Practical Reason and Performance Appraisal

Author: Townley, Barbara

Source: Journal of Management Studies, Volume 36, Number 3, May 1999 , pp. 287-306(20)

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Abstract:

This paper examines responses of chairs of university departments to the news that they would be required to conduct a formal performance appraisal system. It is suggested that in order to understand resistance to appraisal we need to reject explanations invoking polarized antinomies - formal/informal, rational/political - and interrogate the concept of rationality. Drawing on MacIntyre's work, the paper examines the concept of practical reason to make sense of the chairs' responses and considers its relevance for understanding management and change in universities.

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00137

Affiliations: 1: University of Alberta

Publication date: 1999-05-01