Performance management practices, employee attitudes and managed performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between performance management practices, employee attitudes and managed performance. Design/methodology/approach - Using a disproportionate stratified purposive approach, a sample of 900 employees was drawn from four public universities in Uganda. Findings - The paper reveals that performance management practices and employee attitudes are crucial for achievement of managed performance in public universities. Research limitations/implications - This was a cross-sectional study that inherently has common method biases. Such biases could be minimised with replication of the study using a longitudinal study approach that would also unearth all salient issues that could have remained untouched. Practical implications - The paper emphasises the need for public universities to institutionalise result-oriented relationships and adapt in the external hyper changing environment. Originality/value - The paper calls for a new approach to managing employees in public universities with increasing demand for university education and stakeholder interests in delivery of cost-effective quality services.