Resource Management through Measurement

A challenge organizations face is how to allocate resources. The staff of an organization perform many activities. Three aspects of each activity are:
1) perceived importance of the activity.
2) institutional support of the activity.
3) personal proficiency in performing the activity.

An ideal resource allocation would be one in which the levels of these aspects of each activity matched. The absence of differences would indicate no need to reallocate resources. Misalignment of these aspects of an activity indicates a need to reassign resources.

In an investigation of resource allocation, 18 Emergency Medicine Program Directors were asked to rate their own performances. Each director rated items bearing on 4 activities. Each item was rated on each of the three aspects. Calibrations for each aspect (importance, support and proficiency) of each activity are shown in the Figure. For convenience of communication, the origin of the linear scale, "0", has been located at the calibration of the lowest rated item. Scale units have been sized so that "4" corresponds to the highest rated item.

Importance is rated higher than support or proficiency for all activities. When an activity has more importance than support, more management support is indicated. The need for more support for TS, "Teaching Skills", is glaring. When an activity has more importance than proficiency, training is indicated. The lack of proficiency in SM, "Stress Management", could have dire repercussions. This simple figure provides an immediate, powerful and easily understood aid to solving a complex management problem.

Sandy Dolan and Robert Draba
Chicago Osteopathic Health Systems

Resource Management through Measurement? Dolan S. & Draba R. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1992, 6:1, 193

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Rating Scale Analysis, Wright & Masters	Introduction to Rasch Measurement, E. Smith & R. Smith	Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement, Thomas Eckes	Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, George Engelhard, Jr.	Statistical Analyses for Language Testers, Rita Green
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