures, tools, and techniques carefully selected and executed after thorough evaluations. Organizations use the approach to create and achieve goals (Bryson & George, 2020). Strategies connect an organization’s abilities and aspirations and incorporate individuals, teams, and groups. Further, managers use strategic management to identify and solve challenges that occur within organizations.
Strategic management is also a crucial tool in corporate sustainability. Organizations must develop long-term strategies that will maintain their uniqueness in the markets (Engert et al., 2016). Internal and external drives influence the plan. Organizations achieve sustainability when they make determined efforts to maintain their superiority or gain an advantage over their competitors (Barbosa et al., 2020). Strategic management is a challenge in small organizations due to the energy required to develop and execute various strategies (Barbosa et al., 2020).
Strategic planning is a crucial part of strategic management and is influenced by organizational structures. The development of strategies is taken through various stages influenced by organizational goals, culture, and leadership, among other factors (Neis et al., 2017). Some elements may support the development and execution of respective strategies, while others may turn out to be a hindrance (Neis et al., 2017). Communication of various methods determines the failure or success of strategic planning and management. Strategic management enhances the understanding of public and private organizations (Ongaro & Ferlie, 2020). Strategic management constitutes strategic planning and performance measurement. Strategies are improved continuously by learning the successes and failures after implementation (Kools & George, 2020). Also, changes in the immediate environment prompt alterations to existing strategies to harmonize them with the new needs (Kools & George, 2020). Management of strategies involves its implementation, while planning outlines actions required for the success of the strategies.
Summary of Literature Review and Gaps
The first use of performance appraisal in organizations is for motivation through reward and punishment. Top performers receive monetary or promotion rewards while poor performers are demoted or dismissed from work. Secondly, organizations use appraisals for employee training and career development. Through evaluation, managers identify the staff’s weaknesses and address them through training programs. Also, from the review, some managers and employees have negative attitudes towards performance appraisals. Some managers oppose appraisals because the appraising system is highly politicized, creating battles with the staff. On the other hand, the employees have negative feelings towards assessments because of perceived fairness, lack of moral purpose for evaluation, lack of training and development programs, and poor communication. Stakeholders measure the quality of performance appraisals based on clarity, trust, communication, and fairness.
The significant gap in the literature is that while different researchers acknowledge that performance appraisal faces organizational challenges, none of the studies seem to provide a solution. Most authors opine that perceived fairness, clarity, trust, and proper communication are vital ingredients for implementing acceptable appraisals. None of the studies highlight how strategic management can address the challenges associated with performance appraisals. Also, none of the organizations evaluated shows how to integrate strategic management with performance appraisal. Since fairness and clarity may be achieved by integrating assessment and strategic management tools, this study will focus on the relationship between the two instruments (strategic management and appraisal).

Theoretical Framework

The study aims at establishing the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. Organizations use performance systems to promote accountability, responsibility, and performance among the employees and the leaders (Subekti, 2021). Nevertheless, very little research shows the connection between strategic management and performance appraisal.

Organizations use strategies to gain a competitive advantage over others. The competitive advantage makes them unique and profitable in the markets. A competitive advantage is obtained through strategy and behavior, improving employee performance, proper human resource management that reduces turnover and dissatisfaction, and conforming to the legal provisions in the business environment. The research will be premised on the system theory of management. The system theory of management is premised on the concepts of coordination between multiple components within an organization that works harmoniously to function properly (Management theories, 2019).

Based on the theory, employees are crucial components of any organization. Therefore, they must work together with other organizational entities to ensure that the organization succeeds. Employees work best when their work environment is motivating (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016; Dangol, 2021). One employee motivating factor that this research paper tackles is fair performance appraisal. However, many organizations fail to develop just employee evaluation mechanisms, and that demotivate the employees, creating system imbalances within the organization. Another core component in business organizations is management.

The management’s actions can lead to the success or failure of organizations. One of their roles includes developing performance appraisals within organizations. Some appraisals cause disagreements within organizations and could lead to high employee turnovers. Consequently, the managers must develop justifiable performance appraisals, which most have failed.

Other components within the organizational system include departments and business units. Each of these units has varying roles that the management must continuously evaluate. The appraisal system should capture the respective business objectives and that explains why strategic management and performance appraisal need to be integrated into business organizations.

Theoretical Model Diagram

The diagram shows that the entire organization is a system that depends on managers, employees, and departments. The managers create appraisals for all employees or individual departments. These appraisals can motivate or demotivate the employees, affecting the entire system. Therefore, the study will propose the integration of strategic management and performance appraisals to ensure that the organization remains intact since appraisals based on business strategies will be perceived as fair by employees.

Unit Department as Sub system

Within the system theory of management, there are different subsystems. A sub-system is a single predefined operating environment through which an organization coordinates workflow and resource use. In the organizational context, individual departments act as a sub-system to their organization. The organization acts as a sub-system to the existing industry.
The head manager or divisional manager can lead departments. They may be defined based on their functions or seniority. Departments have a crucial role in ensuring that organizations meet their overall objectives. They may set their goals that could facilitate the attainment of the organization’s overall vision. Departments within the same organization could use different approaches to help the organization meet its visions. Examples of departments include accounting and HRM. The accounting department’s role is providing information for setting financial goals and budgets. The HRM department recruits and hires employees. However, these two organizations could exist within the same organization that aims to promote community health. Therefore, the performance appraisal should be based on strategic management so that the unique roles of the organizations are based on how they facilitated the achievement of the overall organizational goals (Poister, 2010).
Owing to the critical role of departments, managers in organizations should transform strategic planning in organizations to strategic management. Strategic management can help departments and organizations manage issues effectively and efficiently (Poister, 2010). Also, the performance appraisal should be more holistic to capture the different roles of individual departments to ensure that they contribute to the attainment of the overall goals of the organization (Poister, 2010). Contemporarily, departments’ roles are changing and becoming more advanced. New technologies catalyze these changes that can help organizations achieve their goals. Consequently, the nature of appraisals should also shift to reflect the new changes in technology.
Departments are effective in communicating the organization’s goals to the employees. Information from top management flows to departmental heads before the employees. Therefore, departments communicate the goals and visions of the organizations (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Communication helps organizations to reflect on organizational goals and adjust organizational strategies. Also, communication is crucial in enhancing innovation within the organization. Organizations adopting strategic management must ensure constant information exchange between them and their departments (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Different subsystems or departments must work as strategic partners to ensure that the overall goals of the whole system are achieved. Consequently, the performance appraisals can go beyond employee performance and evaluate how various organizations function together to achieve overall goals (Jacobson et al., 2013). The stakeholders in different departments need to undergo training to understand how they can collaboratively work as strategic partners within organizations instead of independent levels (Jacobson et al., 2013).
Departments can contribute to process improvements, customer satisfaction, and process improvements. The quality improvement department can enhance the quality of products, leading to improved customer satisfaction (Gremyr et al., 2019). On the other hand, they can facilitate improvements in the existing processes to ensure that the organization moves closer to its objectives (Gremyr et al., 2019). Different factors influence strategic alliances among departments and organizations. Some factors that influence departmental or organizational alliances include the manageability of the alliances and likely outcomes (Shah & Swaminathan, 2008). Within the context of organizations, departments should be manageable and contribute to the achievement of the overall goals within the organization.
In summary, various researchers have researched the formation of departments, their roles, and how they contribute to the achievement of the organization’s overall goals. Departments are created based on the needs of the individual organization. For instance, not all organizations may have IT departments. Also, some researchers suggest that departments must work as strategic partners to achieve the organization’s goals (Jacobson et al., 2013). The collaboration should be based on their manageability and the predicted outcomes (Shah & Swaminathan, 2008). The impacts of collaboration must favor the overall vision of the organization. Roles of departments based on the research include process improvement, customer satisfaction, communication, and quality improvement. Communication is core to overall organizational success (Zerfass & Volk, 2018). Consequently, the departments must be strategic in sharing information with other departments and employees.
In the context of the focus of this research on integrating strategic management and performance appraisals, it is clear that departments, which act as a sub-system within the organization, play critical roles. Therefore, to combine strategic management and performance appraisal, individual departments should be evaluated to determine their validity and relevance. For instance, when evaluating the performance of employees in delivering their mandate, organizations should also appraise the communication strategies of individual departments to employees. Departments should also be evaluated based on how they coordinate amongst themselves to ensure that the overall objectives of organizations are achieved. Departmental evaluation will contribute to integrating strategic management and performance appraisal because they work on organizational strategies. The results can be used for continuous improvements of the organization.
The Roles of Managers
Managers have four crucial functions in organizations. These roles include planning, organizing, leading, and control. Planning includes setting goals to help organizations achieve their goals. The control function involves supervision to ensure that employees work within the set standards within the organization. In terms of leadership, managers use various leadership techniques to influence their followers towards particular goals. As leaders, they should have a good mastery of communication, team-building, problem-solving, and dispute resolution skills.
Different studies on the role of managers and management exist. An organization could have the head manager and unit managers or head managers alone. The manager’s title could depend on their functions. For example, an IT manager controls information and manages data within the organization (Tohidi, 2011). The managers ensure that the data is used constructively to help the organization improve its operations or products. With increasing technology, many organizations employ IT managers to control data use. Some organizations have middle-level managers. Middle Managers (MM) play a crucial role in an organization’s success. A study survey using interpretive synthesis that analyzed both qualitative and quantitative studies revealed that MMs were at the heart of most organizations (Boutcher et al., 2022). Some of their roles include innovation and influencing others. The MMs undertake innovation action through research and contribute to improving the company’s performance. They also convince employees in the organization to adapt to strategies set by the head managers and different departments (Boutcher et al., 2022). Their activities are influenced by several factors, both internally and externally. Some of these factors include leadership commitment, availability of resources, and equality within their organizations.
Besides spearheading innovations, the managers also implement them. They participate in activities such as disseminating the innovation information through meetings and training (Birken et al., 2015). Their implementation roles make the managers crucial in the strategic management process and, consequently, performance appraisal. They also have the task of setting goals and ensuring the equal participation of employees. Goal-setting and participation need fairness, and thus, managers are expected to be just in all their activities (Sholihin et al., 2011). Also, the managers have pivotal roles in the strategy-making process. They analyze the usefulness of various strategies and their impact on their organizations.
Further, they coordinate all the activities during strategy formulation. The managers also act as communicators (O’Shannassy, 2014). The middle managers pass information from the head managers to the employees. They are consulted both by the top managers and employees on how to shape various strategies. The MMs also compare performance among peers and offer insight to the head management of what strategies to undertake (Tarakci et al., 2018). They also identify with their organizations and work attentively to ensure that organizations achieve their goals. The MMs offer suggestions to the head managers on improving corporate services (Tarakci et al., 2018).
On the other hand, the head managers compare yearly performance to evaluate whether their organizations are on track (Belasen & Belasen, 2016). Their executive span and hierarchical depth can impact their managerial performance. A greater executive span and reduced hierarchical depth devalue middle management and reduce their autonomy. In turn, reduced autonomy lowers employee morale and increases their susceptibility to stress (Belasen & Belasen, 2016). Consequently, organizations must balance executive span and hierarchical depth to ensure that the manager sustains a sense of autonomy.
Most managers believe in similar competencies that are requisite for the effective running of their organizations. Managers’ key competencies include resourcefulness, change management, and building and mending relationships (Gentry & Sparks, 2011). Resources help managers to exhaust all the available options to make organizations successful. Also, building relationships with the staff and solving initial conflicts bolster collaboration between the management and the employees and grants an opportunity to focus on the organization’s objectives.
From the published articles, it is evident that managers are the engine of their organizations. They perform different tasks such as goal-setting, communication, coordination, strategy analysis, and problem-solving (O’Shannassy, 2014). The managers have the mandate of ensuring equal employee participation when undertaking various organizational processes. The other managerial role is innovation and encouraging innovativeness among the employees. The competencies required to excel in managerial tasks include resourcefulness, change management, building relationships, and solving disputes (Gentry & Sparks, 2011). They participate in the performance appraisal of employees.
Based on the system theory of management, managers form part of the organization’s system. Therefore, the research on performance appraisals and strategic management identifies managers as critical players. Like employees, the managers’ roles should be appraised in organizations. Organizations can appraise managers based on their roles, core competencies, and how they implement the strategic management of organizations. By doing so, organizations can successfully integrate strategic management and performance appraisals. When managers are not appraised, they may fail to perform their managerial tasks effectively. Their failure affects both performance appraisal processes and strategic management.
Appraising Appraisals
Performance appraisals were initially used as a basis of reward and punishment by organizations. However, currently, the functions of appraisals in management have evolved. Appraisals are used to enhance performance, encourage collaboration, promote job satisfaction, and improve employee retention (Dangol, 2021, Zondo, 2018). Consequently, many organizations are quickly adopting performance appraisals, however. They evaluate employee performance based on their respective tasks and other vital aspects.
Nevertheless, most organizations are yet to realize the aspect of evaluating appraisals. Based on the system theory of management, an appraisal or appraising process is considered part of the system activity. It can hurt or improve organizations (Kim & Holzer, 2018). The literature review of various articles has shown that appraisals have created rifts between the managers and employees in some instances. Also, various researchers have detailed how appraisals can create unfairness in organizations when employees perceive them as biased.
Evaluating appraisal can deal with challenges emanating from their applications in the respective organizations. Managers can evaluate the robustness of their appraisals annually to ensure that they are aligned with the organization’s strategies. The appraising process can be done by seeking employees’ reactions towards the appraisals. Data could be collected through surveys or questionnaires, or any means deemed appropriate by the organization. The evaluation results should be used to improve subsequent appraisals. Performance appraisal could be evaluated based on how it is streamlined to strategic management or contributes to employee improvement. Therefore, organizations must constantly appraise their performance appraisals to successfully integrate them with strategic management in organizations.
Summary of theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework analyzes the system theory of management and how it applies to organizations. According to the theory, organizations are composed of various sub-systems which make a whole. Some of the sub-systems include departments, employees, and managers. The organization’s success depends on the level of collaboration between these sub-units.
Researchers have identified the roles of various subsystems within the organization. Most studies have focused on a single sub-system such as department, managers, employees, or performance appraisal. The theoretical framework section has provided a summary of some of the organization’s sub-system’s roles, such as departments, managers, and performance appraisals. Departments play a significant role in linking the management to the lower-level employees. The departmental heads can also initiate micro-strategies that complement the primary organizational strategy. They control employees and supervise tasks assigned by the top management to the department. On the other hand, the managers communicate information within the organization. They act as the only source of information within the organization. They develop, plan and execute strategies within their organizations. The managers spearhead innovation within the organization and work with other managers in the industry on various issues. They also create a conducive workplace environment for employees by dealing with workplace issues. The performance appraisals evaluate employees to their tasks. They can demotivate or motivate employees. The appraisals can also indicate whether the organization is moving closer to its objectives or not. Therefore, to integrate performance appraisal with strategic management in organizations, the research paper has to place employees, managers, and various departments at the center of the process. That is why the system theory of management will work best in the research. All the previous studies did not approach the sub-systems together but independently.
One advantage the system theory of management can have in organizations is increasing their adaptability to different environmental conditions. Research studies have explored the role of managers and departments in organizations. From the studies, departments and managers play communication, coordination, problem-solving and analytical roles in organizations. The collaboration between the sub-systems of departments and managers can help organizations pursue their strategies. Furthermore, the collaboration between the two entities can promote resilience to different situations within the organization. The theory has also magnified the relevance of interdependence in organizations. The managers, employees, and different units depend on each to ensure that the organization functions. For example, a manager will develop a strategy and communicate to the department; the department will share the information with the employees who will work on it.
The only challenge weakness of the system theory of management is its failure to offer a unified approach to management. From the lens of the theory, the success of the management is dependent on various sub-units and not the entire organization. Nevertheless, the weakness does not underscore the theory’s ability to apply in this research paper focused on integrating strategic management and performance appraisal.

Summary of the Literature Review

The existing literature provides vast knowledge on performance appraisals and strategic management. Various authors have published information on the different uses of performance appraisals, how they are perceived by managers and employees, and their influence on employee motivation, performance, and job satisfaction. Also, scholars have elaborated on how strategic management is applied in meeting organizational goals. Organizations use strategic management and performance appraisal to enhance their overall performance. This section of the chapter covers the main points from the literature review with further support from other publications.
Uses of Performance Appraisals
Based on the evaluated literature, appraisals can encourage or discourage employees from improving (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Scholars have examined how managers use HR analytics and its impact on the employees. Cleveland et al., (1989) found that performance appraisals could be used for multiple purposes. Their study showed that the appraisal outcome impacted salary administration, performance feedback, and the identification of employee weaknesses and strengths (Cleveland et al., 2019). The management may improve salaries for top performers to retain them for the long term. Regarding feedback, the administration responds to evaluation outcomes by introducing different training programs, dismissals, or encouraging employees to take individual steps to improve. Different parts of appraisals may have different roles. The appraisal success in organizations is dependent on how fair they are perceived by employees (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). There is always an unwillingness to improve if the appraisals are discriminatory.
More scholars have provided different perspectives on using performance appraisals in improving organizational performance. (De Andrés et al., 2010) define appraisal as “a process used by some firms to evaluate their employees’ efficiency and productivity in order to plan their promotion policy, salary policy, and layoffs policy.” Their definition of appraisal incorporates some actual uses of appraisals, such as setting salary policies and provisions. Consequently, there is a consensus between (De Andrés et al., 2010) and (Cleveland et al., 1989) that performance appraisals are crucial in determining employee salaries in various organizations. A 360-degree evaluation framework that also evaluates supervisors, reviewers, and collaborators is used in most organizations to wholly enhance fairness and address organizational issues (De Andrés et al., 2010).
Besides appraisals being used to develop salary policies, they highlight the company’s progress towards its goal achievement. (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016) note that many organizations have applied performance appraisals towards improving employee performance. The authors elaborate that comprehensive, practical, and fair assessments prompt increased employee productivity. In terms of overall organizational progress, the performance of each employee or department can predict whether organizations are improving. Based on the system of management theory adopted in the research, an organization is composed of various subunits that make a whole. Subsequently, the performance of multiple subunits indicates how the entire organization is performing.
Still on the uses of performance appraisals, Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) assert that they are crucial tools in improving internal communication. Most organizations have adopted a top-down communication strategy. The role of executives in organizations is to communicate the goals and the visions of an organization. The appraisals can also bolster goal clarification and setting of expectations. The supervisors should have open dialogues with employees on the need for reviews and what they need to achieve. Many organizations also use appraisals to motivate employees through reward and punishment. Brefo-Manuh et al., (2016) allude that managers reward top performers with promotions or increased salaries while poor performers are demoted, dismissed, or paid less. However, appraisals motivate employees only when they are fair and related to organizational or departmental goals (Sharma & Sharma, 2017). Therefore, the motivation impact of performance appraisal is dependent on their effectiveness.
The other vital use of performance appraisal as derived from the literature review is for career development and employee training. Training refers to the systematic development of attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behavior patterns required by an individual to perform adequately a given job or task (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). All organizations expect the employees to remain committed to delivering on organizational goals and must help the employees improve their performance by training them. Training helps employees advance their skills, be ready for higher positions, have increased feeling of job security, and improve their performance (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The performance appraisals are used to establish performance standards and core competencies and communicate them to employees. Based on the appraisals’ outcomes, employers organize training programs to assist their employees in acquiring the requisite competencies that facilitate top performance. Thus, workplace evaluations are pivotal in designing training programs for employees (Brefo-Manuh et al., 2016). The fairer the employees perceive the appraisals, the more they are likely to embrace the employers’ training and career development programs.
Employee appraisals can also enhance employee performance, depending on their purpose, administration, and feedback communication. Improved performance and career development and training are directly linked. Employees identify their strengths and weaknesses and some develop improvement plans. Others seek help from their managers or colleagues on how they can improve. Moreover, since appraisals can have a motivating effect, inspired employees feel encouraged to perform better at their workplace. The evaluation feedback also facilitates the development of training and career development programs. Therefore, through informing the training programs and motivating employees, appraisals improve employee performance.
Factors Influencing Appraisals Usefulness
Appraisals are undeniably relevant to all organizations. The literature review summarizes that assessments influence employee performance, communication, and training programs. However, some businesses have not benefited from appraisals based on the current analyzed literature. This section of the summary looks at dynamics that influence the relevance of performance appraisals and how they impact the employees and manager.
As established within the system theory of management that applies to the research, organizations are made up of subunits that combine to form a whole. In that context, and regarding performance appraisals, the critical subunits are employees and managers. The way employees and managers perceive performance appraisal affects how important they become in organizations. Consequently, researchers have published different articles on employee and/or manager perceptions towards performance appraisals and how they affect the appraising process. Perceptions refer to attitudes favoring or against the appraising process influenced by intrinsic or extrinsic factors. These perceptions influence whether employees and managers support or oppose evaluations at the workplace.
(Getnet et al., 2014) studied the effect of employees’ fairness perception on their satisfaction towards the performance appraisal practices of the University of Gondar. Though the study was limited to one institution, it can offer some insights into some of the aspects that influence the relevance of appraisals. Fairness is also interpreted as organizational justice and refers to a personal evaluation of ethical and moral standing (Getnet et al., 2014). Organizational justice creates a culture of trust and teamwork between employees and managers. Studies show that organizations benefit from appraisals if they are fair in all aspects. Higher perceived fairness in appraising employees motivates them to perform their functions diligently and with less supervision (Getnet et al., 2014). While appraisals have numerous advantages, the authors showed that highly unfair reviews could result in a strike, increase grievance, and lead to physical or psychological withdrawal ranging from absenteeism and turnover to increased visits to the dispensary and poor mental health. Performance appraisal unrelated to the organization’s goals also increases the chances of employees’ assessments being perceived as unfair.
Besides perceived fairness, the other factor influencing the robustness of appraisals is politics. Politics in organizations emerge from the pursuit of personal interests. Some organizational scholars have found that politics influence performance appraisal. Intense political activities in organizations lower employee job satisfaction and performance (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). It also increased turnover rates in businesses. A review of existing studies shows that employees who are highly engaged in politics perform poorer than their contemporaries. Furthermore, increased organizational politics deter managers from implementing a performance appraisal system (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Some managers develop negative attitudes towards the appraisals as they break the unity of organizations and create division. As part of diminishing the impact of politics in organizations, suggestions have been made to make reviews a long-term process and enhance coordination between the employees and the management. Moreover, politics are avoidable if appraisals have increased perceived fairness and are in conjunction with the organizational goals.
The literature review also shows that the difference in attitudes between managers and employees on performance appraisals in organizations also affects their usefulness (Mehraban et al., 2017). In some instances, managers are opposed to checks while employees back them. The reason why managers could have negative attitudes towards appraisals is because they are highly politicized. On the other hand, employees may support assessment to receive the rewards associated with top performance. Another source of conflict may involve managers supporting appraisals as employees oppose them. Managers may backup checks to evaluate individual employee performance and use the feedback as a basis for reward and punishment. Employees become opposed to appraisals due to reduced perceived fairness (Mehraban et al., 2017). Also, employees may reject assessments if they deviate from organizational or departmental goals. In rare circumstances, the managers and employees may oppose appraisals because of the divisive impact they can have on the organizations. Therefore, the conflicting interests among the managers and employees weaken the importance of reviews in organizations.
The perceived importance of appraisals by managers impacts them. Scholars acknowledge that while some managers are optimistic about assessments, others harbor negative attitudes. Optimistic leaders strive to implement evaluation systems within their organizations. They also utilize the evaluation outcome to improve various organizational processes such as career training and development programs and improving employee performance. On the other hand, managers with negative attitudes towards appraisals are unwilling to introduce them in their organizations. Moreover, they hesitate in sharing feedback obtained from employee evaluations. Thus, management’s attitudes are influential in determining the importance of appraisals.
Performance Appraisal and Employee Wellness
Employee wellness is crucial to the success of organizations. Organizations should safeguard employees’ physical, emotional and mental fitness to ensure sustained productivity and performance. The analyzed articles using correlational studies show a positive association between employee wellness and fair performance appraisals. Increased perceived fairness of the appraisal yields increased employee motivation. High employee motivation at work reduces exposure to emotional and mental disorders (Ismail & Gali, 2016). On the other hand, the demotivated staff is vulnerable to stress and other mood disorders and depression, among other diseases. Therefore, organizations should continuously improve their evaluation approaches to protect employees from illnesses.
Job satisfaction is also associated with employee wellness. Numerous studies show that job satisfaction is correlated to mental health. On the other hand, appraisals are associated with job satisfaction (Subekti, 2021). Fair assessments and those that match with organizational goals enhance employee job satisfaction. In turn, job satisfaction increases employees’ mental health by reducing their exposure to workplace stress (Ismail & Gali, 2016). The improved employee health affects retention and turnover rates, affecting the company’s productivity. Therefore, organizations should maintain a healthy workforce by creating fair appraisals.
Linking Strategic management to Performance Appraisals
The paper focuses on whether organizations link their appraisal to strategies or each organizational process is independent of another. The review section has provided immense knowledge on assessments and strategic management in organizations. Before linking the two critical components in organizations, this summary section first looks at strategic management.
Strategic management involves two major components aimed at assisting organizations in achieving competitive advantage: setting goals and creating initiatives to achieve the goals (Bryson & George, 2020). Leaders use appraisals to plan for the future existence of their organizations in the market and ensure they remain highly profitable. Strategies set organizations apart and create a competitive advantage over rivals (Bryson & George, 2020). The literature review reveals that strategic management involves planning, monitoring, and assessment. Planning is where organizations consider their present positions, where they need to be in the future based on the current environment, and what needs to be done to achieve their goals (Engert et al., 2016). Monitoring involves constantly checking the established plan to determine its effectiveness in achieving the set goals, while analysis determines the difference between the actual goals and what is achieved.
Besides ensuring organizations a competitive advantage over rivals, strategic management has other roles. It creates sustainable growth by improving employee performance in organizations. Part of the critical components of strategic management is a satisfied workforce for maximum production. Human resource managers implement best employee practices such as increased compensation to retain their workers. It also enhances communication between employees and the management because the success of every strategy depends on the efficient flow of information.
On the other hand, performance appraisals are used to complement the established strategies. Based on the same literature review, organizations use performance appraisals to determine whether the employees achieve organizational goals. These goals are set during strategy formulation. The success of performance appraisal depends on the organization’s current state (politicized or not politicized), perceived fairness, and how they are connected to organizational goals (Getnet et al., 2014). Appropriate appraisals can improve employee performance, motivation, cohesion, communication, and sustainable growth like in strategic management. Moreover, organizations that properly utilize appraisal results could gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Therefore, strategic management and performance appraisals are linked.
State of Current Literature on strategic management and appraisals
Several inferences arise from the review. First, the perceived fairness of performance appraisals is correlated to organizational goals. Scholars have found that employees perceive assessments as fair if they incorporate what the specific organizations aim to achieve. Therefore, the appraisers need to integrate goals with performance appraisals to ensure employees perceive them as reasonable. The other finding from the literature is that performance appraisals could be more acceptable if they are continuous and long-term. Short-term assessments increase appraisal politicization and reduce the perceived fairness of the reviews. Consequently, organizations do not benefit from them.
However, a close analysis of the same literature review shows no attempt of stakeholders to address the existing gaps in appraisals and make them more appealing to employees. In other words, there are no suggestions that can help organizations incorporate organizational goals into performance appraisals and make them continuous, fairer, and long-term. These are the gaps the study wishes to address. Linking strategic management to organizational goals will help address the identified gaps and make performance appraisal a long-term process, just as is strategic planning. The first step towards connecting the two concepts will focus on strategic management and performance appraisal in selected organizations. The study will propose how organizations can integrate strategic management and performance assessment based on the findings.
Performance Appraisals, Strategic Management and the System theory of Management
The selected theory that will be critical in approaching the study is the system theory of management. According to the theory’s proponents, an organization is a system comprising small components. The organization’s subunits include departments, employees, and leaders. Each subunit has a role in ensuring that the organization attains its strategic goals. In most instances, the leaders (managers) have the function of preparing and administering appraisals. They also disseminate the feedback to employees and initiate training programs to address the weaknesses of employees. However, based on the factors that influence the usefulness of appraisals, employees can impact the success or failure of an organization. That implies that the entire subunits (employees, departments, top executives) of a system (organization) must collaborate for appraisals to be effective. The interdependence between the subunits validates using the system theory of management.
Like performance appraisals, strategic management demands the collaboration of employees, departments, and leaders. The leaders develop strategies; break them down into departments which further communicate to employees who finally execute. Moreover, various organizational components depend on each other. For instance, managers prepare performance appraisals based on the company’s objectives. The objectives are set during strategy formulation. Therefore, there is a relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal though most organizations have not formalized the association. Again, the correlation of various aspects in organizations that combine to influence performance renders the study’s system theory of management a practical approach.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS

Introduction
The chapter provides a clear and complete description of the specific steps to follow during the research process. Most organizations use strategic management and performance appraisals at their workplace. However, most organizations consider strategic management and performance appraisal independent concepts. Strategic management involves two major components aimed at assisting organizations in achieving competitive advantage: setting goals and creating initiatives to achieve the goals (Bryson & George, 2020). On the other hand, performance appraisals evaluate whether the set goals are met within the predetermined period or not.
There is a need to integrate strategic management and performance appraisals, but the current studies do not explain how organizations can achieve that goal. The research aims to determine the relationship between organizational strategies and appraisal systems. Also, the study seeks to determine whether the performance appraisal system should align with strategic management and how the stakeholders can achieve the objective (Zondo, 2018). The study’s results will inform different initiatives to maximize performance appraisals and strategic management benefits.
The investigator developed four research questions that will assist in identifying the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. The first question seeks to enhance understanding of how strategic management affects the nature of performance appraisals. Some organizations use 360-degree performance appraisal, while others adopt a 180-degree assessment. The variation in examining employees could result from different strategies, and the research findings will confirm or disprove that line of thinking.
The second question is intended to inquire how organizations match their strategies to performance appraisals. The answer(s) to the inquiry is critical as far as the study’s purpose is concerned. It will assist the researcher in understanding whether organizations align their strategies to performance appraisals or each action is independent of the other. The third question will identify the differences between organizations that align performance appraisals with strategic management and those that do not. The difference will be measured using the variables of employee performance, employee retention, employee perception, and organizational performance. Thus, question three will establish whether there is any significant difference in importance when corporate strategies are matched with performance appraisals and when they are not.
The last question aims to provide a guideline for integrating strategic management and performance appraisals. According to scholarly articles, employees are motivated when performance appraisals fit organizational goals. However, many organizations fail to align their strategies to performance appraisals. In that case, reviews are only used for reward and punishment, create salary policy and retain top performers. Helping organizations with appropriate ways to integrate strategic management and performance appraisals could be a turning point for many businesses.
Research Design and Research Method
The research will use the quantitative research method. The quantitative study involves evaluating a particular group or phenomenon using a sample population selected through different means. The quantitative approach is applied in the research study because it will help the researcher choose a sample population from several companies to study the current association between strategic management and performance appraisals and how they can be aligned. The research method will be used in the study to facilitate the using a small number of managers and employees to collect data.
The quantitative method uses numerical data or information transformed into numerical data. The research will utilize numerical data and information that can be converted to numerical data. The numeric data will be crucial in showing the differences between organizations that integrate performance appraisal and strategic management and those that approach the two concepts independently. Further, quantitative data will compare various variables related to the research purpose and question.
The first reason for using the quantitative research method is its high degree of objectivity (Savela, 2018). It reduces the researcher’s bias since all answers to research questions are based on the collected data. Neutrality will ensure that the researcher is not inclined to advance personal opinions regarding strategic management and performance appraisals for this study. Also, the second reason for opting to use quantitative analysis is its scientific nature (Savela, 2018). In that case, all data collected from the participants will be analyzed statistically based on the data available (Heale & Twycross, 2015). A statistical data analysis eliminates errors experienced when other forms of data analysis are used.
A quantitative study is focused on the research objective. The study aims to introduce the system theory of management into integrating strategic management and performance appraisal. Thus, at the end of the research process, it will be clear how the theoretical approach applies to organizations. The quantitative study method is more acceptable and valuable during decision-making (Heale & Twycross, 2015). In that regard, many scholars may accept the study as reliable and valid for future researchers. Validity is the extent to which a concept is accurately measured and analyzed (Heale & Twycross, 2015). The usefulness of the research findings in the practical and scholarly world depends on the results’ validity (Heale & Twycross, 2015). Lastly, quantitative study results are more generalizable. The data may predict future patterns and explain the current trends (Savela, 2018). Therefore, quantitative research is suitable for the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.
The study will use a quantitative correlational research design. A research design refers to a general strategy selected to integrate various components within a study. On the other hand, a research method is used to implement the research plan. Therefore, there is a difference between the quantitative research method and the correlation research design adopted in this study. A quantitative correlational study design measure is a non-experimental research approach used to find the relationship between two or more variables through statistical analysis (Curtis et al., 2015). The research study will focus on the variables of strategic management and performance appraisals and how they relate to each in the absence of any factor. Consequently, through correlational study design, the author will assess the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal alone and how they affect organizational performance. Furthermore, a correlational study will evaluate whether organizations use strategic management and performance appraisal independently or dependently.
Many reasons inform the selection of a correlational study design. First, correlation can show prevalence and relationships among variables (Curtis et al., 2016). In the research studies, the primary variables are strategic management and performance appraisal. Based on the collected data, the study design will show whether organizations currently integrate performance appraisal and strategic management (Curtis et al., 2016). If such organizations exist, the research design will show the extent of the relationship between the two variables. Other correlations that will be measured are the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal and employee performance, employee motivation, fairness perceptions, and overall organizational performance. The results of a comparison between the multiple variables will indicate the relevance of integrating strategic management and performance appraisals in organizations.
Correlational study designs can also provide a guide for future studies. (Curtis et al., 2015) opined that correlational studies offered invaluable information on the direction of prospective studies. Therefore, using correlational studies will allow for more robust research from other scholars in the field. Lastly, correlation research design allows the researcher to offer suggestions on how to control the relationship of various variables (Curtis et al., 2015). For this research, study correlation will allow the researcher to offer insightful recommendations on using strategic management and performance appraisals.
There are other quantitative research designs not used in the study. They are descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental research designs. Each of them was deemed inappropriate for several reasons, some of which emanate from the nature of this study. A quasi-experimental study is an interventional study used to measure the causal impacts of an intervention. The research design is used after an intervention is implemented to determine changes. A quasi-experimental study design is also called a nonrandomized, pre-post-intervention study design.
The first reason it was inappropriate to utilize a quasi-experimental design is its limited ability to compare various variables. The design does not use random sampling to assign variables, limiting comparability (Eliopoulos et al., 2004). Secondly, the design is incorrect for the research study because the researcher is not looking at any intervention to assess its effectiveness (Eliopoulos et al., 2004). What is being evaluated in the study is an association between the variables of strategic management and performance appraisal and how the relationship affects other factors such as employee motivation and performance appraisals. Quasi-experiment would be more suitable when comparing a new business strategy and the previous one. It is also more suited for health studies to assess the causal relationship between an infection and an intervention (Eliopoulos et al., 2004).
An experimental research design is intrinsically scientific. The design includes hypotheses and variables that the researcher can manipulate and those that can be measured, calculated, and compared. The researcher collects experiment data which then supports or rejects the research hypothesis. There is always a control group and an experimental group. The difference between the control and experimental groups after variable manipulation is crucial in rejecting or accepting the hypothesis. One of the challenges with experiments is overgeneralization (Samek, 2019). Consequently, the final results may not represent the actual scenario (Samek, 2019). The other reason why experimental study design is unfit for the research is that the researcher assesses the relationship between various variables, which cannot be done through experiments.
Lastly, a descriptive study approach focuses on obtaining information to describe a situation, phenomenon, or population. The descriptive data addresses the when, how, what and where questions. The first limitation of a descriptive study is that the final results are unreliable because they do not represent the entire population (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). Also, descriptive studies using cross-sectional studies are valid only when the study sample is representative of the population proposed to be studied and all the individual measurements are made using an accurate and identical tool, or not (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). In the research study, only one question (how to integrate strategic management and performance appraisal) can be answered using descriptive statistics. Also, descriptive data may not accurately show the interconnectedness between strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019). Thus, it could be challenging to identify the impact of aligning strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations.

Population and Sample
            The research participants will include managers, and employees from different companies within the United States. The study will involve one hundred participants from eight American companies. The participants in the research will be identified through a purposeful sampling technique. In purposeful sampling, the researcher selects cases with a particular purpose in mind. The rationale for using the purposeful sampling technique is to provide an equal chance for participants to partake in the study (Zondo, 2018). Purposeful sampling also reduces bias because the sample is constantly refined to meet the study aims (Smith & Noble, 2014).
Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. The participants will fill consent forms before proceeding to the research process. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews. The interview questions will be assigned a numeric value for easy comparison, as well as measurablity. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant and manager. Further, the participants will receive the questions before the research starts to give them more time to prepare responses. To gain in-depth information, they will undertake a follow-up visit to the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational leadership in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on eight companies will provide reliable and valid facts on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management.
From a hundred participants, the employees will form at minimum 80% of the sample. The companies will be selected from the United States. To qualify for participating in the research, participants must have worked at their current organizations for more than five years. Also, they should have been appraised a minimum of three times at their current organization. On the other hand, the managers/chief executive officers in the respective companies should have worked for their present organizations for more than seven years and organized for a minimum of three appraisals. The researcher estimates the total population of employees in the eight companies to be at 13000, while the number of managers (top, regional and departmental) to be 100. Therefore, it is expected that employees will constitute 80% of the participants in the sample. The selected companies will include those that align strategic management and performance appraisals and those that approach them independently.
The population is best suited for several reasons. First, the purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between organizational strategies and appraisal systems. The focus is on identifying whether the performance appraisal system should align with strategic management and how the stakeholders can achieve the objective (Zondo, 2018). The other goal was helping managers to integrate strategic management and performance appraisal. Managers head the strategy formulation processes. They also organize employee evaluations within their organizations. Therefore, they better understand whether their companies’ strategies match with the performance appraisals. The manager will be instrumental in helping the researcher investigate the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal. Also, the managers utilize the evaluation outcome within their organizations. They will be instrumental in understanding whether the performance appraisal outcomes are used to measure an organization’s progress based on the strategies or are merely for reward and punishment.
Also, the employee participants will be crucial in achieving the study’s purpose. While the managers create strategies, the employees implement them. Furthermore, while the managers prepare or organize performance appraisals, the employees do them. In other words, employees have a thorough understanding of an organization’s strategies and performance evaluations. They will help the researcher to understand whether the performance appraisals in selected companies are related to organizational goals or not. The other aim of the research is to compare whether there is a difference in variables of employee performance, motivation, and retention between companies aligning strategic management and performance appraisal and companies that use them independently. Therefore, by evaluating employees, it will be easier to determine the association between strategic management and performance assessments and how they are impacted (in terms of employee motivation, retention, and performance).
One of the research questions aims at understanding how strategic management and performance appraisal are aligned to one another. The reason for including some companies that have aligned strategic management and performance appraisal systems is to understand how they aligned the two organizational concepts. Consequently, their data could inform other managers linking strategic management and performance appraisal. Companies that do not align strategic management and performance appraisal are also included in the research. The primary objective for having them is to facilitate a correlational study design that seeks to understand the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal by measuring how (when used independently or dependently) affect employee performance, motivation and retention, and overall organizational performance.
Regarding employees, the selection criteria include having worked at their current organizations for a minimum of five years and taking at least three appraisals. The researcher assumes that employees who have worked in one organization for a minimum of five years better understand the organization’s culture and strategies. Also, those who have undertaken three or more appraisals understand the nature of organizational evaluations. Combined, the two criteria will ensure a high degree of accuracy when collecting employee data on the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal in their organizations.
The manager participants must have worked in their current organizations for seven years and overseen a minimum of three appraisals. Managers have the task of leading the employees towards the organizational goals outlined within the company strategies. Therefore, managers must understand or create designs and lead the rest in implementing them. With seven years of working in the same organization, the researcher assumes that the managers comprehensively understand the overall organizational strategies or have created their approaches. Also, having facilitated employee evaluations, the managers know whether the appraisals were related to their strategy or not.

Instrumentation
            The study aims to identify the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal systems. This section deals with instrumentation that will be used to collect data during the study. Instrumentation refers to the tools or means by which investigators attempt to measure variables or items of interest in the data-collection process (Salkind, 2010). Instrumentation involves the design, selection, construction, and conditions under which they are administered. Instruments are used to collect data which is then analyzed through appropriate data analysis methods before the conclusion is made. Types of instrumentation that can be used in a research paper include interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, and experiments. Each instrument has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of an instrument depends on the research goal and the type of data required. The research will use questionnaires and interviews.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires will help collect enough information to answer the four main questions regarding the association between strategic management and performance appraisals. The questions will be used to gather data from employees selected as participants for the research. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions to collect data from respondents. Questionnaires can be written or oral (Mcleod, 2018). They are administered face to face, through telephone calls, or via emails. Respondents’ answers are used to make findings on the study. Two types of question formats can be included in a questionnaire; closed and open-ended questionnaires. Closed questions provide predetermined answers to questions asked by the researcher, and the respondents have to choose among the responses (Mcleod, 2018). On the other hand, open-ended questions have no definite answers, and the researchers are allowed to put their answers.
In the research to find the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal, closed-ended questions will be used. The first reason for using open-ended questions is that the data collected could be manipulated into quantitative data (Mcleod, 2018). The research uses a correlational study design method, which is quantitative, meaning actual data is required. Correlational studies mainly use numerical data to assess the relationship between various variables. The second reason for using closed-ended questions is to standardize them. Thus, every respondent receives the same number of questions in the same order and with similar choices to pick one as a response (Mcleod, 2018). Thus, it will be easier for future researchers to check the reliability and consistency of the questions.
The other reason for using closed questions is to accommodate a relatively large sample size. In the previous studies, scholars have used small samples to conduct their studies which implies that they are less reliable (Rowley, 2014). Also, open-ended questions are economical in cost and time as it is easy to analyze data, interpret results and make conclusions (Mcleod, 2018). However, closed questions could also be disadvantageous because of a lack of depth. The participants are limited to the answers provided by the researcher and not their experiences. Subsequently, the data obtained could be biased (Mcleod, 2018). The challenge will be mitigated by ensuring that the questions contain three or more choices to give participants more options.
Open-ended questions are crucial because they allow the respondents to elaborate their answers. Thus, they provide rich qualitative data for researchers to assess various variables (Mcleod, 2018). Nevertheless, open-ended questions are not used in the research because of the nature of the study. The study is quantitative; thus, numerical data is crucial. While qualitative data may be very helpful, it does not suit the correlational study design. The other reason why open-ended questions will not be used in the study is that they are time-consuming to collect and analyze data (Mcleod, 2018). With limited time to collect and analyze data, it is viable to use open-ended questions.
Participation shall be voluntary, and information privacy will be upheld. The participants will fill out consent forms before responding to the questionnaires. The questions will be sent via emails to each selected employee participant. Further, the participants will receive the questions before the research starts to give them more time to prepare responses (Mcleod, 2018). The questions will focus on the purpose of the study, which is to find the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. Also, the questions will establish whether organizations formulate performance appraisals based on organizational strategies (Rowley, 2014). Also, the questions sent to employees will determine the relationship between strategic management, performance appraisal, fairness perception, organizational performance, employee performance, and job satisfaction.
A maximum of thirty questions will be sent to each employee participant. The reason for limiting the questions to thirty is to ensure a high completion rate. When questions are too many, the participant turnover rate could be high while, if questions are too small, the answers obtained may not yield reliable findings (Mcleod, 2018). Thus, thirty questions are considered the most reliable. Employee participants will be deemed to have concluded the research study only if they give responses to all the thirty questions. Employees who exclude any of the questions will be deemed withdrawn from the research, and their information will not be considered in the study. All these guidelines will be communicated to selected participants before the onset of the data collection process to lower turnover rates.
Interviews
There are two types of population in the study, and each will play a pivotal though different role in identifying the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals. Data from employee participants will be collected using questionnaires. However, data from top and HR managers will be collected through interviews. Interviews are the best data collection method for the leaders because their sample size will be smaller than employee participants since they are suitable when the sample size is smaller (Quantitative Data Collection and analysis, 2020). There are various ways of conducting interviews, such as telephone calls, emails, and face-to-face meetings. The email interviews will be used to collect data because they are cost-effective and time-saving compared to face-to-face interviews.
There are three types of interviews; structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. The study will use structured email interviews. The reason for using semi-structured email interviews is the nature of the study. Therefore, the data collected will be easy to manipulate to quantitative information. Secondly, like closed-ended questions, structured interviews are standardized, and thus, it is economical in terms of time and analysis process. Lastly, semi-structured interviews will help obtain factual and reliable information from the participants.
The structured interview questions will be sent to the participants a few days before the actual study period to give them more time to respond to questions. The participants will be declared to have completed the study only if s/he responds to all the interview questions.
To gain in-depth information, they will undertake a follow-up visit to the selected companies’ sites to interview the managers and their opinions on the relationship between strategic management and appraisal performance (Zondo, 2018). Therefore, the organizational leadership in the selected companies will provide information through interviews. The data on eight companies will provide reliable and valid facts on the state of the performance evaluation system and strategic management. Semi-structured interviews combine unstructured and structured interviewing formats. It is suitable when conducting mixed methods studies and, thus, ineffective for this particular study. Non-structured discussions lack prearranged questions and are used when qualitative information is required. Therefore, the interview approach does not fit the study because it is quantitative.
Ethical considerations will be made during the study as it involves human participants. Participation for employees and managers will be voluntary. Also, they will have to consent to participate in the survey before the data collection process begins. An IRB approval will be required before recruiting any participant in the research and collecting any data.
Operational Definitions of Variables
            An operational variable is how researchers define and measure variables used in their research (Mcleod, 2019). The variables are pivotal in determining the reliability of research and could be utilized in other research studies (Mcleod, 2019). The variables may either be independent or dependent (Mcleod, 2019). This study’s two main variables are strategic management and performance appraisal. Other variables include perceived fairness, organizational performance, employee performance, job satisfaction, and motivation. These variables will help determine any relationship between corporate strategies and performance appraisal. If organizations integrating strategic management and performance appraisal show a significant difference to firms that do not incorporate the two concepts, then it will be concluded that there is a correlation between them (strategic management and performance appraisal).
Strategic Management
Strategic management is concerned with organizational goals and objectives, and it seeks to maintain a balance between corporate and environmental factors (Ansoff et al., 2019). Strategic management is developed and supported in organizations to help them remain consistent, pursue their objectives, and become adaptable to the existing environmental conditions (Ansoff et al., 2019). In the research paper, organizations that evaluate employees based on the organization’s goals will be considered, and environmental issues related to the specific industry will be regarded as integrating performance appraisal and strategic management. Organizations that do not assess employees based on their goals will be categorized as not integrating strategic management with performance appraisals (Ansoff et al., 2019). Consequently, the variables of organizational performance, employee performance, job satisfaction, and perceived fairness will be measured to get the difference.
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is systematic employee evaluation to understand their abilities to perform tasks. Organizations use performance appraisals for training and development, reward and punishment, and communication (Cleveland et al., 1989). Performance appraisal elicits different feelings, and these emotions determine the employee attitudes. These attitudes are measured in employee job satisfaction, perceived fairness, and performance. Also, the organizational performance may reflect employees’ reactions towards the appraisals. Thus, the effectiveness of performance appraisals will be measured based on attributes such as job fulfillment, employee performance, employee perceived fairness of the appraisals, and organizational performance.
Job Satisfaction
Job/employee satisfaction is a measure of fulfillment that emanates from doing a particular job (Locke, 1969). Satisfied employees enjoy doing their work and can stay in the same organization for many years (Locke, 1969). On the other hand, dissatisfied employees are unhappy with their work and are likely to move to another employer. Job satisfaction will be measured based on the extent of employee happiness. The outcome will then show whether there is a relationship between performance appraisals and strategic management in organizations.
Perceived Fairness
Perceived fairness refers to the quality of being fair based on the previous standards or norms (Peiró et al., 2014). In the research context, perceived fairness is the extent to which employees perceive assessments based on earlier evaluations. Some scholars have found a significant relationship between performance appraisals and perceived fairness (Du Plessis & Van Niekerk, 2017). Employees perceive assessments that assess organizational goals as fair, while those that do not incorporate organizational goals as unfair. Employees may be detracted from the appraisals if the performance appraisals are perceived as unfair (Getnet et al., 2014. The research will measure the perceived fairness difference between firms integrating strategic management and performance appraisal and those that do not. The outcome will further address the main research question that seeks to identify the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.
Organizational Performance
Organizational performance is a fundamental concept in corporate management. It measures its actual outputs against intended results (Bakotic, 2016). Performance may exceed expectations or fail to meet the desired goals. The managers and employees determine organizational performance through their daily activities. However, the daily activities are influenced by job satisfaction, job motivation, and perceived fairness of the appraisals, among other essential variables. Thus, high performance may reflect high employee motivation and satisfaction (Krishnan et al., 2018). On the other hand, lower performance points to a disgruntled and demotivated workforce. The outcome of organizational performance will address the research purpose on whether organizations should integrate strategic management and performance appraisals.

Study Procedure
The study focuses on performance appraisals and strategic management. The four research questions will be addressed through the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1
Null: Performance appraisals and strategic management are correlated
Alternative: Performance appraisals are not correlated
Hypothesis 2:
Null: Integrating performance appraisal and strategic management improves organizational and employee performance, job satisfaction, motivation, and perceived fairness
Alternative Hypothesis: Integrating performance appraisal and strategic management has no impact on organizational and employee performance, job satisfaction, motivation, and perceived fairness.
Testing the hypotheses will require rigorous data from the participants. The existing research does not provide any information on the association between strategic management and performance appraisal. Most literature discusses the uses of performance appraisals, perceived fairness, and job and job satisfaction, among other variables. However, the research will focus on how the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal affects other organizational variables such as employees and performance.
The first procedure in the research process will be selecting the participants. The research participants will include managers and employees from different companies. The study will involve one hundred participants from eight American companies. The participants in the research will be identified through a purposeful sampling technique. In purposeful sampling, the researcher selects cases with a particular purpose in mind. Purposeful sampling also helps the researchers to arrive at reliable research outcomes using a small sample size. Another sampling method that the research study would use is convenience sampling. However, it is not applicable in the study because its results do not represent the entire population. Also, it is hard to replicate the findings from convenience samples.
Employee participants will be selected based on specified criteria described in the population and sample section. The participants must have worked in their current organizations for more than five years and taken three or more appraisals. The criteria will ensure that study participants have a clear background of their organizations and are knowledgeable on the appraisals within the organizations. The manager participants must have worked in their current organizations for seven years and overseen a minimum of three appraisals. The criteria will also ensure that the manager participants know their organizational strategies and performance appraisals. Subsequently, the research outcomes will be more accurate.
The selection criteria will be communicated to the potential participants before the data collection process. Afterward, each participant will be screened to ensure that they meet the stipulated guidelines either as managers or employees. The selected participants will be subjected to one-day training on the various concepts of strategic management, performance appraisal, job satisfaction, and employee performance.
The participants will fill out consent forms before accepting their participation in the study. Also, they will be assured of their information’s confidentiality during and after the research. Any participant will be free to drop out of the study without seeking permission from the investigators. Also, each participant will receive one questionnaire with thirty questions and with instructions. Participants will be deemed to have completed the study only if they respond to all thirty questions. Also, the manager partakers will respond to all interview questions for their data to be used in the study.
Participants will be drawn from eight American companies that will be selected based on their record of how frequently they conduct performance appraisals. Moreover, the companies should be administering appraisals annually or once every two years. The requirement will ensure an easy comparison of performance appraisals and strategic management. All the research participants will be drawn from the eight companies. Thus, each participating firm must allow its employees and managers to be used as participants in the study.
The interviews and questionnaires will be sent to the participants through their emails. The reason for using emails is that they are less costly, easy, and less time-consuming than meeting participants or using telephone calls. All participants will be given seven days to respond to all questions. One week is given to allow enough time for participants to respond to questions based on the facts from their various firms. At the end of one week, all respondents will be required to submit their responses. Beyond seven days, no responses will be allowed, and the respondents will be considered to have withdrawn from the research. Their data will not be included in the final analysis and conclusion.
Several variables will be measured using the thirty questions in each questionnaire and interview. The variables are both independent and dependent. Independent variables remain unchanged throughout the experiment while the dependent variables keep changing. The independent variables will include strategic management and performance appraisal. In the discussion on the operationalization of variables, strategic management is defined as setting out goals and planning how to achieve the goals. Each organization has unique goals based on the nature of the business. Strategic management must be consistent and incorporate external and internal factors. On the other hand, performance appraisal is assessing employees to know their abilities to perform tasks. In the study, the two variables will remain unchanged.
The dependent variables in the study will include perceived fairness of employee assessments, job satisfaction, employee performance, organizational performance, and job motivation. The study will measure how these variables are affected in organizations that integrate strategic management and performance appraisals. Also, the variables will be measured in firms that do not combine strategic management and performance evaluations. The differences will highlight the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals and answer both hypotheses and research questions.
Each of the eight companies will contribute a maximum of fifteen participants. The eight companies will be divided into two categories; those integrating performance appraisals and strategic management and those that do not. The classification of these companies into two groups will be done after interviewing the managers and other leaders within the selected companies. The responses from the manager/leader participants will be intended to help identify the nature of strategic management and performance evaluations in their respective companies, and afterward, group them into two distinct categories. On the other hand, the employees’ responses will determine how the connection between strategic management and performance appraisals affects other variables. The study will constitute both female and male participants who meet the research standards. Also, all races will be accepted in the study. The employee respondents will not be allowed to consult with their managers when responding to questions as that may lead to biased findings. After all the requisite data is collected, the analysis process will begin.
Data Analysis
Data analysis can be descriptive or inferential. Descriptive data uses percentages, frequency, and standard deviation, among other variables. On the other hand, inferential statistics include t-test, correlation, and regression analysis, among other methods. The section identifies and discusses a data analysis method that will be used to evaluate research data to answer the questions and hypotheses in the study.
The collected data in the study will be analyzed using a two-sample t-test and correlation analysis to determine if there is a significance difference between companies integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those that do not. The results of the analysis will either disapprove or approve the hypotheses. On the other hand, correlation results will show the nature of the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisals.
The study uses the two-sample t-test data analysis method to show whether the data collected is of statistical significance or merely a chance (Elliot, 2021). Also, a two-sample t-test will be essential in comparing variables from two different populations (i.e., companies that integrate strategic management and performance evaluations and companies that use them separately). The statistical significance will be represented by a p-value (Elliot, 2021). The significant value will be calculated at a confidence interval of 5%. Therefore, any p-value less than 0.05% will show a statistical significance of research variables between companies integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those that use them as two separate tools.
Also, the two-sample-test data analysis approach will be used to analyze the data because of the simplicity in the data analysis method. A comparison of the p-value and confidence level will be required to answer the two hypotheses. Also, the data analysis method simplifies the data collection method. Consequently, the study will only require basic information on the various research variables to determine if the data is statistically significant. The method is also robust compared to other methods that test significance differences. The research aims to provide reliable data that organizations can utilize in improving strategic management or performance appraisals. Therefore, using a two-sample t-test will ensure that the final results provide a reliable outcome that organizations can adopt.
Correlation analysis measures the extent of the relationship between different variables. In the study, correlation analysis will be used to measure the association between strategic management and performance appraisals and job satisfaction, employee and organizational performance, perceived fairness, and motivation (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). One of the research questions was to determine how the two concepts are related based on their effects on dependent variables. The correlation analysis will help answer the question because it can show the nature of the relationship between various variables. There are positive, negative, and zero correlations (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). In positive correlation, an increase in one variable leads to the same results in the other variable and vice versa. In a negative correlation, a decrease in one variable leads to an increase in the other and vice versa. In contrast, in zero association, the two variables do not impact each other (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). Therefore, the correlation analyses will help determine if integrating strategic management and performance appraisals affect employee and organizational variables.
The correlation data analysis method will be used in the study for various reasons. First, it is one of the quantitative data analysis methods. Secondly, one of the study’s goals is to identify relationships in the variables of job satisfaction, performance, motivation, perceived fairness, and organizational performance in organizations combining that link strategic management and performance appraisals and those that do not. The second reason for using a correlation study is to allow more robust future studies (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). The study will be the first to analyze strategic management and performance appraisals and other employee and organizational variables. Therefore, it could attract more interest from other researchers. Like a two-sample t-test, correlation analysis results are easy to interpret and make conclusions (Correlation analysis: Analyze correlation between two variables, n.d). The final results will therefore be accurate and reliable due to reduced errors.
The analysis data will be grouped based on the variables, the type of companies, and the respondents. The dependent variables in the study are job satisfaction, employee motivation and performance, perceived fairness appraisal fairness, and organizational performance. Job satisfaction was defined as the extent of fulfillment influenced by internal factors at the workplace, performance assessments included. Employee motivation is the intrinsic value that drives employees to perform their tasks at the workplace. Also, motivation is affected chiefly by workplace factors. Other variables are defined in the operationalization section. The means of each variable derived from the responses will be included in the two-sample t-test data analysis method.
In the data analysis and result section, the type of companies will refer to; those integrating strategic management and performance appraisals and those using the two concepts independently. Thus, there will be two different types of companies in the grouping of the data. The dependent variables in the two companies will be measured differently. The two types of participants/population will refer to those working in the two different companies above. The manager/leader participants’ data will not be used in the analysis because; the interviews will help divide the participating companies into two categories. In the two-sample-test, the analysis will determine if there is statistical significance in the means of the two populations as derived from the dependent variables. Statistical significance will imply a relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal and approve the first null hypothesis.
Data obtained in the table will be tabulated in the study. The table will contain three columns containing the variables, the two populations. A sample of the table that will be included in the study is shown below. The variable column will have the five employee and organizational factors affected by the relationship between strategic management and performance appraisal in organizations. The second and third column contains two types of companies with two different types of population. The responses will be recorded to allow the use of two-sample tests. Therefore, the means of responses for each variable will be used in the study instead of using each participant’s response. The existence of two companies will also enable correlation studies to be conducted to find the difference in the five variables between the two types of companies (indicated in the second and third columns).

Table 1: The Expected data table after data is obtained

Variables	Companies Integrating strategic management and performance Appraisals (A)	Companies not integrating strategic management and performance appraisals (B)
Employee performance
Job/Employee satisfaction
Employee motivation
Perceived employee fairness of appraisals
Organizational performance

Section	Organizational performance	Employee performance	Job satisfaction	Employee Motivation	Perceived Fairness
Questions	1-6	7-12	13-18	19-24	25-30
Mean

The multiple choices provided for each question will require the participants to rate various aspects within each section of the variables. The ratings per section will be added and divided by six to get the mean. To get the means for all participants in each company category, the means of participants in every section will be added, then divided by the number of participants in the respective company category (refer to table one). The means will then be recorded in table one alongside the variables before the two-sample t-tests and correlation analysis.
Various tools can be used in analyzing the data. The two standard tools are SPSS and excel. The two-sample t-test and correlation analysis will be performed in excel. Excel is preferred over SPSS because of its ease of accessibility. Excel allows for the customization of various functions during the data analysis. Also, using Excel for data analysis is best and simple compared to other methods. The data obtained from the participants will be easily recorded in Excel, analyzed, and results obtained. Therefore, calculations will be done using Excel tools. The results will be interpreted to determine the connection between strategic management and performance appraisals based on their influence on the five variables (table 1).

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Ethical Assuranes (6 Pages)

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