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This paper aims to explore the relationship between external pressures and the adoption of employee performance management systems within academic units of Flemish higher education institutions. The literature on contextually based HRM and institutionalism is used to underpin the theoretical propositions.

A comparative case study is described to provide evidence for the theoretical arguments.

It has been suggested that academic units face a set of external pressures, which leads to different employee performance management systems. This study finds that academic units imitate their legitimacy‐based reference group and legitimacy‐driven imitation and the adoption of external employee performance management requirements distort the alignment of employee performance management systems.

Future research could formally test the relationship between external drivers and the adoption of strategic and integrated employee performance management systems in academic units by using a survey questionnaire.

This theoretical argumentation uses contextually‐based human resource theory and it is explored empirically through an analysis of the specific context of Flemish academic units to explain how institutional and market pressures affect the adoption and configuration of employee performance management systems.