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Research (Thesis) Proposal

For partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree MS







TITLE OF YOUR THESIS



NAME OF STUDENTS






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Table of Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Literature Review 5
3. Research Objectives 7
4. Research Design and Methodology 7
4.1 Research Approach 7
4.2 Research Strategy 7
4.3 Data Collection 8
4.4 Data Analysis 8
4.5 Thesis Structure (Plan of Research) 8
4.6 Time Management 9
5. Conclusion 9
6. References and Bibliography 10
7. Appendices
7.1 Appendix 1 (Proposed Questionnaire) 11
7.2 Appendix 2 (Proposed Interview Questions) 12
7.3 Appendix 3 (Proposed Gantt Chart) 12
7.4 Appendix 4 (Thesis Structure) 13


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1. Introduction

Every organization has some objectives, goals and missions to achieve. Such targets can be
realized by appropriate planning, executing strategies and well-groomed management of human
recourse. One of the important concerns however, is measurement whether people are doing their
work at right time in right manner. The process leads towards the area performance management
(PM). According to Carter McNamara, (1997) Performance management is a set of various
processes which throws light on the overall organization performance to the departments and at
the employees level. Performance management is considered as a set of process that includes
the employees knowledge about what their managers expect of them, motivation of employees
to perform well, development of employees, monitoring and appraising the performance in order
to address the blue areas. Performance Management (PM) is further divided into two parts i.e.
Performance Appraisal (PA) and Performance Development.
Measuring performance of employees and taking steps when it doesnt match the standards is a
core exercise of management in any organization. Educational institutions are not exempted from
this philosophy of performance evaluation where the performance of teachers should be
comprehended systematically as they are nucleus of the labor force of an educational institution.
This is another fact, when teachers perform well, students are high achievers and institutions
contribute more towards higher education.
Today there is a pressure on Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to enhance the quality of
educational system due to competitive market environment with increased number of HEIs in the
country. So there is strong need for HEIs to improve the performance of their faculty via various
performance management practices. Since teacher is the pivot of whole educational system
hence HEIs are struggling hard for their development through systematic approaches such as
Performance Appraisals (PA).
Performance Management System comprises of the Performance Development and the
Performance Appraisal (Evaluation) of academic staff in higher education institutions. Despite of
the importance of Performance Appraisal for academic staffs performance, various researchers
have focused on the 1
st
part of PMS i.e. Performance Development in higher educational
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institutions of the world but there is a little work has been seen on the Performance Appraisal of
academic staff, especially in Pakistan yet there is no comprehensive study has been done on the
Performance Appraisal of academic staff in HEIs. So the researcher in current research will
study the Performance Appraisal (PA) system and appraisal procedures used for the teachers in
two higher education institutions of Pakistan and recommend the suggestions for their
improvements.
The research objectives of current study will be achieved by two part division. The first part
(literature review section) of the research will focus on the analysis of various Performance
Appraisal mechanisms and early practices relating to it. The second part of research will present
the study of Performance Appraisal techniques being used at 2 higher education institutions (The
Bahauudin Zikria University Multan and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology)
operating in Pakistan in which researcher will attempt to implement the latest Performance
Appraisal theories and explore their potential issues.

















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2. Literature Review

Aguinis (2007) describes the performance management as a persistent process through which
performance of employees is identified, measured and improved in the organization. This
process includes various practices like recognition of employees achievements, providing them
regular feedback and offering career development. He further affixes that this process requires
apparent objectives, observing and measuring performance and continuous feedback.
Performance Management primarily focuses on employees to develop their capabilities. It does
not only do capacity building but it helps managers to sense the past and respond quickly to
uncertain changes (Cokins, 2004).
The value of performance management is recognized in most organizations as improving both
individual and organization performance ((Benade 2009). This improvement process consists on
two parts, 1
st
is performance evaluation (performance appraisal) and the 2
nd
one is performance
development. Performance evaluation started as a way to ensure that the employee is paid the
equivalent of what he/she is worth to the organization (Benade 2009). During the appraisal
process it is important to recognize the goals of the individual and the organization. Both parties
(employer and employee) must understand the requirements of the process and have an
appreciation for each other. The appraisal process itself takes performance forward. This must be
a well-organized process and even if the outcome is negative, the process itself must go well for
the individual and organization. Employees must start to see this as a time to do self-evaluation
and to embark on a journey of self-improvement (Barnes, 2007: 1-14).
Due to the big competition today higher education organizations need to attract, employ, develop
and retain employees who think and act like entrepreneurs. Employees of this caliber optimize
available resources by finding innovative solutions to problems. Entrepreneurs tend to be
proactive, take calculated risks and have a good sense for excellent business opportunities (Foba
& De Villiers, 2007: 14). So the higher education institutions start their focus on quality
improvement of their teaching staff. Gupta (1993) discuss that high quality of human resource
could improve the standards of local higher education to the international level and teachers are
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the main catalyst in achieving this objective. So it is obvious that in order to improve the
performance of HEIs the performance of the teachers must be appraised and improved. Today
higher education is struggling hard to improve the performance of teaching faculty as Sadiq
(2007) emphasized that higher education commission in Pakistan should put its efforts on
professional development of university teachers first in order to improve the performance of
higher education sector. To improve the performance of teachers in higher education institutions
PM are essential practices that continuously appraises and improve the performance level of
teaching staff so turns up the performance of higher education institutions.
Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are continuously working on analyzing various Performance
Appraisal practices and choosing the best one for their institution because HEIs have
experienced a 56 percent increase in enrolments in the last decade. This growth inevitably spilt
over into increased numbers in both academic and support staff. In addition, diverse approaches
to teaching have been adopted and limited resources are used more effectively. Higher education
had to move toward a market-driven model to stay sustainable, pressuring Human Resources
departments to think out of the box (Daysh & Kubler, 2008). So Higher Education Institutions
are trying to adopt the Performance Management System (PMS) through effective Performance
Appraisal which is the best available mechanisms for efficient and productive management. As
Armstrong (2006) states that Performance Management Systems intends to generate a high
performance work environment in which all the members of organization take responsibility for
continuous improvement of business processes and their own skills. But a few institutions are
still using the old review mechanisms like Annual Confidential Reports and Management by
Objectives.
In this research researcher will study and analyze the various review systems (Performance
Appraisal Systems) used by BZU and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology and
compare the blue areas as well as benefits of such systems and finally researcher will
recommend the best implementable system for Higher Education Institutions.




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3. Research Objectives
o To analyze various Performance Appraisal Practices and explore the best implementable
practices which leads to the effective performance management systems in selected
higher education institutions of Pakistan.
o To study the current Performance Appraisal techniques being used in selected
universities operating in Pakistan.
o To assess the attitude of university teachers towards the current performance Appraisal
practices.
o To identify the performance appraisal related disputes and challenges during PM
implementation faced by the selected Pakistani universities.
o To recommend suggestive solutions that can increase effectiveness of efforts to improve
human resource performance in selected universities.

4. Research Design and Methodology
4.1 Research Approach
As the main intention of this study is to evaluate the Performance Appraisal effectiveness in the
selected higher education institutions of Pakistan, researcher will adopt comparative study
method. As Hartley (1994) asserted that comparative study research provides an analysis of the
context and processes involved in the phenomenon under study and provides an opportunity to
have quick glimpse of people inner feelings, their beliefs and observations about these contexts.
Researcher will take 2 universities i.e. BZU and COMSATS for current research purpose
because both of these institutions are serving different areas of Pakistan using different
evaluation practices so it will easy to analyze them.
4.2 Research Strategy
Researcher will use qualitative as well as quantitative strategies in this research. In qualitative
research interviews will be conducted from the management (Faculty dean and Chairman) of
selected universities i.e. BZU and COMSATS while in quantitative research a survey will be
designed among a sample of population (Appendix 1, 2). A qualitative choice of research strategy
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will allow the researcher to extract information from the received responses by making sense of
it from researchers own past experiences. A quantitative research strategy will allow the
researcher to develop theories and to relate these with the literature.
4.3 Data Collection
For this research two instruments of data collection will be used which are questionnaire survey
and interviews. Researcher will interview management of the selected universities who are
responsible for developing and implementing the performance management systems.
Quantitative data for this research will be gathered by obtaining information from the
questionnaires. These questionnaires will be distributed among the teaching staff of selected
universities. The questionnaires will be distributed by hand and the responses will be collected
either on the same day or later as required.
4.4 Data Analysis
For this research, researcher will gather qualitative as well as quantitative data in order to reach a
fair conclusion. Qualitative data that will be in the shape of interviews will interpret based on the
meaning of expressed words by the interviewees. Decoding of the data will be subjective
according to my view point and knowledge of the subject. There are different types of analysis
procedures for qualitative data like summarizing, categorization and structuring of meanings.
Quantitative data will be analyzed in terms of percentages. The analysis of this quantitative data
will help to derive an answer in formulating a relationship between the concepts of my research.
4.5 Thesis Structure (Plan of Research)
Researcher intends to make maximum benefit from the allocated supervisor. He will be keen to
take his or her advice and feedback at every level of his research and will edit patterns
accordingly.
Researcher will follow the typical structure of thesis as suggested be Bryman and Bell (2007)
with a number of changes at some levels. He will start with declaration in which he will write
about my findings that it will not harm unethically to any person and references are used from
relevant materials according to Harvard style of referencing. The next part will consist of
Acknowledgements to allocated supervisor and interviewees if they do not want to stay
anonymous. After acknowledgments there will be table of contents and then an abstract.
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After completing the first phase Researcher will start with the introduction in which he will
explain about his thesis. A little about theoretical approach and will tell about the strategy of
research (qualitative and quantitative). After the introduction researcher will write literature
review about his topic. Once the literature review is complete he will start with the research
methodology in which he will discuss about the organizations, research purpose and approaches,
strategies and data collection. Once this phase is complete researcher will write about data
analysis and findings from his research. Then comes the conclusion and recommendations,
references and bibliography and appendices (appendix 4).
This is proposed outline for thesis which is subject to change according to the changes made by
researcher with the help of thesis supervisor.
4.6 Time Management:
Time management is very important in any research project. Researcher has made a Gantt chart
with nine stages from start to end stage of thesis. As the researcher believe that a suitable
timetable is very important for this research. Gantt chart has different stages and the calendar
points to complete the tasks in time. There can be some changes in time schedule depending
upon the response time of respondents and the interviewees or may be in searching the literature
for new references. But researcher is positive to finish this thesis on time by making sure that
researcher have some time for editing and revising the final version.
Researcher had started deciding about the thesis in November. After finalizing the topic
researcher will start the literature search for thesis and this process will take place till 1st week of
September. In August, researcher will start designing thesis accordingly from the proposed
design if it needs to change. Researcher has decided to collect the data and conduct interviews in
September. After collecting the data researcher will start analyzing the data in the month of
October and this process will acquire two weeks. Once the collected data is analyzed, researcher
will start writing the thesis from the last week of January to March. The thesis will be ready to
submit in the last week of April with revision (Appendix 3).

5. Conclusion
To conclude, this report demonstrates that researcher understand about writing a thesis. It
includes selection process of thesis topic and formation of thesis question and hypothesis.
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Research methodology for thesis in the light of literature with the justification of research
philosophy, approach, strategies, the time horizon along with time table and proposed time frame
as well as the ethical issues will be considered for this research, Data collection instrument along
with the credibility and validity, data analysis procedure and resources required for the
completion of thesis. Finally this report includes the structure of thesis researcher intends to use,
which is subject to change with the feedback from allocated supervisor.

6. References and Bibliography

Aguinis, H. (2007). Performance management. London: Printice Hall.
Armstrong, M. (2006). Key strategies and Practical Guidelines.: 3rd edition. London: Kogan Page.
Armstrong, M. B. (2005). Managing Performance: Performance management in action. London: CIPD.
Barnes, G.R. 2007. Career Paths & Performance Management in Higher Education. Session 30, ITS User
Group, 2007.

Bascal, R. (1999). Performance Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Benade, M. (2009). A critical appraisal of performance management (appraisal) in higher education:
Case study at Stellenbosch University. University of Stellenbosch.
Cokins, G. (2004). Performance management: Finding the missing pieces and closing the intelligence gap.
Australia: John Wiley and Sons.
Foba, T.W.L. & De Villiers, D. 2007. The integration of entrepreneurship into a performance
management model. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 5 (2), 1-8.

Greer, R. (2001). Strategic Human Resource Management: A general managerial approach 2nd edition.
London: Printice Hal.
Keping, L. M. (2000). Performance appraisal reactions: Measurement, modelling and method biases.
Journal of Applied Psychology , (85) 708-723.
McNamara, Carter, Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development, Performance
Management -- Basic Concepts (regarding performance of organizations, subsystems, processes or
employees), DM Review Online,1997-2008
Stafyarakis, M. (2002). HRD and Performance Management. Manchester: IDPM University of
Manchester.
Weihrich, H. (2005). Essentials of Management: An International Perspectives, 6th edition. New York:
McGraw-Hil.
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Wilson, J. P. (2005). Human Resource Development: 2nd edition. London: Kogan Page.

Appendix 1:
Proposed Questionnaire for Survey:
1. How often is Performance Appraisal for the teachers conducted in the University?
a. Quarterly
b. Semi-Annually
c. Yearly
d. Other
2. Who conducts the performance appraisal of a teacher?
a. Vice Chancellor
b. Dean
c. Chairman/HOD
3. Is a different performance appraisal form used for different teachers?
a. Yes
b. No
4. What are the various types of performance appraisal technique(s) is/are used in University?
a. Graphic Rating Scales
b. Management-by-Objectives
c. Quantitative Models for Performance Measurement Systems (QMPMS)
d. 360 Degree
e. Other (Identify which technique
5. Are the teachers allowed to participate in setting the standards for measuring performance?
a. Yes
b. No
6. Is the performance appraisal planning based on how the teacher will do the job, i.e., the
behaviors and competencies expected of them?
a. Yes
b. No
7. Is the teachers performance viewed in the context of broader organizational goals?
a. Yes
b. No
8. Is the opinion of colleagues and students considered for performance appraisal?
a. Yes
b. No
9. During the evaluation, which of the following factors are considered by the Chairman/HOD?
a. Experience of the teacher
b. Training of the teacher
c. Job description
d. Teachers attainment of previous set goals and objectives
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10. Is there a performance appraisal review and feedback session occurring in the university?
a. Yes
b. No
Appendix 2:
Proposed Question for Interview:

1. What kind of appraisal system used in your institute?
2. Who is responsible in writing the appraisal form?
3. Does the appraisal affect the promotions and salaries of the teaching staff?
4. Do you face the problems of turn over and job dissatisfaction among teachers

Appendix 3:
Proposed Gantt chart:

Activity Period I Period II Period III Period IV Period V

Finalising
Dissertation
Topic


Literature
Search


Designing
Research


Gaining
entry to
Organisation


Data
Collection


Data
Analysis


Writing
Thesis


Writing Final
Version


Submission



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Appendix 4:
Thesis Structure (Plan of Research):

Declaration
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Abstract
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Introduction of the topic
1.2 Research Aim
1.3 Research Objectives
1.4 Research Question
2.0 Literature Review
2.1. PM History
2.2 Various practices of PM
2.3 Performance Management System
3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Organization Overview
3.2 Research Purpose
3.3 Research Approach
3.4 Research Strategy
3.5 Data Collection
4.0 Data Analysis
4.1 Findings from Research
4.2 Hypothesis proved right or wrong
5.0 Conclusion
6.0 Recommendations
7.0 References and Bibliography
Appendices
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