THE USE OF CONJOINT-ANALYSIS TO EVALUATE EXPERT RATINGS IN PERSONNEL-SELECTION

Personnel decisions are often influenced by subjective perceptions of an applicants outward appearance as well as scarcely controllable exte rnal or interpersonal factors. Although diagnostic methods like assess ment-centers (AC) contribute to a more valid assessment of personality characteristics, variations in the relevance of such characteristics to opaque organizational goals are often neglected. Decisions are also hardly ever transparent, because of the lack of a reliable reference system. Conjoint Measurement procedures permit a reliable and objectiv e estimation of the weighted relevance of individual characteristics t o organizational goals. Quantifying the utility concepts of decision-m akers in a binding clearing system can provide an orientation framewor k for reaching personnel decisions and trying to achieve interpersonal consensus. This makes decisions more transparent, more comparable, ea sier to communicate and more justifiable in institutional and individu al terms. Hence, Conjoint-Analysis (CA) can be used as a diagnostic ai d to achieve fairer and more objective decisions and to reduce the exp enses for personnel selection.