Cascio, Wayne F.
Human Resource Management, Vol. 48 Issue 4, pp. 669-674
The article reviews the book “Managing the Human Factor: The Early Years of Human Resource Management in American Industry,” by Bruce E. Kaufman.
Tag Archives: Cascio
Research in industrial and organizational psychology from 1963 to 2007: Changes, choices, and trends
Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H.
Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. 93 Issue 5, p. 1062-1081
We conducted a content analysis of all articles published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology from January 1963 to May 2007 (N = 5,780) to identify the relative attention devoted to each of 15 broad topical areas and 50 more specific sub-areas in the field of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. Results revealed that some areas have become more (or less) popular over time, whereas others have not changed much, and that there are some lagged relationships between important societal issues that involve people and work settings (i.e., human-capital trends) and I/O psychology research that addresses them. Also, much I/O psychology research does not address human-capital trends. Extrapolating results from the past 45 years to the next decade suggests that the field of I/O psychology is not likely to become more visible, more relevant to society at large, or even to achieve the lofty goals it has set for itself unless researchers, practitioners, universities, and professional organizations implement several types of changes. For example, researchers can make more conscious decisions about which topics to tackle and collaborate more often with practitioners. Universities can re-think the incentive structure of academic research and consider offering sabbaticals for academics in business practice. Academics can re-think graduate training, as well as the socialization and mentoring of new faculty members. Finally, professional associations can offer joint academic practitioner sessions at conferences, in which both groups can work together on important problems; and certification bodies can incorporate more research-based content into
examinations.
Staffing twenty-first-century organizations
Cascio, W. F, & Aguinis, H.
We highlight important differences between twenty-first-century organizations as compared with those of the previous century, and offer a critical review of the basic principles, typical applications, general effectiveness, and limitations of the current staffing model. That model focuses on identifying and measuring job-related individual characteristics to predict individual level job performance. We conclude that the current staffing model has reached a ceiling or plateau in terms of its ability to make accurate predictions about future performance. Evidence accumulated over more than 80 years of staffing research suggests that general mental abilities and other traditional staffing tools do a modest job of predicting performance across settings and
jobs considering that, even when combined and corrected for methodological and statistical artifacts, they rarely predict more than 50% of the variance in performance. Accordingly, we argue for a change in direction in staffing research and propose an expanded view of the staffing process, including the introduction of a new construct, in situperformance, and an expanded view of staffing tools to be used to predict future in situperformance that take into account time and context. Our critical review offers a novel perspective and research agenda with the goal of guiding future research that will result in more useful, applicable, relevant, and effective knowledge for practitioners to use in organizational settings.
The Costs – and Benefits – of Human Resources
Cascio, Wayne
International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Vol. 22, p. 71-110
Editor(s): Gerard P. Hodgkinson, J. Kevin Ford
Evidence-Based Management And The Marketplace For Ideas
Cascio, Wayne F.
Academy of Management Journal Vol. 50, Issue 5, p. 1009-1012
In this article the author examines methods which management professionals can use to excel in their given fields. He contrasts the academic study of human resource management with the practical application of the process. Examined are the roles played by different types of professionals in the field such as management consultants, human resource managers in a corporate setting and journalists who report on personnel matters. He notes that academics use management science to create new knowledge, while practitioners are not always receptive to academic theory, preferring more practical applications. In addition the author examines human resource matters and the influence on them of evidence-based management.
The High Cost of Low Wages
Cascio, Wayne F.
Harvard Business Review Vol. 84 Issue 12, p. 23
This article compares Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club and Costco in terms of employee benefits and wages. The author claims that managing labor costs isn’t a bad idea, but stingy pay and benefits don’t necessarily translate to lower costs in the long run. With 338 stores and 67,600 full-time employees, Costco is the number one wholesaler, while Sam’s Club has 551 stores and 110,200 employees and is the number two wholesaler. Wages at Costco are much higher than those at Sam’s, and it is also more generous with its benefits. The difference, even though Costco’s practices are more expensive, is that Costco has a very low turnover and Sam’s Club a high one. Therefore, the annual cost of replacing employees is nearly three times more for Sam’s Club. Costco’s strategy for cost containment is employee loyalty.
Decency Means More than "Always Low Prices": A Comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club
Cascio, Wayne F.
Academy of Management Perspectives Vol. 20 Issue 3, p. 26-37
Wal-Mart’s emphasis on “Always low prices. Always” has made it the largest retail operation in history. However, this unrelenting mission has also created a way of doing business that draws substantial criticism regarding the company’s employment practices, relationships with suppliers, and the company’s impact on local economies. This paper focuses on a company that delivers low prices to consumers, but in a fundamentally different way than its competitor, Wal-Mart. That company is warehouse-retailer Costco. In the following sections we will begin by providing some background on the company, including its history, its business model, its ethical principles, core beliefs, and values. Then we will consider some typical Wall Street analysts’ assessments of this approach, followed by a systematic comparison of the financial performance of Costco with that of Sam’s Club, a warehouse retailer that is part of Wal-Mart.
The Economic Impact of Employee Behaviors on Organizational Performance
Cascio, Wayne
California Management Review Vol. 48 Issue 4, p. 41-59
The behavior of employees has important effects on the operating expenses of organizations in both the private and public sectors. While these effects are not widely known (or even, in some cases, appreciated by employers), they are, nonetheless, quite substantial. This article considers some key areas where the behavior of employees has a meaningful financial impact on their organizations. The areas it examines are: the effects of high- versus low-wage employment strategies on employee turnover and productivity; the importance of employee retention; absenteeism and presenteeism; healthcare costs associated with unhealthy lifestyles; employee attitudes; payoffs from training through development programs; and payoffs from the use of valid staffing procedures. While these areas are by no means exhaustive, they are representative of those that most employers encounter. This article also presents strategies for employers to improve the performance of their organizations by managing people wisely and illustrates its analysis through a comparison of the employment strategies of two well-known retailers, Costco and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club.
Test development and use: New twists on old questions
Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H.
Human Resource Management, Vol. 44 Issue 3, pp. 219-235
Over the past several decades there have been some significant advances in psychological science, specifically, in our knowledge about important questions to address with respect to the development and use of assessment tools. This paper focuses on developments in research and guidelines for practice in five selected areas that, if applied, will lead to more informed use of assessment tools. The five areas that we discuss are: validity generalization, statistical significance testing, criterion measures, cutoff scores, and cross-validation.
From business partner to driving business success: The next step in the evolution of HR management
Cascio, Wayne F.
Human Resource Management, Vol. 44 Issue 2, pp. 159-163
In the 1980s, a combination of economic and political factors led to the demand for greater accountability in all functional areas of business, including HR. The massive restructuring of organizations in the 1990s led to the outsourcing of many of HR’s basic transactional functions. In order for HR to add value to an organization, it must have several key competencies. “Influence in leadership is all about understanding the business well enough so that what you recommend adds value to the organization,” says one HR vice president. This article shows how this is done through the example of SYSCO Corporation.