CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.0 PRELIMINARIES
An online examinationsystem for recruitment of staff is a
web application that establishes a network between the organization and
applicants. The organization enters on the site the questions they want in the
exam. These questions aredisplayed as a test to the eligible students. The
answers inputted by the applicants are then evaluatedand their score is
calculated and saved. This score then can be accessed by the inst to determine
the passes students or to evaluate their performance.Online Exams System
provides the platform but does not directly participate in, nor is itinvolved
in any tests conducted. Questions are posted not by the site, but users of the
site.
According
to Yu, Hsiao and Cho (2014), online examinations are convenient, and fast.
Online examination has three main purposes:
1. To allow test-takers at different
places to take the test at the same time through the online examination
website.
2. Through careful planning and proper
coding, enable tests, grading and to check results on the website.
3. To integrate database with the program,
allowing teachers easy addition of questions and creation of tests.
The
formulation of questions for a test is often treated with doubts and
suspicions. In a typical online examination system, the questions are strict
and set with care. Although the exam questions is in the multiple choice format
(objectives), the questions are chosen at random. All students have the same
questions but the order of questions is different. Since the order of the
question differs on each computer, the motive in students to cheat is reduced.
Cheating at examinations is unacceptable. It is common knowledge that people
are likely to cheat in a network environment but this is wrong as cheating at
examinations is unacceptable as it affects the fairness of an examination. This
situation implies that to overcome the tendency to cheat is the major challenge
in online examinations. Despite the pitfalls, online examination is very
important and useful as it breaks the barrier of distance and different
geographical location. Applicants from all over the world can access the system
thereby giving the examiners a good chance to identify highly intelligent
prospective staff.
Every
organization is made up of employees, and before employees are recruited,
information pertaining to them is obtained, processed and analyzed after they
have applied to determine their qualification for employment into a given
position. For every position, there are certain skills and qualifications
needed. The performance of the individual is a function of employee ability,
motivation and opportunity (Boxall & Purcell, 2003).
Short-listing
of employees also known as Recruitment and selection, forms a core part of the
central activities underlying human resource management: namely, the
acquisition, development and reward of workers. It forms an important part of
the work of human resource managers – or designated specialists within work
organizations. It has an important role to play in ensuring worker performance
and positive organizational outcomes. It is often claimed that selection of
workers occurs not just to replace departing employees or add to a workforce
but rather to put in place workers who can perform at a high level and
demonstrate commitment. Recruitment is
important for organizations since it performs the essential function of drawing
an important resource, human capital, into the organization (Boxall &
Purcell, 2003; Parry & Tyson, 2008;). It has a strategic aim as it focuses
on the need to attract high-quality people in order to gain a competitive
advantage (Parry & Tyson, 2008; Malinowski et al, 2005). Recruiting people
with the right abilities reinforces the organizational goals (Boxall &
Purcell, 2003).
Conducting examination before employees
are recruited is very important as their level of success in the exams will
reflect their level of competence or ability. Online examination widens the
spectrum for organizations to reach out to more applicants and to get the best.
It is on this premise that this research study is set to examine the design and
implementation of an online examination system for recruitment of staff.
1.1 Statement of Problem
Many
organizations do not have competitive personnel and this negatively affects the
productivity and image of the organization. In addition, there is no effective
structure to recruit staff that is able to stand up to the responsibility of
their duties. Many organizations still adopt the manual method of recruiting
and the applicants are limited to those in their immediate environment. Also,
many applicants find it difficult to get to the examination centers due to
distance and high cost of transportation. Organizations are unable to reach out
to a wide spectrum of applicants so as to be able to recruit the best employees.
The traditional examination for recruitment is usually characterized by cheating
which hampers the credibility of recruited employees. There is need for a more effective
system that is able to reach out to a wider spectrum of employees, breaking the
barrier of distance and cost and thereby promoting the recruitment of well
qualified staff.
1.3 Objectives of the study
The
following are the objectives of the study;
a.
To
design and implement an online examination system for the recruitment of staff.
b. To identify the
structure/characteristics of an online examination system for staff
recruitment.
c.
To
identify the benefits of an online examination system for the recruitment of
staff.
d. To find out the
challenges/disadvantages of the adoption of online examination system for the
recruitment of staff.
1.4 Significance of the study
The significance of the study is that it
will bring to light the relevance of adopting online examination system for
employee short-listing or e-recruitment system and the need for its
adoption by organizations. It will help
organizations solve the present challenges they are facing in attracting
eligible and professional employees by providing a software system that
processes the application of different applicants. It will also save them time
and cost of recruiting. In addition, other scholars seeking for valuable
information on the subject will find this research material relevant.
1.5 Scope of the Study
This
study covers the design and implementation of an online examination system for
the recruitment of staff.
1.6 Organization of Research
This
research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with
the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries,
theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the
study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the
research and definition of terms.
Chapter
two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on
the subject matter is discussed.
Chapter
three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the
research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the
present system to identify the problems and provides information on the
advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also
presented in this chapter.
Chapter
four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of
programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and
system requirements for implementation.
Chapter
five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and
recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.
1.7
Definition of Terms
Online: Refers to a system connected to the
internet that can be accessed remotely from any part of the world.
Examination: A test designed to assess somebody's
ability or knowledge in a particular subject or field
Employment – the condition of working for pay
Application - a formal and usually written request
for something such as a job, a grant of money, or admission to a school or
college
Short-list - to put somebody or something on a
final list of candidates for a position or award
Recruitment - to enroll somebody as a worker or
member, or to take on people as workers or members
Human resources - the field of business concerned with
recruiting and managing employees
Management - the organizing and controlling of
the affairs of a business or a sector of a business