SummaryThis paper is a conceptual and methodological critique of arguments advanced by Ones and Viswesvaran (1996, this issue) favoring 'broad' over 'narrow' personality traits for personnel selection and theoretical explanation. We agree with Ones and Viswesvaran that predictors should match criteria in terms of specificity. We depart from them, however, in our view of how traits should be chosen to obtain the best possible prediction and explanation of a complex overall job performance criterion. We argue that the best criterion-related validities will be attained if researchers use a construct-oriented approach to match specific traits (i.e. traits narrower than the Big Five) to those specific job performance dimensions that have been found to be job relevant. We further argue that researchers should focus on development of theories of job performance that incorporate constructs that are both specific and meaningful. If researchers seek to emphasize only overall job performance and personality traits greater than or equal to the Big Five in breadth, we will fail to acquire a great deal of important knowledge about the nature and causes of important aspects of work behavior.

This study investigated changes in the skill levels of managers which occurred two years following the managers' participation in 360‐degree feedback. The major objective was to investigate how skill development, development efforts, and environmental support for development are related. The Management Skills Profile (MSP) was used to measure skills and to give feedback. Of the original 198 managers who received feedback, 48 accepted the opportunity to complete the instrument again two years later. At that time, they also completed a questionnaire surveying what development activities they had completed and the extent to which they received support for development from their supervisor and the organization. The first hypothesis was that, for the group, (a) participants' skills would increase following feedback, and (b) self–other agreement would be greater at Time 2 than at Time 1. This was supported. The second hypothesis was that management skills would be related to later advancement. This also was supported. The third hypothesis was that skill development would be related to both development efforts and environmental support, and that some development activities would be more effective than others. Hypothesis four was that those who put more effort into development (a) would have received at Time 1 ratings which were more favorable and more congruent with their self‐ratings, and (b) would have received more environmental support. Hypotheses three and four were only partially supported. The results have implications for what managers can do to develop their skills and how others can support this development. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This paper presents a taxonomy of organizational characteristics that was developed a s part of a large scale job analysis project conducted for the Department of Labor (DOL). Based on research and theory related to organizations, a hierarchical taxonomy of organizational characteristics was developed with six construct domains at the highest level: organizational structure, leadership, human resources (HR) systems and practices, goals, and organizational values. The.taxonomy has been empirically tested using data from over 300 organizations, and a summary of these results is presented. This taxonomy is then used to organize and review research on the relationships between organizational variables and innovation. Implications of the taxonomy for understanding relationships between organizational size, industry type, "high-performance'' practices, and innovation are discussed.

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