COGNITIVE-PROCESSES AND COMPUTER ADVANCES IN JOB EVALUATION - INNOVATION IN REVERSE

Subjectivity has been an issue of long-standing concern in job evaluat ion. Every so often attempts are made to apply well-established quanti tative techniques in an effort to improve the objectivity, precision, and accuracy of subjective processes inherent in job evaluation. This paper examines one such approach-the use of a linear programming appro ach to job evaluation-and argues that it runs counter to the underlyin g cognitive processes. It is suggested that, in general, an algorithm must be logically and theoretically consistent with the process it is trying to capture, if it is to be of practical value. In a more genera l sense, it is hoped that this paper will stimulate a critical and fun damental look at uncritical use of quantitative techniques.