Discussion: View Thread

Does anyone have resources for obtaining free or low cost self-assessments (e.g., personality, person/org. fit, leadership style, etc.)?  I use Prentice Hall's Self-Assessment Library currently, but I don't think it's really worth the cost per student.

Thank you,

Mike

Michael E. Palanski, Ph.D.

Visiting Lecturer, Rochester Institute of Technology

607.206.2990

Mike,

Have you checked out the International Personality Item Pool?  It is public domain and some of the scales available may be useful to you.

Here is the website: http://ipip.ori.org/ipip/

Good luck,

Bart

-------------------------------
Bart L. Weathington, Ph.D.
UC Foundation Assistant Professor

<st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Tennessee</st1:placename> at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chattanooga</st1:place></st1:city>
Department of Psychology/2803
350-C Holt Hall
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chattanooga</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">TN</st1:state>  <st1:postalcode w:st="on">37403-2598</st1:postalcode></st1:place>

Bart-Weathington@utc.edu
(423) 425-4289

Does anyone have resources for obtaining free or low cost self-assessments (e.g., personality, person/org. fit, leadership style, etc.)?  I use Prentice Hall's Self-Assessment Library currently, but I don't think it's really worth the cost per student.

Thank you,

Mike

Michael E. Palanski, Ph.D.

Visiting Lecturer, Rochester Institute of Technology

607.206.2990

Mike, 

I use Robbins & Judge (a PH book) for my undergrad OB course and I believe the self-assessments come with the textbook in the form of a CD <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region>  The problem I have had is with students who buy used books which contain no CD <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">ROM.</st1:place></st1:country-region>  They have to purchase an access kit to do the self-assessments and I think it runs around $30.  I also use Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson (a McGraw-Hill book) for my graduate <st1:place w:st="on">OB</st1:place> course.  It also comes with several self-assessments, but I do not think student access is restricted (i.e., I don't think a pass code is required).  Try this link:  http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073405086/student_view0/self-assessment_exercises.html.

Alternatively, I have used some of the self-assessments from http://similarminds.com/ but I can't really vouch for their validity and they only have personality assessments.  Hope these are helpful and good luck.

Does anyone have resources for obtaining free or low cost self-assessments (e.g., personality, person/org. fit, leadership style, etc.)?  I use Prentice Hall's Self-Assessment Library currently, but I don't think it's really worth the cost per student.

Thank you,

Mike

Michael E. Palanski, Ph.D.

Visiting Lecturer, Rochester Institute of Technology

607.206.2990

Dear Mike,

Your inquiry piques my interest in that I have for 30 years, first at Harvard and then at Virginia, taught careers courses based on the premise that no single assessment is accurate enough or comprehensive enough to hang your hat on.  I'm not sure how you're using these assessments, whether they augment isolated principles in class-or whether you choose instruments to help students get an integrated picture of who they are.   I prefer the latter and use multiple instruments to help students build a fairly comprehensive picture of their personalities.  My senior colleagues at Harvard called these "life themes"-enduring patterns that taken together in essence define one's personality, at least in broad strokes.  We used some 15-25 instruments in combination over the years in the "Self Assessment and Career Development" course.  As the web expanded, some colleagues at Darden and I gradually moved most of these instruments to the web and began using the site for our course work.  The site is www.CareerNextStep.com.  We offer 18 different instruments, guidance and instruction for the construction of life themes, career option analysis tool, job analysis tool, and lots of references and career guidance... an on-line career counselor if you will.  If this kind of assessment is not your intent and/or if cost is a big issue, this may not be for you.   We make the site available to students for a year for $100 and $20 a year thereafter.  One's data is stored, always there, ready to go any time anywhere.  And always able to be refined, revised, retaken, etc.   You are probably aware of the CPP site and the on-line instruments there or for example the LSI at Hay.  Most of these instruments are in the $15-25 per instrument range.  And they still are only single instruments with single, isolated interpretations.  I find the power to be in finding the consistent patterns that emerge across data pools/instruments.  The really valuable by-product of this is that it teaches them pattern recognition/inductive logic skills that every manager needs-how to scan multiple pools of data, see the recurring themes, identify them, and then make high stakes decisions (in students' cases, accepting a job offer) and live with the results.  So, I'm not sure how you plan to use these instruments... and just wanted to throw some additional concepts into the ring of consideration.  And I'm sure that Steve (Robbins) would love to hear your feedback on the PH library.  Okay... just some additional thoughts for your review.

Respectfully,

Does anyone have resources for obtaining free or low cost self-assessments (e.g., personality, person/org. fit, leadership style, etc.)?  I use Prentice Hall's Self-Assessment Library currently, but I don't think it's really worth the cost per student.

Thank you,

Mike

Michael E. Palanski, Ph.D.

Visiting Lecturer, Rochester Institute of Technology

607.206.2990

I’d like to add to Ivan Blanco’s very perceptive statement. What we need to keep in mind is that of all the billions of people that have lived or continue to live on this planet no two people have ever been genetically identical. Even identical twins are not completely identical. Therefore, no individual can look at the same social context (or anything else for that matter) and see it exactly the same way as another individual. Thus, assessments “pigeon hole” people which makes them so dangerous.

Cheers,

----- Original Message -----

From: Blanco, R Ivan

To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu

Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 8:56 PM

Subject: Re: self-assessments

Dear Colleagues,

 

Our abilities and capabilities change over time.  What we are today may not be what we are tomorrow. Education, experiences, maturity, and other processes change us over time.  What is the true benefit of these self-assessment tools?  I have been put through t-training, marriage counseling, the Myers Briggs and others during the last 30 plus years, and I still don't know what those things had done for me.  Do they really help the students? Or, do we want to believe they do?  Do we know how many students we might have driven away from many good things in their lives with these self-assessment tests?  What if we do more harm than good? I am convinced that most of those assessment tools are even dangerous in the hands of highly trained professionals.  Honestly, what good do they do if we have the students for only one semester and cannot do any type of follow on what happens to them in the long-term?  (No sales pitch, please!)  Is it our responsibility to expose them to professional or technical know-how or to engage ourselves directly in their emotional development as individuals?

 

In my more than 40 years of involvement with organizations (as employee/manager, student of organizations and as a teacher) I have learned that not everyone can be "saved" and that in many situations we are not well equipped to do so.

 
Sincerely,
 
Ivan
 
                                       
Dr. R. Ivan Blanco
Department of Management
McCoy College of Business Administration
Texas State University - San Marcos
San Marcos, TX 78666
Phone (512) 245-1842
Fax  (512) 245-2850
rb39@txstate.edu
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
 
The trouble with other cultures is that the people don't behave the way they're supposed to, that is, like us.  The solution to this difficulty is not to expect them to."  Craig Storti, The Art of Crossing Cultures (1990).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
 
Las naciones marchan al termino de su grandeza con el mismo paso que camina su educacion.
Nations march toward their greatness at the same pace as their educational systems evolve.  Simon Bolivar
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
 

________________________________

From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv on behalf of eric larsen
Sent: Sat 2/9/2008 3:38 PM
To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: Re: self-assessments


Dear Those Interested:
 
My initial response on this matter was in part because I myself had once underestimated just how seriously some students can take these assessments.  Upon some reflection, I would have expressed my initial e-mail in this thread differently.  My, somewhat alarmist, response was in part meant to encourage further thought in the one or two future self-assessment users whom also might not appreciate the potential impact of these self-assessments and to encourage "our" caring and highly engaged involvement with our students through these processes.
 
Both James G. Clawson and Robert F. Hurley have demonstrated seriously focus in these matters.  For my part, I consider these two individuals to be among those worth looking to for the lead in this matter.
 
Cordially,
Eric C., T. E., Larsen






________________________________



> Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 18:59:14 -0500
> From: ClawsonJ@DARDEN.VIRGINIA.EDU
> Subject: Re: self-assessments
> To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
>
> I agree heartily w/ Eric's concern and that's the reason why we counsel our students (all FY MBA students did this for the last three years) that no single instrument is accurate enough or comprehensive enough to hang your hat on. Only when patterns recur in multiple data pools do we begin to "believe.". We also assert that the strength of each subsequent insight or life theme can be assesed by the volume of data, the number of instruments, the volume of disconfirming data (who has none?), and the quality of the logic relating each datum to the indeced theme label.
> Respectfully,
> Jim
> --------------------------
> James G. Clawson
> Sent using BlackBerry
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv <OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu>
> To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu <OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu>
> Sent: Fri Feb 08 17:16:28 2008
> Subject: Re: self-assessments
>
> Dear Those Interested:
>
> Not that anyone is not being sensitive enough, but because it is not known how people might take this thread, I offer the following:
>
> As a graduate student I got handed the enviable task of providing feedback on about 1,800 (yes 1,800) reflection papers based on self-assessments. The sample doing the reflecting was comprised of MBA students and this process took place over a four year period. Please beware the casual use of any self-assessment assignments, be they "off the shelf", "packaged for profit", or in some other way handled by technology that might not account for 100% of individual differences in classifying individuals (n.b., does not leave any tools I am aware of). Serious focus on what individual students are taking away from these self-assessment experiences is warranted. Academics are often undercompensated for their time, and while I thus understand the interest in leverage and scalability, please remember that these students are real people who have come to us for growth and in some cases help. I am not saying "do not use these tools." I am asking that you realize the potential of underestimating the power of these tools and take appropriate precautions as such.
>
> Cordially,
> Eric C., T. E., Larsen
>
>
> Scholar and Faculty
>
>
>
> Department of Management
>
> School of Business
>
> SUNY: University at Albany
>
>
>
> School of Business and Technology
>
> Endicott College
>
>
>
> Department of Management
>
> Bertolon School of Business
>
> SalemState College
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
>
>
> > Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 11:32:55 -0500
> > From: aneil.mishra@MBA.WFU.EDU
> > Subject: Re: self-assessments
> > To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
> >
> > I haven't read all the postings on this thread, so I apologize if I'm
> > repeating material that others have suggested. I did have the time to read
> > Jim Clawsen's posting, and I wholeheartedly agree with trying to help
> > students find patterns across different assessments. I'm a big fan of MBTI,
> > use the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment (Gallup), FIRO-B, and the Competing
> > Values framework and assessment developed by my mentors Kim Cameron and Bob
> > Quinn at Michigan along with their colleagues. I've used all quite
> > successfully individually, but the real power (and validity I believe) comes
> > from finding intersections across these different instruments which are
> > based on theories or empiricism that are quite different from one another.
> >
> > I look forward to reading the rest of these postings on this thread.
> >
> > Aneil Mishra
> > Wake Forest U.
> > MBTI Type: ESTP
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. Get it now! <http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008>




________________________________

Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! Learn more. <http://biggestloser.msn.com/>