Effective Appraisal Systems: The Impact on Knowledge Sharing in the Lebanese Banking Sector

Abstract

Providing and deploying effective strategies to support knowledge-sharing activities is imperative, yet it is achievable by understanding the factors that facilitate the knowledge transfer process (Chaudhary, 2005). Knowledge sharing is considered the central key to the success of all knowledge management strategies (Chaudhary, 2005). For an organization, knowledge sharing is the act of capturing, organizing, reusing, and transferring experience-based knowledge that reside within the organizational and making that knowledge available to others in the business (Hsiu-Fen & Gwo-Gaung, 2006). Once knowledge sharing becomes integrated in the organizational culture and incorporated into performance appraisal processes, the foundations for a real knowledge culture will be built which is important for organizational success. Moreover, communication and management are important factors in building a good business and they are enhanced by the adoption of a good performance appraisal system. Effective appraisal systems act as a primary vehicle for the measurement of management change in this rapidly changing world marketplace (longenecker, 1997). Appraisal systems occupy a core role in human resource management and remain an essential topic to be invested among organizational researchers.

Many different appraisal techniques exist; the most important are: Self-Review appraisal, Immediate supervisor appraisal, Peer group appraisal, Team appraisal, overall assessment appraisal, Upward appraisal, and the 360 degree appraisal. Each appraisal process has its own advantages and disadvantages. The best anyone can hope to do is to match the appropriate appraisal method in order to enhance knowledge sharing in an organization. According to the researchers knowledge, no literature review exists on performance appraisal and knowledge sharing, thus this research will provide an empirical investigation about the relationship between performance appraisal and knowledge sharing. It will examine thoroughly the effectiveness of the different performance appraisal systems on knowledge sharing within Lebanese organizations. It further suggests some means for adopting better performance appraisal system that may incorporate criteria for knowledge sharing.