Giles St. J. Burch

An empirical study of the effects of personality in pair programming using the five-factor model

Pair Programming (PP) has been long researched in industry and academia. Although research evidence about its usefulness is somewhat inconclusive, previous studies showed that its use in an academic environment can benefit students in programming and design courses. In our study, we investigated the “human” aspect of PP; in particular the effects that personality attributes may have on PPs effectiveness as a pedagogical tool. We conducted a formal experiment at the University of Auckland to investigate the influence of personality differences among paired students using the Five-Factor Model as a personality measurement framework. The aim of our study was to improve the implementation of PP as a pedagogical tool through understanding the impact the variation in the personality profile of paired students has towards their academic performance. Our findings showed that differences in personality traits did not significantly affect the academic performance of students who pair programmed.

Selecting for Creativity and Innovation: The Relationship between the Innovation Potential Indicator and the Team Selection Inventory

This article describes a study carried out to investigate the relationship between individual scores on the Innovation Potential Indicator (IPI), a measure of individual innovation behaviors for use in personnel selection, and the Team Selection Inventory (TSI), an individual-level measure of a persons preferred team-working climate for innovation. Results from a sample of 142 Greek employees found that the Motivation to Change scale of the IPI positively correlated with all of the TSI scales, and that the Adaptation scale positively correlated with the TSIs Vision and Task Orientation scales. Findings are discussed.

Attributing leadership personality and effectiveness from the leader's face: an exploratory study

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the processes by which individuals make attributions about a leaders personality and effectiveness based upon information contained within a photograph of a leaders face.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methodology approach is taken which combines an individual survey with a follow‐up focus group conducted with five classes of MBA students. In the survey, respondents were asked to rate the photographic images of ten CEOs for personality traits and leadership effectiveness that were apparent in the face; in the focus group, they were asked to reflect upon the processes they had utilized in order to make their attributions.Findings – The study demonstrated that the vast majority of the participants actively used the face to attribute personality traits of the leaders as well as their ability to lead. The survey revealed that perceived leadership effectiveness was positively correlated to perceived extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and narcis...

Senior-executive performance: Interrater reliability and rater effects in multi-source ratings

This article explores interrater reliability and rater effects in performance ratings at the senior-executive level. Studies have shown that substantial rater effects affect the validity of multi-source ratings, but it is unclear whether these effects hold true at the senior-executive level. We present a study of 189 senior executives in New Zealand and Australia, whose performance was rated by an average of 4.23 raters: superiors, peers, and subordinates. Intra-class correlation coefficients revealed strong rater effects, and a multi-trait multi-method analysis showed that those effects came from individual raters, rather than rater source (i.e. superior, peer, or subordinate). The findings suggest that it may be unwise to aggregate performance ratings at the senior-executive level, and to use such ratings, whether aggregated or single, to make critical decisions.

Schizotypal and dependent personality characteristics and managerial performance

The study of negatively connotated personality characteristics as predictors of work-related performance is gaining momentum. While findings have generally suggested such characteristics to be negatively or curvilinearly related to performance, the current study was concerned with investigating any positive relationships that may exist between negatively connotated personality characteristics (as measured by the Hogan Development Survey) and work-related performance in a sample of 103 Australasian financial services managers. The most notable findings from the study were that: (a) schizotypal personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a creativity competency; and (b) dependent personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a customer focus competency. Findings and limitations are discussed.

The team selection inventory: Empirical data from a New Zealand sample

Within personnel selection there is an increasing emphasis on multi-level selection. However, while there are a range of psychometrically robust tools available for assessing person—job fit, substantially fewer are available for assessing person—team or person—organization fit. One of the few tools available for selecting for person—team fit is the Team Selection Inventory (TSI); however, the only published TSI data relates to UK and Greek samples. Given that selection processes in New Zealand and Australia, as well as other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, are similar to those in the UK, with a growing need for valid measures of person—team fit, the aim of the current study was to begin the process of collecting data from the Asia-Pacific region by providing psychometric data from a sample of graduating New Zealand students (n = 148). Results demonstrated similar psychometric properties to the UK data, along with minimal gender and ethnic group differences.