Kenneth P. Carson

Personality dimensions and domains of service performance: A field investigation

Although recent meta-analytic studies have investigated the validity of the “Big Five” domains of personality by classifying pre-existing personality measures into the five dimensions, published validity studies incorporating explicit measures of the five broad traits are rare. This concurrent validity study examines relationships between direct measures of “Big Five” traits and job performance for a sample of 105 service workers. Analyses specifically examine relationships between three personality dimensions and factorally independent domains of service performance. Both conscientiousness and extraversion are found to correlate with specific performance dimensions. Contrary to our expectation, the extraversion-performance relationship is, however, negative.

Is utility really futile? A failure to replicate and an extension.

G. P. Latham and G. Whyte (1994) found that managers gave less positive evaluations to a proposal to implement a valid selection procedure when information about the utility of that procedure was also given. The authors hypothesized that the manner in which the utility information was presented might explain this result. Two empirical studies (Ns = 145 and 186) were conducted. Results of mean contrast analyses show that the effect found by Latham and Whyte was not replicated, that revised scenarios including utility information are more understandable to managers, and that utility information presented in a revised manner has a low-to-moderate positive effect on the acceptability ratings that managers give to these selection proposals. However, acceptability ratings remain disappointingly low no matter which scenario is presented. Future study is encouraged to examine managerial reactions to innovations suggested by psychological research.

Moving beyond the mechanistic model: An alternative approach to staffing for contemporary organizations

Abstract The currently accepted model of employee staffing is grounded in traditional principles of industrial psychology which stem from concepts associated with a view of organizations as machines. This perspective is incompatible with modern organizations that are frequently structured around networks and teams rather than around individuals performing jobs. A new staffing model based on the notion of organizing through emergent relationships is developed to explain how modern organizations select new members and develop agreements that define their roles. This model acknowledges the fact that individual roles emerge around idiosyncratic characteristics of individuals and can not be adequately defined through prehire job analysis. Implications of this model for research are discussed.

Job analysis and the sociotechnical approach to quality: A critical examination

Abstract Organizations in pursuit of quality have generally taken one of two paths. The traditional TQM path emphasizes managerial control over organizational systems, while the sociotechnical path seeks to deemphasize hierarchical control and transfer managerial functions to teams. Organizations structured around sociotechnical principles are less likely to have traditional jobs—relatively static sets of tasks independent of any particular individual. In contrast, employees, usually organized in teams, are often given only the broadest set of responsibilities and are asked to organize their own work. In such an environment, traditional forms of job analysis have very limited usefulness. This paper suggests ways in which job analysis may be developed in order to be useful in sociotechnical organizations.

Total quality and the abandonment of performance appraisal: Taking a good thing too far?

Abstract Proponents of total quality management often argue that performance appraisal is fundamentally at odds with quality-oriented management. This argument is made both on the basis of logical analysis and statistical demonstration. We show that neither of these arguments creates a compelling case against performance appraisal. We conclude that thoughtful organizations need to make decisions about performance appraisal in the same way that other business decisions are made, that is, in terms of a cost-benefit analysis.

Person and system effects in performance appraisal: Ratings as a function of the degree of performance responsibility and errorfulness

Abstract Performance ratings were examined as a function of person and system effects on ratee performance. Degree of responsibility for production of various parts, as well as levels of productivity, system produced error, and person produced error were manipulated in two studies. Findings were substantially similar across the two studies. In each study, ratings were found to be lower when the ratee had greater responsibility for production than did the system. The responsibility effect in each study depended on the level of productivity, with system responsibility yielding higher ratings than person responsibility under the low productivity condition, but not under the high productivity condition. Implications of the findings for appraisal and performance management are considered. Possible future research directions and the importance of understanding person and system effects on ratees and raters are discussed.