Psychometric Adequacy of the Persian Version of the Performance Management Behavior Questionnaire in Universities

Introduction: Despite interest in improving performance management in universities, few studies have examined this topic. Because of the absence of validated tools in Iran for assessing behavior performance management, this study was conducted to validate the behavior performance management scale. Objective: This study aimed to assess the psychometric adequacy of the Performance Management Behavior Questionnaire (PMBQ) for the heads of university departments in Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in four phases. The first and second phases included PMBQ translation and its modification in accordance with the educational setting. The third phase consisted of the content and face validation, and the fourth phase aimed to evaluate the construct validity and reliability of this scale. All 400 faculty members (200 for exploratory factor analysis and 200 for confirmatory factor analysis) were studied. After translation, the 27-item PMBQ was evaluated for validity and reliability. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) were computed for content validity. For construct validation, the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used. The PMBQ reliability was assessed by the Cronbach α coefficient. Results: Considering eigenvalues above one, five factors were identified that jointly explained 58.22% of the variance observed. Based on the arrangement of the factors, they labeled as monitoring performance management (9 items), coaching (6 items), goal setting (6 items), communication (3 items), and providing consequence (2 items). Results showed that the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) varied between 0.51 and 0.60; composite reliability was between 0.7 and 0.81, and the Cronbach α coefficient was between 0.70 and 0.82. Conclusion: PMBQ as a valid and reliable tool can be used for assessing the behavior of the heads of departments from the viewpoints of faculty members.