Fit and Skill in Employee Selection: Insights from a Study of Headhunters

We draw upon evidence from a qualitative study of headhunters to provide insights into the character and importance of candidate fit and skill for the selection of a broad range of white-collar employees. Headhunters suggest that the fit of a job candidate is assessed at two levels, one corresponding with a general compatibility with organization-level norms, culture, and strategy, the other corresponding more closely with traits and characteristics of the person or persons with whom the job candidate actually interviews. Skill—a factor which is largely neglected by those who tout the importance of fit—also plays an important and independent role in employee selection. Stalls that influence the selection of employees from a pool of candidates tend to be highly specific if not idiosyncratic, and take the form of what headhunters call hot buttons. We conclude by discussing the conceptualization, causes, and implications of fit; we also consider how the importance of fit and hot buttons challenges the explanatory logic of standard accounts of labor-market success.     

A Comparison of Ambient Casino Sound and Music: Effects on Dissociation and on Perceptions of Elapsed Time While Playing Slot Machines

This research examined the effects of a casino’s auditory character on estimates of elapsed time while gambling. More specifically, this study varied whether the sound heard while gambling was ambient casino sound alone or ambient casino sound accompanied by music. The tempo and volume of both the music and ambient sound were varied to manipulate temporal engagement and introspection. One hundred and sixty (males = 91) individuals played slot machines in groups of 5–8, after which they provided estimates of elapsed time. The findings showed that the typical ambient casino auditive environment, which characterizes the majority of gaming venues, promotes understated estimates of elapsed duration of play. In contrast, when music is introduced into the ambient casino environment, it appears to provide a cue of interval from which players can more accurately reconstruct elapsed duration of play. This is particularly the case when the tempo of the music is slow and the volume is high. Moreover, the confidence with which time estimates are held (as reflected by latency of response) is higher in an auditive environment with music than in an environment that is comprised of ambient casino sounds alone. Implications for casino management are discussed.     

Evidence for improved sensitivity of within-participants analyses in tests of the theory of reasoned action

Two studies involving 26 behaviors were performed to test four hypotheses. Between-participants and within-participants analyses of attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions and actual behaviors suggested the following conclusions. First, consistent with Trafimow and Finlay (1996), the prediction of intentions from attitudes and subjective norms is better when within-participants analyses than between-participants analyses are used. Second, behavioral intentions are a good predictor of actual behavior, regardless of whether between-participants or within-participants analyses are used. Third, attitudes can predict unique variance in behaviors even when controlling for intentions, but it takes within-participants analyses to detect the effect. Fourth, subjective norms can predict unique variance in behaviors even when controlling for intentions, but it takes within-participants analyses to detect the effect. We conclude that within-participants analyses should be used for more sensitive tests of the theory of reasoned action.     

The relation of gender and sexual orientation to measures of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny: a further analysis

Data from a survey of 58 gay men and 58 lesbians are compared to college men and women on Spence and Helmreich's (1978) Personality Attributes Questionnaire measures of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. Lesbians had higher M scores than college women, and gay men had lower M scores than college men, with F scores being similar across sexual orientation groups, within gender. Androgyny measures differed only by gender, not by sexual orientation. Further analysis shows that lesbians' high M scores come largely from their high self-ratings as independent, while college men's high M scores reflect strong competitiveness. Questions are raised about the validity of these measures for comparing these groups.     

A simulation of a dispatch department

The operations of the dispatch department of a manufacturing organization have been analysed in terms of matching the labour supply to the labour demand (as determined by customer orders). The problem differed somewhat from those traditionally associated with dispatch departments since set-up costs and company policy resulted in high stocks being carried. In this context, service level did not refer to the ability to supply a customer from stock, but to the proportion of orders processed within a specified time interval. The operations of the department were simulated using FINSIM—a computer simulation package developed for the BBC microcomputer. FINSIM offers the capability of seeing the simulation proceed graphically on a visual display. The final outcome of the study was an aid to decision-making consisting of a family of curves of service level against the maximum acceptable time allowed to process an order. This set of curves allowed prediction of the quantifiable consequences of any proposed changes in the department. Of particular significance was the use of the curves to help demonstrate that the seemingly important delays to order documentation within the computer department were in fact inconsequential.     

Understanding Mills via Mill-type methods: An application of qualitative comparative analysis to a study of labor management in southern textile manufacturing

A number of recent writers have advocated a computer-based approach to the analysis of qualitative data that leans on John Stuart Mill's method of agreement and the indirect method of difference. Those discussions, however, remain fairly abstract and provide little insight into how analyses based on Mill-type methods unfold and their relative costs and benefits. In this paper we describe the logic and use of one prominent Mill-type software program called QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) in the context of an analysis of evidence drawn from twenty-two interviews with managers in textile plants. Our substantive aim is to understand labor-management practices in Southern textile manufacturing plants; our methodological aim is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the Mill-type logic in action.     

Strategic group decision support systems--a guide for the unwary

Considerable interest is currently being shown in the use of information technology to assist in improving group process, particularly those associated with strategic planning. Three major approaches are developing to provide this support, and these are described in this article. In general, articles about Group DSS are overwhelmingly favourable to the approaches, although research findings suggest that some forms of Group DSS can have deleterious effects on the quality of meetings. These research findings are discussed.