Introduction and History of Industrial-Organizational Psychology

1. Introduction and History of Industrial-Organizational Psychology

2. Why People work?

3. TRIVIA • Q: When Bill Gates formed his first company to sell a computerized traffic counting system to cities, was he: (a) 14; (b) 16; or (c) 18?

4. A: He was 14. His company made $20,000 the first year, but business dropped off when customers found out how young he was.

6. The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. • It began in Britain, then subsequently spread throughout Western Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the world.

7. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth.

8. A. What is I-O Psy? • Psychology is the science of human behavior • I-O Psy is the science of human behavior at work TWO SIDES OF I/O • Science • Practice

9. Two major fields • Industrial Psy (personnel psy) • enhance efficiency / productivity of organizations • through appropriate use of human resources or people • efficient job design, employee selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation and benefit, etc.

10. Organizational Psy (Organizational Behavior ) • understanding behavior and enhancing the well-being of employees • employee motivation, job attitudes, job stress, and supervisory practices, etc. • I-O topics may overlap • What are the objectives of I-O Psy?

11. Dual objectives: • scientist-practitioner approach • develop scientific psychological principles at work • apply the psychological principles to the workplace

12. FIELDS OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY • Selection and Placement • Training and Development • Performance Appraisal • Organization Development • Quality of Worklife • Ergonomics

13. B. History of I-O Psy • Around 100 years • Major events: • Taylor (1911), Scientific Management - to guide organizational practices • E.g. Employees should be selected according to characteristics that are related to job performance. Managers should study existing employees to find out what personal characteristics are important. • Refined over the years but are still considered valuable today

14. Hawthorne studies (1920s) • Focus on employee productivity and organizational efficiency in factory plant • Employee abilities & design of jobs • Example: Lighting-level effects on performance • Objective: Identify the optimal lighting level • Method • Finding • Psychosocial factor - Hawthorne effect

15. Hawthorne EffectElton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger • A positive change in behavior that occurs at the onset of an intervention followed by a gradual decline, often to the original level of the behavior prior to the intervention.

16. Graphical Portrayal of a Hawthorne Effect Onset of intervention

17. World War I & II • Army Alpha and Army Beta • mental ability test for placement • mass testing • Training of the officers, improving morale, team development, and equipment design • Developed various assessment tools and performance models

18. Army Alpha Test • Intelligence test for selection and placement of military personnel • Army Beta Test • Nonverbal intelligence test to assess illiterate recruits

19. World War II • Army General Classification Test AGCT • A test developed during World War II by I/O psychologists for the selection and placement of military personnel. • Armed Services Vocational Apttiude Battery ASVAB • A test developed in the 1980s by I/O psychologist for the selection and placement of military personnel.

20. W.L. Bryan- the precursor, scientific psychology • Time and Motion-to perform particular task • 1910- legitimized the specialized area of Psychology

21. Walter Dill Scott, applying psychology to advertising. • Application of personnel procedures in the army. • Increasing awareness and the credibility of industrial psychology.

22. Frederick W. Taylor • Scientific management –redesigning work situation. • Principles .Science over rule of thumb . Scientific selection and training . Cooperation over individualism . Equal division of work

23. Lilian Moller Gilbreth, • human aspect s of time management. • Recognized the effects of stress and fatigue on workers • Human being is the most important element in industry.

24. Hugo Munsterberg, applied his experimental methods to a variety of problems, including perception and attention. • Founder of industrial psychology

25. C. I-O as a profession • Professional Societies: • Academy of Management (www.aom.pace.edu) • Society for I-O Psy under the American Psychological Association (www.siop.org) • Division of I-O Psy under the Hong Kong Psychological Society (www.hkps.org.hk/diop/index.htm)

26. Why look for Reg. I-O Psychologists? • Assure service quality • Provide a formal channel to file complaint against poor service standard

27. 1. IOP • Core Competencies: • Personnel Selection, Placement and Assessment • Performance Management and Appraisal • Motivation, Leadership, Group and Work behaviour • Organizational Development and Change • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Behaviour • Ergonomics and Human Factors • Management/Staff Training and Development