Case Study

Performance Management Improvements for Bristol-Myers Squibb

1. Discuss how this case illustrates the contrasts between the administrative use and developmental use of appraisals.

The case is a classic example of a wonderful and effective appraisal tool being wasted due to administrative hassles. The managers in the case study were too busy in fulfilling their administrative responsibilities of completing the forms and were least concerned about the real rationale or purpose of this whole exercise, i.e., evaluating the results of the appraisal for improving the performance of the employees. The administrative burden of filling the form completely erased the actual purpose of obtaining higher performance by analyzing the results of the content filled in the form.

The usages of the developmental plan, managers were trained to hold regular meetings with their employees, focusing on a new “performance partnership”, at which time the managers and the employees would review performance goals and expectations. With the administrative use plan, attention was mainly based on historical data - what the employees had done in the past. Not much attention was given to the employee’s future developments or improvements. The developmental use also results in more active participation between the managers and the employees. More time is devoted to coaching and has led to more interaction which, in many cases results in a better and more comfortable working relationship between manager and employee.

2. Identify some of the advantages and disadvantages of eliminating the use of

appraisal forms and ratings.

The major advantage of eliminating the use of appraisal forms and ratings is cost and time savings that occurred due to implementation of such system. Instead of focusing on real usage of the content gathered via appraisal forms, managers were too busy in their administrative duties. The disadvantage of eliminating such system was the fact that such...