Organizational characteristics and personnel managers' job applicant preferences

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68148
Date January 1994
CreatorsWorren, Nicolay A. M.
ContributorsKoestner, Richard (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Department of Psychology.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001421243, proquestno: AAIMM94405, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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