UUPTEll I11

W E R I A L EFFECTIVENESS-A &SEARCH REVIEW

Campbell, Dunnette, Lawler and Yeick (1970) view

the effective manager as an optimizer in utilizing both

internal and external resources (human, material and

flnanclrl) in order to ensure the continuance of the

organlzatlonal unit for which the manager is responsible.

Emphasis in the deflnitlon is primarily on managerial

action5 and behaviour impliclt, relevant and essential for

appropriate utlllzatlon of resources. Rational evaluations

therefore require the speclficatton of the wide spectrum of

aana~erlal behavlors that are considered to be important for

g o d pcrforoatlcc. Beglnnine with the determination of the

dosaln of a manager's responsibilities, the process

continues with siaultancous identification of critical

bchavlour vltal for the appropriate use of existing and

porontlal resources. Sufflce it to say that the ai* is to

dcrtvc ncanlngful cxposltions of effective managerial

pcrlornance. Such revelations enable a more comprehensive

urdcratrndln~ of the complex inter-relationships existing

k t u e e n var lous job behaviours and organitat lonal

pcrformanccn or outcomes measured.

t h e r t a of this chapter Is to examine the

knowladge about manap?rlal effectiveness that has

accumulated over the years through research. The review of

literature is confined to large scale empirical research

falling within the ambit of global measures, predictive

studies, objective personality and interest inventories,

leadership ability tests and rater perceptions.

Global Clcasurer

Numerous studies of managerial success have

utlllrcd objective, global or administrative criteria Ie.g.

L.aurent 1961, 1962; Mahoney, Jerdey and Nash 1960).

Crltlcrl examlnatlons have indicated that global measures

such as supcrvisorv ranklngs of composite managerial

rffccrlvcnrss, raiarv or orpanfzatlonal hierarchical level

strtlsttcallv corrected for age or length of service have

srveral edvantaprs. In casrs where supervisory rankings are

in oprrrtlan onc suprrlur normally ranks a limited nuaber of

+.~brrrdlnetr aanagers. Hence the test-retest and interrater

roliahlllclc~ tcnd to be high. Further, such rankings quite

ofter, include a large sample of behaviours conditioned over

a period of tine. Conscquencly, unintentionally, @any a

tlaes the manager becomes the subject of judgement rather

thrn the urgat~l~atlonnl factors. Peer performance is used

rr standards for coaparlson of the manager's performance.

Such comparlron of the manager with his peers is appropriate

slnce all of them are usually collectively responsible for

optimizing the use of similar quantities of resources

(Campbell G . , 19701.

Overall measures of effectiveness or ratings of

success are factorially complex. Their factorial

compocitlon undergoes constant changes as a result of

complex tnteractions among the various variables (Dunnette

1963; Ucitx 1961). W i t e naturally such measures obscure

rather than reveal managerial behaviour for success. The

role of Intervening variables such as providence,

cducatlon, training etc. Is relatively unknown. Global or

adainistriltivc crlterla explain the position of the manager

,,n thc success contlnuun, but is silent on how it uas

attalned iierybcll 5 c . , 1970) .

Bchaviourr relevant to managerial success changes

ovcr timc Iliorman, 19681. It is imperative that

cffsctivcners dimensions be revleved to keep pace with

orga~~lzrclonal changes. Identical is the case of objective

merrurcr of ranagerial effectiveness. The Employee

Rclrtlonr lndex I E R I ) developed by Herrihue and Katzell (1955)

rt thc General Electric Company is a composite of eight

objective indicators of managerlal effectiveness, viz.,

absence rate, soparatton rate, dispensary visits, number of

ruggestionn subrlttcd, discipllnery suspensions. grievance

rates, w r k stoppages and extent of employee participation

in the company sponsored insurance plan. In early studies,

slgnlflcsnt relatlonships were disclosed between the

magnitude of the ERI and subjective estimates of work

effectiveness. Hwever, they were found to be insignificnnt

In subsequent studles. Consequently, the use of the ERI was

discontinued.

Dunnette and Kirchner (1958) administered the

nlller Analogies Test (WT), the Uechsler Adult Intelligence

Scale (UAlS), the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB),

the Callfornla Psychologlcal Inventory (CPI) and the Edwards

Pernon~1 Preference Schedule (EPPSI to twenty six sales

actragerr working with the 3W Co. Simultaneously the general

aanager a n d vlcc president uslng forced choice method

selected the better mrnrger out of each combination pair of

rrnaprrs. The global effectiveness score was thus the

propartlori of tlmes the aanager was selected as the more

cffrctlve of the varlous palrs. They hypothesized that the

effcctlvc manager would be more intelligent, have numerous

lntercsta and have stronger personalitles than other

mnnrlerb. Intelligence was tested by comparing the scores

of aanagers above and below the median on the XAT and those

above rnd below an IQ of 125 on the WAIS. Effectiveness

rcoras of managers 4 t h moderate to strong interest in

rtlerrt t w occuprtional groups on the Strong Vocational

Intereot Blank were compared with those of managers showing

interest on none or only one occupational group, in order to

test hypothesis relevant to interest. To test for strong

personality, the manrger's profiles on the CPI and the EPPS

were examined and divided into high and weak personalitles.

Efftctlvcncss scores vere then compared. Managers having

"fa~arrSbl&~ reports on two or all three of the variables

were compared vlth those having "unfavourable" reports on

at Ierrt tw variables. Results shoved that conbining data

[roe seprrate mcrsures yield better relationship with rated

effcctlvenrrr than if thev are considered separately.

Ca~pbell g G. 11970) observed that objective

criccrla ruffcrs frun both deficiency and contarination.

A l s o these rcruurcd only a small portion of the variance due

to indlvtdual manaperial behaviour. Variations in these

mcrrurcs w r c observed to be dependent on many, but often

krrclcvant, factors. A s these factors are not under the

dlrcct control of the mrnagcr, it is difficult to monitor

In ordcr to overcome the shortcomings of objective

crltcrir, subjective crltcrir say be resorted to (Cascio,

19781. Such rsscsneent must be based on observations of

Wrnanr at their jobs. But this practice is often

confronted with problems. Inadequate sampling of the job

behaviour domain, lrck of knowledge, lack of cooperation by

the ratets , dlfferlng expectations and perceptions of

rate- , changes in the job or job environment are some

carer of error and contamination. However, it is now

possible to overcome these by scale development methods and

training. For r more accurate picture of performance global

criteria should preferably be supplemented with systematic

observrtlonr rnd recordings of behaviour for better

undcrrtrnding of mrnagerirl success (Cascio, 1978).

The taxonorv, dcvcloped by Mcchl ( 1 9 5 4 1 , cakes

d(*tinct Ion posrlblc bctvcen the varlous types of

Instruacnt~ urcd a n d the types of predlction used in the

rrwlv of ~lanagrrial succcss. Statistical or rechanical

prrdictlonb asresb the individual on some instrument. The

acorrb obtained are subsequently correlated with a criterion

measure. Ob]rctlve personallty inventories, biographical

drtr rnd soac abill~v tests fall into this category.

Judgrmcntrl or cllntcal prediction, requires the subjective

cumblnrtlon of thcsr scores to forecast criterion status.

Qbrcrvrtlona of bchaviour at work and assessment interviews

rye cxrmplcr of cilnlcal predlctlons (Casclo 1978) .

Chiselli (1963, 1966), in his review of studies on

managerial success, reported that tests of intellectual

abll 1 ty and perceptual accuracy and personality inventories

('r's ranging between 0.25 and 0.30) are best forecasts of

managerial success. These results are attributed to the use

of criteria differing in reliability, validity and degree of

contamination. Concurrent and predictive studies were

combined and the validities were averaged. The studies

differed on many dimensions such as the relative size of

sampling errors, restricted ranges, relative reliabilities

of aeasurrs used etc. In view of these, the resultant

"crumnrrizcd" validities tended to be underestimates of the

actual dcgrrc a f rrl at ionship.

Ror-,in ( 1 9 6 8 1 rcvlcved only prediccive validity

s t u d i c r , +olclv because of less arbiguicy in the

intcrprrtntior, c r f rc.sults. Verbal ability tests, used to

srnsnrc. inrc.1 1 tgcnce, were found to be good predictors of

f Lrst Itnr su;>crvlstiry pcrfar~anct, but not perforcance at

the high'-r Icvcls. because of restriction imposed by the

range probl c q m .

Crlmsrlv and Jarrrtt 11973) used a matched group,

conerjrrc?~~;-val id1 tu design to detercine the extent to vhich

rerrtal rbi l i c y test scores and scl f description inventory

rcorar obtained during assessment prior to employment

dlstingulsh between top and middle level managers. The

matched group design was used to control two moderator

variables (age and education) which were posited to be

related to test performances and managerial achievements.

Our of 037 appllcants 100 subjects were selected. Each of

the 50 top managers was paired with one of the 50 middle

manap,crs considering age and college education. Success

crltcrlon was based on the level of managerial

rcrponsibillty attained prior to assessment. An advantage

of the design Is that the data was gathered under actual

raployernt eondlt ions. On the contrary, the disadvantages

arc the large wa5rage in subjects used and the difficulty in

lnccrprctcrtlon of results because "retching the variables

contrallcd inevitably makes one of the matched sarples non

rei~rcrr-nt a t l v e of rhr population from which it was drawn"

((a*cl,,. 3978, p . 2 3 7 1 . lnspite of this probler, Crimsely

and Jarrvlt chuse to coapr~mise representativeness for

inrrra~c*d ccr~ltrol of these two moderators which affect the

rclatlonship bctwrcn t e s t scores and managerial achievement.

AT d T 1 3 management progress study was begun in

1956 to investipatr the career development of persons

enploycd by tire orpanlrrtlon. A nueber of significant

reports of rerul t a (Rcrlev, 1965; Bcrlew 6 Hall, 1964, 1966;

Bray, 1962, 196(4, 1966; Bray and Grant Berlev, Rychlak and

Katkovrky, 1965) h a s been made.

Bray ( 1 9 6 2 , 1 9 6 4 ) undertook t h e s t u d y t o t r a c e t h e

c a r e c r b of aanage r s from t h e t ime of t h e i r e n t r y i n t o Be l l

System. The s t u d y in t ended t o o b t a i n an a p p r o p r i a t e

psycholo' lcal d s w s s n e n t of a number of ncv young e a p l o y e e s .

I t a l s o a t t empted t o s t u d y them p e r i o d i c a l l y th rough ou t

r h e l r c r r c c r . Paper and penc i l t e s t s , work samples ,

projective C C ~ ~ S , c l i n i c a l i n t e r v i e w s and p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n

group p r o b l c s s and l e a d e r ' s group d i s c u s s i o n s were used a s

a s s c s s w n t a t - a su rcs . 5 t u d l e s t o a s s e s s s u b j e c t ' s l i f e , work

e n v l r o n u e n t , t r a i n l n p , s a l a r y , t r a d i t i o n s and e o a l s of h i s

o r g a n l 7 r t l o n , and t h e a o r a l c of t h e employees' work group

v e r c ln t~ .nd~ . i i . F o l l o b up of sen who had t e r m i n a t e d t h e i r

c s p l o v e u r ~ t i l t h A I A 1 t o p e t h c r with cep loyees c o n t i n u i n g a t

tht* Rcll \ v \ c c r w a s a l s o under taken.

I'ilirr hundrrd dnd twenty two r e n employed i n 6

cimpanl I + v r r r a+cths+etf over scvc ra l y e a r s . Most of t h e s e

r t u d l c * rt-1 t t cd t o t h c n a t u r e of judgements nade d u r i n g

~ s s t . s % a t % r ~ t , d11tl i t 5 r r l a t i o n s h i p t o l a t e r job per fo rmances .

Ihr i n i t i a l q t c y i n such a s s c s s a c n t p rocedures c o n s i s t e d of

Idrrrt l f v l t i p c h a r ~ c t r r l s t l c s t o bc a s > c s s c d . Out of t h e

nuarrouu l t r a s i t i r . ~ ~ t i f i c d , a l i s t of twenty f i v e qualities

w a s s r l ~ c t r d . f h c c r v a r i a b l e s vc re s t u d i e d by t e c h n i q u e s

I t k o I n - b j s k r t n c t h t d , i n t e r v i e u , manufac tu r ing problem,

g roup d i s c u s . s i ~ ~ n , jrrcljcctive t r s t r , p r p r r and p e n c i l t e s t s ,

and questionnaire~.lnfor.rtlon was also obtained through a

personal history questionnaire,an autobiographical essay and

seventy Q-sort self descriptive items.

Interviews were conducted by individual staff

memkrr. Tests, questlonnaIres and other exercises vcre

rdmlnlstered in groups. The group consisted of six

participants at a time. T w staff eembers recorded their

asseas~ent of each participant and evaluated them

separately. The in-basket technique was revieved by one

staff membor. One observer for the group exercises

evaluated performance of the individuals in these exercises.

Ratlngs of peers and observers was also considered. This

vas revlewd and an lndlvidurl report was prepared by a

trained prychologlst. The paper and pencil tests w r e also

scored. For Q-sort itees the employee identified those that

uere "most" and "least" like him. The five point scale was

used to rate each indlvldual on twenty five characteristics

vit., organization and planning, decision making,

creativity, human relations skills, behaviour flexibility,

p.rson@l Impact, tolerance of uncertainty, resistance to

stress, scholastic aptitude, range of interests, inner work

standards, primacy of w r k , oral communication skills,

p.tcrptton of swlrl cues, self-objectivity, energy, realism

of e~pccations, Bell System value orientation, social

objectivity, need f o r advancement, a b i l i t y t o d e l a y

g r a t i f i c a t i o n , wed f o r s u p e r i o r approval , need f o r peer

approval , goal t l e x i b l l i t y and need f o r s e c u r i t y .

Af te r completing t h e r a t l n g s on a11 v a r i a b l e s t h e

i n d i v i d u a l ' s p o t e n t i a l a s a management person i n t h e 6ell

System was evaluated by t h e s t a f f . P ro jec t ions of an

employee's continuance a t t h e Be11 System and the l i k e l i h o o d

t h a t he would achieve middle management p o s i t i o n and

conc lus ions of whether he should be promoted thus was made.

These - a t l n g s were discussed and r e v i e w d by s t a f f members

vhereever i t was considered necessary.

Resu l t s of these s t u d l e s provlded evidence i n f o u r

a r e a s v l z . , f a c t o r s underlying t h e 25 assessment v a r i a b l e s ,

t h e r e l r t l v e :ontr ibut lon of t h e s e assessment methods a d

t e a t s t a r a t l - - 8 s on d i f f e r e n t assessment f a c t o r s and t h e i r

o v e r a l l prcdic ion c r p a b l l i t y , r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e n t h e

s t a f f ' s o v e r a l l p red ic t ions and l a t e r promotions and s a l a r l y

l e v e l s , r e l a t i o n s h i p s between e a r l y job cha l lenges and

performance and l a t e r c a r e e r success .

The r a t i n g variables used i n t h e f l r s t s tudy

d l f f e r o d from those i n subsequent assessments. For

purposes of f a c t o r a n a l y s i s , t h e employees were d iv ided i n t o

those wlth c o l l e a e degrees r t t h e t ime of e n t r y i n t o s e r v i c e

(N.207) and t h o r e without degrees (N-1081. Cor re la t ion

matr ices were d r a m up f o r each of t h e groups. Uherry's

(1959) h i e r a r c h i c a l method was used f o r f a c t o r ana lys i s .

S imi la r f a c t o r s vere obtalned f o r both samples. General

e f f e c t i v e n e s s , admin is t ra t ive s k i l l s , i n t e r p e r s o n a l s k i l l s ,

con t ro l of f e e l i n g , i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t y , vork o r i e n t e d

motivation, p a s s i v i t y and dependency were t h e e i g h t common

f a c t o r s .

Correlations between various t e s t s and &ssessment

methods and s c o r e s on each of the v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d by

t h e f a c t o r a n a l y s l s revealed t h a t some methods vere more

helpful t o the s t a f f f o r making judgements of indfv idua ls

concerned.

Bray and Grant (1966) determined t h a t t h e

behrvlour on t h e In-basket , performance i n manufacturing

problem and group exercises accounted f o r f i f t y percent of

t h e var iance In t h e overa l l s t a f f p r e d i c t i o n s f o r t h e

c o l l e g e sample and t h i r t y per cent of t h e var iance i n t h e

non c o l l e g e sample. M n t a l a b i l i t y measures accounted f o r 6

per cent and 1 2 per cent of v r r lance i n t h e two samples. In

Ju ly 1965, f i v e companies provided t h e progress made by t h e

rubfec ta i n t h e s tudy. I h e management and s a l a r y l e v e l s

when compared with p red ic t ions made a t t h e time of

assessment r h o w d chat 82 per cent and 75 per cen t of t h e

college and non-college educated subjects had been correctly

identified as likely to achieve middle management level. 94

per cent were correctly identified as those vho vould not

progress beyond first level of manrgement. Situational

techniques were found to predict success to a considerable

extent. Cognitive and personality measures had limited

scope.

The Hanagement Progress study data was used to

study the effects of early job challenge on later managerial

effectivenets (Berlew, 1965, Berlew and Hall, 1964, 1966).

Forty f w r college men continuing on their jobs with the

company were studied. An estimate of the individuals degree

of job challenge during his first year with the company vas

prepared based on Information elicited through interviews

with company officials.. From this information, Berlew and

Hall estimated company expectations for each Individual in

elghteen bchaviour areas. They are technical competence,

loarnlng capacity, imagination, persuasiveness, group

membership skllls, communication skills, supervisory skills,

declsion making, organizing ability, time-energy commitment,

racrlflce of autonomy, soctability, acceptance of coapany

norms, self development, maintenance of public image,

loyalty, productivity and initlrtive.

Expectation for each indlvldual was rated from one

(low) to three (high). Job challenge was measured as the

total of all ratings held by the company for each person.

If expectations e r e high it was assumed that challenge was

hlgh. Data were collected to determiw relationship between

ruccrss and job challenge. In 1962 a global appraLsal of

each man's overall performance and potential was combined

ulth an index based on present and starting salaries to

constitute a success index. A number of measures of job

performance was also lncluded to form a performance index.

Analyses revealed that persons judged to have more

challenging first fobs were found to accomplish more than

chore ulth less challenging first jobs after four or five

years in thc company. The foregoing results indicate that

first ycsr job challenge is reasonably associated with later

judgements of success and job performance.

The group cxcrcises end the performance on the in-

barket tesc were found to be the most llrportant determinants

of the staff member's assessment on most variables. The

predict lvr val ldi ties of the global predictions w r e

moderately high. With the establlshment of the personnel

assessmant program on an experimental basis an increase in

proportton of persons with better performance and high

potential into first lIne management positions was observed.

The promotional patterns of one hundred and

eighteen college men hired during 1956 and 1957 and

contlnuing to work at the Prudential Insurance Company was

studied by Selover (1962). At the time of hiring,

information about the schools attended, course of study,

activities undertaken at college, w r k and military

experience, college grades, scores on tests of verbal and

arithmetic reasoning ability were obtained. Of these,

scorer on arithmetic reasoning and vocabulary tests,

rcholastlc achievement, part-time work and extra-curricular

partlciprtion, leadership abilities and number of jobs held

before joining Prudential insurance Company were found to

have a strong impact on advancement. There five measures

w r c combtned into a single advancement potential score.

The general applicability of the scores for

prcdlctLng promation was experimented on four additional

groups. The first group consisted of thirty employees hired

betreen 19L8 and 1951, the second eighty five employees

hired between 1952 KO 1955, the third thirty six employees

hired betwen 1958 and 1959. These employees were

continuing with the company in 1961. In addition, the

advancanent potential score was computed for 48 men vho had

been r s k d to resign and 25 men who had been promoted to

hL8h level jobs. The phi co-efficientr of 0.36, O.tO, 0.35

and 0.65 indicated that the scoring system was moderately

rr1at.d to promotions in all four cases.

The rcrultr support the view that aeholastic and

non-scholartic factors facilitate prediction of career

succera for managers. Selover (1962) opines that college

graduates who were promoted rapidly hid better on general

ability tests, achieved high academic grader, war active in

coltcge, displayed greater leadership abilities in college

or military service and joined the company soon after

gradu at ion.

Husband ( 1 9 5 7 ) reported results of his study of

career success of 368 graduates of Dartmouth College. Large

aedlan dlfft*rences In current income between scholastic and

nonscholast i . men were observed. Men who were academical1.y

g o d , prrtlclpated in extracurricular activities, and

demonstrated leadership potential were found to be more

successful in their careers as measured by promotion and

salary Ievclr.

One hundred and ninety six former MBA students of

the Stanford Univcrslty Graduate School of Business were the

subjects of the study conducted by Williams and Harrel

( 1 9 6 4 ) . They found that the current salary after adjusting

for leneth of years or:t of school was moderately related to

grader received at the school ('r's of 0.13, 0.14 and 0.22).

It w r a also related to overall school accompllshnent

(r-0.18) and to lcadcrship in campus (r-0.24).

Harrell (1967) observed that the most suitable

criteria of job success were Hemphill's Position Concern

Quertlons, present compensation, present job success as

perceived by the MBA graduates and the number of hours in

the w r k week. Slnce inventories such as the Public Opinion

Quertionnairc, Lnitiating structure and decision making on

Ghlselll's Self-Description Inventory, Undergraduate Grade

Polnt Averate, Individual Background Survey, Ascendance on

the C - Z Temperament Survey, initiative on the Ghiselli SeLf-

Description Inventory and nanlc Scale on the HnPI yielded

posttivc results, its use was recomaended for admission to

Graduarc Sch>ols of Business.

Ncycr '1963, 1965a, 196Sb3 studied the utility of

tert mcrsures r,hcn other factors related to promotion are

held relrrlvely constant. Hls findings are based on a

~erie9 of studits conducted at the Jewel Tea Company in

1959. Ihc purpose of the study was to identify managers for

pronution. Lach marager was assigned a promotability rating

on a six-poln~ ratlnr acale. A follow up study was aade in

1965 of one hundred and seventy eight managers assessed

during 1959 and 1960. Assessment ratings, biographical

factors and test scores were related to promotions during

the Lntervrnlng years. The assessments shoved a strong

relrtlon~hlp to later promotlonn. Of the eighty five

persons identified for promotion, sixty seven vere actually

promoted. Of the ninety three persons not considered

suitable for promotion by the assessment only twelve vere

promoted. Since Meyer anticipated chat the assessment

ratings vould have had an impact on the actual promotion

declrlon, he Lnvestigated the role of other factors. Such

factors as age, education , and initial management level

were found to be soderately related to promotional

rxpcrlcncc. Each of these factors and the assessment rating

vcre then wclghted equally to yield a "promotability

probabll icy index", vhich vas found to be strongly related

c u proaotton.

The study nighlighted the fact that promotion

polLcLcr in the Jewel lea Co. from 1958 to 1965 gave

Laportrncc t o ranagcrs uho vcre relatively younger, more

educrtcd. had begun their career at lower levels and w r e

vorkln8 in tht* buvlnf, serchandising or adsinistrative

deparLucrits of the coapany.

Thc dcrrcc of rclationshlp between the various

cognlclvc and pcrsonallty tests used in the assessment

proF;r&ta a d proeotlon uus detcrained. The other influential

factors were held relatLvcly con-tant. The test information

for promoted and non-promoted persons with the same or

rlmtlrr ,corer on the "prunotabillty probability index" was

perused. The promoted managers tended to have higher scores

on the general intelligence test than the non-promoted

eanagerr. lkyers observed that those vho were promoted were

better delegators, more flexible, less manipulative of

people, not constantly dependent on superior's approval and

were more forthrlght and emotionally well disposed.

Test information was related to various

effectiveness measures by Albright (1966) . One hundred and

clghty three field sales managers working with the American

Oil Company were taken as sample for the study. Predictive

relationrhips were based on tests administered to nearly one

thlrd of the men i r ~ 1955, who were then working as salesmen

In the fir.. Conc~rrent relationships, on the other hand,

were bared on tests administered to eanagers shortly before

cffectivr~~css rattngs ware obtained. Global performance and

prolrotabtllcv ratings made by superiors, and salary growth

r a t e were the acasures for effectiveness. Correlations

between a l l test scores taken together and each of the

crltrrla w r c comptlted. Coreputations for the total group

anJ for subgroups designed according to age above and belov

forty, rnd according to functional areas were made.

in rome Instances low or moderate concurrent

rclrtlonrhlps (ranglng between 0.15 and 0.101 were obtained

&twr\an glabrl performance ratlng for vocabulary knovledge,

measures of dominance, self sufficiency, decisiveness and

SVIB scales. Moderate predictive relationships (ranging

between 0.25 and 0.15) was observed for global performance

rating for SV18 scales concerned with positive interest in

raler, advertising, verbal and business occupation and

negative interest Ln skilled trades and outdoor occupations.

Global promotability ratings for intelligence and vocabulary

seasurer, pol it lcal and business oriented values,

personality measures and SVIB pertaining to business verbal

and rdeinlstrative jobs shoved low to moderate concurrent

and prcdicrfve relacionships (0.15 to 0.35). Concurrent

rclatlon5htps ucre greater for men over forty than for those

undcr f u r t y .

Studics vcrr carried out at the North American

Avlstlofr [Trnopyr, 1960, 19618, 1961b, 1961~). to assess the

valldlt$ of test+ such 8s chc Otis Mcntal Ability Test,

supurvlhurv knkrblrdpe tests, the fhurscone Test of Mental

Alertness ctc. for prcdlcting success as measured bv salary

advrncrmrr~t , pronot ion, perforrance rating etc.

Currelatlanr obtained were uniformly near zero. The studies

shoved c h a t none of the tests was capable of assessing

supcrvlsary cffrctivencss.

Later studlcs conducted at the same organization

shoved w r c paatrivc results (Tenopyr 1962, 1963, 1965;

Tenopyr and Ruch, 19651. Tests showed that successful

managers w r e brighter (r-0.66 with Otis IQ) and more

proficient in mathematics. Verbal comprehension and

Leadership Evaluation and Development scale yielded moderate

correlation8 of 0.29 and 0.36 respectively. Possibility of

curvilinear relationshlps were checked out by computing etas

between test8 and rrlary criterion. Belationship with

verbal comprehension showed no significant change, but the

relationship between salary and human relations was

curvtlinear ( r- 0.36; eta - 0.16). Utility of examining

curvilinear relationships between predictors and criterion

mersures war thus establlshed.

Albrecht, Claser and Marks 11960) studied thirty

one district nrrketing managers who soon after promotion

mere given r eentence completion test and a huaan relations

test, i~telllgence and crittcal thinking tests besides

partlcipiting in an interview. They w r e also asked to

complete a qucstionnrlre on their personal history. Three

psychologlstr ranked the subjects according to predicted

rffectiveners in four areas viz., forecasting and budgeting

effectiveness, rrles performance, interpersonal relrtion-

rhipr and overall ptrforeance. After completion of a year

on the job, the8e manager8 were ranked on the above factors

by tw #uperlors and peers. There three sets of rankings

w r e then combined to form a co~porite index for each

tndividurl in each area. The psychologists' predictions

were then correlrted vith the composite index scores.

Scores on the tests were also correlated with the composite

rankings.

The comblned information was found to yield better

predtcrlons of later effectiveness of these subjects than

any test taken individually. This difference was least in

case of forecasting and budgeting effectiveness and most for

prtdlctlng sales performance.

Flanrgan and Krug ( 1 9 6 4 ) administered the SCORES

battery con~isttng of 38 variables distinguished into 6

broad areas viz., supervlslon (51, creativity ( C ) ,

or~anlzatlon (01, research ( R ) , engineering ( E l and

srltrmanshlp ( S ) to sixty engineers wrking with Lockheed

Aircraft Corporation. They were divided into four

homolgeneous subgroups as equally matched as possible on age,

sducatlon and company experience. They were differentiated

into supervisory and non supervisory categories and rapid or

slow promotabll icy. Hlgh and low promotion categories

scored ldrntlcally on creativity and engineering. High

promotion manrgers scored higher on supervision,

orgrnitatlon, research and salermrnship. Engineers in

rrnrgement jobs dtffered from those in technical jobs.

Flanagan and Krug were able to assign participants into the

four groups based on the individual's SCORES record. The

study eupports the view that a battery of tests aimed at

deteralnlng functlonal area aptitudes and traits will be

capable of identifying "general" effectiveness in management

and for making placement decisions.

Objective Personality and Interest Inventories

A number of investigators (Cuion and Cottier,

1966; Hedlund, 1965; Korman, 1968; Nash, 1965) have

obtained ncgatlve results on using personality and interest

seasurer In forccasting managerial effectiveness. However

Chlsclll's rcvlcw (1966) has been positive. The aatched-

group d e s l ~ n used by Crlmsely and Jarrett (1973, 1975),

yielded much higher coefficlents from several standardized

personrllty oeasurcs used. A questionnaire comprising the

gcncrol actlvitv, sociability and emotlonal stability scales

based on t h e Cullford-Zlomerman Tempera~ent Survey yielded a

multiplc R of 0.52. The General Activity scale when

combined with the verbal reasoning and numerical ability

scales of the Lwployec Aptitude Survey yielded a multiple R

of 0.61. These coefflclents denoted concurrent validity.

R e ~ u l t s verc ascribed to the severe restrictions imposed by

the m a t c h 4 group experimental design and the fact that the

data were gathered under employment rather than research

conditions.

The Early Identification of Management Potential

(EIMP) study, is a ploneer in the validation of tests and

biographical inventories against measures of managerial

tffectlveness. The management of the Standard Oil Company

of New Jersey (SONJ) supported this research in order to

shed llght on the measurement of success and identification

of persons with potential for success. Results of the study

arc reported by L.aurent (1962).

F Iur hundred and forty three managers working for

SONJ and five of Its affiliate companies vere the subjects

of the study. These subjects vere drawn from all the

different functlonal areas. Three measures of managerial

c f f ~ c r f v r ~ i ~ ~ s were chosen - position level, salary history

roll effcctlvrness ranking. These measures were then

~uat~lncd to form an overall success index. Factor analytic

methods ensured i t s independence from both age and length of

oxparlrncc In the firm. This measure of relative managerial

effectiveness, did not spccltically identify or quantify

directly, actual nonagerial behaviour. Hovever, it

reasontbly differantlatcd between managers in their

utllisaclon of organltatlonal resources in their careers.

Each aancrger completed a questionnaire about famiIy,

education, vocational planning, finance, hobbies and leisure

tlme actlvitles, health history and social aspects. Also

included were measures of verbal ability, inductive

reasoning, oanagement judgement, managerial attitudes and

prrsonallty measures in the Cuilford-Zlmmerman Temperament

Survey. These test scores were correlated with the overall

success index. The degree of relationship between the

overall success index and items in the biographical survey,

oanagement judgement and Cullford-Zimmerman inventories was

examined. Double cross validation was resorted to assure

scablllry of relationships discovered. The total sample was

dlvlded into two groups of 222 and 221 managers each.

Scorlng keys developed on each group was cross validated on

tho other group. Next the test and responses yielding

highest and most uniform correlations with the overall

success Lndcx w a s combined to yield a single composite test

acorr. The correlation between the overall success and

comporitr rcorcs was 0.70. Four measures emerged as useful

for the evaluation of success. They were the Cutlford-

ZLmmeroan Survey, the Hclnagement Judgement Test and the two

measures of intelligence. Evidence from the data was

suppartivr of the quallttes identified in the study as those

related to 8cneral potential for management, regardless of

functional, company or job differences within the

organltatlon. It war further contended that the spcial keys

and weighting methods developed Ln the study could be

applied across different companies and even different

countries with some but insignificant loss of

predtctivcners. To Chat extent the rtlsdy is regarded as

ruccerrful in identifying personal or trait correlates of

managerial effectiveness.

Another significant large scale study of the

personal correlaccs of managerial effectiveness was done by

the Industrial Relations Centre of the University of

Minnesota (Hahoney, Jerdce and Carroll, 1963; Mahoney,

Jerdec and Kash, 1960; Hahoney, Sorenson, Jerdee and Nash,

1963l.Four hundred and fifty two managers fro. thirteen

divcrrc ftrrs in Hlnnesota constituted the sample for the

study. tach v l the participants was asked to complete a

brtrery of t e s t s consisting of the Uonderlic Personnel Test,

€.apathy 1 c ~ s t , St rong Vocat ional Interest Blank (SVIB) , Lalifornia Psvchological Inventory lCPll and a Biographical

questlnnnalrc. In total ninety eight predictors were tried.

Managerial rffectlvcness was measured by a panel of top

company officials who ranked the participants on the basis

of management competence. The results showed that the

ranking scorcs were independent of manager's age but related

to organizrtional level In some of the companies. The

ramplr war spl i t randomly into two. Scores of the various

t e s t s *re r tud ied on t h e b a s i s of t h e i r capac i ty t o

d l s t l n g u i r h between t h e seventy f i v e top and bottom ranked

managerr i n one of t h e groups. The measures t h a t w r e

r t a t i a t i c a l l y r l g n i f l c a n t were used t o develop a s c o r i n g

ryetern which war c r o s s v a l i d a t e d on the managers i n t h e

o t h e r rample. Resu l t s obtained i n t h e c r o s s - v a l i d a t i o n

groups from applylng p a t t e r n s of p r e d i c t o r s and c u t t i n g

s c o r e r rhoved t h a t 29 per c e n t and 62 per cent w r e judged

l e s s and more e f f e c t i v e , and received scores above t h e

c u t t i n g score on p r e d i c t o r combination. 71 per cent and 38

per cent scored below t h e c u t t i n g score and w r e judged l e s s

and r o r c e f f e c t i v e r c s p c c t i v e l y . The Uonderllc Personnel

Test and domlnancc measured by C a l i f o r n i a Psychological

inventory uere s l g n l f l c a n t . The Strong Vocational I n t e r e s t

Blrnk showcd t h a t e f f e c t i v e managers tend t o have s i m i l a r

l n c e r c s t s as o ther i n bus lness . Their i n t e r e s t s were found

t o d i f f e r from those i n a g r i c u l t u r e and s k i l l e d t r a d e s . The

Biogrrphlcal quee t lonna l re showed t h a t ef f e c t i v e managers

were more educated, had b e t t e r educated spouses who res igned

t h e i r jobs s h o r t l y a f t e r marr iage, p a r t i c l p a t d In s p o r t s ,

hobbles and were r e l r t l v e l y young a s corpared t o t h e l e s s

e f f c c t l v e managers. E f f e c t i v e managers uere a l s o found t o

br more l n t e l l l g e n t and dominant than t h e l e s s e f f e c t i v e

onar .

Kirkpatric (1961) has described some of the

results of the study conducted to determine the biographical

correlates of job effectiveness for the executives of the

American Chamber of Commerce. He developed a biographical

questlonnairt based on interviews with eighteen Chamber of

Commerce executives. It consisted of a11 background

Lnformrtion such as early history, family background,

education, employment history, military service, physical

conditionr and social inforartion. Six hundred executives

of the Chamber of Commerce responded to the questionnaire.

f'lanagrn's ( 1 9 5 1 ) listing of the critical requirements of

Alr Forcr Officer's jobs was used to form a list of

effec~lve exccutlvc behaviours. This was used to group each

of the respondents as above average, average or below

average i n eeetinp the critical requirements identified by

tlrnagan. Adapting the "forced" choice technique' fifty

perccqnt trf the subjccts were grouped "average" and twenty

live pcrccnt each were terred "above average" and "below

averrge". Tuo groups conslsttng of fifty members each

dcr1gna;c.d as above and below average, and who were matched

on age and length of job experience and rated high on

effscclvrners were chosen. Comparlson between the responses

of these tw lroups ylelded thirty five items. These were

c0ebin.d a d scored to enable prediction of above average

ptformancr. The rcortng system was agaln cross-validated

on two groups oE thirty below average and thirty nine above

avcragc executives. The point biserial correlation obtained

was 0.56.

Kirkpatric 11961) concluded thac the successful

Chamber of Commerce executive has a middle class socio

tconoaic background. was well educated, engaged in many

extra curricular actlvlties, emphasised communication skills

and entered the Chamber of Commerce relatively early in

life. However some of the biographical variables tend to

dcscrlbc s u c c e s ~ rather than predict it.

In the Sears Roebuck investigations an executive

brttrrv of standardized tests was used to predict criteria

of *anoyrrial success such as promotion rates, nomination of

man.rgcr4 blth high succcss potential and high employee

acritudr %:*ale results. Bcntz (1963, 1967) has reported

rc4ul tz ;>t,rlalnlf\g to the study. The Sears organizations

uartl four ~ c b t s namely Amcrlcan Council on Education Test,

tull!ord-!4arcl1~ Invcnlorles, Allport-Vernon Survey of Values

4rrci Rudcr f'reiercnce Record to predict executive

cffrctlvcnr\s. The tests were correlated against employee

morale sctrrcs. Analyses e r e aadc using discriminant

functlon and multlple rcgresslon.

Multtplc correlatlans approaching 0.75

f # I l L n ~ below O.LO *re reported. The results 1

objective personality and interest invun+orler can predict

managerlal success to a considerable extent. Moreover ,"a

cluster of psychological characteristics contributes to

general executive competence that transcends the boundaries

of rpecialized or non-speclalired assignments"(Bentz,p.118).

Horse and Wagner ( 1978 ) developed an instrument to

measure and evaluate managerial performance. The process of

managerlal performance was the focus of the study. A paper

and pencil instrument was developed to determine

rimilarltles and differences among sanagerial jobs.

In the first stage of the study, specific

behavlour and activlcies characteristic of managerial work

was ldenrlfled. Based on literature reviews and interviews

with six top corporate executives in six different

comprnlcs, one hundred and six item statements vere

devclopcd. They were then clustered around nlne roles vit.,

st rrte~lc probl ea solving, resource hand1 ing, conflict

handling, organlrlng, information handling, motivating

provldfng for ~ r o v t h and development, coordinating and

managing chc organization's environment. This instrument

was adstnirtered to one hundred and flfteen managers. The

Lnstrument was aodlfled based on suggestions made by thtm.

this enabled the reduction of items to ninety six, clustered

around the nlne roles. Four hundred and six managers

completed the modified questionnaire on another manager.

The Crovne and narlowe (1960) Social Desirability Scale was

also completed by the participating managers on themselves.

This modified instrument was factor analyzed and a

principal component solution was extracted. Six factors

with eigen values exceeding 1.00 were obtained. Based on

rcnults obtained the instrument was reduced to contain fifty

one items. Correlations between item score and total score

exceeded 0.40 and correlation of overall score with Croune

and narlovc scale was 0.11 only.

The final fifty one item instrument was factor

rnalyxcd uslne, correlation matrix obtained from the 406

managers. Six factors emerged with eigen values exceeding

1.00. The frctors in descending order are - managing the

orgrntzation'i environment and its resources, organizing and

coordinating, informrtion handling, providing for growth a d

development, motlvaclng and conflict handling, and'strategic

problem solvlng. Orthogonal rotatlons of the six factors to

the varlmaw crlterion resulted in 56 per cent of the

variance being ilccounted for. Analytic obliqw rotations of

the nix factors was resorted to to improve the structure and

test for lnterrclatedness. Moderate relationships were

obtr1n.d. Rerults suggest that insplte of the distinctive

character of roles, they interrelate to describe

slailaritieo and difference# in managers' jobs.

Both content and concur ren t v a l i d i t y of t h e s c a l e

war e r t a b l i r h e d by t h e d a t a . I n t e r n a l r e l i a b i l i t y war found

t o be r a t i r f a c t o r y . Repl ica t ion of t h e r tudy y i e l d e d

s i m i l a r r e r u l t r . The 51-item instrument war t r i e d on a new

sample of 620 managers. These managers represented a number

of f u n c t i o n s , l e v e l s and experience and were d r a m from two

o r g a n i t a t l o n s . The replication again i d e n t i f i e d s i x f a c t o r s

with eigen values exceeding 1.00. Oblique r o t a t i o n s

re ru1 t .d i n a f a c t o r p a t t e r n matr ix s i m i l a r t o t h e o r i g i n a l

r tudy . Factors were found t o be moderately i n t e r r e l a t e d

( h i g h of 0.64 t o a low of 0.29).

The r c p l l c a t f o n d i f f e r e d from t h e o r i g i n a l i n two

a s p e c t s . F i r s t , the variance accounted f o r was 53 per c e n t

1 . . 3 per cent l e s s than t h e f i r s t c a s e ) . Uhile f a c t o r

one accounted f o r 17 per c e n t , f a c t o r s i x accountrd f o r o n l y

5 per cent of the variance. However i n t h e r e p l i c a t i o n

r t u d y , f a c t o r th ree accounted f o r 12 per cent and f a c t o r one

only 6 per cent of t h e var iance accounted f o r . Second, item

s ta tements loading on a f a c t o r remained uniform but t h e

a c t u a l f a c t o r loadings d i f f e r e d . The two a s p e c t s d e n o t e

t h a t t h e varlance assoc ia thd with each f a c t o r cannot be

& r n e r a l i z e d and wil l vary according t o t h e s i t u a t i o n .

t r p o r t a n c ~ of the item i n d e f i n i n g a f a c t o r a l s o cannot be

tOnera l lg& and depend8 on t h e r p e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n ,

~lultlple regression was used on the data from 2

different organizations to teat the influence of the

situatlon on effectiveness. In the first case the

significant factors associated with managerial effectiveness

were information hand1 ing, and strategic problem solving,

while in the second it was managing the organization'e

environment and its resources, organizing and coordinating,

and motlvatlng and conflict handling. The discrepancy in

results lndlcates that the importance of each item statement

in defining the factor loadings varies according to the

speciflc managcrlal situation. Based on personality,

predlrposltlons, managerlal style, skills and abilities of

managers some particular roles are emphasized while yet

others are ignored.

Reviews concurred on the point that there is r

great MA to focus attention on the various situational and

indlvldual difference variables which are likely to affect

the prdictrblllty of managerial effectiveness. Job

khavtoura which contribute to managerlal success or failure

differ across hierarchical levels and organizations.

According to evidence obtained by Cuion and Cottier (19661,

custom mrdr scoring keys validated for rptclfic

or&anlratlonal settings are more useful than standardired

prrronrl i c y orasurcs with st andard scoring systeas. Scaler

developed to predict occupational choice (e.g. the Strong or

the Kuder) or Prychological Alienation Tests (reg. the WPI)

are seldom capable of predicting managerial behaviourr such

rr effective planning or delegation (Campbell fi., 1970).

h d o r r h i p Abil lty Tests

kasures of leadership ability have proved to be

p o d predlctors of managerial success since they are

direct1 y relevint to managerial job requirements. Scales

derlgned to measure two major constructs underlying

managerial behrvlour - conslderation and initiating

rtructure have been developed and used in many situations

(Flelrhean, 1 9 7 3 ) . In one revleu of 7 studies which used

the Lcrdcr Opinion Questionnaire (LOQI, Korman (1966)

reported a median value of -0.02 for validity coefficients.

Howvtr, only 2 of these studies used industrial samples a d

w r c predicrlvc tn nature. Another revlew by Korman (1966)

of studles uslng the Leader Behaviour Description

~ s t i o n n r i r e ( L B D Q ) , reported higher validities. All these

studies w r e concurrent, and hence it was imporsible to

detrrmlnc whether lnltlatlng structure and consideration

n r e cruses or ef fectr of managerial effectiveners.

brcrlption of managerial behavlour by relevant others are

.ore accurate aa predictors of managerla1 success than are

self dercriptions. Kerr c. (1974) have observed that the use of LOQ, LBDQ and SBDQ (Subordinate Behaviour Descriptton

Qu6stionnaire) yields significant concurrent relationships

between leader behaviour predictors and various criteria.

Such enhanced predictability, could be attributed to

researchers' efforts to conceptualize and measure

situational variables relating to leadership behaviour and

infrequent use of averaged data. In such cases analysis is

dona by the vork group rather than by the individual.

Frequent use of moderator variable research strategies was

observed. A requisite of this is the independent analysis

of the lndivldual. On the other hand the causal

implications of consideration and initiating structure are

unknown. The prcdictivc validity of the scales relains to

be proved a s yet (Kcrr and Schreinsheia, 1 9 7 4 ) .

The relation between ratings of leadership

effectiveness and conflict resolution methods was

investigated in a large midwestern manufacturing firm

(Oernardln and Alvares, 1 9 7 b l . Hypotheses based upon the

managerial grid developed by Blake and Mouton (1964) were

tasted. The team, the middle-of-the-road and the task

oriented supervisor did not prefer the confrontation,

compromlra and forcing strategies respectively. No relation

k c w e n mrnagerial orientation and leadership effectiveness

ratings of first line supervisors was found. Supervisors

did not seem to differ in their preferences for conflict

res0luti0n strategy as a function of managerial orientation.

Perceptions of resolution strategies vere observed to differ

as a function of organizational level and conflict type.

Thus the rerults indicated that the grid placement was a

poor predictor of either perceived managerial effectiveness

or conflict resolution methods employed. In a rejoinder to

these obrervatlons Blake and Mouton (1976) had refuted the

use of self assessments obtained prior to a seminar to test

hypotheres about managerial effectiveness or conflict

resolving methods, as the data are unreliable over estimated

judgesents by the participants.

Rater Perceptions

Since research has repeatedly proved the necessity

to consider ratings of different constituencies, the use of

appralral techrrlques by each of these groups of raters is

exasined hereln. A prime criterion for evaluation of

success is that appraisal scales should be used only by

p.oplr who are conversant vlth the aims and objectives of

the job; people who usually observe the ratee performing on

the job; and pople who are capable of making reliable and

valld rrtimrtrr (Latham and Wcxley, 1981; Thorndike, 1949).

Comprriron of peer nomiartion, ranking,rnd ratings

by Love (19811 yielded reliable and valid results. No birr

on recount of friendship was observed in these cases.

Bared on r study of the rccurrcy of peer ratings

of British managerr, Imrda (1982) concluded that behaviour

brred informrtion often reducer halo error as the rater is

able to perceive the multi-dimensionality of performance

criteria. Krne and Lawler (1980) have also observed that

peer ratings rre good eerrures of performance.

Humford (1983) observed that multiple raters

counter balance observational errors and increase

rcllablllty. Peers have realistic contacts amongst each

other. Hence, lnsplte of lack of objective measures for

most Larks, peers arrive at valid ratings since they observe

and corprre the task-relevant abilities of their colleagues.

Mreover these data are not significantly influenced by

factor8 such as friendship, race or sex discriminations.

Attention Lr based on performance alone.

Information about performance in a leadership or

arnagerlal role can be useful for peer raters belonging to a

sample constituting different behavioural dispositions. The

idel hrr received conrlderable support from subsequent

rem~atch.rr (Korrrn, 1968; Kane and Lauler ,1978). In the

industrial setting too, they have proved to be effective

predictors (Hayfield g g., 1980; Roadman 1960; Weitz

1958) .

Hayfield g c. (1980) requested three thousand

agents from three different Life Insurance Companies to rate

each other on work orlented and socially oriented items.

Subsequently, 150 agents were promoted as assistant

managers, without considering peer ratings. Supervisors

r a t d them six and eighteen months after promotion. ?he

test retest reliability after a year's interval was 0.77.

Asslstant managers w r e expressed as letter grades ranging

fro. A to E. The chi-squared value representing the peer

rrtlng scores and the percentage of assistant managers who

were rated ruccessful at each letter grade was 12.50

IplO.OS). Further, peer ratings made in one group was not

valid if the lndlviduals promoted were subsequently

trrnsfcrtsd to other groups. Peer ratings were made Ln

crtabllrhed groups where new agents were found to be

nornally included only on the termination of established

88tntr. Uhere agents are subject to varying degrees of

erpQsure, i t 11 porrlble chat new agents might receive low

ratfnp as thelr rbllities have not been demonstrated as

derkrd. Bared on length of service data Mayf ield 9 g. (1980) rho& that peer ratlngs sre unlikely to be effective

predictors for Lndividuals with less than six months

experience.

Siege1 (1982) obtained prired comparlson

evrlurtions by prospective peers (N-20) and superiors (N-4)

for r group of twenty savings and loan association branch

managers. Only sl~teen of the peers however provided their

rvaluatione. The superiors were infor~ed that their ratingr

together with peer ratings would be used for the four

promotional declslons they were to make in the near future.

The branch srnagers knew that appointments to higher posts

were to be made shortly. Hovever they did not know that

they were actually participating in the selection process,

Each lndlvldual evaluator's comparison yielded a score for

every branch manager who was being evaluated.

A month prior to the paired comparison, nineteen

of the partlclpants w r e administered a battery consisting

of the 7'h:~rstnne Test of Mental Alertness (W1, planning,

fudgemcnc,cowyrehcnsion and expression tests beLongin8 to

the Flanrgan Indusrrial Tests (FIT), the Strong-Campbell

lntcresc Inventory (SCII 1 , the Survey of Interpersonal

Vatues (SIV). the Supervisory Index (SI) and the Cuilford-

tlmserran Temperrment Survey (CZ).

2-score conversions of assessments made by paera

rml aup.riorr facil itated selection of three incumbents rr

the two retr of evaluators seemed to agree alike. In the

fourth instance however ratings by peers far exceeded those

of the superiors. Since the candidate was found more

favourable to the peers who would subsequently become

rubordinates, the superiors accepted the candidate for

promotion,

Correlation betueen the mean effectiveness scores

by peers and supervlrorr was 0.81. Interrater correlations

ranged ktueen 0.31 and 0.86 in care of peer comparison

matrlx. Interjudge agreement was found to be high,

excendlng to ocher independent prychologlcal characteristics

of the subjects evaluated. The peer evaluations enabled

rcccptrblc promotional decisions in this study. Discussion

by eupervlsors, of the differences in the evaluations made

by them indlvidurlly revealed Important differences in

percept tons about the determinants of managerial

effsctivcness. Two important views emerged from the st*.

One attached greater importance to human relations skill,

*l ie the other tended to emphasize knowledge about

financial matters as s more important component of branch

manager effectivences. These two aspects were considered

to k complomrntary to each other by the group of superloro.

The purpose of the study conducted by b u n t (1981)

vclr to compare the psychometric properties of subordinate

ratings of managerial performance to those of supervisor and

@elf ratlngs. Eighty middle level managers, their immediate

superiors (N-80) and their subordinates (N-3651, from a

hightechnology multinational corporation participated in the

study.

A questlonnalre was administered to the subjects

to arress managerial effectiveness. The first section

consisted of items pertalnlng to background information of

the respondents. The second contained eight behavioural

items Iknov-how, adcinlstration, training, work direction,

feedback, motivation, tnnovatlon and consideration).

The multitralt-aultlmethod analysis was used to

study convergent validity, discrininant validity, leniency

error a n d halo error. Coaputation of Duncan's Multiple

Range Tcst revealed that self ratings were the most lenient

(H-6.471, folloved by supervisor ratings 1H-6.27) and

subordlnatr ratings 1Mw6.02). Differences in mean levels of

ratlngr war si~nlficanc across rating sources in case of

know-how, vark direction, feedback, motivation and

Data shoved evidence of convergent validity and

halo affect. Discrimination asong trait8 was observed to be

large. Results of ANOVA confirmed that differences anon&

managers are a t t r i b u t a b l e t o t h e r a t i n g sources .

Discriminant v a l i d i t y was higher than convergent v a l i d i t y

but equal t o halo e f f e c t . The highest convergent v a l i d i t y

was betueen super io rs and subordinates ( 0 . 2 4 ) and t h e lowest

(0.16) between super io rs and s e l f ra t ings .

I n t e r r r t e r agreement was assessed through

I n t e r c l a s s c o r r e l a t i o n s . Agreement was g r e a t e r i n c a s e of

(Training rnd Hotivat ion) than on (Delegat ion and

Cons idera t ion) .

Comparison of r e s u l t s obtained i n t h i s s tudy v i t h

chose of o thers revealed t h a t t h i s study yiefded smal le r

convergent v r l t d t t i e s and ha lo e f f e c t and g r e a t e r

dlrcr lminanc v a l i d l c y . But the same could not be s a i d about

s e l f ra t ings . The r e s u l t s a l s o i n d i c a t e t h a t i n t e r r a t e r

agreenent I s g r e a t e r on some dimensions l i k e t r a i n i n g and

e o t i v r t i o n than on o t h e r s such a s de lega t ion and

cone ldcrs t ion . The study i s perhaps one of t h e f i r s t t o

analyze psychometric p roper t i es of subordinate r a t i n g s .

Since rubordlnarc r a t lngs a r e p o t e n t i a l sources of

performance information i t s use has been recommended. Use

of a t l e a s t th ree subordlnates ' r a t i n g s f o r a s i n g l e manager

has bean suggested.

The f ind ings imply t h a t t h e use of mul t ip le r a t i n g

sopltces would ensure inc lus ion of more usefu l informreion i n

appraisals. Inspite of possibility of low interrater

agreement its use is emphasized because of greater

predictability. Since some dimensions are rated more

reliably by some rating sources, it is inevitable that they

be included in the appraisal process.

Heyers (1980) observed that self ratings vere

unrealistically high. Thornton (1980) dissuaded its use for

ad*inistrative decision making. Bauman and Dent (1982) on

the other hand observed that the perception that self

assessments would be compared vith other objective measures

1ncreas.d the accuracy of self ratings. The viev was

supported by Mabe and West 11982).

The use of self assessments for performance

evaluation was recornsended by Levine 11980). Locke and

Lathre 11984) demonstrated its effectiveness in their goal

rettlng theorv.

Caldwcll and O'Reilly (1982) studied individuals

in r large franchise organization. The study demonstrated

the lmpllca~tons of self-monitoring, The individuals vere

found t o perform better If they vere sensitive to social

cue* and were able to modify their behaviour to situational

rcqulrrmrnts.

fsul and Ohlott, (1988) studied three sources of

disrgreem~nt in the effectiveness ratings via., rating

errors, selective perceptions and variations in criteria

weight. A11 three causes provide reasons of varying degrees

for the low agreement coefficient. Three hundred and forty

four managers of a Fortune 100 company participated in the

study. The ratee managers were given,six questionnaires and

requested to complete a questionnaire and distribute one

each to a superior, one peer and one subordinate vith whom

the ratee wrked least well, and one subordinate and peer

vith whom the ratee interacted frequently. Confidentiality

was assured.

Three hypotheses on criterion type and criterion

weight found consensus in the effectiveness ratings of

uuperiorr, subordinates and peers. Agreenent was strongest

betvcen superiors and the peers. Agreement among the raters

was high on role behaviours and personality traits of the

managers as criteria for effectiveness. Role behaviours

accounted for largest variance in all three models ( R ~ - 0.07, 0.11 and 0.12) for superiors, subordinates and peers

respectively. P-values indicated that the criteria for

eEfectlveners did not significantly differ among the three

sets of raters. F-statistic was not significant on either

the personal or the role behavlour variables. Raters at the

tame level tended to assign similar criterion weights.

The results suggest that rating error tendencier,

informational differences and criteria differences are

possible causes for low interrater agreement. The study

emphasirer the need to consider view points of different

rating sources to arrive at accurate explanations of

managerial effectiveness.

In yet another predictive study, (Kraunt, 1975)

showed that peer ratings taken under a "real" set could be

used among middle and higher level managers to predict later

success. Peer ratings were obtained from 156 middle level

aanrgers and 83 higher level executives. Two years later it

was found that It did not predict performance of the middle

eanager sample, however 7 of the 13 rating dimensions

prcdlcted promotlons significantly (median r-0.35). The

highest predictive validity coefficient vas shown by

mobilltv (r-0.U). On the other hand for the executive

grade ten of the peer ratings significantly predicted

promotlons. The highest validity coefficient in this group

was general Impressions (r = 0.44). According to Kraunt

( 1 9 7 5 ) , the use of peer ratings for evaluation of managers

may merely foraalize a practice in which managers are

a1 ready invoivcd.

Results of a study on "feedback-seeking"

behaviour of three hundred and eighty seven managers, as

observed by their superiors, peers, and subordinates are

reported by Ashford and Tsui (1991). It showed that

managers' inclination to seek negative feedback, increased

their understanding of the evaluation techniques adopted by

these feedback sources. Uhile seeking negative feedback

tended to positively influence the opinions of all the three

categories of raters. As regards overall effectiveness,

seeking positive feedback decreased the same.

The authors opine that the willingness of

effective managers to seek negative feedback may be a result

of their confidence. Similarly strong egos might have

prompted them to use direct enquiry while seeking feedback.

Velsor g . (1993) examined the relationship

raong self-perception accuracy, self-awareness, gender, and

leader effectiveness. Conclusions were based on data

provided by three groups of managers 1N-668; N-168 and

N-79). Results show that discrepancy is a result of

diifcrer~ces between self ratings and ratings by others. The

finding vas consistent across all three samples, and no

gender differences were found. Underraters constantly rated

themselves lover than the accurate or overraters. They were

ratmi highest by their direct reports. Overraters are rated

lowst by their subordinates. However they tended to

consrantly rate themselves high. The data also suggested

that underraters are the most effective eanagers. They were

alro found to be rated highest in self-awarenesr based on

direct reports. Overraterr were perceived as the lowest of

the three groups In self awareness and effectiveness.

Nilsen and Campbell (1993) studied the differences

between the perceptions of subjects and their raters.

Discrepancies In perception were observed on the 360 - degree feedback instrument. The discrepancy on skill based

multiple rating instruments related to dlscrepancy on

personalltv based multirater instruments. Self perception

Is contended to be a stable indlvidual difference. Self-

other dlscrepancy was also found to be stable over time.

A salient feature of studies reported here Is

thelr emphasis on self, peer, and subordinate ratings. A

norevorthy point in peer assessments is that researchers

have shlfted their attention from stressing reliability and

valldlty to the study of reactlons of actual users besides

attempting a theoretical understanding of the reasons behind

hlgh rellablllty and validity (Latham, 1986) . The concept

of self assessaent as a complementary aspect of formal

appraisals is also gaining mosentum. Organizations must

replace formal appraisal by superiors alone with multirater

cachnlques so as to ensure more accurate evaluations of

sanagerirl prforaance.