NUDGING FACULTY ADVANCEMENT AND REVIEW: NUDGE-BASED PROMOTION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PRACTICES AS PREDICTORS OF JOB PERFORMANCE IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Behavioural economics has reshaped public policy and consumer settings, yet its use inside human resource management (HRM) in the higher-education sector of developing economies remains thin, and the few available studies tend to treat HR nudges as one undifferentiated bundle. Drawing on Nudge Theory and the Resource-Based View (RBV), this study examines the direct effects of two nudge-based HR practices, promotion and performance evaluation, on the job performance of faculty members in private universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 328 faculty members from campuses recognized by the Higher Education Commission, selected through stratified proportionate random sampling, and the data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The measurement model showed satisfactory reliability and convergent validity, and discriminant validity between the two focal predictors was supported by both the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio, although the promotion scale overlapped with the recruitment and selection covariate (HTMT = 0.874). The structural results show that nudge-based performance evaluation (β = 0.300, p < .001) and nudge-based promotion practices (β = 0.146, p = .019) each exert a significant, positive influence on faculty job performance, with performance evaluation the stronger of the two; the evaluation effect was small-to-medium in magnitude (f² = 0.092), whereas the promotion effect was statistically significant but practically very small (f² = 0.015). The wider model, which retained recruitment and selection and training nudges as covariates, explained 56.1% of the variance in job performance. These findings extend Nudge Theory by suggesting that choice architecture placed at recurring review touchpoints may carry more performance value than choice architecture placed at episodic career-advancement decisions, and they extend the RBV by illustrating how continuous performance management sustains academic human capital as a difficult-to-imitate resource. The study contributes new evidence from an under-researched South Asian private higher-education context and offers low-cost, practical guidance for university leaders, HR managers, and regulators.