Exploring the Utility of Preference Assessments in Organizational Behavior Management

ABSTRACT

The present study compared two variations of stimulus preference assessments: a survey in which direct service employees ranked their preferences for a variety of items, and a multiple stimulus preference assessment without replacement (MSWO), in which textual stimuli were used to represent the actual items. Results obtained for four participants revealed identical preference hierarchies across each type of stimulus preference assessment for one participant, with three participants demonstrating variations in their preference hierarchies during the MSWO when compared with the ranking survey.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance management
• preference assessment
• compensation
• pay for performance

This paper was completed in partial fulfillment of the first author's graduate degree requirements from Southern Illinois University under the direction of the second author. Both authors would like to thank the other thesis committee members, Dr. Anthony Cuvo and Dr. Paula K. Davis, for their support and guidance of this project. The authors would also like to thank the Center for Comprehensive Services, Inc., its risk committee, and Greg Mulcahy, for assistance with data collection.