Book Review: Rudman's Performance Planning and Review
This paper provides a critical review of Robert Rudman's Performance Planning & Review: Making Employee Appraisals Work (2003). The review summarizes Rudman's central argument that year-round, systematically integrated performance appraisals are superior to traditional annual reviews, and evaluates the evidence he offers in support. The reviewer identifies both strengths — such as Rudman's clear explanation of opposing views and practical advice on structuring reviews — and significant weaknesses, particularly the author's tendency to make broad claims without sufficient empirical support. The paper concludes with suggested structural and stylistic improvements and assesses the book's potential value for managers, organizations, and students studying performance management.
- Summary of the Work: Overview of Rudman's book scope and purpose
- Author's Main Point: Rudman's thesis on year-round systematic appraisals
- Main Elements of the Argument: Reasons Rudman cites for integrated performance reviews
- Problems and Strengths Identified: Critique of Rudman's evidence and argument quality
- Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Effects: Proposed structural and stylistic improvements for the book
- Effects of the Book's Publication: Assessed value for managers, students, and organizations
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What makes this paper effective
- The review maintains a consistently critical but fair tone, acknowledging Rudman's practical contributions while clearly identifying gaps in evidence and argumentation.
- The paper applies a structured analytical framework — summary, main point, argument elements, problems, fixes, and effects — that models good academic book-review practice.
- Specific page citations from the source text (e.g., p.1, p.22, p.56) ground the critique in the actual content of the book, lending credibility to the reviewer's claims.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates evaluative critique: rather than simply summarizing Rudman's ideas, the reviewer assesses the quality of the evidence offered, distinguishes between opinion and empirically supported claims, and proposes concrete, actionable improvements. This goes beyond description to genuine analytical judgment — a skill central to academic book reviews.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief summary of the book's scope and purpose, then identifies Rudman's central thesis. It moves into a detailed examination of the argument's supporting elements, followed by a focused section on two identified problems and corresponding strengths. The reviewer then proposes specific fixes and projects the likely impact of those changes. The paper closes by assessing the book's broader value for its intended audience of managers, students, and organizations.
Summary of the Work
Rudman, R. (2003). Performance Planning & Review: Making Employee Appraisals Work. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.
In Performance Planning & Review: Making Employee Appraisals Work, Rudman (2003) presents research and practical guidance on performance management. The material is presented in a way that will benefit corporations, managers, supervisors, students, and others interested in understanding the how and why of performance planning. Rudman suggests that considerable dissatisfaction currently surrounds the performance review process. He criticizes existing systems while arguing that performance reviews can be a tool managers use — without fear or resistance — to encourage employees and teams to perform better. The author also addresses how to plan a performance review, noting the importance of using competency-based reviews for individual assessment versus team-based reviews when evaluating the organization's overall performance.
Author's Main Point
Rudman's central argument is that employee performance review systems are critical to an organization's and an individual's success, and that they must be completed systematically to produce the best outcomes. Rudman (2003) advocates for what he calls "year-round" performance reviews — appraisals integrated into the daily schedules of managers and others, using performance measures to assess the productivity and efficiency of both workers and the organization as a whole.
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