A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR MULTIATTRIBUTE UTILITY ANALYSIS IN HUMAN-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Most applications of utility analysis in Human Resource Management hav e focussed upon only one outcome of a selection system-the value of jo b performance in dollars. Multi-attribute utility (MAU) analysis allow s decision makers to incorporate multiple outcomes into their analytic decisions. MAU also increases the participation of decision makers in the utility analysis process by asking them what factors to consider, how to measure the factors, and what functions should be used to comb ine them. This manuscript outlines the steps necessary to conduct MAU analysis and delineates research issues that arise from using a MAU ap proach. Based on these issues, we suggest systematic research question s and directional hypotheses which will improve our understanding and implementation of MAU procedures in organizations. The topics, derived from utility analytic and groups research literatures, include contra sting single attribute utility analysis with MAU, examining the effect of MAU on decision maker attitudes, the ability of MAU to explicate m anagerial policies, and improving existing MAU approaches using result s from the group research literature.