ABSTRACT
The series of projects that we have referred to as Project A spanned a considerable time period. They are in fact still continuing in the form of subsequent projects that deal with further implementation research, the development of new personnel assignment models, the development of new predictor and performance measures, and additional projects that attempt to extend Project A, both in terms of modeling additional properties of the personnel systems and in terms of anticipating the personnel system needs of the future. As the result of a broad range of technology advances, the increased diversity of its missions, the changing nature of potential threats, and changes in the labor force itself, the Army has in fact entered a very dynamic period (i.e. 2000-2020) in which it must develop and adapt more quickly and deal with almost continually changing requirements. The Army’s situation is not unlike the issues faced by human resource management in the civilian labor force (Ilgen & Pulakos, 1999). The Project A data base, the models of performance and performance determinants that were developed, and the measurement and data collection procedures used are all playing critical roles in virtually all current and proposed research efforts that are attempting to deal with this more dynamic environment (Ford, R.Campbell, J.Campbell,
Knapp, & Walker, 2000). Consequently, even though this book comes 18 years after Project A first began, the work is still ongoing and the database itself is heavily used.
