4 In seeking solutions to productivity problems, public sector managers, as is also true of private sector managers, are also bedeviled by the contradictions in human resource management, in which organizational imperatives and human needs and desires often appear to be in conflict. At Hill Air Force Base, the twin phenomena of productivity deterioration and employee dissatisfaction among civilian employees had been observed by Base administrators and managers. To some observers among the base administrators and managers, these two phenomena appeared
2T. J. Peters, and R. H. Waterman, Jr. In Search of Excellence (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1982), 88.
3S. E. Atkinson, and R. Halvorsen, "The Relative Efficiency of Public and Private Firms in A Regulated Environment: The Case of US Electric Utilities, Journal of Public Economics, 29 (1986): 281 294.
4D. Pescatrice, and J. M. Trapani, "The Performance and Objectives of Public and Private Utilities Operating in the United States," Journal of Public Economics, 13 (1980): 260 261. to be linked, and one source of dissatisfaction among the civilian employees at the Base was tentatively identified as performance evaluation process for civilian employees. This research study was designed to investigate the potential relationship between the existing performance evaluation process for civilian employees, and the productivity deterioration. As morale and motivation affect productivity, and were also thought to be adversely affected by employee dissatisfaction with the performance evaluation process, these factors were also included in the investigation.
This study was conducted by Edward J. Marchetti, a civilian Production Manager at Hill Air Force Base. Mr. Marchetti conducted the research with the approval of Hill Air Force Base Commander, and the research was conducted under the supervision of the management faculty of the University of Phoenix.
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