Personnel managers in different firms, industries and countries do not hold the same preferences for job applicant attributes. This research was aimed at understanding the cause of some of these differences. Survey questionnaires were sent to personnel managers in Norway (N = 195) and Quebec (N = 172). The personnel managers were asked to rate: (1) aspects related to their firms' organizational characteristics (business environment, strategy, and structure), and (2) the importance of different personality traits for applicants to managerial and professional positions. Consistent with earlier research (Rynes & Gerhart, 1990) the results indicate that preferences for different applicant attributes represent shared perceptions due to common organizational membership. These preferences are to some degree related to company strategy, organizational structure and national culture. In general, it was found that personnel managers currently seek candidates who can adapt to change and generate new ideas. The results are discussed in light of theories from industrial/organizational and cross-cultural psychology, and suggestions for further research are offered.

No description available.

A snapshot of the current state of the business world is given, followed by the proposition that people are the root cause of the problems therein. Mutual influence between individual and organisation is depicted. The corporate psychopath is identified as being especially problematic. Therefore measures to prevent the recruitment of psychopaths into organisations will be studied. The objectives of this research report are: • To establish whether South African organisations are aware of the problems caused by psychopaths. • To establish what screening processes are in place in South African organisations to identify psychopaths. • To suggest additional measures that would prevent the recruitment of psychopaths into organisations.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of a nomological model for the assessment of psychological measurement validity with reference to personnel selection. The model, which can be traced to Thorndike (1949), Campbell and Fiske (1959), Nunnally (1967, cited in Duvenage, 1990), Guion (1974, cited in Duvenage, 1990), Binning and Barrett (1989) and Duvenage (1990), provides the evidential bases for two empirically founded validation strategies, namely criterion- and constructrelated validity. Theoretically, the Nomological Model for Psychological Measurement Validity Assessment proved to be applicable for validating that a measure is able to predict job performance. An easily understandable empirical investigation was required to verify the scientific utility of the model for selection validation. The model was used to validate the procedure for selecting machine operators in a large food manufacturer. The investigation illustrated that by utilising Route 1 of the nomological model, evidence of criterion-related validity, as described by legal and professional standards, is generated. Furthermore, the study indicated that by utilising Route 2 of the model, evidential requirements of construct-related validity as set by legal and professional standards are met. The results of the study proved that the Nomological Model for Psychological Measurement Validity Assessment is theoretically, professionally, legally and practically applicable for the validation of personnel selection procedures. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om die toepasbaarheid van 'n nomologiese model vir die bepaling van die geldigheid van sielkundige meting ten opsigte van personeelkeuring vas te stel. Die model, wat sy oorsprong in die werk van Thorndike (1949), Campbell en Fiske (1959), Nunnally (1967, aangehaal uit Duvenage, 1990), Guion (1974, aangehaal uit Duvenage, 1990), Binning en Barrett (1989) en Duvenage (1990) het, verskaf getuienis basisse vir twee ernpirles gefundeerde valideringsstrategiee, naamlik kriterlum- en konstruk-verwante geldigheid. Daar is teoretiese bewyse gevind vir die toepasbaarheid van die Nomologiese Model vir Sielkundige Meting Geldigheids Raming vir die validering van metingsvoorspelbaarheid van werksprestasie. 'n Maklik verstaanbare empmese ondersoek was nodig om die model se wetenskaplike nut vir keuringsgeldigheid te bepaal. Die model was gebruik vir die validering van keuringsprosedure-geldigheid van masjienoperateurs in 'n groot voedselverwerkingsmaatskappy. Die ondersoek het ge"illustreer dat deur die toepassing van Roete 1 van die nomologiese model, bewyse gegenereer is vir kriterium-verwante geldigheid, 5005 voorgeskryf deur relevante wetgewing en professionele standaarde. Verder, deur die toepassing van Roete 2 van hierdie model, word voldoende bewyse vir konstruk-verwante geldigheid, 5005 voorgeskryf deur wetlike en professionele standaarde, verkry. Die resultate van die studie bewys dat die Nomologiese Model vir Sielkundige Meting Geldigheids Raming teoreties, professioneel, wettig en prakties toepasbaar is vir die validering van personeel keu ri ngsprosed ures.

Dissertation (D.Phil.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1999. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The conditions under which selection procedures are typically validated and those prevailing at the eventual use of a selection procedure normally differ to a sufficient extent to challenge the relevance of the validation research evidence. Statistical corrections to the validity coefficient are generally available. The remainder of the argument in terms of which a selection procedure is developed and justified could, however, also be biased by any discrepancy between the conditions under which the selection procedure is simulated and those prevailing at the eventual use of the selection procedure. Relatively little concern, however, seem to exist for the transportability of the decision function derived from the selection simulation or the descriptions/ assessments of selection decision utility and fairness. This seems to be a somewhat strange state of affairs. The external validity problems with validation designs are reasonably well documented. It is thus not as if the psychometric literature is unaware of the problem of generalizing validation study research fmdings to the eventual area of application. The decision function is probably the pivot of the selection procedure in that it firstly captures the underlying performance theory, but more importantly from a practical perspective, because it guides the actual accept and reject choices of applicants. Restricting the statistical corrections to the validity coefficient would leave the decision function unaltered even though it might also be distorted by the same factors affecting the validity coefficient. Basically the same logic also applies to the evaluation of the decision rule in terms of selection utility and fairness. Correcting only the validity coefficient would leave the "bottom-line" evaluation of the selection procedure unaltered. Restricting the statistical corrections to the validity coefficient basically means that practically speaking nothing really changes. The fundamental research objective is to determine whether any discrepancy between the conditions under which the selection procedure is simulated and those prevailing at the eventual use of the selection procedure produces bias in estimates required to specify and justify the procedure; to delineate appropriate statistical corrections of the validity coefficient, decision rule and descriptions/ assessments of selection decision utility and -1< fairness, required to align the contexts of evaluation/validation and application; and to determine whether the corrections should be applied in validation research. The study provides no unqualified answers to the question whether corrections for various forms of range restriction and/ or criterion unreliability should be applied to the validity coefficient, the standard error of the validity coefficient or the parameters of the regression of the criterion on the predictor. Under specific conditions the corrections do affect decisions on the validity of performance hypotheses due to its effect on decisions on the significance of the uncorrected versus the corrected validity coefficient. Under specific conditions the corrections do affect decisions on applicants, especially when selection decisions are not restricted by selection quotas, due to its effect on the slope and intercept parameters of the regression of Y on X, and/ or due to its effect on the standard error of estimate. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die toestande waaronder keuringsprosedures tipes gevalideer word en die toestande waaronder die prosedure uiteindelik gebruik word, verskil normaalweg tot so 'n mate dat die relevansie van die bevindinge in die gedrang kom. Statistiese korreksies vir die geldigheidskoeffisient is algemeen beskikbaar. Die res van die argument in terme waarvan 'n keuringsprosedure ontwikkel en regverdig word kan egter ook verwring word deur dieselfde verskille tussen die toestande waaronder die keuringsprosedure gesimuleer word en die waaronder die prosedure uiteindelik gebruik word. Relatief min kommer bestaan skynbaar egter ten opsigte van die oordraagbaarheid van die besluitnemingsfunksie wat onder die gesimuleerde toestande ontwikkel is of ten opsigte van die verkree beskrywings van nut en billikheid. Hierdie toedrag van sake val ietwat vreemd op. Die eksteme geldigheidprobleme geassosieer met validasie-ontwerpe is redelik goed gedokumenteer. Dit is dus nie asof die psigometrika-literatuur onbewus is van die probleem wat by die veralgemening van resultate van geldigheidstudies ter sprake is nie. Die besluitnemingsfunksie is waarskynlik die spil waarom die keuringsprosedure draai daarin dat dit die onderliggende prestasie-teorie vergestalt, maar meer belangrik, daarin dat dit die daadwerklike aanvaarding en verwerping van applikante bepaal. Indien statistiese korreksies tot die geldigheidskoeffisient beperk word bly die besluitnemingsfunksie onveranderd, alhoewel dit ook moontlik verwring mag word deur dieselfde faktore wat sydigheid in die geldigheidskoeffisient te weeg bring. Dieselfde logika geld ook ten opsigte van die evaluasie van die besluitnemingsfunksie in terme van nut en billikheid. Indien slegs die geldigheidskoeffisient gekorrigeer word bly d.e "bottom-line" evaluasie van die keuringsprosedure onveranderd. Prakties gesproke dus, verander niks indien statistiese korreksies tot die geldigheidskoeffisient beperk word. Die fundamentele navorsingsdoelstelling is om vas te stel of verskille tussen die toestande waaronder die keuringsprosedure gevalideer word, en die toestande waaronder die prosedure uiteindelik gebruik word, sydigheid te weeg bring in die maatstawwe wat vereis word om die keuringsprosedure te spesifiseer en te regverdig; om toepaslike statistiese korreksies vir die geldigheidskoeffisient, besluitnnemingsreel en beskrywings van nut en billikheid af te lei ten einde die kontekste van simulasie/ validasie en toepassing te versoen; en om vas te stel of sodanige korreksies wel in validasie-navorsing toegepas behoort te word. Die studie verskaf geen ongekwalifiseerde antwoord op die vraag of korreksies vir die verskeie vorms van variansie-inperking en/ of kriterium onbetroubaarheid op die geldigheidskoeffisient, die standaardfout van die geldigheidskoefisient of die parameters van die regressie van die kriterium op die voorspeller toegepas behoort te word nie. Die korreksies affekteer wel besluite aangaande die geldigheid van prestasiehipoteses onder spesifieke toestande. Die korreksies het ook onder bepaalde toestande 'n effek op besluite aangaande applikante deur hul effek op die regressiekoeffisiente en/ of die standaardskattingsfout.

This research attempts to confirm the reliability and construct validity of a personnel selection instrument called a Situational Judgment Test (SJT) through reliability analysis and factor analysis. The existing literature on SJTs is reviewed, including the advantages of using SJTs in personnel selection as well as the debate on whether SJTs measure a single construct or whether they can be multidimensional depending on the content. The specific SJT in this research was theoretically developed and received expert ratings to assess four general constructs: problem solving, planning, priority setting, and leadership. No support from alpha internal consistency reliability analysis was found for the assembly of these items into the four a priori subscales, thus assembly of these items into the theoretical subscales and scales was not supported.

Impetus in recruiting and testing candidates via the Internet results from the popularity of the World Wide Web. There has been a transition from paper-pencil to online testing because of large number of benefits afforded by online testing. Though the benefits of online testing are many, there may be serious implications of testing job applicants in unproctored settings. The focus of this field study was two-fold: (1) to examine differences between the proctored and unproctored online test administrations of the ipsative version of Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32i and (2) to extend online testing research using OPQ32i with a U.S population. A large sample (N = 5223) of archival selection data from a financial company was used, one group was tested in proctored and the other in unproctored settings. Although some statistical differences were found, very small to small effect sizes indicate negligible differences between the proctored and unproctored groups. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted. The scales not only loaded differently from the Great Eight factor model suggested by SHL, but also differently for the two groups, limiting their interpretability. In addition to the limitations and future directions of the study, the practical implications of the results for companies considering unproctored, online personality testing as a part of their selection process are discussed.

The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) performs one of the most complex and critical roles within the UK offshore oil and gas industry. The OIM is responsible for the safety and well-being of all persons onboard and within 500m of the installation whilst operating within an isolated and hostile physical environment within the UK Continental Shelf . The persistence of major incidents in the industry highlights the importance of OIM competence in controlling emergencies, consequently the research aims to contribute to new knowledge by identifying the potential barriers that can prevent the effective competence assessment of an OIM in this situation. The research utilised Engeström's Expanded Activity Theory to establish the holistic socio-cultural environment within which the OIM operates during emergency response to establish the key documents relevant to the role and associated competence assessment. The documents were then analysed using a critical hermeneutic approach based on the work of Phillips and Brown (1993) to determine the potential barriers to effective competence assessment of the OIM in controlling emergencies. The research is interdisciplinary and aims to develop new knowledge within the domains of safety engineering and law. The output from the research will assist industry Duty Holders improve the competence assessment of their appointed OIMs and allow safety engineers to consider the probable competence of an OIM at a given point in time. The research has identified 8 potential barriers to the effective competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies. These are associated with the multiple definitions of competence that exist; the predominance of competence assessment by observation; the lack of definitive competence requirements for trainers and assessors; the complexity in UK legislation and the interaction between UK Government departments; concerns associated with goal setting legislation when applied to competence assessment and the lack of statutory competence requirements for OIMs in controlling emergencies; the lack of ownership of OIM competence and competence assessment; and the lack of regulation and independent audit of the competence assessment process of OIMs in controlling emergencies.

This experimental study aimed to investigate intuitive and analytic decision making approach when assessing job applicants during employee selection process, and feedback related to employee selection process. Theories used in the study to explain intuition are the dual process model and the recognition model. The population was recruiters and non-recruiters. A sample of 169 participants were included. Recruiters’ and non-recruiters’ were randomly assigned into two conditions: use of intuition or analytic thinking as assessment strategy when assessing eight real job applicants. A comparison between their decision making approaches was made. Based on previous research, three hypotheses were obtained and tested. The first hypothesis was that intuitive decision making approach, in combination of experience of employee selections, will enhance assessments of the job applicants. The second hypothesis was that there is a positive relationship between feedback related to employee selection and accuracy in assessing job applicants. The third hypothesis was that there is a positive relationship between participants’ guessed cognitive ability test scores of the job applicants, with employability of the job applicants. The last hypothesis was supported, there was a significant and strong positive relationship between the two variables for all eight job applicants. Significant and non-significant results, methodological influences and theories accounted for are discussed.

A snapshot of the current state of the business world is given, followed by the proposition that people are the root cause of the problems therein. Mutual influence between individual and organisation is depicted. The corporate psychopath is identified as being especially problematic. Therefore measures to prevent the recruitment of psychopaths into organisations will be studied. The objectives of this research report are: • To establish whether South African organisations are aware of the problems caused by psychopaths. • To establish what screening processes are in place in South African organisations to identify psychopaths. • To suggest additional measures that would prevent the recruitment of psychopaths into organisations.