Organizational Assessment and Technology

by

John C. Scott, Kevin Tomczak, Keith Caver, Robert E. Lewis, Jillian McLellan

• LAST REVIEWED: 28 February 2017
• LAST MODIFIED: 28 February 2017
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0119

Introduction

Organizational assessment refers to a broad range of tactics (e.g., biographical data, cognitive ability tests, integrity tests, assessment centers, interviews, job knowledge tests, physical ability tests, personality tests, simulations) that are used to evaluate employees within a business context. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, technological innovation has pushed the boundaries of the assessment industry, and the rate of change has been dramatically increasing. In fact, the speed of innovation has been so pronounced that it has outpaced the available research needed to support its use. While research on technology-enhanced assessment has clearly accelerated over the past several years, there are still large gaps in our knowledge base associated with technical innovations. This bibliography covers a broad range of assessment technologies with an emphasis on those currently in use by organizations and presents the most up-to-date research available.

Handbooks and Textbooks

The vast majority of relevant books on technology-enhanced assessment are published as applied handbooks. Recent and broad reviews of assessment approaches are provided in Farr and Tippins 2013 and Schmitt 2013. Thornton, et al. 2014 offers specific insights into assessment centers while the intersection of assessment and technology, including issues related to psychological measurement and ethical considerations, is explored in Scott and Reynolds 2010, Tippins and Adler 2011, Fetzer and Tuzinski 2013, and Drasgow 2015.

• Drasgow, Fritz, ed. Technology and Testing: Improving Educational and Psychological Measurement. New York: Routledge, 2015.

  Broadly covers testing across educational and applied settings. Also covers a wide range of current technologies and how they are used in the 21st century.

• Farr, James L., and Nancy T. Tippins, eds. Handbook of Employee Selection. New York: Routledge, 2013.

  Focuses on assessments used in the context of selecting employees for entry or promotion into positions, this handbook includes numerous chapters dealing with the science of selection. Assessment technology is integrated into various chapters.

• Fetzer, Michael, and Kathy Tuzinski, eds. Simulations for Personnel Selection. New York: Springer, 2013.

  Focuses on specific types of assessments (i.e., simulations), which are inherently oriented to new technology. Each chapter presents various types of simulation technology and how this is used in organizations in the 21st century.

• Schmitt, Neal, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Personnel Assessment and Selection. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

  Another broad-based handbook focused on the applied use of assessments in organizations. This book also includes a chapter that is specifically focused on web-based assessments.

• Scott, John C., and Douglas H. Reynolds, eds. Handbook of Workplace Assessment: Evidence-based Practices for Selecting and Developing Organizational Talent. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

  Provides a broad-based overview of current assessment practices. Many chapters include references to new assessment technology.

• Thornton, George C., III, Deborah E. Rupp, and Brian J. Hoffman. Assessment Center Perspectives for Talent Management Strategies. 2d ed. New York: Routledge, 2014.

  Focus is on a specific type of assessment approach (i.e., assessment centers) and specifically calls out technologies associated with assessment centers.

• Tippins, Nancy T., and Seymour Adler, eds. Technology-enhanced Assessment of Talent. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011.

  This handbook focuses squarely on leveraging technology to assess employees in an applied setting. Many types of assessments are covered, and both challenges and benefits provided by technology are highlighted.