REALISTIC JOB PREVIEWS VS. TRADITIONAL JOB PREVIEWS: EXPERIENCING THE DIFFERENCES AND UNDERSTANDING THE CONSEQUENCES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 219 REALISTIC JOB PREVIEWS VS. TRADITIONAL JOB PREVIEWS: EXPERIENCING THE DIFFERENCES AND UNDERSTANDING THE CONSEQUENCES Willi Wiesner, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada Robert J. Oppenheimer, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada ABSTRACT One way of illustrating the concept of ‘Psychological Contract” while simultaneously discussing recruitment procedures is to demonstrate the effects of Realistic Job Previews (RJPs). The exercise provides a useful basis for discussions of employer honesty, employee expectations, organizational fit and self-selection in the context of the “Psychological Contract”. INTRODUCTION The concept of the “Psychological Contract” may be addressed in a number of Management courses (e.g., Introduction or Fundamental of Management, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Change and Development, Human Resource Management, Supervision). One approach to this topic is through the use of “Realistic Job Previews (EJPs), which provide job applicants with a clear description of the duties, expectations and requirements associated with the job (Wanous, 1973). It includes the potentially less attractive features of the job, such as the need to work overtime, the demands to meet tight deadlines and an accurate (versus optimistic) assessment of the opportunities and timing of promotions. This is in contrast to ‘Traditional Job Previews (TJPs) which tend to describe the job in positive, glowing terms, in an attempt to attract applicants to the organization (Wanous, 1989). The RJP research has been consistent in its support for the hypothesis that using Realistic Job Previews results in lower turnover amongst those who accept the job (Premack and Wanous, 19S5). However, a number of studies have suggested that using RJPs may result in a rower number of applicants accepting the job than when TJPs are used (Fisher, Ilgen, & lower, 1979; Reilly, Tenopyr, & Sperling, 1979; Wiesner, Saks, & Summers, 1989). To demonstrate this in the classroom, combinations of Realistic and Traditional Job Previews were developed and distributed to the students. They were asked whether they would accept the job and their likelihood of leaving the job after one year. Two conditions were created. In condition one students were provided first with a Traditional Job Preview (TJP) and then with a Realistic Job Preview (RJP). They were asked whether they would accept the job offer; and then finally, they were asked to indicate the probability that they would leave the job if, after one year, it was as described in the LIP. In condition two students were given only a TJP and asked whether they would accept the job offer. Subsequently, they were given a description of actual’ working conditions (based on the RJP); and they were asked to indicate the probability of leaving the job after one year. In condition one the RJP is preceded by a TJP in order to heighten student awareness of the accuracy and usefulness of the RJP information and thus enrich the discussion, which is to follow at the end of the exercise. Condition one, therefore, leaves the “applicant” with a relatively realistic picture of the job (i.e., it is an RJP). Condition two represents our attempt to duplicate the situation in which applicants receive only TJPs aid eventually learn what the job is actually like by being on the job. We hypothesized, based on previous research, that job acceptance would be greater following an optimistic presentation (i.e. a TJP) than following a more realistic presentation (i.e. a RJP). Thus students in condition two (TJP without RJP) would be more likely to accept the job than students in condition one (TJP, then RJP). We also hypothesized that the probability of turnover would be greater in condition two than in condition one. Both conditions were distributed to the students without them knowing that they were completing different questionnaires. After the questionnaires were returned the two conditions were explained, the research findings were discussed and the hypotheses were reviewed. Subsequently, the students’ results were compiled and discussed. The exercise, which required from ten to fifteen minutes to complete, resulted in an involved and interesting discussion on the pros and cone of Traditional vs. Realistic Job Previews. As predicted, students were more likely to accept a job if it was accompanied by a TJP (condition 2) rather than an RJP (condition 1) (X2 4.8, p < .05). The percentage accepting was 897 with the TJP, vs. 73% with the £(JP. Directional support was also obtained for the turnover hypothesis. As indicated below, when the students were given a Traditional Job Preview (TJP) and then a Realistic Job Preview (RJP) (condition 1), their mean probability of leaving the job was lower at 29.0%, when compared with a mean of 34.2% for those in revised condition 2; (those given the Traditional Job Preview, who accept the job and ‘earn about its realities on-the-job). The probability of leaving the job was measured in five (5) increments of twenty percent (20%) each. The exercise generated a high degree of interest and involvement in the subject areas of Realistic Job Previews, employer honesty, employee expectations, organizational fit and self-selection and psychological contracts. In future application of the exercise, the use of conditions 1 and 2 should generate considerable interest arid provide results consistent with the literature. Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's