Abstract
This article identifies three appraisal models rooted in distinct views of the firm respectively oriented towards the market, the profession, and the clan, and analyzes their translation into managerial tools used for the face-to- face appraisal interviews of managers in a sample of 40 companies. Our empirical study highlights three main results:- a predominance of one of these three appraisal models in the assessment tool of each enterprise,- the contingent nature of such predominance, according to enterprise status and size,- a mix of models in all assessment tools, particularly of the market/clan type in large multinationals, revealing either a dynamic of change from one model towards another or a coincident, partly contradictory, use of distinct models within a given assessment tool.