Search results

The purpose of this paper is to test how an individual’s attractiveness to three types of appraisal systems relates to self-rated psychological entitlement and ethics; and constructs rated by others of: conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness.

A sample of 148 students in graduate-level business courses and matching close friends/significant others were surveyed. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and path analysis.

Path analysis indicated acceptable fit for the overall model of attractiveness to three appraisal types.

Advocates of forced distribution ranking systems (FDRS) suggest that such systems stimulate a high-talent culture and that achievers and strong performers are attracted to FDRS. In contrast, the findings suggest that FDRS are attractive to individuals with high levels of psychological entitlement and low levels of conscientiousness.

Advocates of FDRS and prior research have indicated that such systems reduce leniency bias and stimulate a high-performance and high-talent culture in which honesty is expected and poor performance is not tolerated. Others have found that high achievers and high performers are likely to find such systems attractive. The present study suggests that one downside of FDRS is its attractiveness to workers with low levels of conscientiousness and higher levels of psychological entitlement, which are two personality traits associated with lower levels of performance and a variety of negative outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a predictive model that could replace lawyers’ annual performance rankings and inform talent management (TM) in law firms.

Eight years of performance rankings of a sample of 140 lawyers from one law firm are used. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used to model and simulate performance rankings over time. Multivariate regression analysis is used to compare with the non-linear networks.

With a lag of one year, performance ranking changes are predicted by the networks with an accuracy of 71 percent, over performing regression analysis by 15 percent. With a lag of two years, accuracy is reduced by 4 percent.

This study contributes to the literature of TM in law firms and to predictive research. Generalizability would require replication with broader samples.

Neural networks enable extended intervals for performance rankings. Reducing the time and effort spent benefits partners and lawyers alike, who can instead devote time to in-depth feedback. Strategic planning, early identification of the most talented and avenues for tailored careers become open.

This study pioneers the use of ANNs in law firm TM. The method surpasses traditional static study of performance through its use of non-linear simulation and prediction modeling.

The current chapter focuses on environmental and organizational factors that affect the performance appraisal context, performance evaluations, and rating accuracy. Drawing on the extant literature and focusing on current organizational practices, we propose a dynamic multi-level model of performance rating that takes these distal factors into consideration. In doing so, we also provide propositions explicating causal linkages between these distal factors, more proximal performance appraisal factors, and ultimately the accuracy of performance ratings. Furthermore, we identify current and emerging directions in performance appraisal research and practice. The implications of the current and emerging trends are then discussed in the context of our proposed model.

Research in strategic human resource management (SHRM) has evolved over the past 30 years to become more theory based and to exhibit greater empirical rigor. However, much has changed in the external environment that makes the existing theories, approaches, and methodologies inappropriate for addressing the questions that organizations face in managing their human resources today. In this chapter we discuss a number of environmental changes impacting organizations and identify tensions that researchers have faced in exploring how firms seek to manage their people as a source of competitive advantage. We argue that past research has focused on only one side of the tension at a time, thus limiting the usefulness of the answers that research provides. We advocate for research that simultaneously addresses both sides of the tensions in a way that can revolutionize research in SHRM.

Performance appraisal based on a forced distribution system (FDS) is widely used in large corporate sectors around the globe. Though many researchers have pointed out several drawbacks in FDS, due to the absence of any suitable alternative, it has been (and continues to be) adopted by many industries over a long period of time. The purpose of this paper is to point out some serious limitations of this system and propose a simple modification to overcome these limitations.

FDS determines the relative positions of the employees involved in similar work by comparing them against one another, and based on their performance, the employees receive different grades. Here the authors use the Likert's scaling method to convert these grades into numerical scores, then these scores are used to estimate the average performance of each group of employees, which is referred to as the group index. Taking these group indices into consideration, the authors propose a modified performance score of each employee for their final evaluation. Efficiencies of the existing FDS and the proposed modified version are compared using a simple measure of rank correlation known as the Kendall's tau‐statistic.

Extensive simulation studies show that the modified algorithm is uniformly better than the existing one over different schemes for allocations of employees to different projects, and depending on the allocation scheme, it can lead to substantial improvement.

This paper can be considered as the first to mathematically demonstrate the problems lying in the appraisal system based on a forced distribution and the first that provides a simple but effective solution which can be adopted by the organizations using FDS for performance appraisal.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

A striking feature of Jaques' work is his “no nonsense” attitude to the “manager‐subordinate” relationship. His blunt account of the origins of this relationship seems at first sight to place him in the legalistic “principles of management” camp rather than in the ranks of the subtler “people centred” schools. We shall see before long how misleading such first impressions can be, for Jaques is not making simplistic assumptions about the human psyche. But he certainly sees no point in agonising over the mechanism of association which brings organisations and work‐groups into being when the facts of life are perfectly straightforward and there is no need to be squeamish about them.

Attempts to discover an internal logic in the high‐speed events taking place in the former Soviet Union. In addressing the problems of the country′s disintegration, examines the issue in its socioeconomic, political and territorial‐administrative aspects. Analyses, for this purpose, the nature of Soviet society prior to Gorbachev′s reforms, its present transitional stage and its probable direction in the near future.