Case Study

In this case study, you will be asked to apply a number of different concepts you learned during the semester from the Riggo text, other reading assignments, eLectures, and worksheets.

In order to be successful in this case study, you must understand and apply various concepts. Pay close attention to the instructions you provide. you will take off points if you do not answer the questions completely. The case study contains 8 sections, so make sure you complete all 8.

Section 1: Describe Your Company

For this case study, you will identify a company. The questions contained in this case study will be based on the company you identify. You may use an actual company or you may make up a fictitious one. In this first section, if you do not know the exact answers, please estimate.

Question

Name the company you will use for this case study.

What is the size of your company? How many employees does your company have?

List 4 important roles that exist within this company (for example, salesperson, manager, etc.)

List the products and services that your company provides?

Who are your customers?

What are the 3 biggest opportunities for improving this organization? In other words, for this company to improve operations, sales, revenue, etc. what areas would be best to improve? Think of yourself as an I/O Psychology consultant and identify 3 areas in which you could help this company improve?

For each area, explain what part of the Riggio text you would use to assist you in making improvements.

Section 2: Job Analysis

This section is based on the information you learned about conducting a job analyses. For each of these questions, think about one specific role (for example, equipment operator) within the company for which you could conduct a job analysis.
For the questions on tasks and KSAs, you may want to read through your Job Analysis Worksheet from Week 4 and any feedback I provided on your answers. Some people had trouble distinguishing between knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Question

Name and describe a role within the company.

List 5 specific tasks a person in this role would perform. Hint: these must be behaviors.

List 2 examples of Knowledge required to succeed in this role.

List 2 Skills required to succeed in this role

List 2 Abilities required to succeed in this role

Suppose the manager came to you for your advice. She indicated that she believed conducting a Job Analysis was a waste of time. She stated, "I know you recommended a job analysis, but what's the point? The only reason for doing them is to come up with a description of the job, so I don't think it's worth it. Do you?"

Using your understanding of the importance of conducting a job analysis, respond to the manager's question.

Section 3: Research Methods

Suppose a manager at our company conducted research a few months ago. She conducted 2 research studies to try to identify a way to improve attendance. Here are the studies she conducted:

• Study 1. The manager asked all employees to complete a survey. She asked employees about their satisfaction at work. She found that employees with perfect attendance had higher satisfaction ratings than employees with lower attendance.

• Study 2. The manager gave employees a bonus who had not missed any days in the last 2 months. The manager did not provide any intervention with managers who had not missed any days of work. Absenteeism dropped about 25% for employees but it remained the same with managers.

Question

What type of research method was Study 1?

What type of research method was Study 2?

For study 2, which is the treatment group and which is the control group?

For study 2, what is the independent variable?

For study 2, what is the dependent variable?

Define extraneous variable.

For study 2, what extraneous variable was most likely to interfere with your ability to conclude the effectiveness?
(Hint: think of the subjects)

If the manager came to you and made the statement, "I noticed in Study 1 that satisfaction is highly correlated with low absenteeism. I think that this research shows that being happy causes you to come to work more."

How would you respond?

Section 4: Selection

In this section, you will identify a different role (for example, salesperson) from the one you identified in Section 2. Assume the manager of your organization has asked you to help her develop a selection system for hiring more employees for this role.

Question

Name and describe a role within the company.

The manager tells you that a friend of hers used a selection test based on a popular personality test. Her friend indicated the test was effective but warned her about its "validity generalization." She asks you to explain this term AND what would be the problem if she used this selection test. Respond to the manager.

The manager read an article about the role of an RJP in the selection process. However, she didn't know what an RJP was. Briefly describe what an RJP is to the manager and describe one way to improve them (according to Riggio).

The manager spoke with a friend who worked at another company. Her friend told her that she should use an assessment center to select employees, because it is far better than an interview. Define assessment center and explain why it is better than an interview.

Section 5: Performance Appraisals

For this section, assume the manager from your target organization asks you to help her improve their performance appraisal system. Answer the questions below.

Question

The manager tells you that her boss suggested that she use BARS to evaluate employees. Explain to the manager what BARS stands for and describe it for her.

The manager indicates that her employees usually complain that the ratings in the past have been unfair. You tell the manager that often ratings are influenced by a number of different problems that influence their accuracy (and perceptions of their fairness). List and briefly describe 4 rating errors.

Section 6: Training

For this section, suppose the manager at your target organization asked you to develop a training program. For the questions below, you may select any role within your organization and you must identify any skill (for example, selling or communication) that you will be training.

Question

Suppose the manager asked you to create a simulation-based training program. Briefly describe this training program you will create. Hint: make sure your description illustrate what tasks are being simulated.

Define transfer of training and explain how you would determine if this occurred for the simulation training you created.

The manager was talking with a training consultant who mentioned the word ADDIE. How would you describe this process or model to the manager?

Section 7: Performance Management

The following questions are based on the reading assignment from Performance Management by Aubrey Daniels. For this section, suppose the manager at your target organization recently attended a conference where Dr. Daniels discussed how Performance Management programs are implemented in an organization.

Question

The manager was confused about "antecedents." She asked you, "This is the thing that comes after the behavior, right?" Answer the manager and define an antecedent for her.

The manager remembered Dr. Daniels saying that, "When you want to have an employee stop a behavior, it is sometimes better to use extinction than it is to use punishment." Explain to the manager what this means and why extinction may be better.

Section 8: Leadership

The following questions are based on Riggio's Leadership chapter.

Question

Which of the Leadership theories discussed by Riggio do you think best explains leadership?

The manager asks you to explain why you feel like this theory would predict leadership skills. Describe 1 research study that shows this to be an effective theory. Hint: you must reference a specific research study, not merely what an expert said about the theory.