[alasdair_]

>Appraisal based on relative performance: This sounds logical.

I don't think it does. People should be rewarded based on the absolute value they bring to the company, not on their relative ranking.

For example, relative ranking means that you always want to work with the worst possible teams (so you are relatively the best) not the best. It also means that politics becomes more important than ability.

[sjbase]

I agree that total value is a good ideal, but it's really hard to measure in some cases. Forgetting the inaccuracy of things like LoC, # of bugs fixed, etc. How do you measure the performance of someone who isn't directly on the product value chain? graphic designer delivered, office manager, technical writers, etc. Sometimes the most quantifiable and accurate method is by comparison.