Section Fivein the for-profit sector of the survey, staffing selectivity was
significantly related in a positive direction to organizational
performance. When the nonprofit organizations were included
in the analysis no relationship was found with performance.^74
Anecdotal evidence also supports the positive relationship
found in empirical studies. Southwest Airlines, provides an
example of a high-performance company that is highly selective
in staffing.^75 Southwest’s Vice President for People reported in a
recent year that the company received 135,000 applications. Of
these applicants, it interviewed 35,000 (with three different
people interviewing each applicant), and hired approximately
5,000 people. Interestingly, Southwest includes some of its
frequent flyers in the interviewing process for flight attendants
to help ensure a good match with the company’s culture.^76
Strategy-Linked CEO Succession: Insiders vs. Outsiders
While the traditional selection literature typically provides
guidance on how to select individuals for particular jobs, some
firms have moved toward processes that may be more
accurately described as strategic selection. In essence, such
staffing attempts to find executives who have the best abilities
to implement a desired strategy in a given industrial context.
Interestingly, it has been pro-posed that with greater
diversification at the corporate level, the firm-specific