Charles H. Fay

The Effects of Grading and Teaching Practices on Students' Perceptions of Grading Fairness.

To examine the antecedents of perceptions of grading fairness, approximately 600 college students were surveyed about the prevalence and desirability of 1) teaching practices that assisted students to prepare for examinations, and 2) common test scoring manipulations used to transform poor scores into acceptable ones (e.g., curving low scores upward). Students also described the fairness of the grading they had experienced. Regression analysis revealed that grading fairness was predicted best by exposure to the teaching practices rather than the scoring practices. Results are discussed in terms of the possible effects of these teaching and grading practices on grade inflation.

An empirical examination of the assumed job tenure-vocational maturity linkage in the industrial sales force

In the design of communication, motivation, and supervisory programs, conventional wisdom suggests that sales managers often assume a job tenure-vocational maturity linkage. This paper reports the results of a survey of 241 industrial salespeople that calls into question this assumption. Implications for sales administrators and academics are suggested.

Federal Pay Reform: A Response to an Emerging Crisis

At the time this article was written, Howard Risher was a Principal with the Wyatt Company in Philadelphia. He is currently President of Human Resource Quality in Villanova, PA. He has over 20 years of compensation consulting experience in both the public and private sector. He served as the project manager for the pay reform study commissioned by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Public Administration panel that is studying alternatives for reforming the federal calssification system. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA and a Ph.D. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

CONTINGENT LABOR STRATEGIES, HIHRS, AND HR OUTCOMES FOR FULL TIME EMPLOYEES: A FIRM-LEVEL ANALYSIS.

Using firm-level data from 131 firms, this study examines the effects of two contingent labor strategies on firm performance in terms of full time employee absenteeism and turnover (i.e., HR outcomes for full time employees at the firm level). Results indicate that employing a strategy of using contingent labor to reduce labor costs is negatively associated with HR outcomes for full time employees at the firm level -- i.e., associated with inferior firm performance in terms of full time employee absenteeism and turnover. In addition, high investment HR systems (HIHRS) and employing a strategy of using contingent labor to enhance employment stability for full time employees are complements in terms of their effects on HR outcomes of full time employees at the firm level. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Contractors, Comparable Worth and the New OFCCP: DéjàVu and More

Recent federal government initiatives suggest that comparable worth is being resurrected as a major policy initiative. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has introduced the Equal Opportunity Survey, which requires government contractors to provide compensation data broken out by gender and race/ ethnicity for each of the nine equal employment opportunity (EEO) occupational classifications. The compensation data from the survey are already being used to target contractors for audits and represent a new and extended drive to impose comparable worth principles through federal regulations. This article focuses on the EEO Survey and its shortcomings as a source of data for analysis. Legitimate sources of male-female wage differentials are discussed, along with the difficulties that would be encountered in implementing a pay system that would meet traditional comparable worth standards. Methods contractors can use to carry out an internal audit to defend pay discrimination charges related to comparable worth are described.

Locality Pay: Balancing Theory and Practice

At the time this article was written, Howard Risher was a Principal with the Wyatt Company in Philadelphia. He is currently President of Human Resource Quality in Villanova, PA. He has over 20 years of compensation consulting experience in both the public and private sector. He served as the project manager for the pay reform study commissioned by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Public Administration panel that is studying alternatives for reforming the federal classification system. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA and a Ph.D. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Moving the Enterprise: Implementing a Performance Management System to Support Strategic Change in the Equitable Insurance Companies

The Equitable Insurance Companies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. The Equitable Insurance Companies has undergone significant changes in the last several years, including major downsizing, redefinition of strategic thrust, shifts in products and markets emphasized, and several reorganizations. Faced with a still-turbulent environment, increased competition, and changing product demands, The Equitable Insurance Companies is likely to continue experiencing internal change in the near term.

Environmental Scanning: Strategic and Functional Approaches

Environmental scanning specialists can perform two very different functions. One major function is to become aware of possible problems or opportunities for the organization resulting from changes in technology, the economy, among competitors, in governmental regulation or legislation, or in general social patterns. To carry out this function environmental scanners must have a good grasp of current organizational strategies, since such strategies generally focus the direction of scanners’ attention. Problem opportunity awareness scanners are in fact, usually attached to units responsible for strategy development. Units of this type are typically at the corporate staff level, and may be attached directly to the CEO’s office.

Work planning and performance review as a basis for merit pay decisions: An evaluation

abstractThe Work Planning and Performance Review (WPPR) System, developed in a midwestern state as a basis for pay-for-performance decisions in the state government, is described. The WPPRs job relevance was evaluated in one state agency by comparing WPPR scores with scores on a behavioral checklist developed for that purpose. Supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the relevance of the two systems are described. Comparison and perception data indicate the WPPR lacks content validity. Probable impact on the merit pay system is discussed.