Complex by Design: Connecting Performance Management System Complexity to Public-Sector IT Employee Satisfaction Through Job Enrichment and Motivational Factors
Date of Award
Summer 2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Committee Chair
Leo Sedlmeyer
Committee Member
Rachel Tate
Committee Member
Lori Salgado
Abstract
Performance management systems (PMS) such as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) Goals and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework are commonly utilized by organizations to influence employee outcomes. Prior research in both private and public-sector contexts has highlighted the promise of PMSs to improve job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention, especially when systems are aligned with broader strategic goals and are perceived as fair by employees. However, the literature also documents significant variability in outcomes, with public-sector information technology settings facing persistent challenges because of bureaucratic complexity, cultural resistance, and inconsistent application of PMS frameworks. The consistency of PMS effectiveness was often constrained by inconsistent implementation and limited understanding of PMS complexity. This study empirically examined whether deliberate increases in PMS complexity positively influenced employee satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. This study was grounded in job motivational theories and conducted by applying a vignette factorial survey of U.S. public-sector information technology workers through Amazon Mechanical Turk. The study compared SMART Goals to the BSC and three levels of complexity at the initial proposal of the PMS to employees. Quantitative analyses revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between PMS complexity and job satisfaction. Demographics demonstrated trends in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention related to age, gender, experience, and education, including tendencies towards individualist versus communal attitudes that were not overcome by the choice of or change in the PMS. Notably, only PMS complexity shifted these patterns, and only through positive correlations with job satisfaction.
Recommended Citation
Lehman, Dewayne Allen, "Complex by Design: Connecting Performance Management System Complexity to Public-Sector IT Employee Satisfaction Through Job Enrichment and Motivational Factors" (2025). All Doctoral Student Dissertations. 222.
https://fuse.franklin.edu/docpub/222
