Emotional breakdown

摘要

Spotting a good manager is hard. Some firms think psychometric tests help. An industry has appeared to supply them. No one knows how big it is, but the vendors of such tests estimate it to be worth between $2 billion and $4 billion a year, says Nik Kinley, a co-author of "Talent Intelligence", a forthcoming book. Headhunters such as Heidrick & Struggles and Egon Zehnder are trying to get a foothold in the market. Another, Korn/Fer-ry, paid $8om for pdi Ninth House, a specialist vendor, in December, ibm and Oracle, two software giants, have bought firms with a talent-measurement arm. Consultancies such as Deloitte and Bain are rumoured to be eyeing similar acquisitions.