Business

The struggle to remain competitive in the global marketplace occupies much of the energy of today's firms. Although there are many performance improvement strategies that can be implemented by an organization, it has yet to be determined which strategy or combination of these strategies, if any, that is most helpful in improving performance. A genetic algorithm trained neural network is used to identify such combinations to provide direction to managers as to which performance improvement strategies are associated with increases in performance as reported by operations managers. This study shows that this neural network approach can identify combinations that result in better approximations of performance, as compared to standard statistical techniques, and should be considered as an appropriate tool for performance improvement strategy selection.

The effect of job title status on job evaluation ratings was examined. Eighty-six personnel management students used the Factor Evaluation System (FES) to evaluate two job descriptions. One of three different forms of a secretary and accountant job description, differing only on the status of the job title, was randomly assigned to the subjects. The results showed that job title status significantly influenced job evaluation ratings for both the accounting and secretarial jobs. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations are made to avoid the contamination of job evaluation results by job title status.

The authors have reviewed many applications for academic library vacancies and have examined sources in the literature which instruct applicants in proper résumé construction. Having received résumés that were not well prepared, the authors surveyed academic librarians in the early years of their careers regarding items they perceive as important to include in a résumé. Results of the current study are compared with those of Thomas M. Gaughan’s study, and a résumé model for academic applicants is suggested.

Previous research has indicated that applicants can increase their scores on noncognitive measures by half of 1 standard deviation (e.g., Rosse, Stecher, Miller, & Levin, 1998; Viswesvaran & Ones, 1999). Two influential factors have been proposed to influence this elevation: individual differences and situational influences (e.g., Douglas, McDaniel, & Snell, 1996). The current study examined how individual differences and motivation (expectancy theory) predicted individual response elevation from a general to a job applicant context using a conscientiousness measure. Results indicated that elevation was primarily predicted by emotional stability, instrumentality, and the interaction between expectancy and instrumentality. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.j asp_680 2774..2790 Non-cognitive tests-which include biodata, personality, and integrityhave seen resurgence as tools used in selection systems (e.g., Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). For many years following a warning issued by Guion and Gottier (1965), non-cognitive measures fell out of favor. However, with the advent of the Big Five organizing framework (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1992), researchers and practitioners have again recognized the value of using personality tests in a selection setting. These tests are relatively easy to administer, are rather inexpensive, and tap important dimensions relevant to job performance not captured with a cognitive ability test. For example, personality tests-specifically, conscientiousness tests-have been shown to be predictive across jobs (e.g.

Previous research has indicated that applicants can increase their scores on noncognitive measures by half of 1 standard deviation (e.g., Rosse, Stecher, Miller, & Levin, 1998; Viswesvaran & Ones, 1999). Two influential factors have been proposed to influence this elevation: individual differences and situational influences (e.g., Douglas, McDaniel, & Snell, 1996). The current study examined how individual differences and motivation (expectancy theory) predicted individual response elevation from a general to a job applicant context using a conscientiousness measure. Results indicated that elevation was primarily predicted by emotional stability, instrumentality, and the interaction between expectancy and instrumentality. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.j asp_680 2774..2790 Non-cognitive tests-which include biodata, personality, and integrityhave seen resurgence as tools used in selection systems (e.g., Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). For many years following a warning issued by Guion and Gottier (1965), non-cognitive measures fell out of favor. However, with the advent of the Big Five organizing framework (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1992), researchers and practitioners have again recognized the value of using personality tests in a selection setting. These tests are relatively easy to administer, are rather inexpensive, and tap important dimensions relevant to job performance not captured with a cognitive ability test. For example, personality tests-specifically, conscientiousness tests-have been shown to be predictive across jobs (e.g.