Scholars, strategists or stakeholders? Competing rationalities and impact of performance evaluation for academic managers in Chinese universities

Abstract

The education sector is an important pillar of a nation's economic and social development. Yet, limited research has been conducted on the performance management of those in managerial positions in the Chinese higher education sector context. Given the Chinese government's recent espoused ambition, and resource commitment, to build world‐class universities and world‐class disciplines, this is a significant gap. Drawing on data collected from 18 semi‐structured interviews and 693 survey responses, we examine the relationship between the extent to which performance evaluation is used for monitoring and decision‐making purposes, and role conflict, organizational citizenship behavior and performance. Our study contributes to existing knowledge on the performance management system in the Chinese higher education sector by revealing its unique characteristics underpinned by competing rationalities and demands on academic leaders. It highlights the need for improvement in human resource management if China is serious in building first‐class universities.