Middle-level Managers Research Articles

Academic leaders: In-role perceptions and developmental approaches

Academic excellence is brought about by effective leadership, which may encompass the concept of distributed leadership, which signifies a collective engagement. However, leadership positions within higher education are frequently filled with scholars lacking leadership skills and experience, which can be detrimental both to their performance and well-being. To address this, we explored via interviews with academic leaders how academic leadership is defined and conceptualised and what their developmental needs are. Participants ( N = 23) came from junior, middle and senior management levels. Findings suggest that their notions of leadership as well as any developmental needs/activities perceived useful, differ according to their leadership level. Although junior leaders were more concerned with procedural elements of leading, senior leaders focused on mentoring, social expectations and knowledge of academia. These findings have important implications for a wider theoretical conceptualisation of academic leadership, which are typically focused on individual senior leaders. Further, our findings inform leadership development programmes, as universities’ dealings with academic leaders tend not to consider the differing requirements of junior, middle and senior academic leaders.

The impact of key indicators on the overall performance of Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies

Performance management helps organizations to ensure that they are on the right path. Thus, this requires increasing the ability of organizations to understand their own key indicators to manage and measure their performance. The purpose of this study is to determine the key performance indicators used in Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies. Moreover, it examines whether these indicators impact the overall performance of Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies. This study adopted a quantitative method based on a survey questionnaire. Participants were reached through human resources officers in the telecommunication companies. Questionnaires were distributed to 247 employees at middle and top management levels in Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies using a convenience sampling technique. However, 212 responses were returned completely filled with a response rate of 85.8%. This study used statistical software of SPSS and SmartPLS for data analysis. The results revealed that customer satisfaction, delivery reliability, learning and growth, employee satisfaction, cost, financial performance, flexibility, and quality are the key indicators used in Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies to measure performance. The results also revealed that customer satisfaction, delivery reliability, learning and growth, employee satisfaction, cost, financial performance, flexibility, and quality have an impact on the overall performance of Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies. These indicators can be used to determine the state of organizations, help measure the implementation of strategies, evaluate the organization’s current performance, design strategies for improvement, and evaluate organization’s departments and employees. AcknowledgmentThis paper was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [GRANT348].

Validity and reliability of sustainable supply chain management frameworks in Indian smart manufacturing industries

PurposeSustainable supply chain management (SSCM) ensures integration of socially, environmentally and economically feasible practices in entire supply chain. SSCM principles can be implemented to improve efficiency and productivity of a system by different attributes of the system. The purpose of this article is to identify the most appropriate existing (SSCM) framework that can be implemented suitably in Indian smart manufacturing industries.Design/methodology/approachValidity and reliability analysis on the existing SSCM frameworks was carried out with the help of empirical data collected using questionnaire survey methodology from various Indian smart manufacturing organizations. The empirical data were gathered from various experts from top- and middle-level management in different smart manufacturing organizations across the country. Further, factor analysis was carried on the collected data to estimate the unidimensionality of each SSCM frameworks. Cronbach's alpha value was used to assess reliability of each framework. Subsequently, the frequency distribution analysis was done to obtain familiar elements in the segregated frameworks based on validity and reliability analysis.FindingsThe work observed that only five SSCM frameworks have shown unidimensionality in terms of the elements or constructs. The work further found that these segregated frameworks have not shown sufficiently high level of reliability. Additionally, this work attempted frequency distribution analysis and observed that there were very few elements which were being repeatedly used in numerous frameworks proposed by researchers. Based on the findings of this work, the work concluded that there is acute need of a new SSCM framework for Indian smart manufacturing industries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study gathered empirical data from 388 Indian smart manufacturing organizations. Thus, before generalizing the findings of the study across the sectors, there is a possibility of some more explication.Originality/valueThe main purpose of this article is to explore the feasibility of the existing SSCM frameworks in Indian smart manufacturing sector. The study also assumes that the manufacturing managers and executives may have the complete understanding on the existing sustainable manufacturing frameworks and a chance to executing proper suitable framework in the respective manufacturing organization.

Transactional Leadership Style and Market Share of Selected SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the growth of national economy, driving economic development, and are widely recognized as the primary source of employment, poverty reduction, lifestyle improvement, and empowerment of low-income groups. However, notwithstanding their seeming importance, SMEs are plagued with myriads of challenges such as inadequate, inefficient, and at times non-functional infrastructure, which has led to poor market share. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of transactional leadership on market share of selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study was 8,395 which is the total number of registered SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample size of 477 supervisors and middle level managers of SMEs were enumerated using Cochran’s (1977) formula. The study adopted stratified sampling technique. A structured, adapted and validated questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the respondents. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for all the constructs is greater than 0.7. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential tools. Linear Regression Analysis was used to determine the effect of the variables using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25. The finding revealed that transactional leadership had a significant effect on market share (β = 0.599, t = 13.456, R2 = 0.287, p<0.05). The study concludes that there was a statistically significant effect of transactional leadership on market share of selected SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria. Transactional leadership style is considered an important factor to SMEs survival and market share sustainability. It focuses on maintaining the status quo to increase company revenue and overall market share. Thus, SMEs owner/managers are encouraged to adopt the transactional leadership style, in order to achieve greater and sustainable market share. Keywords: Leadership style, Transactional Leadership, Market Share, Organizational performance, Small and Medium Enterprises.

INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON MANAGEMENT SKILLS: ADIYAMAN HEALTH SECTOR EXAMPLE

In this study, general financial literacy levels of managers working in the health sector, lower, middle and upper management levels in Adıyaman province and its districts were determined. The relationship between the determined general financial literacy level and management skills, and the effect of financial literacy on management skills have been revealed. In addition, it was also discussed whether the general financial literacy and management skills levels of managers differ in terms of their personal, generational, educational and managerial characteristics. In addition, another distinguishing feature of this work is that it is three-dimensional: First; measuring general financial literacy and management skills, second; measuring the effect of general financial literacy level on management skills and the third dimension is making these measurements in an area where very valuable resources are transferred, such as the health sector.

Eğitim Fakülteleri Yönetiminde Kadın Temsilinin İncelenmesi

Bu çalışmanın amacı gelecek nesilleri şekillendirecek öğretmenleri yetiştiren eğitim fakültelerinin yönetim kademelerindeki cinsiyet dağılımının genel tarama modeli kullanılarak incelenmesidir. Bu kapsamda Yükseköğretim Bilgi Yönetim Sistemi birim istatistikleri taranarak devlet üniversitelerinin bilgilerine ulaşılmıştır. Ulaşılan 80 eğitim fakültesinin (77 eğitim fakültesi ve üç eğitim bilimleri fakültesi) dekan, dekan yardımcısı, bölüm başkanı, ana bilim dalı başkanı bilgileri betimsel olarak analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmadan elde edilen bulgular, erkek dekan oranının kadın dekan oranından yaklaşık beş kat, erkek dekan yardımcıları oranının kadın dekan yardımcıları oranından ise 2.5 kat fazla olduğunu göstermektedir. Buradan hareketle eğitim fakültelerinin üst yönetim kadrolarında kadın akademisyenlerin varlığının göze çarpan bir oranla azınlıkta kaldığı, orta seviye yönetim kadrolarında da durumun pek de iyimser olmadığı görülmektedir. Çalışmadan elde edilen diğer bir bulgu ise özellikle Türkçe ve Sosyal Bilimler Eğitimi, Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri Eğitimi ile Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi bölümlerinde kadınların yönetim pozisyonlarındaki sınırlı temsilidir. Çalışmanın son bölümünde akademik yönetimde kadın temsilinin iyileştirebilmesi için çeşitli öneriler sunulmuştur.

Growth Strategies and Sales Performance of Private Security Companies: The Case of WS Insight Limited

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of growth strategies on sales performance of private security companies, namely WS Insight Limited. The specific objective of the study was to find out how market penetration strategy implementation affects the sales success at WS Insight Limited. The resource-based theory, core competency theory, goal attainment theory and contingency theory were used to guide the research. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The target group included 71 management workers from the executive, senior, middle and junior management levels who were in charge of strategy execution. The study discovered that majority of respondents agreed that in the last eight years, WS Insight Limited had boosted its advertising and marketing activities to raise brand awareness and had used new distribution channels to grow market sales. Between 2013 and 2020, there was the implementation of tactics such as price discounts and fair pricing, as well as the formation of strategic alliances, as evidenced by a composite mean of 3.98 and standard deviation of 0.851. The study also discovered that the current economic climate and political considerations influence strategic decision-making. The study concluded there is a link between growth strategies and sales performance, with market penetration strategy execution being the most important independent variable. The study recommended that the company should increase its advertising and marketing operations in order to expand into new markets. It is also suggested that management should encourage the best use of distribution networks and price discounting tactics, as this would help the company penetrate the market and increase sales. Keywords: Growth Strategies, Market Penetration Strategy Implementation, Sales Performance, WS Insight Limited, Kenya

Environmental and technological factor diffusion with innovation and firm performance: Empirical evidence from manufacturing SMEs

The adoption of e-commerce is essential in today’s dynamic business environment to optimize the overall firm performance of manufacturing SMEs. This research investigates the influence of environmental and technological factors to promote e-commerce adoption and subsequent firm performance in manufacturing SMEs. Technology usage for sustainable production is becoming a global phenomenon, though it seems less prevalent in emerging economies. Fewer studies address technology adoption issues to enhance corporate performance in Pakistani manufacturing SMEs. The present study adopted a resource-based view with the diffusion of innovation theory to formulate a research framework. We chose a stratified proportionate random sampling method to collect data by selecting four heterogeneous strata. Out of 800 distributed questionnaires, 368 top- and middle-level managers of textile, leather, sports, and surgical SMEs of Pakistan returned the questionnaire. This study employed PLS-SEM for empirical analysis. The results showed that both the technological factors’ relative advantage and technology readiness have a significant positive relationship with the use of e-commerce. However, environmental factors, i.e., competitive pressure, have an insignificant effect on e-commerce usage. Nevertheless, the government support has a significant positive effect on e-commerce usage in SMEs. Overall, e-commerce adoption depicts a positive association with firm performance.

How Green Organizational Strategy and Environmental CSR Affect Organizational Sustainable Performance Through Green Technology Innovation Amid COVID-19

The growth of green-oriented businesses for sustainable development (SD) is no longer optional in the current dynamic world, especially for manufacturing businesses in general. Accordingly, the present study investigates the interlinkages between green organizational strategy (GOS), environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR), and organizational sustainable performance (OSP) by exploring the key mediating role of green technology innovation (GTI). This study uses a quantitative method to gather data from Chinese manufacturing industries, employing a well-structured questionnaire. Senior and middle-level managers were the intended respondents. From the primary survey, 264 valid responses were gathered. The final data were analyzed using SmartPLS (version 3.3.9) by adopting structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the associations between the targeted constructs, and the results add to the recent literature by offering a cohesive model of GOS, ECSR, GTI, and OSP. The findings revealed that GOS has a strong positive effect on ECSR, GTI, and OSP. Further, ECSR has a strong positive impact on GTI and OSP. Meanwhile, GTI is a key mediating variable in these relationships, which previous studies have not explored. This study innovatively integrates the three green traits, namely, GOS, ECSR, and GTI, into a comprehensive model that is understudied in existing literature in order to help businesses improve their sustainable competitive advantage. The ultimate aim is to help businesses improve their environmental performance and achieve solid sustainability over the long term.

The relative merit of two segmentation approaches: executives views and a cost-benefit analysis

PurposeThis study aims to capture the views of executives about the merit of using the two segmentation approaches (quantitative vs qualitative). Furthermore, this study aimed to examine costs and benefits for two different segmentation approaches, using a minimax simple cost-benefit analysis (CBA) matrix.Design/methodology/approachA total of 16 semistructured interviews were conducted with executives within the University of Sharjah (UoS). Furthermore, a minimax approach was applied to the CBA study.FindingsEvidence in this study found that the financial cost of quantitative segmentation approaches was higher than qualitative approaches. However, the decision-makers trusted the quantitative approach more regardless of the incurred costs. The study also found that there was a limited knowledge about social marketing and segmentation among executives.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of this study relate to the methodology applied, the sample selected and the lead research. Another factor is selection bias, which limited this study to one organization’s executives. It is conceivable that middle-level management would have had the desire to participate because they make the recommendations to top management in decision-making. The researcher did not collect precise data on time taken to design, implement and analyses the two segmentation studies, which qualified the precision of the CBA. Also, the fact that the sample includes participants from a relatively narrow range of disciplines should be noted as a limitation of the study.Practical implicationsThe current study provides a case study demonstrating how CBA provides a dollar amount estimate permitting alternate segmentation approaches to be compared and contrasted, assisting in the value estimation of any social marketing project.Social implicationsThe paper draws upon two streams of the literature: social marketing and CBA. The paper focused on the understanding of the literature, CBA offers a technique applicable to demonstrating cost savings that can be derived from choosing one method over another. Moreover, CBA assists in understanding the benefits or potential opportunity cost both financially and nonfinancially.Originality/valueThis paper presents one of the first studies conducting a CBA to compare and contrast two segmentation approaches in social marketing. The study provides interesting insights into the perceptions of management executives over alternative research methods, although the results are limited to a case study.

The impact of authentic leadership on project success: the mediating effect of organizational learning and innovation

PurposeThe study exemplifies authentic leadership (AL) and relates it to project success (PS) with the mediating variables of organizational learning (OL) and organizational innovation (OL). None of the existing studies on AL and PS have worked on the mediation of OL and OI on these factors. So far, this paper tries to fill gap between these factors.Design/methodology/approachThe study is done by testing the hypothesis by utilizing the approach of deduction. The tool of data collection utilized is a survey. The methods of data collection involved qualitative techniques as primary approaches of investigation. The study population involves multinational and national companies/organizations working directly or indirectly for CPEC projects. A total of 295 questionnaires were used to gather data from top-level and middle–level management from private or government sector companies working individually or collaboratively on CPEC projects. Out of 295 questionnaires, 35 were rejected for being incomplete, and 260 were further analyzed for research purposes. SPSS and AMOS-21 statistical packages were used for analysis or correlation among variables.FindingsThis study claims the positive impact of AL on PS while the OI and OL play a mediating role.Practical implicationsThis study will add significant literature related to project management. These outcomes gave data on the primary systems of project management that are utilized in the projects or in various organizations to assess the accomplishment of the project with AL, OL and OI.Originality/valueIt has gained popularity in the world of management researchers due to its uniqueness and desirability. This study of AL and PS has been comprehensively deliberate to find the variables that affect them. The idea is to analyze the possible effects of OL and innovation on authentic leaders and the overall PS in the China–Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC).

Determinants of Innovative Work Behavior and Job Performance: Moderating Role of Knowledge Sharing

The purpose of this study is to look into the elements that influence innovative work behavior and job performance while taking into account the moderating role of information sharing. This research sampled middle-level management employees from food and beverage manufacturing sector employing the purposive sampling technique. A survey questionnaire technique has been used to collect data from 161 respondents in three months. The results revealed that management support has no significant effect on innovative work behavior. Furthermore, information sharing has no impact on the relationship between management support and co-worker support, as well as innovative work behavior. However, innovative work behavior moderates the relationships between co-workers support, job autonomy, and job performance. The results of this study may enhance the knowledge of manufacturing SMEs on innovative work behavior and job performance. The findings of this research may improve manufacturing SMEs’ understanding of innovative work behavior and job performance.

Evolução do relacionamento entre a alta administração e média gerência em um processo de implementação estratégica no contexto da crise do COVID-19

Objective: The purpose of our study was to investigate how the relationship between top and middle management occurs during a strategy implementation in a crisis context, more specifically the one triggered by Covid-19 virus. Methodology/approach: The approach used was a single, in-depth case study. We adopted a process perspective, which considers the sequence of events and choices made over time, at multiple levels and units of analysis. We analyzed documents and interviewed members of top management, middle management, operational management and two consultants working in the investigated company. We then seek to identify instances of action and interaction where patterns could emerge. Originality/Relevance: There is an increasing number of studies about the role of middle management in the organizations strategic process, but there are still few empirical studies in crisis contexts. This study investigates strategic implementation process during the Covid-19 crisis, shedding light on dynamics of control, relationship and autonomy involving top and middle levels of management. Main results: We identified that the Covid-19 crisis enabled the closer approximation of top management with the middle managers, intensified by Crisis Committee meetings in the organization. The crisis management also catalyzed the process of reducing ambiguities and opening up senior management for the presentation and acceptance of ideas from the middle echelons.Theoretical/methodological contributions: Our findings contribute to the literature on crises, revealing both the process of strengthening relationships between top and middle managers, as well as the building content from the contributions of the middle managers, which can lead to a superior result. We also endorse the impacts of the facilitating conditions proposed by Mantere (2008) based on the work of Floyd Wooldridge (1992), even in the context of crisis. We also endorsed the proposals by Macpherson, Breslin and Akinci (2021) on the role of middle managers as connectors for initiatives in extreme situations that, otherwise, would not have visibility. Social contributions / for practice: For practice, we launch additional clues in favor of greater openness of top managers for the participation of middle managers in the implementation and strategic adaptation, even in a context of crisis. Similarly, we demonstrated that extreme crisis contexts are prone to rethink interorganizational structures and relationships, aiming at the renewal of management strategies and roles.

The Mediating Effect of Psychological Empowerment on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Staff Retention in Microfinance Institutions in Kenya

Retention of the desired staff in microfinance institutions has remained a major challenge as depicted from extant literature. It is often associated with inappropriate leadership deployed in these institutions among other antecedents. The current study, therefore, set out to establish the effect of transformational leadership on staff retention in microfinance institutions in Nairobi City County, Kenya, as well as the mediating effect psychological empowerment on the relationship between transformational leadership and staff retention in microfinance institutions in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study was guided by Transformational Leadership Theory, Leader-Member Exchange Theory, Social Exchange Theory, and Resource-Based View Theory and founded on the positivism philosophy. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were adopted to guide the study. A sample of 298 respondents was obtained from 12 microfinance institutions in the Nairobi City County, Kenya, through census method for data collection. The unit of analysis was the head offices of the 12 microfinance institutions, while the unit of observation was the senior management level, middle management level and lower management level. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The hypotheses were tested at the 5% significance level. The study established that transformational leadership was a significant predictor of staff retention, and that this relationship was partially mediated by the psychological empowerment. The study recommends that the microfinance institutions management should align transformational leadership practices with the strategic goals set for staff retention and emphasize on psychologically empowering strategies for their staff.

Do Different Levels of Management Impact Employee Intrapreneurial Behavior Independently? A Multi-Mediation Analysis

Emerging trends and economic growth have given managers possibilities while posing challenges to conventional management practices. Managers must develop innovative approaches to coping with these difficulties. They may be able to overcome new obstacles and foster a creative workplace where workers are inspired to come up with fresh ideas with the aid of these new ways of working. Thus, enabling intrapreneurial conduct. This study looks at the characteristics that new ways of working create to drive employees to engage in intrapreneurial conduct, as mediated through social interaction and transformational leadership. Collecting a sample of 300 respondents from the informational technology industry, this study tested a multi-mediation model using PLS-SEM. The study concluded that combined social interaction and transformational leadership partially mediates the relation between new ways of working and employee intrapreneurial behavior. The study also focused on the moderating role of each management level and found that middle-level management foster employee intrapreneurial behavior stronger than first and top level. This study further paves the way for practitioners and researchers by presenting implications and providing future directions.

Gender diversity and firm performance: when diversity at middle management and staff levels matter

The social construction of gender has led to differences in beliefs, knowledge, experiences, or networks between women and men. Some argue that mixed gender teams can show perform better. However, empirical research at the firm level has provided mixed evidence. Moreover, these studies mainly focus on the board of directors or top management teams. Few have examined how middle management and staff levels affect firm performance. These levels form the operational layers that execute the business strategy and run daily operations. Using a unique dataset of 159 large French firms, we find that gender diversity at the two organisational levels positively impacts a firm’s economic performance and contributes to its competitiveness. Gender diversity at these levels is a strategic resource that provides a sustainable competitive advantage by creating value and cannot be easily imitated by competitors quickly. We also find a nonlinear relationship due to a threshold effect related to a critical mass condition, and a hat-shaped relationship (two flat borders around the top) between gender diversity and firm performance. Specifically, firms with balanced diversity (between 40 and 60% women as employees) at the middle management and staff levels tend to be more profitable. Finally, predominantly male firms have similar performance to predominantly female firms, and that balanced-gender diversity is the real contributing factor to firm performance.

Gender representation and financial performance: an empirical analysis of public hospitals

PurposeRecently, the relationship between gender representation and organizational performance has been the focus of various studies. However, some research gaps still exist. First, in the healthcare sector, this relationship has been poorly explored. Moreover, in public management studies, researchers focusing on performance tend to focus exclusively on gender differences at the top and/or middle management level. This research aims at exploring the relationship between women's representation and performance in public hospitals at all organizational levels.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research objective, 63 healthcare organisations were analysed through ordinary least squares regressions on panel data from 2012 to 2018.FindingsResults show that, in the hospital setting, gender diversity and financial performance are related at every organizational level.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies focusing on the link between gender and performance at every level of professional and employment category; avoiding focusing exclusively on top management, which was the case in previous studies on the topic. Moreover, it contributes to a poorly explored literature which is gender studies in public healthcare management.

RECONSIDERING INDIVIDUALS’ COMPETENCIES IN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS TOWARD PROCESS EFFECTIVENESS: MEDIATION-MODERATION MODEL

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of individuals’ competencies in business intelligence (BI) and analytics (BA) on process effectiveness (PE). Moreover, to investigate the mediating role of user participation (UP) and the moderating role of gender in this relationship. An empirical analysis based on survey data was conducted. A sample of 215 middle and upper management levels from SMEs located in Jordan was surveyed to collect the data. Structural equation modelling through partial least squares-multi group analysis (PLS-MGA) is used to analyze the data. The results support the direct positive impact of individuals’ competencies in business intelligence (BA) and business analytics (BA). Moreover, user participation has been found to mediate this relationship. Additionally, the results showed that gender moderates the relationship between individuals’ competencies in business intelligence (BI) and analytics (BA) on process effectiveness (PE). The findings improve the understanding of the needed individuals’ competencies in business intelligence (BI) and analytics (BA) that affect process effectiveness (PE). This will help develop and arrange strategies that increase individuals’ competencies in business intelligence (BI) and analytics (BA) among employees. Furthermore, managers and owners should put plans for strategies to augment confidence amongst female employees.

Key Success Factors of NGO Leadership that Leads to Sustainable and Effective Development: A Case on BRAC, Bangladesh

Research on leadership has been a fascinating area among Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management researchers for the impact leaders make. The study adopted a qualitative case study method and conducted interviews with 26 managers from the top, middle, and lower management levels of BRAC. However, there was a cluster of behaviors and traits displayed across the levels, and we termed it as an inspirational style of leadership. We have also identified four dimensions of NGO success as perceived by the leaders: work orientation, culture and governance, operational aspect, and HR practices. The First findings, of this study, identify a unique leadership style i.e., inspirational leadership style. Second, it identifies the specific leadership attributes that exist in a successful NGO. Third, it provides glimpses into the organizational structure and governance of a successful NGO. Fourth, the NGO effectiveness parameters developed that can be used and validated as a measurement tool by quantitative researchers.

The association between the interactive and diagnostic use of financial and non-financial performance measures with individual creativity: The mediating role of perceived fairness

This study examines the associations between top management’s interactive and diagnostic use of financial and non-financial performance measures with individual manager’s (i.e. middle and lower level managers) creativity, and the mediating role of middle and lower level manager’s perceived fairness of their performance appraisal on such associations. Using data from a survey of 220 middle and lower level managers from manufacturing organisations in Australia, the structural equation model revealed direct positive associations between both the diagnostic use of financial performance measures and the interactive use of non-financial performance measures with individual creativity. Further, the positive effect of the interactive use of financial performance measures on individual creativity is positively and fully mediated by distributive, interpersonal and informational fairness, while the positive effect of the interactive use of non-financial measures is positively and partially mediated by interpersonal and informational fairness. In addition, procedural fairness positively and partially mediates the effect of the diagnostic use of financial performance measures on individual creativity, and interpersonal fairness positively and fully mediates the effect of the diagnostic use of non-financial performance measures on individual creativity. The findings contribute to the performance measurement and appraisal literature examining the interactive and diagnostic use of both financial and non-financial performance measures and extends the sparse literature on the role of perceived fairness in explaining the behavioural effect of performance measurement systems. The findings also provide implications for practice, revealing the importance of the interactive and diagnostic use of financial and non-financial performance measures, and manager’s perception of the fairness of performance appraisal processes as a mechanism through which individual manager’s creativity can be enhanced.