ArgosyUniversity

COURSE SYLLABUS

PSY320

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Faculty Information

Faculty Name: David Kohler, MA

Campus:Chicago

Contact Information:email:

Cell Phone: (908) 208-3749

Office Hours:By Appointment

Course description:Application of the theories and research in psychology to industrial andsocial organizations, including topics such as personnel, human factors,organizational development, and welfare of the consumer. Examinationof the ethical and legal dimensions of conducting psychologicalresearch and practice in the workplace.

Course Pre-requisites: PSY101

Required Textbook:

Muchinsky, P. M. (2009). Psychology Applied to Work,. 9th Edition. Cengage Learning. ISBN: 0-9801478-0-8

Course length: 7.5 Weeks

Contact Hours: 45 Hours

Credit Value: 3.0

Program Outcomes:

  1. Cognitive Abilities
  2. Critical Thinking - Given a psychological issue, employ skeptical inquiry and a scientific approach to respond to the issue.
  3. Information Literacy - Given a research question related to psychology, access information from a variety of sources and select appropriate sources to respond to the question.
  4. Research
  5. Understanding Research Methods – Given an article about research findings in the field of psychology from a scholarly journal, identify the research methods used and the findings of the article.
  6. Identifying Research Methods – Identify the appropriate statistical tools and basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
  7. Communication Skills
  8. Oral - Effectively present psychological concepts orally as appropriate to the audience.
  9. Written - Effectively present psychological information, in writing, using software and style appropriate to the audience.
  10. Ethics/Diversity
  11. Ethics - Identify the issues and challenges related to ethics in the field of psychology.
  12. Diversity - Identify the issues and challenges related to diversity in the field of psychology.
  13. Knowledge of the Field
  14. Foundations – Recognize the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, applications, and historical trends in psychology.
  15. Knowledge of Applied Psychology
  16. Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and/or organizational issues.

7. Interpersonal Effectiveness

Students will develop and improve positive relationship skills via effective communication, respect for others, appreciation of diversity and cultural sensitivity, and awareness of their impact on others.

7.1 Apply active listening communication skills in interpersonal and organizational scenarios to establish empathetic, collegial relationships that facilitate

consensus building in working toward common goals and are appreciative of diversity and culture.

7.2 Analyze the importance of effective nonverbal communication skills in developing strong interpersonal and organizational relationships that are culturally sensitive and respectful of diversity.

7. 3 Solicit and utilize feedback to develop adaptable strategies of facilitating dynamic interpersonal and organizational relationships.

7. 4 Analyze the impact of technological advances on communication within interpersonal and organizational relationships.

7. 5 Utilize effective communication and relationship skills in order to promote the growth of others and effect change.

Course Objectives:

  1. Understand how the field of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology benefits organizations and people.(Program Outcome(s): 5, & 6)
  2. Analyze how the field of I/O psychology contributes to the growth and effective management of organizations.
  3. Analyze the positive impact of the field of Industrial/Organizational psychology on people.
  4. Understand the application of the scientific method to I/O Psychology.(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, 5, & 6)
  5. Analyze the goals of applying scientific methods in I/O Psychology.
  6. Examine the effects of interaction among experimental variables.
  7. Analyze measurement topics in the scientific method.
  8. Discuss basic statistical analysis procedures.
  9. Examine the basic concepts and components of job analysis and job evaluation.(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, & 5)
  10. Familiarize with terminology related to job analysis and job evaluation.
  11. Perform job analysis by using current job analysis inventories.
  12. Examine job descriptions and job specifications.
  13. Discuss the various human resource functions.
  14. Comprehend the purposes of performance appraisals and their various formats with a specific focus on legal issues related to performance appraisals.(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, 5, & 6)
  15. Evaluate the purpose of performance appraisals.
  16. Analyze the various performance appraisals formats.
  17. Discuss the legal and technical guidelines associated with performance appraisals.
  18. Discuss discrimination in performance appraisal.
  19. Identify and critically evaluate the different training methods and techniques utilized in the workplace.(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, & 5)
  20. Examine various training techniques.
  21. Discuss the principles of training methods that impact training success.
  22. Examine the importance of managerial training.
  23. Examine the criteria used for training evaluation.
  24. Examine the importance of worker motivation to I/O Psychology and understand the need-motive-value theories of motivation.(Program Outcome(s): 3.1, 5, & 6)
  25. Discuss the concept of worker motivation.
  26. Differentiate between worker motivation and worker performance.
  27. Discuss the four need-motive value theories of the motivation perspective.
  28. Investigate how attitudes influence worker behavior and explore the dimensions of job satisfaction.(Program Outcome(s): 5, & 6)
  29. Analyze the role that attitudes play in predicting worker behavior.
  30. Examine how job satisfaction is determined and measured.
  31. Identify common stressors associated with the workplace and how employees can use effective coping strategies to manage stress.(Program Outcome(s): 1.1, 3.1, 5, & 6)
  32. Differentiate between workplace stressors and strains.
  33. Discuss coping strategies to manage stress at the workplace.

Assignment Table

Topics / Readings / Assignments
1
9/4/08 /
  • Industrial/Organizational Psychology
  • History of I/O Psychology
  • Importance of I/O Psychology
  • Careers in the Field of I/O Psychology
  • Training I/O Psychologists
/ Muchinsky
Chapter 1: The Historical Background of I/O Psychology / Discussion Questions:
  1. Although management theories and practices have existed in different forms for many centuries, I/O psychology, as we know it today, did not begin to develop until the industrial revolution. Over the last century, I/O psychology has helped change the nature of organizations. Beginning with the changing needs of the workplace during and after the industrial revolution, continuing with the two world wars, and now focusing on global economics, the field of I/O psychology is continually changing.
  2. How has I/O psychology evolved over time? How do you think it will continue to change?
  3. How would today’s workplace be different if not for the impact of I/O psychology?
  1. The Hawthorne Studies originated as an examination of physical surroundings on productivity. Although this was the original intent of this research, interesting data emerged about the importance of social aspects of the workplace. Researchers concluded that although the physical aspects of work were important, the psychological aspects of work required important consideration when understanding worker productivity.
  2. Discuss how you think the Hawthorne Studies changed the areas of focus for I/O psychologists.
  3. Do you think I/O psychologists would focus on topics such as satisfaction, motivation, and leadership if not for the findings of the Hawthorne Studies? Why or why not?
  4. If these topics were studied, how would they differ from the way they are examined currently?
  5. What do you think would happen today if the social aspects of work were ignored? Would a study that ignored the psychological side of the workplace be credible in today’s environment?
  1. The current workplace is different from what it was 100 years ago and different from what it was 20 years ago. We work in a global economy, using various technological advances and among a highly diverse workforce. Earlier, the expectation used to be that workers would remain at one company for their entire career. Currently, this is rare. With downsizing and company mergers making headlines constantly, organizations are undergoing a constant change.
  2. What roles do I/O psychologists play in modern organizations?
  3. Discuss the impact of technology, globalization, corporate restructuring, and diversity on employees and the workplace.
  4. How do I/O skills help organizations function efficiently within this transformed world?
Assignments:
  1. The Scientist/Practitioner Model
Jack is an organizational development executive at Techzone Communications, an international communications and technology company. He has completed his PhD in I/O psychology and has been working at Techzone for seven years. Although he did research during his PhD studies, he has not been involved in academics since that time.
  1. Do you think Jack can be considered a scientist/practitioner? Discuss why or why not.
  2. Describe the scientist/practitioner model for I/O psychologists advocated by Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).
  3. Why do you think the scientist/practitioner model is useful in I/O psychology?
  4. How might a model, in which scientists and practitioners are distinct, be problematic?
  5. How is the scientist/practitioner model demonstrated throughout the history of I/O psychology?
  1. Final Project
The senior management of the Florida Sun Company wants to consult you, an Industrial/Organizational psychologist, to ensure that their search for Senior Staffing Manager is successful. They want to make sure that only qualified candidates apply and hope that the recruitment process is quick and efficient.
The scientist/practitioner model maintains that I/O psychologists perform research as well as apply that knowledge to the workplace.
  1. How would you as a scientist/practitioner, help the senior management at Florida Sun Company attain their goals?
  2. Why is it important for you, as an I/O psychologist, to combination research and practice that exemplifies the scientist/practitioner model?

2
9/11/08 /
  • Research Methods
  • Research Terminology
  • Data Collection
  • Statistics
/ Muchinsky
Chapter 2: Research Methods in I/O Psychology / Discussion Questions:
  1. LQB Industries is a national manufacturing firm that has incorporated flextime for many of its employees for the past 12 months. Howard works for LQB Industries as an I/O psychologist. He is responsible for studying the impact of flextime on worker productivity. He needs to decide the data collection technique that is most appropriate for this research project.
  2. Which technique(s) do you think Howard should use to collect the data? Why should he use this technique? What are the potential problems associated with this technique?
  3. Why is it useful to implement more than one data collection technique?
  4. If Howard finds a relationship between flextime and productivity, do you think this relationship is applicable for all types of jobs and levels at LQB Industries? Why or why not? How would you test for this?
  1. Your university has invited a famous I/O psychologist to address the audience in a seminar. The psychologist delivers a lecture regarding how multiple research designs can be used to study I/O psychology.
  2. While you are attending the seminar, the psychologist addresses you and asks the following questions. How would you answer?
  3. Describe research that may best be conducted using laboratory experiments, field experiments, quasi-experiments, and observational methods.
  4. Are there situations where one or more of these methods are not feasible?
  5. What circumstances may prevent you from using a particular type of research design? Be sure that you provide examples.
  1. You are interested in understanding how a manager’s leadership style impacts the performance of a work group. You are trying to decide the best way to design a research study to examine this relationship and want to try to maximize both internal and external validity as well as control over extraneous variables.
  2. To what extent does the type of research design used impact the extent of internal and external validity? What research design might you choose to study this topic?
  3. Why is there a need for control of extraneous variables when conducting research, and why is it important?
  4. Let’s say you think the leader’s gender might be an extraneous variable in this study. Discuss three techniques you might use to control for this variable and how those techniques would be used in this study.
  5. Is control always possible or desirable? What conclusions can we draw about a study that lacks control?
Assignments:
  1. Hypothesis Creation
Employee retention at New York Gen Company has steadily decreased over the last 18 months.
As a member of the Human Resources team for the New York Gen Company, you have been asked to assist with a study to try to determine the factors related to employee attrition at New York Gen Company. As the first step, the team will create a hypothesis for this study.
  1. Describe your hypothesis for this study, and describe how you would test your assumptions by stating the following:
i)Utilized research design
ii)Reasons for choosing the research design
iii)Variables used in the study
iv)Applied data collection techniques
v)Reasons for choosing the data collection techniques
vi)Potential problems you may encounter while conducting your research
vii)Strategies for minimizing these problems
  1. Since a hypothesis predicts the relationship between two or more factors, your hypothesis may follow these examples:
i)“Employees who are ______are more likely to leave New York Gen Company than employees who are not ______.”
ii)“Candidates who have ______are less likely to accept a job at New York Gen Company than candidates who have not ______.”
iii)Use the table provided in the template to create your hypothesis.
  1. Final Project
Employee attrition is of major concern to executives at Florida Sun Company. It is critical that Florida Sun Company hires new employees to replace their former employees, which is the reason they are involved in the job search for Senior Staffing Manager.
One of the major responsibilities of the Senior Staffing Manager will be to fill specific positions vacated by the former employees of Florida Sun Company. However, unless the company can determine why employees are leaving, it also faces the risk of abrupt exit of the newly hired employees as well.
You are hired to research the factors impacting attrition at Florida Sun Company.
  1. What type of data collection technique would you use to conduct this study?
  2. What variables would you include in this study?
  3. Why would you choose these measures?
After the data from this study is collected, you analyze the results. You find that there is a moderate, positive correlation (r = 0.4) between one of the independent variables — satisfaction with one’s supervisor — and the likelihood of leaving the organization.
  1. What does this tell you?
  2. What percentage of the variance in “likelihood of leaving the organization” is accounted for by satisfaction with the supervisor?

3
9/18/08 /
  • Job Analysis
  • Approaches to Job Analysis
  • Purposes of Job Analysis
  • Job Evaluation
  • Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
/ Muchinsky
Chapter 5: Personnel Decisions
Chapter 10: Organizational Attitudes and Behavior / Discussion Questions:
  1. You are a job applicant interested in the position of Marketing Manager at Jay Marketing. Following is a description of the required profile:
Primary Responsibilities of the Marketing Manager:
Research and implement effective marketing strategies and best practices.
Act as a liaison between clients and Jay Marketing.
Interact with brand managers to ensure a consistent brand experience.
Utilize market research metrics as a measure of successful ad placement.
Oversee market research and focus groups.
Select and partner with various brands to conduct marketing tie-ins.
Take a proactive approach to problem-solving, and provide leadership in resolving issues within the marketing department.
Perform project work as assigned.
An Ideal Candidate:
Education Level: BA/BS in marketing or a related field required; MA/MS in marketing or a related field preferred
Experience in marketing required, leadership experience a plus
Exceptional consulting and account management skills required
Statistical knowledge preferred
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Exceptional organizational skills
Exemplifies the values of Florida Sun Company
You apply for the job and are asked to appear for an interview.
  1. Do you think the job description is comprehensive enough to allow potential candidates to determine if they are qualified for and interested in the job? Why or why not?
  2. What do you think are the similarities and differences between this job posting and those you have seen? Use specific examples of other job postings in your response.
  1. Important considerations in any HR assessment are the legal implications of such decisions. Cheryl is the HR director for an organization accused of favoring male employees for promotions.
  2. Assuming her organization had conducted comprehensive job analyses, how should Cheryl investigate this claim?
  3. Is it possible that even if job analyses were conducted, Cheryl’s organization may be guilty of favoring male employees?
  1. Jane is a middle level employee in the marketing department at The Syman Group, which owns and manages several national department store chains.
Jane has been doing all that is required of her job and more. She is punctual, maintains perfect attendance, completes all of her work quickly and efficiently, and gets along well with others. She even volunteers to take on boring and difficult assignments. In fact, there were several times over the past month that Jane stayed late at work, without overtime pay, to help a colleague meet a deadline.
Discuss which of the above criteria are objective and subjective.
  1. For what types of jobs are objective criteria ideal? Provide examples of at least three jobs that can best be measured by objective criteria.
  2. For what types of jobs are subjective criteria ideal? Provide examples of at least three jobs that can be best measured by subjective criteria.
  3. Do you think any job relies solely on either objective criteria or subjective criteria? If so, describe such a job. If not, why not?
Assignments:
  1. Grade Point Average
John is a good student with a 3.4 Grade Point Average (GPA). He works hard at school and is proud of his grades. His brother, Steve, has a 3.8 GPA. John’s parents are constantly remarking about how smart Steve is and assume that Steve is a much better student than John, based on their GPAs.
  1. Is it necessarily true that Steve is smarter than John? In this situation, what is the ultimate criterion? What is the actual criterion?
  2. Indicate the potential area(s) of criterion relevance as well as criterion deficiency and criterion contamination.
  3. Which other information would you need to maximize the amount of criterion relevance?
  1. Final Project
Before creating the job description for Senior Staffing Manager, the executives at Florida Sun Company conducted an in-depth job analysis.