Industrial-Organizational Psychology- Chap 13 Exam 4

Industrial Psychology

Studies job characteristics, applicant characteristics, and how to match them; also studies employee training and performance appraisal. Focuses on hiring and maintaining employees, and considers issues of legality regarding discrimination in hiring.

Organizational Psychology

Studies interactions between people working in organizations and the effects of those interactions on productivity. Interested in worker satisfaction, motivation, commitment, management and leadership styles, social norms, and role expectations. Considers harassment and workplace violence.

Human factors psychology

Studies how workers interact with the tools of work and how to design those tools to optimize workers’ productivity, safety, and health. Known as ergonomics in Europe, tools of work can include interaction with a machine, work station, information displays, and the local environment (eg, lighting)

Historical Development (Lilian Gilbreth)

“The mother of modern management” strove to find ways to increase productivity, studied efficiency improvements that reduced the number of motions required to perform a task, and applied these principles in the workplace, home, and other areas—credited with the idea of putting shelves on the inside of refrigerator doors and foot-pedal-operated garbage cans. Investigated employee fatigue and time management stress, found many employees were motivated by money and job satisfaction.

Interviews

Influenced by social factors and body language. Unstructured- different questions for different candidates, unspecified questions beforehand. Structured- same questions for every candidate, prepared questions in advance, standard rating system, effective at predicting the subsequent job performance of each candidate.

Mentoring

Experienced employee guides the work of a new employee; mentors may be formally assigned or develop informally. (positively affects proteges compensation, number of promotions, and satisfaction)

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification

Requirements of certain occupations for which denying an individual employment would otherwise violate the law, such as requirements concerning religion or sex. In some cases, religion, national origin, age, and sex are bona fide occupational qualifications.

Theory X

Manager assumes workers are inherently lazy and unproductive; managers must have control and use punishments (people dislike work and avoid it, avoid responsibility, people want to be told what to do, goals achieved through rules and punishments)

Theory Y

Manager assumes workers are people who seek to work hard and productively; managers and workers can find creative solutions to problems; workers do not need to be controlled and punished. (enjoy work, satisfied with responsibility, take part in setting own work goals, achived through enticements and rewards)

Work Teams

A group of people within an organization or company given a specific task to achieve together brings together diverse skills, experience, and expertise. It does not always deliver greater productivity.