Debate on Assessment Center Approaches and Its Solutions: A Case of In-Basket Exercise
Irving Yi-Feng Huang
Abstract
The assessment center has been widely used in European and American countries as an assessment mechanism for assessing management expertise, and it has received attention in Taiwan in recent years. Since 1980s, there has long been a debate between supporters of two approaches -- task-based assessment center (TBAC) and dimension-based assessment center (DBAC). The former advocates that the job tasks of the "target position" should be used as the criteria for training and assessment; the latter emphasizes that the common ability (dimension) criteria can be applied to all managerial positions regardless of professional demands. However, according to the competency model theory, full competency means the ability to achieve both task and dimension. This article discusses the focus of this controversy, explore the feasibility of the task-based approach through implementing in-basket exercise. This article designs a task-based in-basket for police station chiefs. It includes 31 situations to assess ten task behaviors, and invites trainees from the Central Police University as subjects. The statistical results indicate that gender, class, age, and educational background have some significant differences in task performance. The author also makes suggestions for the future application and research of the in-basket exercise.
Keywords: task-based assessment center (TBAC), dimension-based assessment center (DBAC), in-basket exercise