Animal testing Essay Example for Free

Animal testing Essay Animal testing is used for many products worldwide. Also animal testing is used for a wide range of things, such as items in houses and medicines. Many places test on animals, such as private facilities, universities, and government laboratories. A big debate in today’s society is whether or not scientist should use animals for testing. Most of the animals die during or after the testing. Typing animal testing on images on the Internet it is most likely that gruesome images of rabbits, mice, cats, and dogs being used as test subjects will appear. Some people believe that animal testing has improved the world and continues to do so. They look, at the good side of what animal testing has done for humans. People want to make sure that the product that they are using is safe and won’t affect them in a negative way. Most people believe that it is okay as long as the animal is put to sleep while being tested on and if the animals feel no pain then it doesn’t matter that they are being tested on. Most people think that since most people eat animals; why not use them for testing, which can help humans. But other people think that there are better ways to conduct these experiments. These people can’t stand the fact that millions of animals die because of testing. Haugen, David Animal Experimentation A lot of animal testing is used for cosmetics. Items such as mascara and shaving cream are common cosmetics. The most used animals for animal testing are rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice or rats. It is important for some people to know that their cosmetics were not used to harm animals. However, other people say that they would rather have their products tested by animals because they would rather be safe and to make sure that they wont be affected by the product in a negative way. Another main reason for animal testing is for medical research. Medical research has helped technology. Scientist, want to make sure that they are testing with the most current technology and at this moment its animals. The study of animals helps scientist understand better. Ways that Animal testing has helped medial research is that it has helped find a cure for breast cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, and many others. Now days it seems not ethical for humans to be tested on, but in the past people in mental hospitals or prisons have been used as â€Å"guinea pigs†. In the past this behavior was acceptable. Humans that are tested subjects these days are able to speak up for themselves where animals are not capable of that. Most people that agree with animal testing have never been forced to do something that they didn’t have a say about and didn’t have rights. Darwin has showed that we share a common lineage with other animals, and a subsequent genetic research has shown the closeness of evolutionary links. This means that we are very similar to animal. Boines, The use of curari in a repository medium in the management of acute poliomyelitis. Most of the animals that are from the streets or animal shelters that are being used as test subjects. Scientists believe that if the animal is going to no use, then it should be used for testing. Some laboratories hire people to drive around to find animals on the street. Most people don’t believe that this is right because that animal could be someone’s lost loving pet. In the past there have been cases of animals being stolen for testing and even trades happening for testing. Jmett, The student roos Animal testing has decreased. The main cause of it decreasing is that people have become more aware of it and what the side effects are to animals. Also a lot of people spend most of their time protesting against it and making other people aware of it. The push of stopping animal testing has affected businesses. For example cosmetic, companies have lost customers because the customers that believe that animal testing isn’t ethical don’t want to buy their pro ducts from a business that test on animals. This has pushed many large cosmetic companies to quit animal testing, but some of them don’t tell the complete truth. People have found that companies that say they are â€Å"animal testing free† usually have other companies test their products on animals for them. They can get away with having the other company willing to test for them because the companies that sell â€Å"animal tested free† products can get away with double or tripling the actual value because they know that customers want to see the words of animal tested free and then the company will share the profit with the other company that tested the products on the animals for them. n.p, A Critical Evaluation of Animal Research People read articles and the description of how they actually test the animal and it shocks them and they think that animal testing should be banned forever, but most of these people also don’t realize that animal testing has helped us with our medical research. Most people that have been sick or are close to someone that is seriously ill and animal testing is one of their only hopes for getting better; then they all of a sudden are all for animal testing. A big question is, ‘is animal testing worth it†? Some people say no because more than half of the animals end up dying after testing. And the testing is usually for the humans and their bodies can react different than the animals, so most people believe that testing isn’t even worth it. The other side of the people believes that testing is worth it because even though animals die there is still progress in today’s medical research. The more that animals get tested on the more we come closer to a better society. They believe that scientists need to start with something and that something is testing on animals. Botting, The history of thalidomide. Drug News Perspectives, Evaluation of the potential effects of ingredients added to cigarettes. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 40 There have been multiple cases where animal testing has affected animals differently than it affected the humans. When cigarettes first came out, they tested them by animals to see if they were safe. If they went by just what animal testing showed about cigarettes, it would be wrong. For animals to inhale cigarette smoke is okay and it won’t harm them, where it would harm humans. Cigarettes also didn’t cause cancer in animals, which they actually do in humans. This shows that cancer is different for animals and humans. Another example is the drug Thalidomide, which was to help prevent nausea and morning sickness for pregnant mothers. Thalidomide was tested on many animals and all of the animals showed the drug as being safe and okay. The drug ended up being unsafe, which caused babies to be born with deformities. The main deformity from this drug caused â€Å"flipper limbs†. This was when the legs and arms were really short and were joined at the hip and shoulder joints. The reason that all of the animals showed this drug to be safe was because the drug was not correctly tested. To be correctly tested they would have had to test the drug on pregnant animals to show accurate results, which shows another way that animal testing isn’t always effective and doesn’t always show the most accurate results. This is just two out of countless documents where animal testing failed to work. All the products were initially tested on animals and were thought to be safe for humans, but when given to humans, major consequences took place leading to deaths and deformities. Animal testing was disproven to be accurate in these tests. This leads people to believe that animal testing is not safe and that people shouldn’t always trust that animal testing would be accurate. Allanou, Public availability of data on EU high production volume chemicals. Some people believe that animal testing has slowed the process of medicine. They believe this because they think that scientists waste time by testing on the animals. They could waste time because some animals react diffe rent then humans and most animals end up dying. Others believe that it is worth the time and that great things can come out of animal testing, which is very true. Humans should be very thankful for what scientist have accomplished. Because of animal testing, scientists have been able to create medicines, vaccines, and insulin that can cure humans. Animal testing has also helped physicians. Animal testing has helped them by making it more accurate for them to perform surgeries, such as heart and lung surgeries. Testing has allowed doctors and scientists save many lives. â€Å"Animal research has played a vital rise in virtually every major medical advance of the last century – for both human and veterinary health. From antibiotics to blood transfusions, from dialysis to organ transplantation, from vaccinations to chemotherapy, bypass surgery and join replacement, practically every present day protocol for the prevention, treatment, cure and control of disease, pain and suffer ing is based on knowledge attained through research with lab animals.† The Foundation for Biomedical Research. This makes people believe that if animal testing were to slow down then advancements in modern medicine would significantly slow down. There are about 450 ways to replace animal testing. For some reason many people believe that animal testing is the only option, but that its wrong. The reason we haven’t completely stopped testing on animals is because it would cost a lot of money to replace it, but in the long run it would probably save us money. Also, animals are easier to obtain in labs because scientist are so used to working with them. It’s easy to keep their day-to-day habits instead of changing their whole research and starting over. Also people see that animals die everyday from being tested and they couldn’t imagine seeing humans die occasionally from being experimented with. The rate that society is going, animal testing will always happen, but as time goes by it will be improved and become more humane. Some people believe that animals do not feel pain. Scientists assume though that they do feel pain. An animal has a vertebra back bone just like humans, which leads scientist to believe that they have the same nerves as us. This means that the animals might feel the same or similar to what we feel. Some scientists do believe that if the animal is in intense shock from the testing it won’t feel any pain. This information makes people aware of the effects of animal testing. Some people argue and say that instead of testing on animals test on humans because animals have no say in what happens to them as where humans have a voice and can speak up for themselves. The other side of the argument is that a human’s life is more valuable than an animal’s. Humans are more advanced than an animal, which leads people to feel more compassionate about the human.Crawford The schizophrenic career of a â€Å"monster drug† Some people view animals as equals to humans. The common thing that most people think is that humans are on a higher level than animals because humans have control over their lives and more characteristics, such as humans are more intelligent, creative, aware, technologically advanced, able to understand and speak an language, and able to make moral choices. These rights are what lead people to believe that humans are higher than animals, but the other side of the argument can prove this wrong in their own way. The other side of the argument says that since animals can feel pain they are the same equally as humans. People don’t think that humans and animals should be separated into different groups because they both suffer and can both die. People also point out that not all humans are capable of having all the characteristics that a normal human would have, such as infants or handicapped humans. These people that have less characteristics sometimes might even have less than an animal so an animal would be higher on power. Also since infants don’t have high levels of characteristics many Americans believe that they should be given equal power, which is the same power as a grown adult. They think this is right because their parents value them. But then that doesn’t work for pets if a human values them. This is very inconsistent it shows that life isn’t fair at times. But to be fair everything that is valued by an adult should have rights not just one half. One of the biggest issues that people use to defend animal testing is that the animals are going to die eventually anyway. They say that in nature animals would end up killing each other or dying of natural causes. This is very true, but the other side can argue and say that the way the animals are getting tested on is not â€Å"natural†. The animals end up dying, but a painful death that wasn’t planned to happen. Some humans torture other humans without their consent; such as rape and that it is looked down upon and is not acceptable in our society. Also people for animal testing say humans hunt the animals and kill them to eat, which is true. The other side states that it’s not the same because hunting is for a benefit to survive. They understand that animal testing could be for our benefit for example it can be good for medical research. Even though it can be beneficial, it still is different than hunting because animal testing can be a painful process for the animal and not every company uses it for benefits. LyonTobacco smoke and involuntary smoking, monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. International Agency for Research on Cancer Most people are unaware that animal testing is actually beneficial to animals themselves. Animals need to have the best nutrient and if anyone has an animal as a pet more than likely the animal isn’t going to go out and hunt for its food in the wild, which would make sure it got all of its necessary nutrition. So to make sure the pet has the best nutrition it has to get all of it in its dog food that people buy at the store for them. To make sure all of the right nutrients is in the dog food and won’t harm the animal scientists have to test the product on animals to get the best result. Scientists have also used animals for testing on worms, which is a medical problem for animals and have come up with a result that helps pet’s lives. Most people agree that this is right because it is actually benefiting the animals and their lives weren’t just a waste. I believe that animal testing isn’t ethical. I am an animal lover, but it’s not just that. I disagree in what takes place in the labs. I believe that humans and animals are equally on the same level. So when you see an animal cramped up in a tight, small cage think to yourself what if they were one of your friends or a family member? These animals never get affection so I imagine what life would be like growing up as a child with no one there to support me or lead the way for me. Animal testing has been around for years and people are just now realizing that it is harmful. I also don’t believe that animal testing is accurate. Rabbit’s eyes are different than ours. Rabbits feel more pain in their eyes than humans and the pain effects them longer and it takes a long time for the substance that we put in their eyes to go away. A rabbit’s eye is ten times more reactant to hydraulic solution than our eyes. After the rabbits are tested on scientists wait 14 days until they clean the solution out of their eyes. Whenever I’m in the shower and I get shampoo in my eyes I make sure that I clean them out right away, which is normal they shouldn’t have to have solution sitting in their eyes for two weeks when us humans cant even stand it for a minute. The rabbits are extremely affected by this test. The chemical causes swollen eyes, irritated and cloudy eyes, and inflamed skin around the eyes. Also they might endure ulcers, bleeding, or blindness. Once the test are finished the rabbits die. I believe most cosmetic companies are frauds. They say they are doing animal testing to make sure that the products are safe and that they care about their customers. In reality they just perform the animal testing so any customers don’t sue them. Many cosmetic companies say that the law requires them to perform test on animals to make sure their products are safe, but the companies don’t make that a law. So millions of animals suffer and die for selfish companies not wanting to get sued by their customers. I also believe that in the past when new products were first coming out it was okay because we didn’t even know how these products would affect anything. In general I think every cosmetic companies knows what’s right and wrong for their customers. Works Cited Hansen, Allanou R. Public availibility of data on EU high productions volume chemicals. N.p.: Jont Research center, 1009. Print. American Practice. Boines, 3 May 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. James, Botting J. The History of thalomide. N.p.: Food and Chemical Toxicoigy, 1991. Print. Lane, Crawford C. The schizophrenic carrer of a monster drug. N.p.: Pediatrics, 1993. Print.

Automatic Quantification of the Myocardial Extracellular

Automatic Quantification of the Myocardial Extracellular Automatic Quantification of the Myocardial Extracellular Volume by  Cardiac Computed Tomography: Synthetic ECV by CCT Thomas A Treibel, MBBS1,2, Marianna Fontana, PhD,1,2, Jennifer A Steeden PhD2,3, Arthur Nasis, MD1, Jason Yeung, MBBS4, Steven K White, BSc, MBChB1,2, Sri Sivarajan4, Shonit Punwani, PhD4, Francesca Pugliese, PhD1, Stuart A Taylor, MD4, James C Moon, MD1,2, Steve Bandula, PhD4 1Barts Heart Centre, St Bartholomews Hospital, London, UK. 2Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UK. 3UCL Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Medical Physics, London, UK. 4Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, London, UK. Manuscript Type: Original Manuscript Manuscript: 3924 words (all including) No conflict of interest declared. Funding: TAT and SB are supported by Doctoral Research Fellowships from the NIHR, UK (NIHR ­DRF ­ 2013-06-102 / NIHR ­DRF ­ 2011 ­04 ­008). MF and SKW are supported by Clinical Research Training Fellowships from the British Heart Foundation (grants FS/12/ 56/29723 and FS/10/72/28568). JCM is directly and indirectly supported by the University College London Hospitals NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and Biomedical Research Unit at Barts Hospital, respectively. FP: this work form part of the translational portfolio of the Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit at Barts, which is supported and funded by the NIHR. SAT is an NIHR senior investigator. This work was undertaken at University College London Hospital, which received a proportion of funding from the UK Department of Health National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme. ABSTRACT [TT1] Background: The quantification of myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) by Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) can identify changes in the extracellular space due to fibrosis or infiltration. Current methodologies require laboratory blood hematocrit (Hct) measurement which complicates the technique.   The attenuation of blood (HUblood) is known to change with anemia. We hypothesized that the relationship between Hct and HUblood could be calibrated to rapidly generate a synthetic ECV without the need to formally measure Hct. Methods: This retrospective study received institutional review board approval. The association between Hct and HUblood was derived from forty non-contrast thoracic CT scans using regression analysis. Synthetic Hct was then used to calculate synthetic ECV, and in turn compared with ECV using blood Hct in a validation cohort with mild interstitial expansion due to fibrosis (aortic stenosis, n=28, ECVCT = 28 ±4%) and severe interstitial expansion due to amyloidosis (n=27; ECVCT = 54 ±11%, psynthetic ECV was correlated with collagen volume fraction (CVF) in a separate cohort with aortic stenosis (n=18). All CT scans were performed at 120kV and 160 mAs. Results: HUblood was a good predictor of Hct (R2=0.47; p), with the regression model (Hct = [0.51 * HUblood] + 17.4) describing the association. Synthetic ECV correlated well with conventional ECV (R2=0.96; p with minimal bias and 2SD difference of 5.7%. Synthetic ECV correlated as well as conventional ECV with histological CVF (both R2=0.50, p). Finally, we implemented an automatic ECV plug-in for offline analysis. Conclusion: Synthetic ECV by CCT provides instantaneous quantification of the myocardial extracellular space without the need for blood sampling. KEYWORDS: Computed tomography; Myocardial tissue characterization; Extracellular matrix; Myocardial extracellular volume fraction; Myocardial fibrosis; cardiac amyloidosis. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AL amyloidosis = Immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis AS = Aortic stenosis CCT = Cardiac computed tomography CMR = Cardiovascular magnetic resonance CVF = Collagen volume fraction ECV = Extracellular volume fraction HU = Hounsfield units INTRODUCTION Extracellular volume fraction (ECV) quantification by cardiac computed tomography (CCT) 1-5 and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) 6, 7 is a promising new imaging biomarker for interstitial expansion due to myocardial fibrosis and cardiac amyloid deposition. Emerging data suggests ECV predicts outcome as well as left ventricular ejection fraction 8, 9 and there is increasing interest in targeting the interstitium during the development of heart failure therapy.10 Current methodologies for ECV quantification require blood hematocrit (Hct) measurement, which adds a layer of complexity and is potentially a barrier to easy clinical implementation. Alternatively, for CMR, Treibel et al. recently proposed a synthetic ECV technique, removing the need for Hct measurement by utilizing the relationship between relaxivity of blood and lab measured Hct.11 It is unknown if a similar approach can be used for CCT, although a relationship between anemia and unenhanced blood attenuation has been observed.12-17 For example the aortic ring sign and dense intra-ventricular septum on unenhanced thoracic CTs suggest underlying anemia.17-19 We hypothesized that the relationship between Hct and unenhanced blood attenuation (HUblood) could be used to estimate a synthetic Hct, permitting immediate synthetic ECV calculation without blood sampling. We used existing patient cohorts1, 4 to investigate how synthetic ECV (a) compares to conventional ECV, and (b) correlates with the reference standard collagen volume fraction. We also tested implementation of an automated synthetic ECV measurement plug-in within the open-source DICOM viewer OsiriX.20 MATERIAL AND METHODS This study is a retrospective analysis of prospectively acquired data, received local ethical approval and conformed to the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study received no industry support.   All participants provided informed and written consent. Exclusion criteria were uncontrolled arrhythmia or impaired renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate ECV CCT Protocols. The CCT protocol consisted of three steps: first, a low dose non-contrast scan to obtain baseline attenuations; second, contrast administration with a contrast-enhanced 1-minute acquisition and a 5 minute delay to allow blood to myocardial contrast equilibration; third, a repeat scan to re-measure blood and myocardial attenuations. CCT examinations were performed on a 64-detector row CT scanner (Somatom Sensation 64; Siemens Medical Solutions, Germany).1, 4 A topogram was used to plan CT volumes from the level of the aortic valve to the inferior aspect of the heart, typically a 10 cm slab. Cardiac scans (tube voltage, 120 kV; tube current-time product, 160 mAs; section collimation, 64 detector rows, 1.2-mm section thickness; gantry rotation time, 330 msec) were acquired with prospective gating (65%-75% of R-R interval), and reconstructed into 3-mm-thick axial sections with a B20f kernel. All pre- and post contrast acquisitions were performed and reconstructed with the same parameters and matched the level of the pre-contrast scan. The iodinated contrast material used was iohexol (Omnipaque 300; Nycomed Amersham, Oslo, Norway; 300 mg of iodine per milliliter) at a standard dose of 1mL/kg and injection rate of 3ml/sec without a saline chaser. Image Analysis. CCT image analysis was performed using a free and open-source Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine viewer (OsiriX v4.1.2; Pixmeo, Bernex, Switzerland) independently by two experienced readers blinded to all other study data. For Hct estimation, regions of interest (ROIs) were placed in in a single axial slice in the center of the right atrium. The mean area of these ROIs were 4.8 ±1.2cm2. ROIs were drawn in the myocardial left ventricular septum and blood pool in the contrast-enhanced 1-minute acquisition in axial sections and propagated to the pre-contrast and post contrast acquisitions. Myocardial and blood attenuation values (pre-and post contrast only) were used to calculate the ECV fraction from the ratio of the change in blood and myocardial attenuation (ΆHU) corrected by the blood volume of distribution (1 Hematocrit): ECV   =   (1 Hematocrit) x (ΆHUtissue / ΆHUblood) Synthetic Hematocrit and ECV Methodology 1. Derivation of synthetic Hematocrit To derive a regression model predicting hematocrit from pre-contrast HUblood, clinical unenhanced CT scans of the thorax were retrospectively analyzed (120 kV; reconstructed at 5mm slice thickness and B70F soft tissue kernel). These were consecutive clinical CT scans of the thorax for investigation of malignancy, fibrosis or infection. Datasets were included if the patients had a contemporaneous paired laboratory measured Hct (within 20 days, median 8 days). HUblood was analyzed in a single axial slice through the center of the right atrium. This was chosen to minimize beam-hardening artifact from the spine (compared to aortic blood pool) and partial voluming of papillary muscles in the left or right ventricular blood pool. Synthetic Hct was obtained from the equation describing the linear regression line between laboratory HUblood and Hct. 2. Creation of a synthetic ECV Equation Blood hematocrit was substituted by the derived synthetic Hct to derive a synthetic ECV: Synthetic ECV   =   (1 synthetic Hct) x (ΆHUtissue / ΆHUblood) 3. Validation of synthetic ECV For validation, we used existing patient cohorts to investigate how synthetic ECV (a) compares to conventional ECV with laboratory blood hematocrit,4 and (b) correlates with the reference standard collagen volume fraction.1 3a. Clinical Validation Cohort In order to test synthetic ECV across a range of ECV values, the cohort used by our group to validate ECV by CT in amyloidosis was chosen; this comprised of two sub-groups with differing degrees of extracellular volume expansion: I. patients with cardiac amyloidosis (typically high ECV), comprising of 26 patients with systemic amyloidosis (21 males, age 55 ±10 years; 18 with transthyretin amyloidosis; 8 with systemic AL amyloidosis) with varying degrees of cardiac involvement; II. A comparator group of 27 age- and sex-matched patients with severe aortic stenosis (19 male, age 68 ±8 years) who typically exhibit only mild ECV elevation. Scans were performed between January and December 2013. In the clinical cohort, contrast administration was performed using a bolus only approach with a 1 mL/kg bolus of iohexol and post-contrast imaging at 1 minute (for segmentation) and 5 minutes (for post contrast analysis), as validated by our group previously.4 3b. Histological Validation Cohort For histological validation, the performance of synthetic ECV against a histological measure of fibrosis, the collagen volume fraction (CVF), was tested in a second smaller cohort of patients with severe AS, who underwent intra-operative biopsy (no overlap with clinical cohort). This cohort had been used by our group to validate ECV by CT again histology:1 Consenting severe AS patients (n = 17, median age 71 ±10 years, 76% male) underwent CCT between July 2010 and February 2012. Biopsies were obtained and stained with picrosirius red for histological measurement of collagen volume fraction (CVF) as previously described.21 In the histology cohort, contrast administration followed primed iodinated contrast material infusion (bolus plus maintenance infusion) with a 1 mL/kg bolus of iohexol followed by a maintenance infusion of at a rate of 1.88 mL/kg per hour for 25 minutes, when the post contrast imaging was performed.1 4. OsiriX Plugin To facilitate offline analysis and to exemplify future inline automation by scanner manufacturers, an automatic synthetic ECV plug-in was developed for OsiriX. Statistical analysis Analyses were performed using SPSS (Chicago, IL, USA, version 22). All data are presented as mean  ± SD. Normal distribution was assessed by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Differences were assessed using unpaired, two-sided student t-tests (significance level p). Agreement between conventional and synthetic ECV was analyzed using the Bland-Altman method. The significance of the difference between two correlation coefficients was tested using the Fisher r-to-z transformation. RESULTS[TT2] Step 1. Derivation cohort 40 thoracic CT scans with contemporaneous Hct samples within 20 days (mean 8 ±7 days) of the scan were included (n=40, 53% male, age 60 ±20 years) with a broad range of Hct (mean 38.2 ±6.0%; range 24.7-50.7%) and HUblood (mean 40 ±8; range 20-55). The linear regression equation was:   (sHct = [0.51 * HUblood] + 17.4) with R2=0.47 p (Figure 1). Step 2. Creation of the synthetic ECV Equation Blood hematocrit was substituted by the derived synthetic Hct to derive a synthetic ECV: Synthetic ECV   =   (1 ([0.51 * HUblood] + 17.4)x (ΆHUtissue / ΆHUblood) Step 3. Validation Step 3a. Clinical cohort Baseline characteristics of twenty-six systemic amyloidosis and twenty-seven AS patients are shown in Table 1.In this cohort, Hct were mean 41.4 ±3.8% (range 29.3-47.4%) and HUblood mean 40.2 ±3.9 (range 29.3-50.1). Synthetic ECV, calculated using the regression model to derive HCT,and conventional ECV were highly correlated (R2=0.96; p) with a 5.7% SD of differences and minimal bias (2.4%) on Bland-Altman analysis (Figure 2). ECVCT was significantly higher in amyloid patients with definitive cardiac involvement than aortic stenosis (54 ±11% versus 28 ±4%, p Step 3b. Histology cohort Baseline characteristics of the histology cohort are described in Table 2.The mean histological CVF of the 17 biopsies was 18  ± 8% (range 5% to 40%), Hct were 40.2 ±4.6% (range 29.4-46.4%) and HUblood 37.7 ±4.2 (range 29.5-45.1). Synthetic and conventional ECV both correlated well with collagen volume fraction (R2 = 0.50, p vs. R2 = 0.50, p ; Figure 3) and did not differ statistically on Fisher r-to-z transformation (p = 0.8). Step 4. Automatic synthetic ECV plug-in in OsiriX Example output of the OsiriX plugin are shown in Figure 4, and the code is provided in the supplementary data. This plugin involves three simple steps: I. Manual segmentation of the blood pool in the pre- and post-contrast images; II. The plug-in automatically estimates blood hematocrit using the attenuation relationship defined above; III. The plug-in produces a three-dimensional myocardial ECV volume, where each image voxel represents an ECV value. Reproducibility Inter- and intra-observer agreement was excellent for myocardial (ICC = 0.92 and ICC = 0.94, respectively) and blood pool (ICC = 0.96 and ICC = 0.99, respectively) attenuation measurements. Similarly for ECV, excellent agreement was found (ICC = 0.95 and ICC = 0.98, respectively). Repeat sampling variability was tested in 44 patients who underwent two samples a median of 4 hours apart. Test:retest variability of laboratory hematocrit was higher than expected (n=44, variability 10% with hct:hct R2=0.86.11 DISCUSSION Identifying interstitial heart disease is important for diagnosis and prognosis,10 and myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) can be measured non-invasively by CCT.1-4 However, its measurement is complicated by the necessity for venous blood sampling, image analysis and then offline ECV calculation. This process is cumbersome and a major obstacle for implementing this technique into routine clinical practice. In this manuscript, we simplify the technique by calculating ECV without blood hematocrit. This development arose out of a need to simplify ECV measurement to make it more clinically applicable. We utilize the relationship between hematocrit and blood attenuation (the attenuation of blood decreases with anemia)12-14, 17-19 to derive a synthetic hematocrit for immediate synthetic ECV calculation without blood sampling. We show that synthetic ECV was highly correlated to conventional ECV, and had a similar association to the histologic reference standard of CVF. The implementation of an offline automated processing tool provides a significant aid to workflow, allowing for ECV measurement in routine clinical practice.   Automated synthetic ECV can be implemented inline on CT scanners with test performances approaching that of conventional ECV measurement. ECV quantification by CT, despite it lower signal to noise ratio, has key advantage over CMR: The CT approach is cheaper and widely available, can be completed in 5 minutes, and the scanner design can accommodate patients with obesity and claustrophobia (CMR is not suitable in around 10% of patients due to claustrophobia or many cardiac pacemakers).22 Furthermore, ECV by CCT can provide high-resolution 3D ECV volumes with whole heart acquisition and limited cardiac motion. Finally, the concentration of iodine has a linear relationship with th e CT attenuation value, which is not affected by fast exchange mechanism like CMR T1 mapping (depending on cell size and contrast dose, fast transcytolemmal water-exchange may reach its limits), which do not apply to CT.23, 24 ECV (by CMR or CT) allows quantification of a key pathophysiological pathway in heart failure: interstitial expansion due to diffuse myocardial fibrosis (or in rare cases by deposition of amyloid fibrils).1-4 As the CMR field is showing, ECV is diagnostic in certain diseases, tracks myocardial remodelling and predicts outcome.25, 26 Interstitial expansion can be global (hypertension, aortic stenosis) or focal (hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy), therefore high spatial resolution and whole heart coverage is important. Due to the aforementioned advantages of CT over CMR, ECV by CT will undoubtedly receive greater attention as part of comprehensive assessment of the heart by CT coronary angiography, perfusion and myocardial tissue characterization. Limitations[TT3] The study has limitations. In the derivation cohort, the mean interval between Hct samples and CT 8 days. Normal within-subject variation in Hct between 1 day and 1-2 months in a healthy adult is actually very low (3%), but together with an analytical variation (3%) this may explain a relative change of >10% between two successive Hct values.27 The control cohort used in this study comprised of patients with AS rather then healthy volunteers, but, given the exposure to ionizing radiation and contrast, patients with AS were deemed as adequate control cohort, avoiding exposure of healthy volunteers. For the same reasons, variability of repeat synthetic ECV was not tested. Development and validation were performed using a single scanner platform, therefore this regression model is only valid for 120 kV and an X-ray tube used in a specific CT vendor. Spectrum of the X-rays emitted by a CT X-ray tube substantially varies among CT vendors. In addition, low KV scans are increasingly used to reduce radiation exposure to the patients. Consequently, multiple regression models for different KV settings as well as for different CT vendors should be carefully prepared for synthetic ECV by CCT. Other factors that may affect the attenuation of blood such as temperature28 and other blood constituents such as macromolecules, fat and iron require further investigation. The 64-slice-CT-system employed here reflects commonly available systems, but did not offer iterative reconstruction algorithms, dual energy acquisition and larger detector arrays that allow acquisition of whole heart, isotropic volumes of in one heart beat and at low radiation dose. In single-source 64 detector rows CT, myocardial CT attenuation is not homogenous due to artifacts, especially in the inferior wall and lateral wall. In the current study, we only included data from ROIs in the left ventricular septum. The accuracy of synthetic ECV should be validated in other segments in LV myocardium, if synthetic ECV by CT is more widely available and used in patients. Furthermore, 3D image registration and processing, reduces the errors of whole heart ECV maps.29 CONCLUSION Synthetic hematocrit derived from the relationship between blood hematocrit and blood attenuation allows quantification of the myocardial extracellular volume fraction by cardiac computed tomography without the need for blood sampling. ECV shows great potential, allowing myocardial tissue characterization with negligible effect on workflow and radiation dose. However wider adoption requires simplification and automation of the established technique synthetic ECV offers this. REFERENCES 1.Bandula S, White SK, Flett AS, et al. Measurement of myocardial extracellular volume fraction by using equilibrium contrast-enhanced CT: validation against histologic findings. Radiology. 2013;269:396-403. 2.Nacif MS, Kawel N, Lee JJ, et al. Interstitial myocardial fibrosis assessed as extracellular volume fraction with low-radiation-dose cardiac CT. Radiology. 2012;264:876-883. 3.Nacif MS, Liu Y, Yao J, et al. 3D left ventricular extracellular volume fraction by low-radiation dose cardiac CT: assessment of interstitial myocardial fibrosis. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2013;7:51-57. 4.Treibel TA, Bandula S, Fontana M, et al. Extracellular volume quantification by dynamic equilibrium cardiac computed tomography in cardiac amyloidosis. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2015. 5.Kurita Y, Kitagawa K, Kurobe Y, et al. Estimation of myocardial extracellular volume fraction with cardiac CT in subjects without clinical coronary artery disease: A feasibility study. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2016;10:237-241. 6.Ugander M, Oki AJ, Hsu LY, et al. Extracellular volume imaging by magnetic resonance imaging provides insights into overt and sub-clinical myocardial pathology. Eur Heart J. 2012;33:1268-1278. 7.Banypersad SM, Fontana M, Maestrini V, et al. T1 mapping and survival in systemic light-chain amyloidosis. Eur Heart J. 2015;36:244-251. 8.Wong TC, Piehler K, Meier CG, et al. Association Between Extracellular Matrix Expansion Quantified by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and Short-Term Mortality. Circulation. 2012;126:1206-1216. 9.Wong TC, Piehler KM, Kang IA, et al. Myocardial extracellular volume fraction quantified by cardiovascular magnetic resonance is increased in diabetes and associated with mortality and incident heart failure admission. Eur Heart J. 2014;35:657-664. 10.Schelbert EB, Fonarow GC, Bonow RO, Butler J, Gheorghiade M. Therapeutic targets in heart failure: refocusing on the myocardial interstitium. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63:2188-2198. 11.Moon JC, Treibel TA, Schelbert EB. T1 mapping for diffuse myocardial fibrosis: a key biomarker in cardiac disease? Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2013;62:1288-1289. 12.New PF, Aronow S. Attenuation measurements of whole blood and blood fractions in computed tomography. Radiology. 1976;121:635-640. 13.Black DF, Rad AE, Gray LA, Campeau NG, Kallmes DF. Cerebral venous sinus density on noncontrast CT correlates with hematocrit. AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology. 2011;32:1354-1357. 14.Collins AJ, Gillespie S, Kelly BE. Can computed tomography identify patients with anaemia? The Ulster medical journal. 2001;70:116-118. 15.Lan H, Nishihara S, Nishitani H. Accuracy of computed tomography attenuation measurements for diagnosing anemia. Jpn J Radiol. 2010;28:53-57. 16.Jung C, Groth M, Bley TA, et al. Assessment of anemia during CT pulmonary angiography. Eur J Radiol. 2012;81:4196-4202. 17.Kamel EM, Rizzo E, Duchosal MA, et al. Radiological profile of anemia on unenhanced MDCT of the thorax. Eur Radiol. 2008;18:1863-1868. 18.Wojtowicz J, Rzymski K, Czarnecki R. Severe anaemia: its CT findings in the cardiovascular system. Eur J Radiol. 1983;3:108-111. 19.Doppman JL, Rienmuller R, Lissner J. The visualized interventricular septum on cardiac computed tomography: a clue to the presence of severe anemia. Journal of computer assisted tomography. 1981;5:157-160. 20.Jalbert F, Paoli JR. [Osirix: free and open-source software for medical imagery]. Revue de stomatologie et de chirurgie maxillo-faciale. 2008;109:53-55. 21.Flett AS, Flett AS, Hayward MP, et al. Equilibrium contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the measurement of diffuse myocardial fibrosis: preliminary validation in humans. Circulation. 2010;122:138-144. 22.Rosmini S, Treibel TA, Bandula S, et al. Cardiac computed tomography for the detection of cardiac amyloidosis. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2016. 23.Moon JC, Messroghli DR, Kellman P, et al. Myocardial T1 mapping and extracellular volume quantification: a Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) and CMR Working Group of the European Society of Cardiology consensus statement. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2013;15:92. 24.Coelho-Filho OR, Holland DJ, Mongeon FP, et al. Role of Transcytolemmal Water-Exchange in Magnetic Resonance Measurements of Diffuse Myocardial Fibrosis in Hypertensive Heart Disease. Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging. 2013;6:134-141. 25.Banypersad SM, Banypersad SM, Sado DM, et al. Quantification of Myocardial Extracellular Volume Fraction in Systemic AL Amyloidosis: An Equilibrium Contrast Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Study. Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging. 2013;6:34-39. 26.Wong TC, Wong TC, Piehler KM, et al. Myocardial extracellular volume fraction quantified by cardiovascular magnetic resonance is increased in diabetes and associated with mortality and incident heart failure admission. European Heart Journal. 2013. 27.Thirup P. Haematocrit: within-subject and seasonal variation. Sports Med. 2003;33:231-243. 28.Bydder GM, Kreel L. The temperature dependence of computed tomography attenuation values. Journal of computer assisted tomography. 1979;3:506-510. 29.Nacif MS, Liu Y, Yao J, et al. 3D left ventricular extracellular volume fraction by low-radiation dose cardiac CT: assessment of interstitial myocardial fibrosis. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2013;7:51-57. FIGURES Figure 1: Derivation of synthetic hematocrit from the attenuation of blood Thoracic CT scans (n=40, 53% male, age 60 ±20 years) with contemporaneous hematocrit samples (mean interval 8.8 ±7.3 days) of the scan were used to create a regression line between hematocrit (Hct; 38.2 ±6.0%; range 24.7-50.7%) and blood attenuation (HUblood; 40.7 ±8.0; range 19.5-55.2). The regression line between Hct and HUblood was linear (R2=0.47 p) with a regression equation for synthetic Hct = [0.51 * HUblood] + 17.4). Figure 2: Validation of synthetic ECV vs conventional ECV in AS and Amyloid Synthetic ECV, calculated using the regression model,and conventional ECV were highly correlated (R2=0.96; p) with a 5.7% SD of differences and minimal bias (2.4%) on Bland-Altman analysis (right image). Figure 3: Histological Validation of Synthetic ECV Synthetic and conventional ECV both correlated well with collagen volume fraction (R2 = 0.50, p vs. R2 = 0.50, p ) and did not differ statistically. Figure 4: OsiriX Plugin workflow To facilitate offline analysis and allow future inline automation, an automatic synthetic ECV plug-in was developed for Osirix. Following manual segmentation of the blood pool in the pre- and post-contrast images, the plug-in automatically estimates blood hematocrit using the attenuation relationship defined above, and produces a three-dimensional myocardial ECV volume from pre- and post-contrast CCT data.

Assessment Centers as a Recruitment Strategy

Assessment Centers as a Recruitment Strategy SYNOPSIS TOPIC : â€Å"Assessment Centers Its Pertinence, Functionality and Application† OBJECTIVE : Primary Objective The theme permeating this research is to know about the Assessment Centers inside out, its relevance in todays businesses, functions and objectives. Secondary Objective To apprehend the application of Assessment Centers in various firms. ABSTRACT : An Assessment Center is a process designed to assess whether candidates have the skills required for the job and the future potential that the organizations are looking for. It mainly comprises a range of activities or simulations designed to test these factors. Some of the activities that are included in Assessment Center are Psychometric Tests, In-basket Exercises, Group Exercises, Role Plays, Behavioural Interviews, Case Studies et al. The primary objective of an Assessment Center is to match the right person with the available positions in an organization. The assessment center method, in its modern form, came into existence as a result of the ATT Management Progress Study In this study, which began in the late 1950s, individuals entering management positions in Bell Telephone operating companies were assessed and, from then on, their careers were followed. The chief reason the assessment center method is valid in so many different countries is that it is an easily adaptable evaluation system. Assessment Centre Method has a bearing on the following aspects of personnel management: staffing: decision making on selection, promotion, turnover and dismissal; staff development: determining educational and training requirements improving performance in management/staff relationships; bringing compensation policy in line with general policy objectives. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY : The Research will consist of Secondary Data (Reference Books, Websites, Business Journals and Articles) and Primary Data (Questionnaire, Interviews from Industry Experts) GUIDE : Prof. Arvind Rajashekar, visiting faculty, IIPM. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A Research is something that always has a question or a problem on the other side of it. The purpose behind ay research is to question through the application of Sciences or otherwise. It is a systematic and an in-depth study with the use of Primary and Secondary Instruments to gain more or complete knowledge of the subject under study. Research consists of Secondary and Primary Instruments 1. PRIMARY RESEARCH The Primary research consists of conducting a Questionnaire Survey with HR Professionals, business persons and Consultants. For this purpose, I have kept a Sample Size of 20 Respondents. The aim behind this survey is to get knowledge about Assessment Centers and its application and use by the Industry expert themselves and also Consultants who have applied Assessment Centers as a tool of Evaluation. 2. SECONDARY RESEARCH v The Secondary research consists of : a. Books on Assessment Centers b. Articles on the Internet c. Articles published in Business Journals d. HR Websites e. Research Papers by Industry experts Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT CENTERS 1.1 Assessment Centers A Gist An Assessment Center (AC) is a process designed to assess whether candidates have the skills required for the job and the future potential that the organizations are looking for. It mainly comprises a range of activities or simulations designed to test these factors. Some of the activities that are included in Assessment Center are Psychometric Tests, In-basket Exercises, Group Exercises, Role Plays, Behavioural Interviews, Case Studies et al. Traditionally an assessment centre consisted of a suite of exercises designed to assess a set of personal characteristics, it was seen as a rather formal process where the individuals being assessed had the results fed back to them in the context of a simple yes/no selection decision. However, recently definite shift is seen in thinking away from this traditional view of an assessment centre to one which stresses the developmental aspect of assessment. A consequence of this is that today it is very rare to come across an assessment centre which does not have at least some developmental aspect to it, increasingly assessment centres are stressing a collaborative approach which involves the individual actively participating in the process rather than being a passive recipient of it. In some cases we can even find assessment centres that are so developmental in their approach that most of the assessment work done is carried out by the participants themselves and the major function of the centre is to provide the participants with feedback that is as much developmental as judgmental in nature. The primary objective of an Assessment Center is to match the right person with the available positions in an organization. Assessment Centre Method has a bearing on the following aspects of personnel management: staffing: decision making on selection, promotion, turnover and dismissal; staff development: determining educational and training requirements improving performance in management/staff relationships; bringing compensation policy in line with general policy objectives. To align the strategic intent in line with the market requirements. 1.2 Definitions of an Assessment Center given by Consultants, Academicians Practitioners * Assessment Centres are often described as the variety of testing techniques that allow the candidates to demonstrate, under standardized conditions, the skills and abilities most essential for success in a given job. Dennis A. Joiner, ‘Assessment centre in public sector: A practical approach, Public Personnel Management Journal. * An assessment center is a comprehensive standardized procedure in which multiple assessment techniques such as situational exercises and job simulation (business games, discussions, reports presentations) are used to evaluate individual employee for variety of manpower decisions. * An Assessment Centre consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Several trained observers and techniques are used. Judgements about behavior are made, in major part, from specifically developed assessment simulations. These judgements are pooled in a meeting among the assessors or by statistical integration process. In an integration discussion, comprehensive accounts of behavior, and often ratting of it, are pooled. The discussion results in evaluation of performance of the assessees on the dimensions/competencies or other variables that the assessment centre is designed to measure. Statistical combination methods should be validated in accordance with professionally accepted standards. ‘Guidelines and ethical considerations for assessment centre operations. 28th International Congress on Assessment Centre Methods * The main feature of assessment centres is that they are a multiple assessment process. There are five main ways in which that is so. A group of participants takes part in a variety of exercises observed by a team of trained assessors who evaluate each participant against a number of predetermined, job related behaviors. Decisions are then made by pooling shared data. Iain Ballantyne and Nigel Povah * An assessment centre is a process in which individuals participate in a series of exercises, most of which approximate what they would be called upon to do in the future job. Assessors usually selected from higher management levels in the firm, are trained to observe the participants and evaluate their performance as fairly and impartially as possible. -‘Can assessment centres be used to improve the salesperson selection process, E. James Randall, Ernest E. Cooke, Richard J. Jefferies, Journal of personal selling and sales management * An assessment centre is a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional approach designed to provide reliable and valid information about a range of competencies of an individual considered to be necessary for successful performance at a target level in a specific job. ‘360 degree feedback, competency mapping and assessment centres, Radha R. Sharma * Tata Management Training Centres definition of AC: AC is an integrated standardized process in which a series of exercises are used to assess people on pre-defined parameters. These pre-definedparameters define job success in a given organizationalcontext. Most of the exercises are simulation of job activities/work challenges that the candidate is expected to perform in the next level role/job. 1.3 History of Assessment Centers Assessment Centre process was first used sometime between the two world wars. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, prevented Germany from rearming and thus the traditional approach to the selection of officers, which was of observing their performance in war or in exercises was denied to them. German psychologists then devised this method which involved a combination of tests, simulations and exercises to identify the potential of officer candidates. The British Army used this methodology in the early days of Second World War when they established the War Office Selection Boards (WOSBs), again for the selection of officer candidates. However, it was brought into the private sector only in 1956 after ATT (American Telephone Telegraph Company) used it for selection of high potentials for managerial positions. This was the first industrial application of the assessment centre methodology. Both individual characteristics of young managers as well as organizational settings in which they worked were studied and evaluation at the assessment centre was used to predict whether the participant would make it to the middle management in the next ten years or less. The sample included both recent college graduates and non-management personnel who had risen to the managerial positions relatively early in their career. The dimensions assessed included managerial functions like organizing, planning, decision making, general ability such as intellectual ability, personal impression, sensitivity, and values and attitudes, both work related and social. The success of the earlier work of ATT was followed by Standard Oil which was the second to a start assessment centres. This was followed by IBM, Sears Roebuck, General Electric, and Caterpillar tractors. By 1981 more than 2500 organizations applied this methodology to select potential managers 1.4 Assessment Centers in Asia The first assessment centre in Asia was for selecting project leaders for the entrepreneurship development programme in Gujarat. Subsequently, efforts were made to introduce it in Larsen and Toubro . LT did a lot of work on job profiling but never got to the stage of developing an assessment centre for potential appraisal. Crompton Greaves attempted to use an assessment centre approach for selecting their general managers from within. It is only in the 1990s that interest in assessment centres was renewed. This was a natural response to the need to ensure competent people manning strategic positions. A large number of Asian companies have established assessment centres and many others are exploring. The companies that are trying out include : RPG Group, Escorts, TISCO, Aditya Birla Group, Eicher, Cadburys, Castrol (India), Glaxo, Grindwell Norton, ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra, SAIL, Siemens, Wipro, Wockhardt, and Johnson Johnson. Different organizations initiated assessment centres for recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, career development, performance appraisal, and succession planning and development purposes such as identification of training needs, identification high potential managers, create a pool of managerial talent and multifunctional managers that would be available across the business group, employee recognition and fast growth. Philips, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, and Global Trust Bank are organizations that have been using assessment centres. Some of these organizations are, in the process of developing Indian managerial talent and measure it periodically. Generally the competencies that are to be measured are determined by each organization by using methods such as job analysis, managerial aptitude profile surveys, identifying competencies in star performers, etc. A variety of assessment techniques are used in Asian organizations like in-baskets, business simulations, questionnaires, group discussions, role plays, interviews, case study, individual presentations, etc. While the need is felt by all organizations to test reliability and validity of the tools used, many of them are not testing them. Both internal and external assessors are used for evaluation. Assessor training is done either through in-house training programmes or with the aid of external institutions like Academy of HRD (Hyderabad), SHL (UK), etc. Some Asian organizations have also sought assistance from organizations abroad that are using assessment centres such as GE, and Motorola. 1.5 Training and Developmental Needs Analysis The assessment centre methodology can be used to measure the abilities of individuals against certain critical criteria and identify their training and developmental needs. Such assessment centres are more diagnostic than evaluative and can be termed as development centres. In the case of use of assessment centre methodology for early identification, promotion, and selection, a final yes-no decision is critical. But in diagnostic assessment centres or development centres, final overall decision is insignificant. Each dimension must be measured with a high degree of reliability and validity because decisions are being made on each dimension. Therefore, the dimensions to be studied should be made as specific as possible. Quick, easy training methods dont change peoples skill levels. Skill acquisition requires intensive, time-consuming classroom training and must be coupled with opportunities for on-the-job practice and feedback so new behaviors are â€Å"set† in the individuals repertoire. Because skill development takes a lot of time and effort, everyone cannot be trained in every skill. The assessment center method provides an effective means to determine training or developmental needs. Individuals then can be placed in the most appropriate program. The assessment center method is an excellent diagnostic tool because it separates an individuals abilities into specific areas (dimensions) and then seeks specific examples of good and poor behavior within each dimension. This helps the assessee and his/her boss determine more precisely what training and developmental activities are required. Almost all organizations using assessment centers for selection or promotion also use the information obtained to diagnose training needs. However, a major shift in focus is the large number of firms now using assessment centers solely to diagnose training needs. 1.6 Relationship between an Assessment Center and Development Center The type of centre can vary between the traditional assessment centre used purely for selection to the more modern development centre which involves self-assessment and whose primary purpose is development. One might ask the question Why group assessment and development centres together if they have different purposes? The answer to that question is threefold. Firstly, they both involve assessment and it is only the end use of the information obtained which is different i.e. one for selection and one for development; secondly, it is impossible to draw a line between assessment and development centres because all centres, be they for assessment or development naturally lie somewhere on a continuum somewhere between the two extremes; thirdly most assessment centres involve at least some development and most development centres involve at least some assessment. This means that it is very rare to find a centre devoted to pure assessment or pure development.. Also, it purely depends upon the Organizations requirements, its policies and procedures whether it wants to conduct an AC or a DC. It is easier to think about assessment centres as being equally to do with selection and development because a degree of assessment goes on in both. Development centres grew out a liberalisation of thinking about assessment centres and it is a historical quirk that while assessment centres were once used purely for selection and have evolved to have a more developmental flavour the language used to describe them has not. Another problem with using the assessment development dichotomy is that at the very least it causes us to infer that little or no assessment goes in development centres. While you will hear centres being called assessment or development centres remember that assessment goes on in both and so to some extent at least they are both assessment centres. The end result of this is that it is not possible to talk about assessment or development centres in any but the most general terms. It is more useful to talk about the constituent parts and general processes involved in each. In these terms we can identify a number of differences between assessment and development centres that one might typically find: Assessment centres usually * have a pass/fail criteria * are geared towards filing a job vacancy * address an immediate organisational need * have fewer assessors and more participants * involve line managers as assessors * have less emphasis placed on self-assessment * focus on what the candidate can do now * are geared to meet the needs of the organisation * assign the role of judge to assessors * place emphasis on selection with little or no developmental feedback and follow up * give feedback at a later date * involve the organisation having control over the information obtained * have very little pre-centre briefing * tend to be used with external candidates Development centres usually * do not have a pass/fail criteria * are geared towards developing the individual * address a longer term need * have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant * do not have line managers as assessors * have a greater emphasis placed on self-assessment * focus on potential * are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organisation * assign the role of facilitator to assessors * place emphasis on developmental feedback and follow up with little or no selection function * give feedback immediately * involve the individual having control over the information obtained * have a substantial pre-centre briefing * tend to be used with internal candidates Chapter 2 ASSESSMENT CENTERS INSIDE OUT 2.1 Stages in a typical Assessment Center A typical Assessment Center consists of the following stages. They are : Pre AC Stage During AC Stage Post AC Stage a. PRE AC STAGE * Defining the objective of AC . * Get approval for AC from the concerned officials. * Conduct job analysis. * Define the competencies required for the target position. * Identify the potential position holder and send them invitations. * Identify the observers. * Train the observers. * Design the AC exercises * Decide the rating methodology. * Make infrastructural arrangements. * Schedule the AC. * Informing the concerned people of the schedule. b. DURING AC STAGE * Explain participants the purpose of the AC, the procedure it would follow and its outcome. * Give instructions to the participants, before every exercise. * Distribute the competency-exercise matrix sheets among observers. * Conduct all exercises. * Conduct a discussion of all observers on every participants ratings, at the end of the session. * Make a report of the strengths and improvement areas of every participant. * Give feedback to participants. * Get feedback from participants and observers about the conduction of AC. c. POST AC STAGE * Compile reports of all participants and submit the list of selected participants to the concerned authorities. * Make improvements in the design according to the recommendations. * Evaluate the validity of results after a definite period. 2.2 Sequence of Steps of an Assessment Center Sequence of Steps of an Assessment Center ( Source ‘Assessment Center for Identifying potential project managers , a Paper for the 6th European Conference on Software Quality 1999 in Vienna ) 2.3 Factors for Evaluating Assessment Center Design Five Factors for evaluating the Center Design The COLAT Model (Source Research Paper ‘Assessment of Assessment Centers by Dr. P. Sethu Madhavan) Center Design The following factors related to the centre design can be used to evaluate and compare the Assessment Centers s in the backdrop of best practices and benchmarks. * Use of qualified resource persons, assessors and support staff * Content validity of the centre and the competency profiles * Use of triangulation and corroboration of assessment results Organizational Preparedness Organizational preparedness refers to following macro level factors, that need to be addressed adequately and established in order to make an assessment or development centre to work effectively. * Policies and procedures * Structure * Clarity of organisational objectives * Buy in, commitment and change management * Communication Linkages, integration and alignment It has been observed that organizations vary considerably in ensuring the linkages, integration and alignment of ACs with the other organisational level factors and the individual level factors. ACs, therefore can be evaluated based on the following best practice anchors falling under these dimensions. * Alignment with core values, vision, mission and strategy * Alignment and linkages with other key HR systems and processes * Alignment with external professional bodies ADCs should be â€Å"purposively† aligned with and derived from the strategy, vision, mission, values and culture of the organisation or the unit. The centre should be designed in such way as to ensure that it helps to meet the strategic objectives of the organisation Quality of Assessment tools and methods In many countries, professional associations and legal requirements dictate that ACs follow some standard practices in the selection, use and administration of assessment methods, especially the psychometric tests. India perhaps has been lagging behind in imposing national level professional standards and certifications to ensure competent and ethical use of psychometric tests. In the absence of any national level qualifications regarding the use of psychometric tests in India, many institutions have been doing a great service to fill this gap by offering, professional training and consultancy services. However, observations and experiences reveal that ACs still vary considerably on their eagerness to ensure quality of tools and methods. * Quality of administration * Reliability * Validity * Utility * Reactivity * Relevance * Test fairness(Statistical) * Technology and use of computers Treatment of Participants and Data Treatment of participants and data in assessment centers is very important from ethical point of view. Some variables and indicators related to this dimension are listed below. * Psychological fairness as perceived by the participants and stakeholders * Right to information, informed consent and informed decisions * Confidentiality and data protection * Feedback policy * Post assessment follow-up and support 2.4 Types of Assessment Exercises Some of the widely used Assessment Center Exercises are as follows : Assement Center Exercise An in-tray or in-basket exercise asks to assume a particular role as an employee of a fictitious company and work through the correspondence in your in-tray. This exercise is designed to measure candidates ability to organize and prioritize work. In a presentation exercise, candidate is given a topic or possibly a choice of topics and asked to make a presentation of around ten minutes with five minutes at the end for questions. This is designed to measure his presentation skills including the ability to organise and structure the information and to communicate his points clearly and concisely. Group discussion exercises involve working with other candidates as part of a team to resolve a presented issue. These exercises are designed to measure interpersonal skills such as group leadership, teamwork, negotiation, and group problem solving skills. Panel interviews are regarded as a more objective means of assessing the candidates suitability as he will be interviewed by between three and five people and therefore the decision is not reliant on just one persons opinion. In addition, they are usually more structured than a one-to-one interview as the panel need to assess all of the candidates against the same criteria. 2.5 How Assessment Center Exercises are Conducted ? The assessment centre method is utilized in a variety of settings including industry and business, government, armed forces, educational institutions, and safety forces to select individuals for supervisory, technical, sales, or management positions. One recent trend is in the development of mass testing. This is done by video-taping candidates as they perform various exercises and by using objectively scored exercises. This permits the assessment of a much larger number of candidates per day as the scoring is done later and requires far less observation and administration. Assesment Centre Procedure Assessment centres are usually used after the initial stages of the selection process, because of the large amount of time and expense in conducting them, and usually follow the initial job interview. Other measurements such as psychological tests may complement the selection process.: They are commonly held either on employers premises or in a hotel and are considered by many organizations to be the fairest and most accurate method of selecting staff. This is because a number of different selectors get to see you over a longer period of time and have the chance to see what you can do, rather than what you say you can do, in a variety of situations. Assessment Centres may be conducted by HR personnel within the employer company or by outside consultants. They are highly structured in their design, application, and assessment procedure and are specifically adapted to assess factors such as your level of skills, aptitude and compatibility with the organizations culture. Each test measures a range of indicators within these factors. During each test, a group of observers will rate the candidate on a range of set indicators, using a prescribed performance scale. Results are then cross compared against the same indicators, which are measured in other tests. Following test completion, observers meet to discuss the test results and reach a group consensus about the ratings. At the beginning of the assessment, participant should receive an initial briefing about the timetable of tests, location of rooms etc. Prior to each test, he will be given instructions describing the exercise, his role, timeframes, equipment etc. He will not be told in detail about the individual indicators which will be measured. In addition, he is unlikely to receive feedback on the results, unless he have been successfully selected. Assessment centers typically involve the participants completing a range of exercises which simulate the activities carried out in the target job. Various combinations of these exercises and sometimes other assessment methods like psychometric testing and interviews are used to assess particular competencies in individuals. The theory behind this is that if one wishes to predict future job performance then the best way of doing this is to get the individual to carry out a set of tasks which accurately sample those required in the job and are as similar to them as possible. The particular competencies used will depend upon the target job but one will often find competencies such as relating to people; resistance to stress; planning and organising; motivation; adaptability and flexibility; problem solving; leadership; communication; decision making and initiative. There are numerous possible competencies and the ones which are relevant to a particular job are determined through job ana lysis. The fact that a set of exercises is used demonstrates one crucial characteristic of an assessment centre namely that it is behaviour that is being observed and measured. This represents a significant departure from many traditional selection approaches which rely on the observer or selector attempting to infer personal characteristics from behaviour based upon subjective judgement and usually precious little evidence. This approach is rendered unfair and inaccurate by the subjective whims and biases of the selector and in many cases produces a selection decision based on a freewheeling social interaction after which a decision is made whether the individual is face fit with the organisation. 2.6 Essential Elements of an Assessment Center Assessment Centers must have the following criteria to be called so : 1. Job Analysis To understand job challenges and the competencies required for successful execution of the job. 2. Predefined competencies Modeling the competencies, which will be tested during the process. 3. Behavioral classification Behaviors displayed by participants must be classified into meaningful and relevant categories such as dimensions, attributes, characteristics, aptitudes, qualities, skills, abilities, competencies, and knowledge. 4. Assessment techniques These include a number of exercises to test the assessees of their potentials. Each competency is tested through atleast 2 exercises for gathering adequate evidence for the presence of particular competence. 5. Simulations The exercises should simulate the job responsibilities as closely as possible to eliminate potential errors in selection. 6. Observations Accurate and unbiased observation is the most critical aspect of an AC. 7. Observers Multiple observers are used to eliminate subjectivity and biases from the process. They are given thorough training in the process prior to participating in the AC. 8. Recording Behavior A systematic procedure of recording must be used by the assessors for future reference. The recording could be in the form of hand written note, behavioral checklist, audio-video recording etc. 9. Reports Each observer must make a detailed report of his observation before going for the discussion of integration of scores. 10. Data Integration The pooling of information from different assessors is done through statistical techniques. 2.7 Assessment Centers Usage Various Organizations use the data provided Assessment Centers as a Recruitment Strategy Assessment Centers as a Recruitment Strategy SYNOPSIS TOPIC : â€Å"Assessment Centers Its Pertinence, Functionality and Application† OBJECTIVE : Primary Objective The theme permeating this research is to know about the Assessment Centers inside out, its relevance in todays businesses, functions and objectives. Secondary Objective To apprehend the application of Assessment Centers in various firms. ABSTRACT : An Assessment Center is a process designed to assess whether candidates have the skills required for the job and the future potential that the organizations are looking for. It mainly comprises a range of activities or simulations designed to test these factors. Some of the activities that are included in Assessment Center are Psychometric Tests, In-basket Exercises, Group Exercises, Role Plays, Behavioural Interviews, Case Studies et al. The primary objective of an Assessment Center is to match the right person with the available positions in an organization. The assessment center method, in its modern form, came into existence as a result of the ATT Management Progress Study In this study, which began in the late 1950s, individuals entering management positions in Bell Telephone operating companies were assessed and, from then on, their careers were followed. The chief reason the assessment center method is valid in so many different countries is that it is an easily adaptable evaluation system. Assessment Centre Method has a bearing on the following aspects of personnel management: staffing: decision making on selection, promotion, turnover and dismissal; staff development: determining educational and training requirements improving performance in management/staff relationships; bringing compensation policy in line with general policy objectives. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY : The Research will consist of Secondary Data (Reference Books, Websites, Business Journals and Articles) and Primary Data (Questionnaire, Interviews from Industry Experts) GUIDE : Prof. Arvind Rajashekar, visiting faculty, IIPM. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A Research is something that always has a question or a problem on the other side of it. The purpose behind ay research is to question through the application of Sciences or otherwise. It is a systematic and an in-depth study with the use of Primary and Secondary Instruments to gain more or complete knowledge of the subject under study. Research consists of Secondary and Primary Instruments 1. PRIMARY RESEARCH The Primary research consists of conducting a Questionnaire Survey with HR Professionals, business persons and Consultants. For this purpose, I have kept a Sample Size of 20 Respondents. The aim behind this survey is to get knowledge about Assessment Centers and its application and use by the Industry expert themselves and also Consultants who have applied Assessment Centers as a tool of Evaluation. 2. SECONDARY RESEARCH v The Secondary research consists of : a. Books on Assessment Centers b. Articles on the Internet c. Articles published in Business Journals d. HR Websites e. Research Papers by Industry experts Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT CENTERS 1.1 Assessment Centers A Gist An Assessment Center (AC) is a process designed to assess whether candidates have the skills required for the job and the future potential that the organizations are looking for. It mainly comprises a range of activities or simulations designed to test these factors. Some of the activities that are included in Assessment Center are Psychometric Tests, In-basket Exercises, Group Exercises, Role Plays, Behavioural Interviews, Case Studies et al. Traditionally an assessment centre consisted of a suite of exercises designed to assess a set of personal characteristics, it was seen as a rather formal process where the individuals being assessed had the results fed back to them in the context of a simple yes/no selection decision. However, recently definite shift is seen in thinking away from this traditional view of an assessment centre to one which stresses the developmental aspect of assessment. A consequence of this is that today it is very rare to come across an assessment centre which does not have at least some developmental aspect to it, increasingly assessment centres are stressing a collaborative approach which involves the individual actively participating in the process rather than being a passive recipient of it. In some cases we can even find assessment centres that are so developmental in their approach that most of the assessment work done is carried out by the participants themselves and the major function of the centre is to provide the participants with feedback that is as much developmental as judgmental in nature. The primary objective of an Assessment Center is to match the right person with the available positions in an organization. Assessment Centre Method has a bearing on the following aspects of personnel management: staffing: decision making on selection, promotion, turnover and dismissal; staff development: determining educational and training requirements improving performance in management/staff relationships; bringing compensation policy in line with general policy objectives. To align the strategic intent in line with the market requirements. 1.2 Definitions of an Assessment Center given by Consultants, Academicians Practitioners * Assessment Centres are often described as the variety of testing techniques that allow the candidates to demonstrate, under standardized conditions, the skills and abilities most essential for success in a given job. Dennis A. Joiner, ‘Assessment centre in public sector: A practical approach, Public Personnel Management Journal. * An assessment center is a comprehensive standardized procedure in which multiple assessment techniques such as situational exercises and job simulation (business games, discussions, reports presentations) are used to evaluate individual employee for variety of manpower decisions. * An Assessment Centre consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Several trained observers and techniques are used. Judgements about behavior are made, in major part, from specifically developed assessment simulations. These judgements are pooled in a meeting among the assessors or by statistical integration process. In an integration discussion, comprehensive accounts of behavior, and often ratting of it, are pooled. The discussion results in evaluation of performance of the assessees on the dimensions/competencies or other variables that the assessment centre is designed to measure. Statistical combination methods should be validated in accordance with professionally accepted standards. ‘Guidelines and ethical considerations for assessment centre operations. 28th International Congress on Assessment Centre Methods * The main feature of assessment centres is that they are a multiple assessment process. There are five main ways in which that is so. A group of participants takes part in a variety of exercises observed by a team of trained assessors who evaluate each participant against a number of predetermined, job related behaviors. Decisions are then made by pooling shared data. Iain Ballantyne and Nigel Povah * An assessment centre is a process in which individuals participate in a series of exercises, most of which approximate what they would be called upon to do in the future job. Assessors usually selected from higher management levels in the firm, are trained to observe the participants and evaluate their performance as fairly and impartially as possible. -‘Can assessment centres be used to improve the salesperson selection process, E. James Randall, Ernest E. Cooke, Richard J. Jefferies, Journal of personal selling and sales management * An assessment centre is a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional approach designed to provide reliable and valid information about a range of competencies of an individual considered to be necessary for successful performance at a target level in a specific job. ‘360 degree feedback, competency mapping and assessment centres, Radha R. Sharma * Tata Management Training Centres definition of AC: AC is an integrated standardized process in which a series of exercises are used to assess people on pre-defined parameters. These pre-definedparameters define job success in a given organizationalcontext. Most of the exercises are simulation of job activities/work challenges that the candidate is expected to perform in the next level role/job. 1.3 History of Assessment Centers Assessment Centre process was first used sometime between the two world wars. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, prevented Germany from rearming and thus the traditional approach to the selection of officers, which was of observing their performance in war or in exercises was denied to them. German psychologists then devised this method which involved a combination of tests, simulations and exercises to identify the potential of officer candidates. The British Army used this methodology in the early days of Second World War when they established the War Office Selection Boards (WOSBs), again for the selection of officer candidates. However, it was brought into the private sector only in 1956 after ATT (American Telephone Telegraph Company) used it for selection of high potentials for managerial positions. This was the first industrial application of the assessment centre methodology. Both individual characteristics of young managers as well as organizational settings in which they worked were studied and evaluation at the assessment centre was used to predict whether the participant would make it to the middle management in the next ten years or less. The sample included both recent college graduates and non-management personnel who had risen to the managerial positions relatively early in their career. The dimensions assessed included managerial functions like organizing, planning, decision making, general ability such as intellectual ability, personal impression, sensitivity, and values and attitudes, both work related and social. The success of the earlier work of ATT was followed by Standard Oil which was the second to a start assessment centres. This was followed by IBM, Sears Roebuck, General Electric, and Caterpillar tractors. By 1981 more than 2500 organizations applied this methodology to select potential managers 1.4 Assessment Centers in Asia The first assessment centre in Asia was for selecting project leaders for the entrepreneurship development programme in Gujarat. Subsequently, efforts were made to introduce it in Larsen and Toubro . LT did a lot of work on job profiling but never got to the stage of developing an assessment centre for potential appraisal. Crompton Greaves attempted to use an assessment centre approach for selecting their general managers from within. It is only in the 1990s that interest in assessment centres was renewed. This was a natural response to the need to ensure competent people manning strategic positions. A large number of Asian companies have established assessment centres and many others are exploring. The companies that are trying out include : RPG Group, Escorts, TISCO, Aditya Birla Group, Eicher, Cadburys, Castrol (India), Glaxo, Grindwell Norton, ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra, SAIL, Siemens, Wipro, Wockhardt, and Johnson Johnson. Different organizations initiated assessment centres for recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, career development, performance appraisal, and succession planning and development purposes such as identification of training needs, identification high potential managers, create a pool of managerial talent and multifunctional managers that would be available across the business group, employee recognition and fast growth. Philips, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, and Global Trust Bank are organizations that have been using assessment centres. Some of these organizations are, in the process of developing Indian managerial talent and measure it periodically. Generally the competencies that are to be measured are determined by each organization by using methods such as job analysis, managerial aptitude profile surveys, identifying competencies in star performers, etc. A variety of assessment techniques are used in Asian organizations like in-baskets, business simulations, questionnaires, group discussions, role plays, interviews, case study, individual presentations, etc. While the need is felt by all organizations to test reliability and validity of the tools used, many of them are not testing them. Both internal and external assessors are used for evaluation. Assessor training is done either through in-house training programmes or with the aid of external institutions like Academy of HRD (Hyderabad), SHL (UK), etc. Some Asian organizations have also sought assistance from organizations abroad that are using assessment centres such as GE, and Motorola. 1.5 Training and Developmental Needs Analysis The assessment centre methodology can be used to measure the abilities of individuals against certain critical criteria and identify their training and developmental needs. Such assessment centres are more diagnostic than evaluative and can be termed as development centres. In the case of use of assessment centre methodology for early identification, promotion, and selection, a final yes-no decision is critical. But in diagnostic assessment centres or development centres, final overall decision is insignificant. Each dimension must be measured with a high degree of reliability and validity because decisions are being made on each dimension. Therefore, the dimensions to be studied should be made as specific as possible. Quick, easy training methods dont change peoples skill levels. Skill acquisition requires intensive, time-consuming classroom training and must be coupled with opportunities for on-the-job practice and feedback so new behaviors are â€Å"set† in the individuals repertoire. Because skill development takes a lot of time and effort, everyone cannot be trained in every skill. The assessment center method provides an effective means to determine training or developmental needs. Individuals then can be placed in the most appropriate program. The assessment center method is an excellent diagnostic tool because it separates an individuals abilities into specific areas (dimensions) and then seeks specific examples of good and poor behavior within each dimension. This helps the assessee and his/her boss determine more precisely what training and developmental activities are required. Almost all organizations using assessment centers for selection or promotion also use the information obtained to diagnose training needs. However, a major shift in focus is the large number of firms now using assessment centers solely to diagnose training needs. 1.6 Relationship between an Assessment Center and Development Center The type of centre can vary between the traditional assessment centre used purely for selection to the more modern development centre which involves self-assessment and whose primary purpose is development. One might ask the question Why group assessment and development centres together if they have different purposes? The answer to that question is threefold. Firstly, they both involve assessment and it is only the end use of the information obtained which is different i.e. one for selection and one for development; secondly, it is impossible to draw a line between assessment and development centres because all centres, be they for assessment or development naturally lie somewhere on a continuum somewhere between the two extremes; thirdly most assessment centres involve at least some development and most development centres involve at least some assessment. This means that it is very rare to find a centre devoted to pure assessment or pure development.. Also, it purely depends upon the Organizations requirements, its policies and procedures whether it wants to conduct an AC or a DC. It is easier to think about assessment centres as being equally to do with selection and development because a degree of assessment goes on in both. Development centres grew out a liberalisation of thinking about assessment centres and it is a historical quirk that while assessment centres were once used purely for selection and have evolved to have a more developmental flavour the language used to describe them has not. Another problem with using the assessment development dichotomy is that at the very least it causes us to infer that little or no assessment goes in development centres. While you will hear centres being called assessment or development centres remember that assessment goes on in both and so to some extent at least they are both assessment centres. The end result of this is that it is not possible to talk about assessment or development centres in any but the most general terms. It is more useful to talk about the constituent parts and general processes involved in each. In these terms we can identify a number of differences between assessment and development centres that one might typically find: Assessment centres usually * have a pass/fail criteria * are geared towards filing a job vacancy * address an immediate organisational need * have fewer assessors and more participants * involve line managers as assessors * have less emphasis placed on self-assessment * focus on what the candidate can do now * are geared to meet the needs of the organisation * assign the role of judge to assessors * place emphasis on selection with little or no developmental feedback and follow up * give feedback at a later date * involve the organisation having control over the information obtained * have very little pre-centre briefing * tend to be used with external candidates Development centres usually * do not have a pass/fail criteria * are geared towards developing the individual * address a longer term need * have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant * do not have line managers as assessors * have a greater emphasis placed on self-assessment * focus on potential * are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organisation * assign the role of facilitator to assessors * place emphasis on developmental feedback and follow up with little or no selection function * give feedback immediately * involve the individual having control over the information obtained * have a substantial pre-centre briefing * tend to be used with internal candidates Chapter 2 ASSESSMENT CENTERS INSIDE OUT 2.1 Stages in a typical Assessment Center A typical Assessment Center consists of the following stages. They are : Pre AC Stage During AC Stage Post AC Stage a. PRE AC STAGE * Defining the objective of AC . * Get approval for AC from the concerned officials. * Conduct job analysis. * Define the competencies required for the target position. * Identify the potential position holder and send them invitations. * Identify the observers. * Train the observers. * Design the AC exercises * Decide the rating methodology. * Make infrastructural arrangements. * Schedule the AC. * Informing the concerned people of the schedule. b. DURING AC STAGE * Explain participants the purpose of the AC, the procedure it would follow and its outcome. * Give instructions to the participants, before every exercise. * Distribute the competency-exercise matrix sheets among observers. * Conduct all exercises. * Conduct a discussion of all observers on every participants ratings, at the end of the session. * Make a report of the strengths and improvement areas of every participant. * Give feedback to participants. * Get feedback from participants and observers about the conduction of AC. c. POST AC STAGE * Compile reports of all participants and submit the list of selected participants to the concerned authorities. * Make improvements in the design according to the recommendations. * Evaluate the validity of results after a definite period. 2.2 Sequence of Steps of an Assessment Center Sequence of Steps of an Assessment Center ( Source ‘Assessment Center for Identifying potential project managers , a Paper for the 6th European Conference on Software Quality 1999 in Vienna ) 2.3 Factors for Evaluating Assessment Center Design Five Factors for evaluating the Center Design The COLAT Model (Source Research Paper ‘Assessment of Assessment Centers by Dr. P. Sethu Madhavan) Center Design The following factors related to the centre design can be used to evaluate and compare the Assessment Centers s in the backdrop of best practices and benchmarks. * Use of qualified resource persons, assessors and support staff * Content validity of the centre and the competency profiles * Use of triangulation and corroboration of assessment results Organizational Preparedness Organizational preparedness refers to following macro level factors, that need to be addressed adequately and established in order to make an assessment or development centre to work effectively. * Policies and procedures * Structure * Clarity of organisational objectives * Buy in, commitment and change management * Communication Linkages, integration and alignment It has been observed that organizations vary considerably in ensuring the linkages, integration and alignment of ACs with the other organisational level factors and the individual level factors. ACs, therefore can be evaluated based on the following best practice anchors falling under these dimensions. * Alignment with core values, vision, mission and strategy * Alignment and linkages with other key HR systems and processes * Alignment with external professional bodies ADCs should be â€Å"purposively† aligned with and derived from the strategy, vision, mission, values and culture of the organisation or the unit. The centre should be designed in such way as to ensure that it helps to meet the strategic objectives of the organisation Quality of Assessment tools and methods In many countries, professional associations and legal requirements dictate that ACs follow some standard practices in the selection, use and administration of assessment methods, especially the psychometric tests. India perhaps has been lagging behind in imposing national level professional standards and certifications to ensure competent and ethical use of psychometric tests. In the absence of any national level qualifications regarding the use of psychometric tests in India, many institutions have been doing a great service to fill this gap by offering, professional training and consultancy services. However, observations and experiences reveal that ACs still vary considerably on their eagerness to ensure quality of tools and methods. * Quality of administration * Reliability * Validity * Utility * Reactivity * Relevance * Test fairness(Statistical) * Technology and use of computers Treatment of Participants and Data Treatment of participants and data in assessment centers is very important from ethical point of view. Some variables and indicators related to this dimension are listed below. * Psychological fairness as perceived by the participants and stakeholders * Right to information, informed consent and informed decisions * Confidentiality and data protection * Feedback policy * Post assessment follow-up and support 2.4 Types of Assessment Exercises Some of the widely used Assessment Center Exercises are as follows : Assement Center Exercise An in-tray or in-basket exercise asks to assume a particular role as an employee of a fictitious company and work through the correspondence in your in-tray. This exercise is designed to measure candidates ability to organize and prioritize work. In a presentation exercise, candidate is given a topic or possibly a choice of topics and asked to make a presentation of around ten minutes with five minutes at the end for questions. This is designed to measure his presentation skills including the ability to organise and structure the information and to communicate his points clearly and concisely. Group discussion exercises involve working with other candidates as part of a team to resolve a presented issue. These exercises are designed to measure interpersonal skills such as group leadership, teamwork, negotiation, and group problem solving skills. Panel interviews are regarded as a more objective means of assessing the candidates suitability as he will be interviewed by between three and five people and therefore the decision is not reliant on just one persons opinion. In addition, they are usually more structured than a one-to-one interview as the panel need to assess all of the candidates against the same criteria. 2.5 How Assessment Center Exercises are Conducted ? The assessment centre method is utilized in a variety of settings including industry and business, government, armed forces, educational institutions, and safety forces to select individuals for supervisory, technical, sales, or management positions. One recent trend is in the development of mass testing. This is done by video-taping candidates as they perform various exercises and by using objectively scored exercises. This permits the assessment of a much larger number of candidates per day as the scoring is done later and requires far less observation and administration. Assesment Centre Procedure Assessment centres are usually used after the initial stages of the selection process, because of the large amount of time and expense in conducting them, and usually follow the initial job interview. Other measurements such as psychological tests may complement the selection process.: They are commonly held either on employers premises or in a hotel and are considered by many organizations to be the fairest and most accurate method of selecting staff. This is because a number of different selectors get to see you over a longer period of time and have the chance to see what you can do, rather than what you say you can do, in a variety of situations. Assessment Centres may be conducted by HR personnel within the employer company or by outside consultants. They are highly structured in their design, application, and assessment procedure and are specifically adapted to assess factors such as your level of skills, aptitude and compatibility with the organizations culture. Each test measures a range of indicators within these factors. During each test, a group of observers will rate the candidate on a range of set indicators, using a prescribed performance scale. Results are then cross compared against the same indicators, which are measured in other tests. Following test completion, observers meet to discuss the test results and reach a group consensus about the ratings. At the beginning of the assessment, participant should receive an initial briefing about the timetable of tests, location of rooms etc. Prior to each test, he will be given instructions describing the exercise, his role, timeframes, equipment etc. He will not be told in detail about the individual indicators which will be measured. In addition, he is unlikely to receive feedback on the results, unless he have been successfully selected. Assessment centers typically involve the participants completing a range of exercises which simulate the activities carried out in the target job. Various combinations of these exercises and sometimes other assessment methods like psychometric testing and interviews are used to assess particular competencies in individuals. The theory behind this is that if one wishes to predict future job performance then the best way of doing this is to get the individual to carry out a set of tasks which accurately sample those required in the job and are as similar to them as possible. The particular competencies used will depend upon the target job but one will often find competencies such as relating to people; resistance to stress; planning and organising; motivation; adaptability and flexibility; problem solving; leadership; communication; decision making and initiative. There are numerous possible competencies and the ones which are relevant to a particular job are determined through job ana lysis. The fact that a set of exercises is used demonstrates one crucial characteristic of an assessment centre namely that it is behaviour that is being observed and measured. This represents a significant departure from many traditional selection approaches which rely on the observer or selector attempting to infer personal characteristics from behaviour based upon subjective judgement and usually precious little evidence. This approach is rendered unfair and inaccurate by the subjective whims and biases of the selector and in many cases produces a selection decision based on a freewheeling social interaction after which a decision is made whether the individual is face fit with the organisation. 2.6 Essential Elements of an Assessment Center Assessment Centers must have the following criteria to be called so : 1. Job Analysis To understand job challenges and the competencies required for successful execution of the job. 2. Predefined competencies Modeling the competencies, which will be tested during the process. 3. Behavioral classification Behaviors displayed by participants must be classified into meaningful and relevant categories such as dimensions, attributes, characteristics, aptitudes, qualities, skills, abilities, competencies, and knowledge. 4. Assessment techniques These include a number of exercises to test the assessees of their potentials. Each competency is tested through atleast 2 exercises for gathering adequate evidence for the presence of particular competence. 5. Simulations The exercises should simulate the job responsibilities as closely as possible to eliminate potential errors in selection. 6. Observations Accurate and unbiased observation is the most critical aspect of an AC. 7. Observers Multiple observers are used to eliminate subjectivity and biases from the process. They are given thorough training in the process prior to participating in the AC. 8. Recording Behavior A systematic procedure of recording must be used by the assessors for future reference. The recording could be in the form of hand written note, behavioral checklist, audio-video recording etc. 9. Reports Each observer must make a detailed report of his observation before going for the discussion of integration of scores. 10. Data Integration The pooling of information from different assessors is done through statistical techniques. 2.7 Assessment Centers Usage Various Organizations use the data provided