The use of performance appraisal schemes continues to grow. A survey carried out in the mid 60s within The Private enterprise in Australia indicated that one third of all employees surveyed participated in some form of appraisal scheme. Surveys conducted in the mid 70s revealed that at least 41 per cent of the organizations were using appraisal methods. 2 As the application of performance appraisal becomes increasingly widespread, the search for greater objectivity in performance appraisal has been intensified., However, no conceptual framework has been developed to enable a more systematic analysis of the existing methods as well as for design ing new ones.