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50 Years of the Management Progress Study: 
What We Learned and What We Missed

The Management Progress Study, initiated by Dr. Douglas W. Bray at AT&T in 1956, was the first management assessment centre and the prototype for today's applications.  Over the past 50 years, the assessment centre method has evolved in response to research findings and multiple organisational challenges.  Dr. Ann Howard, partner and successor of Dr. Bray, will compare today's assessment centre to its original conception in the Management Progress Study.  She will discuss where the original model was preserved, improved upon, or sidetracked.  She will also point out overlooked aspects of the Management Progress Study design that could enhance today's assessment centre practice.

PDF of Howard Presentation

 

Ann Howard designs, implements, and evaluates assessment and development systems and sets quality standards for Development Dimensions International’s (DDI) assessment technologies. Besides serving individual clients, she has created a variety of stock assessment tools that can be readily adapted to multiple client needs. She has over 25 years’ experience as an industrial-organizational psychologist specializing in assessment centers and managerial careers. She is a recognized author, researcher, and speaker in her field and has held leadership roles in a variety of professional organizations. Before joining DDI, she served as president of the Leadership Research Institute and director of two longitudinal studies of managerial careers at AT&T.

Since joining DDI in 1994, Dr. Howard has been consistently involved in developing new assessment and development methods. She has created innovative assessment programs for consultative salespersons, sales leaders, expatriates, consultants, frontline leaders, and high-level executives. She developed the technology, trained staff, and participated in the pilot delivery of assessment programs at the United Nations and Bestfoods. She also did groundbreaking work on developing competencies for DDI’s Online Performance and Learning System (OPAL®), and created a measure of organizational culture change.