Simulated Projects for Practical
Applications in
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
APPL 655
The I/O projects described below
are purely hypothetical. The information and data are not derived from
actual organizations. The purpose of the simulated projects is to provide
students with opportunities to demonstrate competencies they have acquired
through course work in the MS in Applied Psychology Program in Division
of Applied Behavioral Sciences at the University of Baltimore.
JA = Job Analysis
PA = Performance Appraisal
SEL = Selection procedures
OB = Org behavior (may involve job design, training,
motivation, satisfaction, leadership)
Projects:
JA1 FCPS: School Teacher Job Analysis
JA2 FCPS: School Principal Job Analysis
JA3 Alum Aluminum Corporation: Midlevel Managers: Job Analysis
JA4 WCI: Engineers and technicians multilevel Job Analysis
JA5 SoftApps: Software engineer Job Analysis
PA1 FCPS : Teacher Performance Appraisal
Project Descriptions
JA1 FCPS:
School Teacher Job Analysis
Assignment: Conduct a valid Job Analysis
for Elementary School Teachers
Faultimore County Public School
System (FCPS) has recently received an infusion of funds from the State
of Maryland. The new Superintendent, Dr. Fred Fiedler, wants to spend it
wisely. He has hired an extremely competent HR Director, Sandy Beach, who
is moving quickly to improve things. Sandy knows that 200 additional elementary
school teachers will be hired next year to accommodate the increase in
student enrollments. Therefore, in order to develop and implement an effective
performance appraisal system, it will necessary to identify the tasks, duties
and and KSAOs needed for successful performance as a teacher. The job analysis results will also
be used
in the future to develop valid job criteria, a performance appraisal system, selection procedures
for hiring new teachers, and to determine how much the job
will pay (big increase for teachers). Having a thorough understanding of the job
duties and SKAs will also help
to defend against any EEOC charges, but most importantly, to really help
improve the system.
APC Inc. has signed a contract
to develop and implement an effective performance appraisal system for
elementary school teachers. This Project Team must update the job description
and identify the frequency and importance of the essential job duties for Elementary School Teacher.
Remember your assignment is not to develop a performance appraisal system
or develop selection criteria (that's
for other projects), but to conduct a thorough job analysis that can be used for
several functions such as recruitment, performance management, training and
development, selection, and job evaluation.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish a goal, objectives, and a time line to complete the project
- Specify what job analysis method(s) you will use to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
(O*Net)
- Identify an adequate number of SMEs needed to obtain reliable judgments
in determining the essential job tasks
and duties
- Collect data to validate the importance and frequencies of the
tasks/duties
- Identify the KSAOs necessary for successful performance of the job
- Provide sound justifications (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
- Be sure that the Teachers’ Union position is considered.
- Provide a written report to management.
You
are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a short,
power point presentation
DOT code: 092.227-010 TEACHER, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
(education) teacher, primary.
Teaches elementary school pupils academic, social, and manipulative skills in
public or private educational system: Prepares teaching outline for course of
study. Lectures, demonstrates, and uses audiovisual teaching aids to present
subject matter to class. Prepares, administers, and corrects tests, and records
results. Assigns lessons, corrects papers, and hears oral presentations.
Maintains order in classroom and on playground. counsels pupils when adjustment
and academic problems arise. Discusses pupils' academic and behavior problems
with parents and suggests remedial action. Keeps attendance and grade records as
required by school board. May teach combined grade classes in rural schools.
Also see updates (articles from
Baltimore Sun) on plans to control teacher assignments
JA2 FCPS:
School Principal Job Analysis
Assignment: Conduct a valid Job Analysis for Elementary School Principal
Faultimore County Public School
System (FCPS) has recently received an infusion of funds from the State
of Maryland. The new Superintendent Dr. Fred Fiedler wants to spend it wisely.
He has hired an extremely competent HR Director, Sandy Beach, who is moving
quickly to improve things. Sandy knows that 13 additional elementary school
principals will be hired next year to accommodate the increase in student
enrollments. Therefore, in order to develop and implement an effective
performance appraisal system, it will necessary to update job descriptions
by conducting a thorough job analysis. The job analysis will be used for
several future projects such as recruitment, selection, performance
management, and job evaluation. It will be used first to help develop valid criteria
for personnel decisions and thus it must be sufficient to defend against any EEOC charges, but most importantly, to really help
improve the system.
Applied Psychology Consultants,
Inc (APC) has signed a contract to conduct the job analysis for elementary school principals. The Project Team must
update
the job description by conducting a job analysis for Elementary
School Principal. Remember your assignment is not to develop
selection criteria (that's another project), but to determine the frequency and
importance of the essential tasks and duties and the requisite KSAOs
needed to perform the job well. The job analysis findings will
be used for both administrative and development purposes.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish a goal, objectives and a time line to complete the project
-
Specify what job analysis method(s) you will use to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
- Compare the FCPS Principal job to the DOT
(O*Net)
description for school principal
-
Select appropriate SMEs to be used for identifying the tasks and duties, their
importance and frequency, and verifying the KSAOs needed for successful
performance.
- Ensure the job analysis findings are reliable
- Provide documentation to show that your decisions were based on sound I/O principles
- Be sure that the Teachers’ Union position is considered.
- Present a written report to management.
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
Dictionary of Occupational Title: 099.117-018 PRINCIPAL
(education)
Directs and coordinates educational, administrative,
and counseling activities of primary or secondary school: Evaluates educational
program to insure conformance to state and school board standards. Confers
with teaching personnel, pupils, and parents on matters pertaining to educational
and behavioral problems in school. Establishes and maintains relationships
with colleges community organizations and other schools to coordinate educational
services. Requisitions and allocates supplies, equipment, and instructional
material as needed. Supervises assignment of teachers and pupils to classes.
May be designated PRINCIPAL, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (education; PRINCIPAL, HIGH
SCHOOL (education); PRINCIPAL, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (education); PRINCIPAL,
PRIVATE SCHOOL (education).
JA3 Alum
Aluminum Corporation (AAC) Managerial personnel Job Analysis
Assignment: Conduct job analyses for six
classes of mid-level managers.
Before a new performance management system can be
developed for AAC, it will be necessary to conduct a job analyses for
all job classes. It is very important that you involve managers to help
develop the job descriptions. You will need to get
their participation and buy-in in order to make sure the job analyses are valid.
Because Geoff Nelson,
the VP of HR will insist that the new performance management program
will allow for comparisons across job classes and departments, the jobs must be
defined in a way that such comparisons can be made when performance criteria
are developed for the system. The initial phase of the job analysis project will cover
six of the job
classes of managers at AAC. Once the job analyses are complete, the
procedure will be replicated for all of the approximately 30 managerial job classes
and levels. For positions counts and descriptions
See:
Alum Alum Managerial
Job descriptions
Alum Aluminum employs a total of 3200 employees of which 72% are nonexempt.
Currently of the managerial positions, 10% are female, 21% African Americans
(others white). Average age is 45.4 years and average time in managerial
positions is 2.3 years.
Your assignment is to:
- Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project
- Conduct a thorough job analysis for each of six mid-level managers by
identifying both the common and unique tasks and duties associated with each
manager job
- Match the job descriptions as closely as possible to the DOT
(O*Net)
descriptions.
- Specify what job analysis method(s) you will use to define the tasks
and worker requirements (KSAOs needed)
- Provide statistical evidence for the importance and frequency of tasks and
link the KSAOs to the duties
- Give sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
- Present a written report to management
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, Power Point presentation
JA4 Wireless
Communication Inc. (WCI): Engineers and technicians Job Analysis
Assignment: Conduct job analyses
for engineers and technicians at WCI. Before a new performance appraisal
system can be developed for WCI, job analyses must be conducted, beginning
with engineers and technical staff jobs (
see
WCI job descriptions). While the jobs may vary in some important
respects, it will be important to
identify both the common and unique tasks
and duties associated with each. Not only do all workers have to demonstrate
competency in the technical requirements of the job, each must also work
closely with team members and project managers, relating to them effectively
and being able to resolve differences in opinions on how to develop the
products. Therefore in addition to capturing the worker’s competency in
the technical requirements of the job, the job analysis must also focus on soft skills
required (KSAOs). The jobs must be defined in a way that will enable the
APC Performance Appraisal team to develop a system that allows for comparisons across
jobs and classes. The PA system will be used to set merit pay and
for making promotional decisions.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project
- Specify what job analysis method(s) were used to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
- Relate the new job descriptions with corresponding DOT
(O*Net)
descriptions
- Provide statistical evidence for the importance and frequency of tasks and
link the KSAOs to the duties
- Provide sound reasoning (based on I/O principles) for your decisions
- Be sure that employees as well as management (SMEs) are used to help with
the job analyses
- Document the findings in such a way that they can be used for the future
performance appraisal and selection projects to be done at WCI
- Present a written report to management
You are asked to present your team's findings to the APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
JA5
SoftApps: Software engineer Job Analysis
Assignment: Conduct a job analysis for SoftApps software
engineers.
HR manager, Wanda Wynn was informed by her astute
HR generalist, Cindy File, (who studied I/O psych) that EEOC investigators
were inquiring about the possibility that female software developers may
be making less than male developers. This prompted the discussion
with Ashonnie Starr and Izzy Shorter about whether or not they needed a formal
appraisal process to make sure any pay differentials, if they exist, are
defensible. Cindy pointed out, of course, that legal issues notwithstanding,
its good practice to do the performance appraisals properly especially
if they are rewarded on merit and performance.
They all decided it was a smart move to establish
a formal performance appraisal system so Izzy decided to borrow an evaluation
form from a friend who worked at MicroSoft Corp.. However, Cindy pointed out
that they should not take an "off the shelf system" but instead should
develop their own that fits the SoftApps purposes. Harry Finnish, who had
completed a graduate course in personnel, insisted that a thorough job
analyses must be conducted first, to ensure that the job descriptions really
defined the jobs. None had ever been formally done. They all agreed to begin with software engineers (developers). Cindy
called on APC for help. The APC team agreed to (1) conduct a formal job
analysis, (2) develop a job description and (3) report the findings to Willie
Gates who would then decide what to do about developing a formal appraisal
system that would be fair to all.
Cindy pointed out that not only do the engineers have to demonstrate competency
in the technical requirements of the job, each must also work closely with
team members and project managers, relating to them effectively and being
able to resolve differences in opinions on how to develop the products.
Therefore, in addition to capturing the engineer's competency in the technical
requirements of the job, the job analysis must also be identify soft skills.
The prototype Job Analysis procedure would have to be designed for use with all
jobs in the organization.
Mr. Willie Gates, Mgr. Product development will be working closely with
APC. He has provided the consultants with the following numbers of employees
available for the study.
600Applications Software engineers
25 Engineer Managers
7 hardware specialists
Your assignment is to:
- Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project.
- Identify the closest SoftApps job match one or more DOT
(O*Net) descriptions.
- Specify what the worker requirements are needed (SKAOs), including soft
skills.
- Provide sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
- Be sure that employees as well as managers are used as SMEs and have
substantial input in developing the descriptions
- Present a written report to management.
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
PA1 FCPS:
Teacher Performance Appraisal
Assignment: Develop a performance appraisal system
for Elementary School Teachers
The Board of for the
Faultimore County Public School
System (FCPS), with the recent infusion of funds from the State
of Maryland the new Superintendent, has ordered Dr. Fred Fiedler,
Superintendent, to spend it
wisely. He very competent HR Director, Sandy Beach, is moving quickly
to improve things. Sandy knows that 200 additional elementary
school teachers will be hired next year to accommodate the increase in
student enrollments. Therefore, in order to develop and implement an
effective
performance appraisal system, she has retained APC to conduct a job
analysis which will be completed in time for another Project Team
(yours) to develop valid job criteria for this job. The criteria may
also be used
in the future to develop selection procedures, determine how much the
job
will pay (big increase for teachers). Having valid criteria will also
help
to defend against any EEOC charges, but most importantly, to really
help
improve the system.
APC Inc. has signed a contract
to develop and implement an effective performance appraisal system for
elementary school teachers. The Project Team must utilize findings from the
Job Analysis for Teacher
and develop JOB PERFORMANCE CRITERIA for Elementary School Teacher.
Remember your assignment is not to develop selection predictors and criteria (that's
another project), but to develop criteria to measure effective performance
of the duties on the job. The system will be used for both administrative
and development purposes.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish objectives and a time line
- Specify what job analysis method(s) was used to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed) (O*Net)
-
Make sure the conceptual and actual criteria match.
-
Try to come up with both "hard" and "soft" criteria.
-
Be sure they are appropriate, practical, reliable and valid.
-
Be able to give sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
-
Be sure that the Teachers’ Union position is considered.
-
Provide a written report to management.
-
Construct a Performance Appraisal (form) that can be used for
administrative purposes and attach it as an addendum to the Report
You
are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a short,
power point presentation
DOT code: 092.227-010 TEACHER, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
(education) teacher, primary.
Teaches elementary school pupils academic, social,
and manipulative skills in public or private educational system: Prepares
teaching outline for course of study. Lectures, demonstrates, and uses
audiovisual teaching aids to present subject matter to class. Prepares,
administers, and corrects tests, and records results. Assigns lessons,
corrects papers, and hears oral presentations. Maintains order in classroom
and on playground. counsels pupils when adjustment and academic problems
arise. Discusses pupils' academic and behavior problems with parents and
suggests remedial action. Keeps attendance and grade records as required
by school board. May teach combined grade classes in rural schools.
Also see updates (articles from
Baltimore Sun) on plans to control teacher assignments
Limiting
Teacher Moves Decried
School May Expand Bonus Awards
Fault Co. Limits teacher transfers
PA2 FCPS:
Elementary Principal Performance Appraisal
Assignment: Develop a performance appraisal system
for Elementary School Principal
Faultimore County Public School
System (FCPS) has recently received an infusion of funds from the State
of Maryland the new Superintendent Dr. Fred Fiedler wants to spend it wisely.
He has hired an extremely competent HR Director, Sandy Beach, who is moving
quickly to improve things. Sandy knows that 10 additional elementary school
principals will be hired next year to accommodate the increase in student
enrollments. Therefore, in order to develop and implement an effective
performance appraisal system, it will necessary to update job descriptions
and develop valid job criteria for this job. The criteria may also be used
in the future to develop selection procedures, determine how much the job
will pay (big increase for teachers). Having valid criteria will also help
to defend against any EEOC charges, but most importantly, to really help
improve the system.
Applied Psychology Consultants,
Inc (APC) has signed a contract to develop and implement an effective performance
appraisal system for elementary school principals. The Project Team must
update
the job description and develop JOB PERFORMANCE CRITERIA for Elementary
School Principal. Remember your assignment is not to develop
selection criteria (that's another project), but to develop criteria to
measure effective performance of the duties on the job. The system will
be used for both administrative and development purposes.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish objectives and a time line for completion of the project.
-
Specify what job analysis method(s) were used to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
-
Make sure the conceptual and actual criteria match
-
Try to come up with both "hard" and "soft" criteria
-
Be sure the criteria are appropriate, practical, reliable and valid.
-
Provide sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
-
Be sure that the Teachers’ Union position is considered.
-
Present a written report to management.
-
Construct a Performance Appraisal (form) that can be used for
administrative purposes and attach it as an addendum to the Report
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
Dictionary of Occupational Title: 099.117-018 PRINCIPAL
(education)
Directs and coordinates educational, administrative,
and counseling activities of primary or secondary school: Evaluates educational
program to insure conformance to state and school board standards. Confers
with teaching personnel, pupils, and parents on matters pertaining to educational
and behavioral problems in school. Establishes and maintains relationships
with colleges community organizations and other schools to coordinate educational
services. Requisitions and allocates supplies, equipment, and instructional
material as needed. Supervises assignment of teachers and pupils to classes.
May be designated PRINCIPAL, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (education; PRINCIPAL, HIGH
SCHOOL (education); PRINCIPAL, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (education); PRINCIPAL,
PRIVATE SCHOOL (education).
Assignment: Develop a performance appraisal system
for a range of mid-level managers.
A new performance management system will be developed to replace the current generic appraisal
form that most managers do not take very seriously. You will need to get
their participation and buy-in in order to make it work. Geoff Nelson,
the VP of HR will insist that the appraisal system be designed in a manner that
it will allow for comparisons across job classes and departments. The new
system will be used, in part, to make pay and promotional decisions for the
entire organization. The system may or may not need to include 3600
concepts.
Appraisals will have to be conducted at least on a semi-annual basis and be input
into an Access database file that can be converted into SPSS for more extensive
data analysis. The initial phase of the project will cover six of the job
classes of managers at AAC. Once the design is approved and tested, it
will be extended to all of the approximately 30 managerial job classes
and levels. For positions counts and descriptions
See:
Alum Alum Managerial
Job descriptions
Alum Aluminum employs a total of 3200 employees of which 72% are nonexempt.
Currently of the managerial positions, 10% are female, 21% African Americans
(others white). Average age is 45.4 years and average time in managerial
positions is 2.3 years.
Your assignment is to:
- Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project
- Match the job descriptions as closely as possible to the DOT (O*Net)
descriptions.
- Specify the job analysis method(s) that were used to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
- Design the performance appraisal system that requires collaboration
between supervisors and subordinates
- Make sure the conceptual and actual criteria match.
- Try to come up with both "hard" and "soft" criteria
- Be sure the criteria are appropriate, practical, reliable and valid.
- Provide sound reasoning (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
- Present a written report to management
- Construct a Performance Appraisal (form) that can be
used for administrative purposes and attach it as an addendum to the Report
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, Power Point presentation
Assignment: Develop a performance
appraisal system beginning with engineers and technical staff jobs (
see
WCI job descriptions).
Not only do the workers have to demonstrate
competency in the technical requirements of the job, each must also work
closely with team members and project managers, relating to them effectively
and being able to resolve differences in opinions on how to develop the
products. Therefore in addition to capturing the worker’s competency in
the technical requirements of the job, the PA must also be designed to
assess soft skills. This PA must be able to provide comparisons across
jobs and classes of jobs so that results can be used to set merit pay and
used to help make promotional decisions.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project
- Specify what job analysis method(s) were used to define the tasks
and worker requirements (SKAOs needed)
- Compare the new job descriptions with corresponding DOT (O*Net)
descriptions
- Design the performance appraisal system to account for a least two
subjective evaluations, making sure the conceptual and actual criteria match
- Try to come up with both "hard" and "soft" criteria
- Be sure the criteria are appropriate, practical, reliable and valid.
- Provide sound reasoning (based on I/O principles) for your decisions
- Be sure that employees as well as management have input on the development
and implementation of it
- Present a written report to management
- Construct a Performance Appraisal (form) that can be
used for administrative purposes and attach it as an addendum to the Report
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
PA5
SoftApps:
Software engineer performance appraisal
Assignment: Develop a new performance appraisal
system for software engineers.
HR manager, Wanda Wynn was informed by her astute
HR generalist, Cindy File, (who studied I/O psych) that EEOC investigators
were inquiring about the possibility that female software developers may
be making less than male developers. This prompted the discussion
with Carly Simon and Izzy Shorter about whether or not they needed a formal
appraisal process to make sure any pay differentials, if they exist, are
defensible. Cindy pointed out, of course, that legal issues notwithstanding,
its good practice to do the performance appraisals properly especially
if they are rewarded on merit and performance.
They all decided it was a smart move to establish
a formal performance appraisal system so Izzy decided to borrow an evaluation
form from a friend who worked at MicroSoft Corp.. However, Cindy pointed out
that they should not take an "off the shelf system" but instead should
develop their own that fits the SoftApps purposes.. start with a job analysis
since job descriptions had not ever been formally done. They all agreed to begin with software engineers (developers). Cindy
called on APC for help. The APC team agreed to (1) conduct a formal job
analysis, (2) develop a job description and (3) devise a performance appraisal
form that meets the following requirements.
Not only do the engineers have to demonstrate competency
in the technical requirements of the job, each must also work closely with
team members and project managers, relating to them effectively and being
able to resolve differences in opinions on how to develop the products.
Therefore, in addition to capturing the engineer's competency in the technical
requirements of the job, the PA must also be designed to assess soft skills.
This PA must be designed to fit into a total organization-wide performance
appraisal system to be developed after this project is complete. Thus,
comparisons will have to be made across jobs and classes of jobs so that
results can be used to set merit pay and used to help make promotional
decisions.
Mr. Willie Gates, Mgr. Product development will be working closely with
APC. He has provided the consultants with the following numbers of employees
available for the study.
600 Applications Software engineers
30 Engineer Managers
7 hardware specialists
Your assignment is to:
- Establish objectives and a time line to complete the project.
- Identify the closest SoftApps job match one or more DOT (O*Net) descriptions.
- Specify what the worker requirements are needed (SKAOs).
- Design the performance appraisal system to account for a least two subjective
evaluations, making sure the conceptual and actual criteria match.
- Try to come up with both "hard" and "soft" criteria.
- Be sure they are appropriate, practical, reliable and valid.
- Be able to give sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
- Be sure that employees as well as management have input on the development
and implementation of it.
- Present a written report to management.
- Construct a Performance Appraisal (form) that can be
used for administrative purposes and attach it as an addendum to the Report
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
SEL1 FCPS
Elementary
School Teacher Selection program
Assignment: Develop a
teacher selection program for FCPS.
Since APC did such an effective
job of developing valid job criteria, Dr. Hairston has decided that an
APC team should also be able to develop an appropriate selection procedure
for the new teachers who will be hired. Sandy Beach has pointed out to
you that for some of the new teachers this will be their first real teaching
job. Their only experience will have been one year of student teaching
before they graduated from college. Others will have had perhaps years
of experience. Therefore, Sandy says you need to IDENTIFY EXISTING PREDICTORS
that may be available or DEVELOP SOME FOR EACH GROUP (experienced and new
teachers).
Your PT must decide how to
go about it, and what kinds of predictors (tests, interviews,
biodata, etc. to use). It is imperative, of course, that they be reliable,
valid and practical. Ms. Beach insists that you demonstrate how you
will ensure they meet the standards, since she wants to be sure that
the new teachers will succeed and be as good as the current cadre.
Your assignment is to:
-
Develop objectives, action plan and timeline.
-
Outline potential predictors and criteria and justify the choices you make.
-
Make sure the predictors are reliable and valid and that they measure the
conceptual criteria.
-
Describe the VALIDATION PROCEDURES (sequence, e.g. application
screening, test, interview) and the selection procedure.
-
Be able to give sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions.
-
Conduct a concurrent criterion related validity study to assess the
reliability and validity of the battery.
-
You are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a
short presentation.
-
Provide a report to management.
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation.
Assignment: Develop a
selection program for FCPS principals. Since APC did such an effective
job of developing valid job criteria, Dr. Fiedler has decided that a APC
team should also be able to develop an appropriate selection procedure
for the new principals who will be hired. Sandy Beach has pointed out to
you that for most of the new principals this will be their first principal
job. All would have had at least two years of experience as an assistant
principal. Others will have had perhaps, more experience as assistant principal.
Therefore, Sandy says you need to develop a selection program that takes
into consideration their experience as assistant principals.
Your PT must decide how to
go about it, and what kinds of predictors (tests, interviews,
biodata, etc. to use). It is imperative, of course, that they be reliable,
valid and practical. Ms. Beach insists that you demonstrate how you
will ensure they meet the standards, since she wants to be sure that
the new principals will succeed and be as good as the current cadre.
Your assignment is to:
1.Develop
objectives, action plan and timeline
2.
Outline potential predictors and criteria and justify the choices you make
3.
Make sure the predictors are reliable and valid and that they measure the
conceptual criteria
4.Describe
the VALIDATION PROCEDURES (sequence, e.g. application screening, test,
interview) and the selection procedure.
5.Be
able to give sound reasons (based on I/O principles) for your decisions
6.
Conduct a concurrent criterion related validation study to assess the reliability
and validity of the battery.
7.
You are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a
short presentation.
8.Provide
a report to management
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
SEL3 Alum
Aluminum Corp (AAC): cognitive ability and personality assessment for
management applicants
Assignment: Develop a
selection program for AAC managers. The VP of HR at AAC has contracted
APC, Inc. to conduct a criterion-related validity study of the current
content valid test batter used for helping to select managerial personnel.
The battery includes two cognitive ability tests, (Wonderlic Personnel
Test and the
Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal) and
the California Personality Inventory (3rd edition). Over
the years, there have been over 400 assessments conducted. It is estimated
that there are at least 214 currently employed managers for whom criteria
data could be collected. Once a performance appraisal system for managers
is in place (see PA project), Paul Posner, the VP of HR has requested that
APC conduct the study and report its findings to management. After results
are examined and results are favorable, the testing program will be considered
for implementation throughout other subsidiaries of AAC.
Your assignment is to:
1. Develop objectives, action plan and timeline
2. Obtain literature on the tests used in the current
battery
3. Ensure that the job descriptions are adequate
for the criteria to be used
4. Develop at least two criteria for measuring managerial
effectiveness that will be used in the validation study.
5. Describe the VALIDATION PROCEDURES.
6. Be able to give sound reasons (based on I/O principles)
for your decisions.
7. Conduct a concurrent criterion related validation
study to assess the reliability and validity of the battery.
8. You are asked to present your team results to
the APC consultants in a short presentation.
9. Provide a report to management
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
SEL4 WCI:
Personnel selection for engineers and technicians
Assignment: Develop an
applicant selection program for engineers and technicians at WCI. WCI currently hires engineers
and technicians using only interviews with the applicants as a selection
procedure. The management has decided that they may be able to reduce turnover
and also hire more qualified engineers and techs by developing a more extensive
selection program that incorporates other types of applicant assessments.
They are also interested in building in a RJP as well to help reduce the
likelihood that new employees will leave early within the first year. The
selection procedures will have to assess both technical competencies as
well as interpersonal skills. The team can choose from a variety of techniques
such as written tests, inventories, biodata, evaluations of training and
experience qualifications, etc.
Your assignment is to:
1.Develop
objectives, action plan and timeline.
2.Develop
predictors and job criteria to assess validity and reliability of the selection
procedure.
3.Develop
at least two criteria; one for measuring technical competencies and the
other for assessing interpersonal skills in working with teams.
4.Describe
the validation strategy and provide literature to justify it.
5.Conduct
a concurrent criterion related validation study to assess the reliability
and validity of the battery.
6.You
are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a short
presentation.
7.Provide
a report to management.
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
SEL5
SoftApps: Selecting Software engineers
Assignment: Develop a selection procedure for hiring software engineers at
SoftApps.
SAC has, in the past, relied only upon employee
referrals, interviews and work sample tests to select software engineers.
Now, Izzy Shorter, Wanda Wynn, and Steve Jobs have decided that applicant
testing could reduce turnover (both voluntary and involuntary) and at the
same time, reduce the time it takes to get the engineers up to speed on
the job. They are particularly concerned that now, since they have decided
to have engineers interface directly with clients, they will have to have
especially effective customer relations skills. Each team project leader
will have to manage client relations during the development and implementation
phases of a project. Thus, engineers who expect to progress to project
management must be selected on a basis of their ability to acquire skills
to manage the customer relations. Therefore, selection procedures will
have to assess technical competencies as well as interpersonal skills,
especially those that require customer relations. Your team can choose
from a variety of techniques such as written tests, personality inventories,
biodata, evaluations of training and experience qualifications, etc.
Your assignment is to:
-
Develop objectives, action plan and timeline.
-
Develop predictors and job criteria (which could be borrowed from the PA
project) to assess validity and reliability of the selection procedure
-
Develop at least two criteria; one for measuring technical competencies
and the other for assessing interpersonal skills in working with customers.
-
Describe the validation strategy and provide literature to justify it.
-
Conduct a concurrent criterion related validation study to assess the reliability
and validity of the battery.
-
You are asked to present your team results to the APC consultants in a
short presentation.
-
Provide a report to management.
You are asked to present your team results to the
APC consultants in a short, power point presentation
OB1 FCPS
New Teacher discontent
Assignment: Analyze teacher
satisfaction at FCPS and recommend solutions to improve morale. In recent years, Faultimore County
has been experiencing difficulty retaining new teachers. The turnover rate
for the more experienced teachers, i.e. those having more than 10 years
tenure has increased steadily over the past three years, from 10% in 1999
to over 23% in the past school year, 2001. The rate of turnover for these
more seasoned teachers is considerably higher than the rate for recent
hires that has been steady at about 12% a year.
Dr. Stuart Hamm, Dr. Hairston’s predecessor, had
established a policy of moving the seasoned teachers out of their preferred
schools systems in the best performing schools to those not performing
up to the county average on the MSPAP. Traditionally, as teachers gained
more seniority, they opted to move to the more highly valued districts
with fewer minorities and fewer disciplinary problems. Dr. Hamm had reasoned
that poorly performing schools in high enrollment racial minority districts
would improve if the seasoned teachers were moved there to mentor fellow
teachers with little experience. The policy seems to have little or no
effect on improving performance in the low performing districts, however.
Now
that the system has been in place for over three years, there is anecdotal
evidence that many of the seasoned teachers are leaving the system or taking
early retirement. If this turnover phenomenon continues, and the rated
stays the same or increases, Faultimore County stands to lose a large proportion
of its seasoned teachers. Should this happen, the excellent reputation
of FCPS be jeopardized and new teachers may not find FCPS as attractive
as they have in the past.
Dr.
Fiedler hypothesizes that the Dr. Hamm’s change of policy for assigning
teachers may be the primary reason why the turnover for senior teachers
has continued to increase. He has asked that consultants from APC look
into the situation to find out what is causing the increase in turnover
and recommend what to do about it.
Your
assignment is to:
-
Establish a goal, objectives a timeline for completing this project.
-
Develop and implement a plan to assess the turnover problem using at least
an organizational survey
-
Make sure the sample includes teachers at all levels and from both high
and low performing districts
-
Make sure to include demographics that will address the Dr. Hairston’s
hypothesis.
-
Compare the attitudes and intentions of recently hired teachers to those
with more seniority, with special emphasis on attitudes toward the policy
for assigning teachers to schools.
-
Provide results from the survey and any other assessments that address
the issues of turnover.
-
Prepare a report to Dr. Hairston with findings and recommendations.
You
will be asked to present your findings in a PowerPoint presentation to
the APC group.
OB2 FCPS:
Elementary Principal Dissatisfaction
Assignment: Assess the level of satisfaction among FCPS principals
and offer recommendations for improving their morale.
Based on anecdotal reports from the past, FCPS principals have typically
been quite satisfied with their jobs, especially with the superintendent
and area superintendents. However, recently, a number of vice principals
have been grumbling to higher ups that their chances for promotion don't
seem to be very good. This may have stemmed in part from the fact that
a number of elementary schools in the area have been consolidated, thereby
requiring fewer principals to staff the organization. Also, there has been
a rumor recently that the principals seem to play favorites in recommending
vice principals for promotion. And in some cases, it seems that some principals
who fear they may lose their highly valued vice principals, are giving
them ratings just low enough to keep them from being qualified for promotion.
Another factor may also play a role in possible vice principal dissatisfaction.
In the past two years, Dr. Hairston, in an effort to improve minority achievement,
has established a policy to staff the lower socioeconomic districts with
the best performing vice principals. He wonders if this may be another
reason that some principals could be giving lower ratings to keep their
high performing vice principals. Hairston wants to find out if the vice
principals are tending to leave because of they may perceive better promotional
opportunities elsewhere.
Your assignment is to:
-
Establish a goal, objectives a timeline for completing this project.
-
Develop and implement a plan to assess the satisfaction of vice principals
and principals using at least an organizational survey
-
Make sure the sample includes both principals and vice principals and from
both high and low performing districts
-
Make sure to include variables that will address Dr. Hairston’s questions
about why excellent vice principals may be getting lower scores than they
deserve.
-
Compare the attitudes and intentions to stay for vice principals with special
emphasis on their attitudes toward the policy for assigning teachers to
schools.
-
Prepare a report to Dr. Hairston with findings and recommendations.
You
will be asked to present your findings in a PowerPoint presentation to
the APC group.
Assignment: Compare union and non-union
employee attitudes at AAC and offer recommendations for organizational
interventions if needed. Geoff Nelson, the VP of HR at
AAC is concerned
that the most recent attempt to organize the Monett Plant was almost successful.
He wants to obtain information that would help convince workers in non-union
plants that they are better off than fellow workers who are in plants that
have been unionized. He would like to conduct a job satisfaction survey
and compare workers in the unionized plants at Monett, Missouri and Kalamazoo,
Michigan with those non-union in Moultrie, Georgia and Belton, South Carolina.
There are approximately 3200 employees in all locations.
Your assignment is to:
-
Develop a proposal with a goal, objectives and timeline to complete the
project
-
Develop and implement an organizational satisfaction survey to provide
evidence for the VP of HR
-
Make sure you can compare the union with non-union on relevant variables
of interest to the company
-
Make sure the project is conducted consistently using professional standards
of I/O psychology
-
Provide a report to management they can use to support their contention.
You will be asked to present your findings in a
Power Point presentation to the APC group.
Assignment: Assess morale
among employees at WCI and recommend changes if needed.
Management at WCI has been concerned
that the managers and team members are not happy with the current performance
appraisal system that requires 3-4 ratings of employees and takes an inordinate
amount of time to conduct every spring. The VP or HR has asked APC to determine
if the PA needs to be redesigned, and suggested that an organizational
survey be conducted to find out what employees think about the current
performance appraisal system. Some have alleged that it may not be reliable
and accurate. They wonder about how much emphasis in placed on the ratings
when merit raises and promotions are considered.
Some employees, especially technicians,
have also expressed concern about not having a company-sponsored development
program for them to move into more higher-level positions.
Your assignment is to:
-
Define the problem, develop a proposal with a goal, objectives and timeline
to complete the project
-
Develop a plan to assess employee attitudes towards management, the performance
appraisal system and to determine the level of interest in an employee
development program.
-
Design and conduct a survey to accomplish the above.
-
Make sure you can compare engineers with technicians on their attitudes
-
Provide a report to management with the results and findings.
You will be asked to present your findings in a
Power Point presentation to the APC group
OB5
SAC:
SoftApps
Organizational Productivity
Assignment:
Assess employee morale at SoftApps and recommend changes if needed.
Over the past six months, there
has been a decrease in production, both in terms of quality and quantity
at the Bozeman location. This has been documented in a December 10
report December, 2001 from COO Izzy Shorter who indicated that while
sales were up, the development and completion of orders has suffered.
He reports that 25% of SAC's 153 customers have received orders on an average
of 2.3 months after the promised delivery dates. Several have complained
about problems implementing the new SoftApps.
Typically, SAC has virtually
no difficulties with implementation. However, debugging has gotten
to be a nightmare. The On-line help staff has been inundated.
Izzy informed me (Mitchell) in a meeting last November that he had heard
several employees saying they are embarrassed about the problems they hear
about from customers. Several have threatened to quit if they continue
to have to deal with such inexcusable problems with the software.
Dawn Wright, here in Baltimore,
has also mentioned to the CEO that some of her customers are going elsewhere.
The problem is apparently not with sales. Sales reps say they are
afraid to promise delivery to the customers for new software orders. Apparently
it's happening in all regions except the mid-west. Since Izzy is pretty isolated from the actual day
to day operations, he's not certain what's going on. Izzy did say that
Steve Jobs told him that since Gates came on board in July last year, some
of the programmers were complaining that they never knew what the end product
looked like. As everyone knows, Gates redesigned the development
process for SAC. Steve said that before Gates came they were able
to let most of the programmers decide what projects they wanted to work
on, and basically gave them free reign in how they would get it done.
However, since SAC has been growing so fast, Gates figured it was necessary
to streamline the product development to get the work out faster. "
Billy
(Gates) had plenty of success working with the Redmond, Washington group
doing it his way, and came to us with high recommendations', says Izzy.
Izzy also mentioned "...
Bill is a results-oriented, task-focused sort
of leader who expects everyone to do it right and doesn't believe in a
lot of pat-on-the back stuff."
Izzy has also heard that a rumor is being
passed around that SoftApps may be sold to an investment group which holds
a large number of both hardware and software production companies.
Obviously, those who believe this rumor are concerned that a new owner
may come in and really shake things up. This could be adding to some
of the discontent.
CEO Stanley Tall (he doesn't
like to be called "Stan"...no one can figure out why) tells me the word
has gotten out that SAC is not going to be able to offer the nice fat across-
the-board salary increases they have been offering for the past four years.
"That's about all I know about the problems now", says Izzy. "Stanley
has instructed me to find out if there is a morale problem in Bozeman and,
if so, to 'fix it!"
The APC team has to move fast on this. If
sales start to fall in the second and third quarters of this year, and
earnings drop, SAC may look good for pickings by some outside investment
group. I have spoken to Izzy and he and I agreed that we need to determine
what's causing the reduction in output, and to do something about it as
soon as possible. Is it a job design problem, a motivational, or
just some discontented employees trying to stir up trouble?
the assignment for your team is:
1. Define the problem, develop a proposal with a
goal, objectives and timeline to complete the project.
2.
Conduct an analysis of some sort to figure out the problem and a strategy
to analyze the problem.
3.
I can get survey data back in a hurry if you want to use something such
as the JDS.
4.
Based on information and data, come up with some potential solutions and
decide which one(s) may be feasible to implement, logistically cost-wise.
5.
Provide a report to management with the results and findings.
You will be asked to present your findings in a Power
Point presentation to the APC
Note: Since we haven't had a problem of this magnitude before at APC
I am expecting that you will be able, using a team approach to problem solving,
resolve this thing for us. In fact, you may want to explore the feasibility of
redesigning SAC jobs in a teamwork fashion to solve this problem. There is a lot
of existing literature on group processes and teamwork that can be found in
libraries and on the Internet. I presume that all of you are somewhat familiar
with assessing production problems, since at least some of you have had graduate
course work in this area.