CONSTRUCTING JOB FAMILIES: AN ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES USED FOR GROUPING JOBS

A Monte Carlo study was conducted to examine the performance of several quantitative grouping strategies for the purpose of grouping jobs into job families. Two factors were found to substantially affect the accuracy of these grouping strategies in terms of identifying the correct number of families, and accurately classifying jobs into those families. Through simulation of job analysis data sets designed to reflect various underlying structures among a set of jobs, it was found that techniques based on the commonly used hierarchical cluster analysis model were relatively inaccurate when applied to data containing measurement error or overlap between job families. Alternatively, Q-type factor analysis and hybrid techniques involving a combination of factor and cluster analysis proved to be viable and robust grouping strategies for job classification research.     

JOB ANALYSIS MODELS AND JOB CLASSIFICATION

Recent research in job classification has focused on the appropriate data analysis model for analyzing the similarities and differences among jobs. In the present research, the data analysis model is held constant, and the type of job analysis data is varied to examine the effect on the resulting job classification decisions. Seven foremen jobs in a chemical processing plant were analyzed using three different levels of job analysis data: task-oriented, worker-oriented, and abilities-oriented. All three sets of data were analyzed using the same hierarchical clustering procedure. Results indicated that the number and type of resulting job clusters was clearly dictated by the type of job analysis data that was used to compare the foremen jobs. Practical implications of these findings are presented.     

职务评价的方差分析法在制定职务等级中的应用

职务评价的方差分析法的技术核心是通过方差分析确定职务可比价值各成分的权重。此方法的有效性和实用性已在协助国有企业内部分配改革的制定工资标准中得到验证,并显示其普遍性的方法论意义：职务评价值是职务价值的线性映射：凡涉及职务价值差异的问题都可用此方法解决。本研究应用方差分析法为国有金融系统行员制改革中制定统一的职务等级标准提供技术支持和科学依据。评价程序中,职务分析、职务分类、计算职务评价值等前三个步骤与制定工资标准的作法相同。然后,推算各类职务评价值的变异范围（以９５％置信区间代表）,再将各类职务按管理层次合并为大类。最后,寻求一个合理划分各管理层次大类变异范围的约数,划分整个评价值变异范围。对某银行系统４５２种职务的８４１个样本评价的结果,所确定的职务等级数、各职务大类的等级跨度、位次,都符合该银行系统的人事管理经验及改革设想     

CONVERGENCE AMONG DATA SOURCES, RESPONSE BIAS, AND RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A STRUCTURED JOB ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE

Research examined both the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) and the possible analyst sources for gathering job analysis information. 25 state government jobs were examined using job incumbents, supervisors, job analysts, and a comparison group of college students. Reliability and validity (judge convergence and prediction of present pay levels) information was determined for each of the four analyst categories. Results indicate that there is little difference between analyst sources, including students, in terms of their ability to reliably analyze a job using the PAQ. Convergent validity results showed a high degree of agreement among all judge categories when summing item frequencies across all 25 jobs. The prediction of present pay levels was significant for all judge categories but was noticeably smaller than previously reported studies. This seemed to be primarily due to the restriction in salary range of the present study. An analysis of judge response bias showed that supervisors and incumbents rate all or most PAQ items higher than their analyst counterparts. These findings suggest that who furnishes responses to a job analysis inventory makes little practical difference. The exception is that the determination of pay levels and human requirements for test construction purposes should be viewed with caution when different analyst sources are utilized for different jobs.     

内部分配改革的职务评价技术探新

建立工资标准系统的关键是确定职务工资率。职务间可比价值成分变异越大,对确定职务工资率的贡献也越大。根据以上研究设想采用方差分析方法进行职务评价。评价步骤包括：职务描述;对职务要素作主成分分析;对职务样本作聚类分析和判别分析;通过方差分析为可比价值各成分建构权重系数ωｉ。ωｉ‘满足：（１）ωｉ≥０;（２）Σωｉ＝１;（３）ωｉ,间可直接比较;（４）ωｉ的大小与对应的可比价值成分变异一致。最后将职务评价值线性变换为工资率。在线性方程中配一个常数。和调节系数α以适合组织的管理约束条件。配合两个企业内部分配改革的研究结果显示了方差分析法的有效性和实用性。     

A COMPARISON OF GLOBAL JUDGMENT VS. TASK ORIENTED APPROACHES TO JOB CLASSIFICATION

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which direct judgments of similarity by supervisors and incumbents could provide the same job classification results as a more elaborate job analysis procedure involving measures of task overlap among jobs. To accomplish this, 8 foreman jobs in a chemical processing plant were analyzed and compared on 237 task statements. In addition, 15 foremen incumbents and 17 supervisors evaluated the similarities among the same 8 foremen jobs in a paired comparisons rating task. The task-oriented job analysis required hundreds of man-hours to complete; the rating task took 15 minutes. Results using hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that the global judgments and the task-oriented data led to identical conclusions. Also, it was found that incumbent ratings produced the same results as ratings from supervisors. Uses, advantages, and disadvantages of the procedure are outlined.     

AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF A TRAIT-ORIENTED JOB ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

A trait-oriented job analysis technique based on a checklist of 33 a priori carefully defined traits that encompass elements of the physical, mental, learned, motivational and social domains of the work world is described. The analysis identifies the relevant traits, their levels and weights, in relation to overall job performance. Results of discriminability tests were supportive of the job analysis technique and indicated that incumbents of jobs requiring a particular trait scored higher on measures (predictors) of that trait than incumbents of jobs not requiring that trait. Implications of the results for personnel selection and placement are discussed.     

DETECTING JOB DIFFERENCES: A MONTE CARLO STUDY1

A monte carlo computer study was conducted where the statistical power of the univariate repeated measures ANOVA design proposed by Arvey and Mossholder (1977) to detect job differences was investigated. Also investigated was the relative value and usefulness of omega-squared estimates to indicate job similarities and differences. Job profile means and covariance structures were generated by using data from six relatively similar jobs and six dissimilar jobs based on Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) data bank information. Different combinations of job differences (4 conditions), number of job raters (2 conditions), and violations of statistical assumptions (3 conditions) were generated (1000 sets for each of the 24 combinations) and each data set analyzed using the ANOVA design. Results indicate that testing for statistical significance is not as useful in determining job differences as examining the omega-squared estimates. Specifically, the omega-squared estimates for the interaction of the Jobs × Dimension effect is a relatively sensitive and stable indicator of job differences regardless of the number of raters and violations of the statistical assumptions.     

Motivational–cognitive profiles of learners: Cluster movement

The present study was designed to identify the motivational–cognitive profiles of students in Singapore secondary schools using cluster movement. Five distinct motivated strategies for learning (MSL) profiles based on a sample of 304 students were revealed: those with low levels of motivational beliefs and cognition but high anxiety (Poor MSL); high motivational beliefs and cognition but low anxiety (Good MSL); moderate high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Average MSL); high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (High MSL); and low motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Low MSL). Findings of this study also showed cluster movement across two time points, revealing the shifts in cluster membership in terms of motivational–cognitive profiles over time. Students in Good MSL demonstrated the most adaptive learning profile and achieved the highest grades than other clusters. Our findings contributed to practical underpinnings of educational research as well as provided meaningful insights to both researchers and practitioners.     

THE COMPARABILITY OF JOB EVALUATION METHODS IN SUPPLYING APPROXIMATELY SIMILAR CLASSIFICATIONS IN RATING ONE JOB SERIES

There is a belief that any job evaluation method, when correctly applied to a series of jobs, will result in approximately the same rating classification as that supplied by any other method for the same job series. This study was aimed primarily at a determination of the extent to which a number of job evaluation methods, differing in methodology, and presently in use within South Africa, would in fact supply similar classifications. Correlation coefficients among the sixteen participating organisation job evaluation point ratings for a sample of jobs which were heterogeneous in terms of type and level within the job hierarchy, ranged from .93 to .99 with an average of .98. Coefficients for the same sample of jobs divided into a high prestige category and a low prestige category, ranged from .60 to .99 and .86 to .99 respectively. Correlation coefficients among point ratings for the same organisations but for a second sample of jobs, homogeneous in terms of type and level within the job hierarchy, ranged from .75 to .99 with an average of .90. These results indicate a high degree of agreement among job evaluation methods in assigning point ratings, irrespective of job type and level within the hierarchy.     

A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO JOB CLASSIFICATION FOR PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PURPOSES

This paper illustrates a methodological approach to classifying jobs for the purpose of developing performance evaluation instruments. The approach was to administer a worker-oriented job inventory to 2,023 incumbents across several jobs and several levels of responsibility (rank) in the U. S. Coast Guard. The data from the job inventory were then analyzed using Tucker's Three-Mode Factor Analysis. Output from the three-mode factor analysis was used to identify combinations of jobs and ranks for which separate appraisal instruments could be developed. In addition, output from the three-mode factor analysis was used to suggest the content of the various appraisal instruments. Advantages, applications, and limitations of this approach are discussed.     

INVESTIGATION OF BIAS IN JOB EVALUATION RATINGS OF COMPARABLE WORTH STUDY PARTICIPANTS

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of knowledge of current pay levels and perceived job gender on subsequent job evaluations. The sample consisted of 53 job evaluators in professional and scientific positions at the University of Iowa who had previously received 20 hours of training in job evaluation and participated in over 100 hours of job evaluations during the implementation of a comparable worth pay system. The hypothesis that jobs with high (manipulated) pay levels would receive higher evaluations than jobs with low (manipulated) pay levels was confirmed, although the effects were smaller than those reported in other studies. In addition, evidence of a pro-female bias was found ( p < .08) in the job evaluation ratings. Implications of these findings for job evaluation research and practice are discussed.     

KSC-N: Clustering of Hierarchical Time Profile Data

Quite a few studies in the behavioral sciences result in hierarchical time profile data, with a number of time profiles being measured for each person under study. Associated research questions often focus on individual differences in profile repertoire, that is, differences between persons in the number and the nature of profile shapes that show up for each person. In this paper, we introduce a new method, called KSC-N, that parsimoniously captures such differences while neatly disentangling variability in shape and amplitude. KSC-N induces a few person clusters from the data and derives for each person cluster the types of profile shape that occur most for the persons in that cluster. An algorithm for fitting KSC-N is proposed and evaluated in a simulation study. Finally, the new method is applied to emotional intensity profile data.     

LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF ABILITY-JOB COMPLEXITY FIT AND JOB CHANGE

The study examines job mobility as a function of congruence between individuals' abilities and their job's complexity. The gravitational hypothesis (McCormick, DeNisi, & Staw, 1979; McCormick, Jeanneret, & Mecham, 1972), a keystone of this objective, posits that individuals will sort into jobs that are commensurate with their ability level. This study used various analytical techniques to examine the relationship between ability, person-job fit, and occupational mobility. First, the gravitational hypothesis was tested. Second, the direction of mismatch between ability and job complexity was hypothesized to predict direction of change in job complexity over time. Two national, longitudinal databases, the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972 (NLS-72) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience-Youth Cohort (NLSY), were used to test these relationships. Results were supportive in both the NLS-72 and the NLSY. Additional analyses examined the difference between measures of objective job complexity and subjective job complexity (Gerhart, 1988) for the gravitational process and the difference in employer- and employee-initiated job changes. These results have implications for employers, vocational counselors and job applicants. Suggestions for improving the ability-job complexity match are provided.     

JOB SEARCH ACTIVITIES: AN EXAMINATION OF CHANGES OVER TIME

Existing job search research has been criticized for ignoring the dynamic nature of search. This study examined three models of changes in search behavior over time: sequential, learned change, and emotional response. Data on search behaviors were collected from a sample of 186 college and vocational-technical school graduates early in their search, at graduation, and again 3 months following graduation for individuals who remained unemployed. Job searchers decreased the intensity of their search, increased their use of informal sources, and reduced their emphasis on information related to the availability of jobs between early search and graduation. These changes were reversed following graduation. This pattern is most consistent with the sequential model, which suggests that individuals first search broadly to develop a pool of potential jobs, then examine jobs within that pool in detail, reopening the search only if the initial pool does not lead to an acceptable job offer.     

THE TRANSPORTABILITY OF JOB INFORMATION ACROSS COUNTRIES

Three Occupational Information Network (O*NET) instruments (Generalized Work Activities, Basic and Cross-Functional Skills, Work Styles) were administered to 1,007 job incumbents, from 369 organizations, performing 1 of 3 jobs (first-line supervisor, office clerk, computer programmer) in New Zealand, China, and Hong Kong. Data from these countries were compared with archival data collected from 370 incumbents holding similar jobs in the United States. Hypothesized country differences, derived from cross-cultural theory, received limited support. The magnitude of differences in mean item ratings between incumbents from the United States and the other 3 countries were generally small to moderate in size, and rank-orderings of the importance and level of work activities and job requirements were quite similar, suggesting that, for most applications, job information is likely to transport quite well across countries.     

Distinctive Personality Profiles of the Interpersonal Style Inventory

To identify a few homogeneous subgroups with distinct personality profiles, the Interpersonal Style Inventory (ISI) was administered to two samples, each composed of 100 university undergraduates. Ward's hierarchical algorithm and the buildup nonhierarchical cluster analytic program was applied to measures of profile similarity among members of each sample. Of the six clusters that were isolated in the first sample, five were matched at significant levels across the two methods. In the second sample, six clusters were matched across clustering procedures at significant levels. Comparisons across samples disclosed five good matches between clusters generated by the Ward hierarchical algorithm, but only one for the nonhierarchical analytic procedures, These results indicate that most IS1 personality profiles can be classified into five or six categories for purposes of interpretation or prediction.     

LINKING O*NET JOB ANALYSIS INFORMATION TO JOB REQUIREMENT PREDICTORS: AN O*NET APPLICATION

This is an exploratory study that examined the possible application of the job component validity (JCV) model to identify potential employee selection instruments and to determine job requirement levels from O*NET job analysis data, following a research paradigm established with the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ). Job requirements were measured by mean aptitude test scores on the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), and the ratings on the O*NET Generalized Work Activities (GWAs) were selected as representative O*NET job analysis data. Multiple correlation coefficients ranging from .35 to .89 were found when predicting mean GATB test scores from GWAs. Similar to JCV research some 30 years ago, predictions were strongest for cognitive aptitudes and weakest for manual dexterity. The data were examined under both rational and cross-validated empirical models. The results have positive implications for the development of a database that would support JCV estimates derived from O*NET job analysis data and allow practitioners to use O*NET data to help identify useful employee selection instruments.     

A QUANTIFIED APPROACH TO MEASUREMENT OF JOB CONTENT: PROCEDURES AND PAYOFFS1

Procedures used for developing a quantified job analysis system for 1710 exempt employees in a power utility firm are described. Factor analysis of these data yielded 60 job dimensions which were used to describe position and job profiles. These job profiles then served as the basic input into the development of job clusters, defined as jobs at the same organizational level which have similar job content. The usefulness of information in this format for selection, promotion, transfer, compensation and training decisions is discussed.