Business Finance Homework Help

Strong cognitive abilities are
usually considered a very important and positive trait to seek when
hiring new employees. However, one police department decided not to hire
those who scored too high on a cognitive skills exam on the grounds
that people who are too intelligent will not be satisfied with their job
as a police officer and will end up quitting (Naish, 2013). This of
course is a controversial policy that resulted in at least one lawsuit.

For this assignment we will be looking at individual characteristics
that may predict job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job
performance for police officers. Being a police officer is a demanding
job that requires strong physical capacity, sharp mental capacity to
deal with difficult and life threatening situations, and strong
interpersonal skills in order to effectively work with the communities
they protect and serve. The issue of what traits to look for in police
officer recruiting is a controversial one.

Review the background materials on individual traits, personality,
and attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Then read these articles on law enforcement recruitment with the issues
in the background materials in mind:

Naish, R. (April, 2013). Too clever by half. E.Learning Age, 8.

Means, R., Lowry, K., & Conroy, D. (2011). Hiring: Background investigation, part 3. Law & Order, 59(3), 12-13.

Reaume, S. (2009). Improved hiring for child protective investigators. Law & Order, 57(2), 19-20,22,24.

Case Assignment

Now suppose a police department has hired you as a consultant to come
up with an exam to assess personality and other traits of applicants to
the department. The department is looking to hire applicants who meet
the following criteria:

1. Are likely to have strong job satisfaction and organizational commitment to the police department after they are hired.
2. Will be able to work effectively under stressful and sometimes life
   threatening situations, can make good decisions under pressure.
3. Will be able to present a positive image of the police department in
   the communities they serve and maintain strong relations with community
   leaders.

Using what you’ve learned in the background materials about
personality traits such as the Big Five Personality traits and factors
that influence job satisfaction and organizational behavior, come up
with a four to five page paper addressing the following issues:

1. Do you think cognitive abilities should be part of the exam? Do you
   agree with the police department mentioned in Naish (2013) that there
   should be an upper limit to cognitive abilities, or should the
   department try to hire those with the highest cognitive abilities?
   Consider the concepts of ability testing in Chapter 3 of Nair (2010) as
   part of your answer.
2. What personality traits do you think will best predict a police
   officer’s ability to handle stressful situations in the field and make
   decisions under stress? Consider the Big Five traits as well as any
   other personality traits that you read about in Chapter 6 of Nair
   (2010). Be specific about what traits the department should consider and
   why these traits will be associated with an ability to work under
   stress.
3. What personality traits will best predict an ability to work
   cooperatively with their coworkers as well as with members of the
   community they serve? Again, be specific about which traits the
   department should consider and why these traits will be associated with a
   good ability to work with others. Use Chapter 6 of Nair (2010) as your
   source of information about Big Five and other personality traits to
   consider.

Assignment Expectations

• Answer the assignment questions directly
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go off on
  tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
  materials
• Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references.
  Articles published in established newspapers or business
  journals/magazines are preferred. If you find an article on the
  internet, make sure it is from a credible source.
• Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC portal.