Fitness exams help to measure worker acuity

Article Abstract:

Civil libertarians and some safety analysts are touting the virtues of computer programs that can detect functional impairment in transportation workers and others. These new programs may take the place of urinalysis as the favored method of testing alertness. The software applications gauge whether an employee is in a condition to work, or is impaired for reasons of drug- or alcohol-abuse, stress or simple fatigue. Proponents point out that these tests give immediate results, and are more useful because they can detect impairment due to causes other than drugs or alcohol. Doubters contend that there is no convincing evidence that the programs really work. In addition, employees first establish a baseline of normal responses against which they are tested in the future, and may intentionally establish a low baseline to make passing easier. Private experiments have resulted in substantial reductions in accidents and human error.

Employee performance appraisals, Performance appraisals, Job Performance, Stress, Software packages

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Our new working class: the business implications of softwage agents

Article Abstract:

Software agents have a significant potential in the business setting. These so-called software agents are autonomous suites of computer code that may perform certain electronic tasks on command by humans. In development for more than two decades, this technology is finally demonstrating its commercial applicability in the 1990s. These 'digital servants' will develop a combination of four features. These software agents will be mobile beings that can move throughout computer networks to perform their duties, have a degree of autonomy that will enable them to function independently and make decisions for their masters, will have the capacity to learn from their experiences and the habits and preferences of humans, and will have the capability to communicate and share data with other agents. These features should make them more useful to their human owners that existing technologies.

Evaluation, Human-computer interaction

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A population of learners: a new way to measure organizational learning

Article Abstract:

A quantitative model may be used to determine the patterns of skill learning in substantial numbers of front-line workers. The approach will be useful when firms due to the widespread use of information technology may obtain reliable improvement curves of employees. The fitted parameters of the quantitative approach may be used as a guide for determining behaviors of large populations of employees.

Behavior Theory, Models, Learning, Human behavior, Organizational learning, Teaching models

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