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  • 1.  Job Complexity

    Posted 04-02-2008 08:54

    Dear Colleagues,

     

    I am working on a research project concerning performance evaluations and I would like to control for job complexity.   I only have access to job titles of my subjects and I was wondering if anyone had ever used O*NET to determine job complexity.  There are numerous factors in O*NET's reports that could be a proxy for job complexity, such as "Structured vs. Un-structured Work," "Freedom to Make Decisions," and  "Importance of Being Exact or Accurate." 

     

    Has anyone seen O*NET used in this way or does anyone know of alternate means of determining job complexity based  on job titles?  Thanks in advance.

     

    J. Bret Becton, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor of Management

    College of Business Administration

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Winthrop University</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>422 Thurmond Building

    Rock Hill, SC 29733

    <st1:postalcode w:st="on"></st1:postalcode><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Phone: (803) 323-4817

    Fax: (803) 323-3960

    Webpage: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/bectonb/

     



  • 2.  Job Complexity

    Posted 04-02-2008 09:40
    We use the O*Net to produce job complexity codes in a paper that Tim
    Judge and I have in press at JAP by using the SOC codes (or, of course,
    you could search by job title). We used the knowledge ratings (sum of
    up to 35 areas of knowledge), skills ratings (up to 50 specific skills)
    and abilities ratings (52 different abilities) for each job, added them
    together, and created a composite score of job complexity through
    KSAOs.

    Beth A. Livingston
    PhD Candidate
    Department of Management
    Warrington College of Business Administration
    University of Florida
    Office Phone: 352.846.2691
    Email: beth.livingston@cba.ufl.edu
    Email: bethlivi@ufl.edu



    On Apr 2, 2008, at 8:54 AM, Becton, Bret wrote:

    >
    > Dear Colleagues,
    >  
    > I am working on a research project concerning performance evaluations
    > and I would like to control for job complexity.   I only have access
    > to job titles of my subjects and I was wondering if anyone had ever
    > used O*NET to determine job complexity.  There are numerous factors in
    > O*NET’s reports that could be a proxy for job complexity, such as
    > “Structured vs. Un-structured Work,” “Freedom to Make Decisions,” and
    >  “Importance of Being Exact or Accurate.” 
    >  
    > Has anyone seen O*NET used in this way or does anyone know of
    > alternate means of determining job complexity based  on job titles? 
    > Thanks in advance.
    >  
    > J. Bret Becton, Ph.D.
    > Assistant Professor of Management
    > College of Business Administration
    > Winthrop University
    > 422 Thurmond Building
    > Rock Hill, SC 29733
    > Phone: (803) 323-4817
    > Fax: (803) 323-3960
    > Webpage: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/bectonb/
    >  
    > <J. Bret Becton (bectonb@winthrop.edu).vcf>


  • 3.  Job Complexity

    Posted 04-02-2008 11:31

    Dr. Becton,

    The DOT data code works well as a measure of job complexity.

    Rivkin, D., & McDaniel, M. A. (1990). The measurement and validation of occupational
    aptitude requirements. In A. Lancaster (Chair), The enhancement of the Department of
    Defense Student Testing Program. Symposium presented at the 98th Annual conference of
    the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
    Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D.
    Professor - Human Resources and
         Organizational Behavior
    Department of Management,
    Research Professor of Psychology
    Virginia Commonwealth University
    1015 Floyd Ave, PO Box 844000
    Richmond, VA 23284-4000


    http://www.people.vcu.edu/~mamcdani/
    voice: 804.827.0209
    e-mail:    MAMcDani@vcu.edu
    skype: MichaelAMcDaniel

    		Located in Richmond, VA, the VCU School of Business is the home of the Center for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis.




    "Becton, Bret" <bectonb@WINTHROP.EDU>
    Sent by: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv <OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu>

    04/02/2008 09:26 AM

    Please respond to
    Organizational Behavior Division Listserv <OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu>
    To
    		OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
    cc
    Subject
    		Job Complexity





    Dear Colleagues,
     
    I am working on a research project concerning performance evaluations and I would like to control for job complexity.   I only have access to job titles of my subjects and I was wondering if anyone had ever used O*NET to determine job complexity.  There are numerous factors in O*NET's reports that could be a proxy for job complexity, such as "Structured vs. Un-structured Work," "Freedom to Make Decisions," and  "Importance of Being Exact or Accurate."  
     
    Has anyone seen O*NET used in this way or does anyone know of alternate means of determining job complexity based  on job titles?  Thanks in advance.
     
    J. Bret Becton, Ph.D.
    Assistant Professor of Management
    College of Business Administration
    Winthrop University
    422 Thurmond Building
    Rock Hill, SC 29733
    Phone: (803) 323-4817
    Fax: (803) 323-3960
    Webpage: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/bectonb/
     


  • 4.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-29-2009 15:28
    Hello colleagues,

    We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.

    Kind regards,

    Arnold


    Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.


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  • 5.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 00:33
    The Job Content Questionnaire (Karasek et al. 1998) may be of use to
    you. However, the JCQ doesn't specifically define their measures as a
    reflection of complexity.


    On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Arnold Bakker <bakker@fsw.eur.nl> wrote:
    > Hello colleagues,
    >
    > We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    > know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.
    >
    > Kind regards,
    >
    > Arnold
    >
    >
    > Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    > Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    > Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    > Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    > 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
    >
    >
    > --------------------------------Disclaimer--------------------------------
    > De informatie  verzonden in dit e-mail bericht  inclusief de bijlage(n) is
    > vertrouwelijk  en is  uitsluitend  bestemd  voor de geadresseerde  van dit
    > bericht. Lees verder: http://www.eur.nl/email-disclaimer
    >
    > The information in this e-mail message  is confidential and may be legally
    > privileged. Read more: http://www.eur.nl/english/email-disclaimer
    > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >


  • 6.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 07:02
    Dear Arnold,

    Take a look at Shalley, Gilson, & Blum, Academy of Management Journal, 2009, 52, p. 489. They used two measures of job complexity, one based on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (Ross & Treiman, 1980), and one self-report based on Hackman & Oldham's (1980, Work Redesign) widely used Job Diagnostic Survey. For the latter scale see also Oldham & Cummings, 1996, Academy of Management Journal, 39: p. 607.

    Babis

    ------------------------------------------------
    Dr. Babis Mainemelis
    Associate Professor
    ALBA Graduate Business School
    Athinas Ave. & 2A Areos Str.
    166 71 Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece
    Tel.: +30 210 896 4531-8 (x226)
    emai: bmainemelis@alba.edu.gr
    website: www.alba.edu.gr



    ________________________________

    From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv on behalf of Arnold Bakker
    Sent: Thu 29/10/2009 19:27
    To: OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [OB-LIST] Job complexity



    Hello colleagues,

    We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.

    Kind regards,

    Arnold


    Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.


  • 7.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 07:46
    Arnold

    One possibility is to use the motivation potential score of Hackman and
    Oldham's Job Diagnostic Survey. It isn't exactly complexity, but is
    sometimes used that way.

    Hackman, J., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the Job Diagnostic
    Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159-170.

    Paul E. Spector
    Department of Psychology
    University of South Florida
    Tampa, FL 33620
    (813) 974-0357 Voice
    (813) 974-4617 Fax
    spector@shell.cas.usf.edu
    website http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~spector

    On Thu, 29 Oct 2009, Arnold Bakker wrote:

    > Hello colleagues,
    >
    > We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    > know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.
    >
    > Kind regards,
    >
    > Arnold
    >
    >
    > Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    > Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    > Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    > Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    > 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
    >
    >
    > --------------------------------Disclaimer--------------------------------
    > De informatie verzonden in dit e-mail bericht inclusief de bijlage(n) is
    > vertrouwelijk en is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde van dit
    > bericht. Lees verder: http://www.eur.nl/email-disclaimer
    >
    > The information in this e-mail message is confidential and may be legally
    > privileged. Read more: http://www.eur.nl/english/email-disclaimer
    > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >


  • 8.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 09:35
    If by job complexity you refer to the cognitive demands of the job, you could measure this with data available in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), O*NET or with the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ). Job complexity is an issue in personnel selection because the complexity of the job moderates the validity of general cognitive ability and psychomotor ability (albeit in opposite directions).  Gutenberg et al. (1983) derived a cognitive complexity measure from the PAQ. Hunter & Hunter (1984) used a composite of the data and things codes of the DOT.  Rivkin & McDaniel (1990) built a measure based on DOT aptitude demands.  Like human cognitive abilities, ratings of cognitive ability demands tend to form a global factor. The O*NET has ample ratings of cognitive demand job attributes that would permit the derivation of a common factor. Because this approach to cognitive demands yields a single value per occupation, your sample would need to be heterogeneous with respect to occupational titles.

    Gutenberg, R.L., Arvey, R.D.; Osburn, H.G., Jeanneret, P.R. (1983). Moderating effects of decision-making/information-processing job dimensions on test validities.  Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 602-608.

    Hunter, J. E., & Hunter, R. F. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 72-98.

    Rivkin, D., & McDaniel, M. A. (1990).  The measurement and validation of occupational aptitude requirements.  In A. Lancaster (Chair), The enhancement of the Department of Defense Student Testing Program.  Symposium presented at the 98th Annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
    Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D.
    Professor - Human Resources and
         Organizational Behavior
    Department of Management,
    Research Professor, Department of Psychology
    Virginia Commonwealth University
    301 West Main Street, , PO Box 844000
    Richmond, VA 23284-4000         		The Management Department of the VCU School of Business offers a Ph.D. in Business with a specialization in Organizational Behavior.

    http://www.people.vcu.edu/~mamcdani/
    voice: 804.827.0209
    e-mail:    MAMcDani@vcu.edu
    skype: MichaelAMcDaniel





    From: Arnold Bakker <bakker@FSW.EUR.NL>
    To: OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Date: 10/29/2009 11:01 PM
    Subject: [OB-LIST] Job complexity
    Sent by: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv <OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>




    Hello colleagues,

    We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.

    Kind regards,

    Arnold


    Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.


    --------------------------------Disclaimer--------------------------------
    De informatie  verzonden in dit e-mail bericht  inclusief de bijlage(n) is
    vertrouwelijk  en is  uitsluitend  bestemd  voor de geadresseerde  van dit
    bericht. Lees verder:     http://www.eur.nl/email-disclaimer

    The information in this e-mail message  is confidential and may be legally
    privileged. Read more:     http://www.eur.nl/english/email-disclaimer
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------



  • 9.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 14:12
    Note that the Motivation Potetial Score (MPS) of Hackman and Oldham is a
    multiplicative composite and needs to be analyzed appropriately.

    Evans, M. G. (1991). The problem of analyzing multiplicative composites:
    Interactions revisited. American Psychologist, 46, 6-15.

    Evans, M. G., & Ondrack, D. A. (1990). The role of job characteristics
    and work values in understanding the union's impact on job satisfaction:
    A replication. Human Relations, 43, 401-418.


    hth
    m


    Martin G. Evans
    Professor Emeritus
    Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto



    URL: www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans

    ,,, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American People
    upon which this nation relies. It is ... the selflessness of workers who
    would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job.
    Barack H. Obama

    The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of
    those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have
    too little.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt


    Paul Spector (PSY) wrote:
    > Arnold
    >
    > One possibility is to use the motivation potential score of Hackman and
    > Oldham's Job Diagnostic Survey. It isn't exactly complexity, but is
    > sometimes used that way.
    >
    > Hackman, J., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the Job Diagnostic
    > Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159-170.
    >
    > Paul E. Spector
    > Department of Psychology
    > University of South Florida
    > Tampa, FL 33620
    > (813) 974-0357 Voice
    > (813) 974-4617 Fax
    > spector@shell.cas.usf.edu
    > website http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~spector
    >
    > On Thu, 29 Oct 2009, Arnold Bakker wrote:
    >
    >> Hello colleagues,
    >>
    >> We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that
    >> you
    >> know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good
    >> scale.
    >>
    >> Kind regards,
    >>
    >> Arnold
    >>
    >>
    >> Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    >> Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    >> Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    >> Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    >> 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
    >>
    >>
    >> --------------------------------Disclaimer--------------------------------
    >>
    >> De informatie verzonden in dit e-mail bericht inclusief de
    >> bijlage(n) is
    >> vertrouwelijk en is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde van
    >> dit
    >> bericht. Lees verder: http://www.eur.nl/email-disclaimer
    >>
    >> The information in this e-mail message is confidential and may be
    >> legally
    >> privileged. Read more: http://www.eur.nl/english/email-disclaimer
    >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >>
    >>


  • 10.  Job complexity

    Posted 10-30-2009 21:36
    I would put my money on the additive index of Hackman and Oldham's JDS. Xie and Johns (1995) is a good reference in this context.

    Xie, J. L., & Johns, G., Job scope and stress: Can job scope be too high? Academy of Management Journal, 1995, 38, 1288-1309.

    Usman
    ---------------------------
    Usman Raja, PhD
    Faculty of Business
    Brock University
    ON, Canada
     
     
    On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 11:12 PM, Martin Evans <martin.evans@utoronto.ca> wrote:
    Note that the Motivation Potetial Score (MPS) of Hackman and Oldham is a multiplicative composite and needs to be analyzed appropriately.

    Evans, M. G. (1991). The problem of analyzing multiplicative composites: Interactions revisited. American Psychologist, 46, 6-15.

    Evans, M. G., & Ondrack, D. A. (1990). The role of job characteristics and work values in understanding the union's impact on job satisfaction: A replication. Human Relations, 43, 401-418.


    hth
    m


    Martin G. Evans
    Professor Emeritus
    Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto



    URL: www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans

    ,,, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American People upon which this nation relies. It is ... the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job.
    Barack H. Obama

    The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt


    Paul Spector (PSY) wrote:
    Arnold

    One possibility is to use the motivation potential score of Hackman and Oldham's Job Diagnostic Survey. It isn't exactly complexity, but is sometimes used that way.

    Hackman, J., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159-170.

    Paul E. Spector
    Department of Psychology
    University of South Florida
    Tampa, FL 33620
    (813) 974-0357 Voice
    (813) 974-4617 Fax
    spector@shell.cas.usf.edu
    website http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~spector

    On Thu, 29 Oct 2009, Arnold Bakker wrote:

    Hello colleagues,

    We are looking for an instrument to assess "job complexity". Hope that you
    know of a valid instrument; we have had difficulties finding a good scale.

    Kind regards,

    Arnold


    Arnold B. Bakker, PhD
    Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute of Psychology,
    Woudestein, T12-47, P.O. Box 1738,
    3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.


    --------------------------------Disclaimer--------------------------------
    De informatie  verzonden in dit e-mail bericht  inclusief de bijlage(n) is
    vertrouwelijk  en is  uitsluitend  bestemd  voor de geadresseerde  van dit
    bericht. Lees verder: http://www.eur.nl/email-disclaimer

    The information in this e-mail message  is confidential and may be legally
    privileged. Read more: http://www.eur.nl/english/email-disclaimer
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------