Assessment Centers and Managerial Performance

Preface

1 The Importance of Management Assessment

Problems of Management Assessment

Description of an Assessment Center

The Assessment Process

Judgment Models

Inappropriate Use of the Term Assessment Center

Impact of Evaluation on Managers

Assessment Centers and Equal

Employment Opportunity

Orientation of the Book

2 History of Assessment Programs

Common Problems in Assessment Programs

History of Performance Tests

German Selection Programs

British War Office Selection Boards

Military Assessment in Australia and Canada

British Civil Service Selection Board

Harvard Psychological Clinic

Office of Strategic Services

Veterans Administration Clinical Psychology Studies

Other Programs

Recapitulation

The First Industrial Application: AT&T Management

Progress Study

3 Approaches to Predicting Managerial Effectiveness

Points of Comparison

A Comparison of Several Industrial Practices

A Model for Identifying Errors of Prediction

Summary

4 The Content of Assessment: Defining the Dimension of Managerial Success

Three Levels of Managerial Jobs

Dimensions in Assessment Centers

Job Analysis for Assessment

A Model Job Analysis Procedure

Contributions of Assessment Center Research

Understanding Managerial Jobs

Appendix A: Common Managerial Dimensions

Appendix B: Complete Definitions of Several

Behavioral Dimensions

5 Assessment Center Exercises and Dimension Ratings

Evaluation of Individual Assessment Techniques

Dimensions Observable in Assessment Exercises

Reliability and Validity of Dimension Ratings

Needed Research

Appendix A: References for Reliability and Validity of Dimension Ratings

6 The Assessment Process

Steps in the Assessment Procedure

Basic Principles in the Assessment Center Process

Discussion of Principles and Related Research

Summary of Methods of Making Predictions

7 Criterion Validity of Overall Assessment Center Judgments

Overview of the Chapter

Review of Research Evidence

Methodological Critique of Validation Research

An Evaluation of Assessment Centers for Various Purposes

Comparisons with Other Methods

Utility

Recapitulation

8 Contributions to Management Development

Improved Selection Results in Better Candidates

Early Identification of Management Talent

Diagnosis of Training Needs

Assessor Training as a Learning Experience

The Impact of Assessment Center Methodology on the Organization

Can People Be Developed?

9 Unique Uses of Assessment Center Methodology

Assessment Centers as a Research Criterion

Assessment Centers as a Competency Criterion

Career Planning

Nonsupervisory and Nonmanagement Assessment Center Programs

Nontraditional Management Assessment Centers

Conclusion

10 Assessment Centers and the Courts

Research Support

Court Cases

Assessment Centers in the EEOC

Assessment Center Standards

Prospects for the Future

11 Past, Present, and Future

The Past: What Has Been Learned

The Present: Issues Being Faced

The Future: Research Needs

References

Author Index

Subject Index

Assessment Centers and Managerial Performance presents the historical development of multiple assessment procedures with focus on those advances relevant to assessment centers. This book discusses the models of job analysis, the nature of managerial work, work-sampling assessment methods, and the process of human judgment based on the assessment center experience.

Organized into 11 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the various methods to describe, evaluate, and predict management effectiveness. This text then describes a number of assessment programs, including the earliest assessment centers. Other chapters consider the five approaches to predicting managerial effectiveness, including psychometric testing, clinical evaluations by psychologists, supervisor's ratings of potentials background interviews, and assessment centers. This book discusses as well the three levels of managerial jobs, namely, supervisory, middle management, and executive. The final chapter deals with the development of standards for assessment center operations.

This book is a valuable resource for psychologists.