An assessment of managerial knowledge, skills and attitudes required for implementing performance management system for organisational performance at Newcastle Municipality

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa, Performance Management Systems (PMSs) are widely implemented in municipalities to monitor and evaluate service delivery mechanisms for the purpose of improving organisational performance. The implementation of an effective PMS depends on several factors, including human elements. Therefore, the purpose of this research at Newcastle Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal was to assess the available managerial knowledge, skills and attitudes required for implementing an effective PMS for organisational performance.A qualitative research design was employed to describe the performance management processes currently implemented at Newcastle Municipality and the characteristics of these processes. A quantitative survey method was useful for collecting data and for precluding the management and performance practitioners identified through a stratified sampling method from providing data that was not within the scope of this research.The research found that managerial knowledge and skills were available and adequate at Newcastle Municipality. Despite these findings, there was a minor but significant need to improve existing managerial skills. Furthermore, the research uncovered mixed reactions towards managerial attitudes and it was difficult to determine the purpose of the implementation of PMS at the municipality and the attitude of members towards it. This was because the majority of respondents provided neutral responses to the question of whether there was a lack of positive attitude towards PMS from members in the organisation and because an equal number of respondents agreed and disagreed that PMS was implemented to comply with legislation rather than used as an internal control measure. Other attitudinal data contradicted the abovementioned findings on managerial knowledge and skills owing to the common feeling among respondents that knowledge and skills pertaining to the implementation of PMS were lacking in the municipality and that the municipality did not have the capacity or sufficient resources to implement PMS. It was concluded that the interaction between performance managers and existing Knowledge Management (KM) sharing practices at Newcastle Municipality probably contributed to an increase in managerial knowledge and skills. Future research is proposed to confirm this assumption.Furthermore, owing to discrepancies in feedback on managerial attitudes, the entire study conducted at Newcastle Municipality should be replicated in a similar setting in order to improve the reliability of its findings. It is recommended that future research should utilise a combination of quantitative and qualitative data-collection methods to grant participants the opportunity to explain their rationale for indicating a particular attitude in the questionnaire. This will also assist prospective researchers to formulate a specific viewpoint of respondents' attitudes towards the implementation of an effective PMS, which will contribute to the corpus of scientific knowledge about PMSs by highlighting the real causes of PMS implementation failure.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University