Abstract

     The leadership component has not been acknowledged in many of the models proposed for performance management in public sector organizations. In addition, the concept and scope of this component fall short of consistency with theoretical foundations of organizational behavior management. This situation is not favorable to render optimal performance management. Hence, three levels have been devised within this model. These levels are (1) performance management components with regards to the appropriate balance between behavioral and process aspects, (2) leadership component dimensions: leadership traits, leadership behaviors, and leadership context, and (3) leadership subcomponents for each of the above dimensions.

Introduction

     In administrative reform, focusing on performance management (PM) is a notable trend (Allegrini et al., 2021). Performance management models play a prominent role and significantly impact organizations’ improvement and performance (Mir Sepasi et al., 2013). Undoubtedly, improved performance and excellence will bring many benefits to organizations, stakeholders, and employees. In addition, the public interest can be secured by improving public sector organizations’ performance, ensuring the government’s survival and legitimacy. Sovereignty is based on legitimacy (Noori et al., 2012). Despite this issue’s significance, performance management systems are rarely implemented in an ideal manner (Maestro et al., 2020) and are scarcely updated for further improvements (Holzer et al., 2017). Although these systems are prevalent, several studies indicate that organizations do not manage their performance adequately for various reasons (Șerban & Herciu, 2019).

Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Research

     Part of the gap in organizational PM models is related to ignoring the specialized aspect of the leadership component. In other words, the leadership component is not considered independently in these models, or its concept and nature are not consistent with the scientific foundations of organizational behavior management. Just by being a manager, leaders do not act in the same and accurate way, have their own individual traits and behaviors, and lead in a different context. Although minor, these differences may lead to deep performance gaps and different organizational results if they persist. If this component is neglected in PM models, leadership will remain a black box of organizational performance.

     Therefore, using design science methodology in this study, researchers have sought to fill this gap and design an appropriate PM model focusing on public sector organizations. Based on this, at the first and bottom levels of the model, elements were extracted after thematic analysis of theoretical foundations (of performance management including 23 PM models and leadership including 23 sources) and semi-structured interviews with experts. Furthermore, leadership dimensions were designed at the middle level of the model using five reliable organizational behavior sources. In summary, the dimensions and components of leadership in the designed model include the following elements: