This paper examines the relationship between subjectivity in performance
evaluation and the three dimensions of justice perceptions in an
emerging economy; prior research on this topic has primarily focused
solely on the advanced capitalist economies of Western nations. The
paper also aims to expand on existing research by focusing on the role
of interactional justice perceptions in relation to subjective
evaluation (Byrne et al. in Hum Resour Manag J 22(2):129–147; Folger and
Cropanzano, in Organizational justice and human resource management,
Sage, Thousand Oaks, 1998). Results from a survey of 160 middle managers
in Vietnam indicate that subjective evaluation is associated
predominantly with negative effects. We found that, in an emerging
economy like that of Vietnam, subjective evaluation reduces
interactional justice perception, which in turn decreases the perception
of procedural and distributive justice. The mediating effects suggest
that the reason subjective evaluation influences employee
procedural/distributive justice perceptions lies in the interactional
justice perceived from supervisors. This research clarifies the effects
of subjective evaluation on the dimensions of justice perception and
contributes to the literature on performance evaluation and
organizational justice in a non-Western context. It also highlights the
importance of respect and communication for fairness perception in both
theory and practice.