ABSTRACT
There are few decisions made in modern organizations that do not, somehow depend upon performance appraisals. Although it may be possible in a limited number of jobs to obtain objective performance information, more typically this is not the case. Instead, organizations are forced to rely upon some type of subjective evaluation of a person’s performance. Systems that rely upon goals (e.g., MBO) still retain some aspect of subjectivity and judgment, even if it is just about what constitutes a meaningful goal. Given the subjective nature of these appraisals, it is not surprising that there have been volumes written about the errors, bias, inaccuracy, and inherent unfairness of most performance appraisals. What is perhaps more surprising, however, is that appraisals continue to be used, and used widely in most organizations.
