Evaluation and validation of an assessment center on willingness to cooperate

The strategic change management of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) has developed an assessment center (AC) with a focus on the ability and willingness to cooperate. It will be used in the selection of suitable partners for DB construction projects, which are carried out according to the IPA (Integrated Project Management) procedure. This procedure requires a high degree of cooperation, transparency and partnership from all parties involved, which is why the underlying competences are to be tested in the AC.

The independence, neutrality, fairness, and validity of the procedure were particularly important to DB, which is why they asked us to review the AC. As a neutral institution Fraunhofer IAO, and with many years of psychological expertise in the team ‘Applied Neurocognitive Systems’, we were able to draw up an expert report that examines the AC regarding the desired criteria. 

Besonders die Unabhängigkeit, Neutralität, Fairness und Validität des eigens entwickelten Verfahrens war der DB wichtig, sodass sie uns beauftragt hat das AC zu prüfen. Als neutrale Institution Fraunhofer IAO und mit langjähriger psychologischer Expertise im Team „Applied Neurocognitive Systems“ konnte ein Gutachten verfasst werden, welches das AC hinsichtlich der gewünschten Kriterien prüft. 

Methodology

At the beginning, extensive state-of-the-art research was carried out on current scientific findings around willingness to cooperate. This provided both a basis for the expert report and a good summary of the most important research findings for DB.

The main focus was on the assessment of the AC. An independent expert analyzed the extent to which the AC corresponded to the current state of knowledge in science and practice in terms of methodology, implementation and documentation, and the extent to which it met essential requirements in terms of independence, neutrality, fairness, and validity. In addition, the assessment was complemented by an on-site visit in a real scenario to provide an even more comprehensive and accurate evaluation. The results of the analyses were documented in a report.  

The results of the assessment showed that DB's AC met all the desired criteria. The on-site assessment was an important addition to improve the quality of the report. The contents of the AC are not discussed here.

We would like to thank Michael Picker (Head of Strategic Change Management) and Lena Katrin Stuhm (Manager Strategic Change Management) of Deutsche Bahn AG for their trust and wish them all the best in the application of the Assessment Centre!