Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A list-scheduling heuristic for the short-term planning of assessment centers

  • Published:
Journal of Scheduling Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many companies operate assessment centers to help them select candidates for open job positions. During the assessment process, each candidate performs a set of tasks, and the candidates are evaluated by some so-called assessors. Additional constraints such as preparation and evaluation times, actors’ participation in tasks, no-go relationships, and prescribed time windows for lunch breaks contribute to the complexity of planning such assessment processes. We propose a multi-pass list-scheduling heuristic for this novel planning problem; to this end, we develop novel procedures for devising appropriate scheduling lists and for generating a feasible schedule. The computational results for a set of example problems that represent or are derived from real cases indicate that the heuristic generates optimal or near-optimal schedules within relatively short CPU times.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam, T. L., Chandy, K. M., & Dickson, J. R. (1997). A comparison of list schedules for parallel processing systems. Communications of the ACM, 17(12), 685–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boctor, F. F. (1993). Heuristics for scheduling projects with resource restrictions and several resource-duration modes. The International Journal of Production Research, 31(11), 2547–2558.

  • Carter, M. W., & Laporte, G. (1998). Recent developments in practical course timetabling. In E. K. Burke & M. W. Carter (Eds.), Practice and theory of automated timetabling II (pp. 3–19). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cavalcante, C. C. B., de Souza, C. C., Savelsbergh, M. W. P., Wang, Y., & Wolsey, L. A. (2001). Scheduling projects with labor constraints. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 112(1–3), 27–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damodaran, P., Vélez-Gallego, M. C., & Maya, J. (2011). A GRASP approach for makespan minimization on parallel batch processing machines. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 22(5), 767–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drezet, L. E., & Billaut, J. C. (2008). A project scheduling problem with labour constraints and time-dependent activities requirements. International Journal of Production Economics, 112(1), 217–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, S. (1999). Project scheduling under limited resources: Models, methods, and applications. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3), 635–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, H., & Womer, K. (2008). Modeling the supply chain configuration problem with resource constraints. European Journal of Operational Research, 26(6), 646–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rihm, T., & Trautmann, N. (2016). A decomposition approach for an assessment center planning problem. In: R. Ruiz & R. Alvarez-Valdes (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th international conference on project management and scheduling, Valencia (pp. 206–209).

  • Salewski, F., Schirmer, A., & Drexl, A. (1997). Project scheduling under resource and mode identity constraints: Model, complexity, methods, and application. European Journal of Operational Research, 102(1), 88–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spychalski, A. C., Quinones, M. A., Gaugler, B. B., & Pohley, K. (1997). A survey of assessment center practices in organizations in the united states. Personnel Psychology, 50(1), 71–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talbot, F. B. (1982). Resource-constrained project scheduling with time-resource tradeoffs: The nonpreemptive case. Management Science, 28(10), 1197–1210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tareghian, H. R., & Taheri, S. H. (2007). A solution procedure for the discrete time, cost and quality tradeoff problem using electromagnetic scatter search. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 190(2), 1136–1145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wren, A. (1996). Scheduling, timetabling and rostering—A special relationship? In E. K. Burke & P. Ross (Eds.), Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (pp. 46–75). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann, A., & Trautmann, N. (2014). Scheduling of assessment centers: An application of resource-constrained project scheduling. In T. Fliedner, R. Kolisch & A. Naber (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th international conference on project management and scheduling, Munich (pp. 263–266).

  • Zimmermann, A., & Trautmann, N. (2015). A list-scheduling approach for the planning of assessment centers. In Z. Hanzálek, G. Kendall, B. McCollum & P. Šůcha (Eds.), Proceedings of the multidisciplinary international scheduling conference: Theory and application, Prague (pp. 541–554).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Adrian Zimmermann & Norbert Trautmann

Authors
  1. Adrian Zimmermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Norbert Trautmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adrian Zimmermann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zimmermann, A., Trautmann, N. A list-scheduling heuristic for the short-term planning of assessment centers. J Sched 21, 131–142 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-017-0521-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-017-0521-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation