Organizational-Industrial Psychology as a Career

A Brief History of Organizational-Industrial Psychology 

Organizational-Industrial psychology (I-O psychology) is a field of psychology concerned with the application of psychological principles and theories to organizations. Relevant literature reports that I-O psychology's concept has foundational roots in the United States at the start of the 20th century in the theorization of Hugo Münsterberg and Walter Dill Scott (Koppes, 2014). The cited literature reports further that the two theorists were trainees of Wilhelm Wundt, a German psychologist and physiologist. Nonetheless, Fredrick Taylor, an American industrial engineer, actualized the theory through practically applying it in its intended objective. Importantly, I-O psychology gained significant ground after the two World Wars.  

While some I-O psychology theorists devised methods for application in personnel selection and training, others developed theories that assessed the effectiveness of management styles, the improvement of employee morale, and job satisfaction, among others. Consequently, as a branch of psychology, I-O resulted in the development of different fields, including ergonomics. It is widely gaining relevance in different areas and application in diverse perspectives that influence individuals’ lives. This paper presents an analysis of I-O with a focus on its relationship with other area, outlining the theories, and research methods applicable. 

Relationship with Other Areas of Psychology 

            Psychology is a vast field encompassing different branches, including social, developmental, cognitive, abnormal, behavioural, and I-O psychology. Notably, the diversity of psychology does not imply that each section is independent because of the commonality in their origins. Each of the factions of psychology has elements that study the human mind, and this is the simplest explanation of the relationship between I-O psychology and the rest of the fields (Muchinsky, 2016). I-O psychology, therefore, helps psychologists and other interested professionals in the development of insights into the actions of organizations (organizations are the people that make them, not the buildings). It is in the same way that the rest of the fields study specific aspects of the human mind pertinent to their objectives. For example, while developmental psychology probes the human mind and how it influences through the states of human development, I-O psychology concerns the human mind and how people within organizations behave in the ways that they do.  

Organizational-Industrial Psychology Theories 

The theories of I-O psychology, as well as the applicable principles, are the same as those that concern the entire field of psychology with slight constraints based on the features of organizations and the aspects that they concern. Importantly, all the theories of the field of psychology are organized inconsistency with the assumptions of a classical model, which perceives human behaviour as an essential function of situational, motivation, and ability opportunities or constraints on the other side. Differences among the theories are major differences of emphasis.  

While many theories of I-O have been advanced and adequately described in the literature, two of them that this essay identifies and briefly describes are social-organizational, including theories of leadership and motivation. Leadership theories, it is reported, concerning how organizational leaders interact with subordinates and juniors over time and the likely outcomes of their interactions (Muchinsky, 2016). The same study reports that motivational theories explain the effect of motivation strategies on the behaviour of people within the organizational setting. As much as the theories attempt to describe organizational behaviour according to their objectives, one must note that none of them has a near-universal acceptance because they are mostly descriptive and static in nature.  

Research Methods in Organizational-Industrial Psychology 

            The studies infer that I-O Psychology theories broadly fall into two scientific psychology methodologies, which are experimental and correlational designs. The infusion of statistical advances enabled by computational efficiencies that computers offer has resulted in the creation of methods, which despite being fundamentally correlational, they provide significant improvements on the causal inference logic, such as hierarchical linear modelling, and structural equation modelling (Muchinsky, 2016). The cited author explains further that the experimental designs benefit more from the acceptance of logic that quasi-experimental methodologies provide than they have done from quantitative advances.  

Empirical Studies 

The scope of this essay focuses on two studies to exemplify the types of empirical studies in the field of I-O organization, which should not be taken to imply that they are narrowly focused on the entire context of the field of psychology. The two studies, however, reflect I-O psychology and its principles in explaining the relationship between organizations and individuals—how individuals behave within the organizational settings with particular focus on the manager-employee relationships.  

Abioro, M. (2013). Effect of employee motivation on organizational performance.  Acta de Gerencia Ciencia ,  1 (3), 17-27 . 

Abioro (2013) explores the relationship between employee motivation and lack of on organizational performance. An important finding from the study is that employee motivation has a positive correlation with organizational performance. Abioro (2013) recommends more motivational strategies to benefit organizations, which makes a case for considering the positive contributions of motivation to the improvement of human welfare. Specifically, one notes that employee motivation improves their job satisfaction, which implies that it improves the working conditions of workers, which in turn influences their wellbeing—it betters their quality of life. 

Saleh, R. M. M., Nusari, M., Habtoor, N., & Isaac, O. (2018). The Effect of Leadership Style on Organizational Performance: Organizational Commitment as a Mediator Variable in the Manufacturing Sector of Yemen. International Journal of Management and Human Science, 2 (4), 13-24. 

In the study, Saleh et al. (2018) appraise the effects of leadership styles on organizational performance. The authors find positive relationships between some styles of leadership with organizational performance, especially those that are human-centered. The finding therefore, has implications for employee welfare, especially when it is perceived that human-centeredness means that organizational managers focus on the improvement of the welfare of juniors and showing a warm attitude toward them. 

Specific Occupation Related to Organizational-Industrial Psychology 

The broadness of the I-O psychology field also implies the diversity of careers that one may want to engage. The variety of choice, however, does not always mean that one will always struggle in choosing what they wish to do. I wish to work as a human resources director. According to onetonline.org (2020), human resource managers perform a wide range of tasks, including serving as the links between employees and management, advising management on organizational policy issues, and analyzing and modifying compensation and benefits policies for their organizations. The same cited information reports that human resources managers engage in the performance of difficult staffing duties, as well as representing their organizations at personnel-related investigations and hearings. 

Human resources managers require different skills, including technological ones, such as time accounting, human resources, enterprise resource planning, document management, and accounting software. They are also required to have knowledge in personnel and human resources, administration and management, law and government, communication, and educational and training (onetonline.org, 2008). Human resources managers should also have skills in reading comprehension, judgement and decision-making, speaking, management of personnel resources, and active listening. 

Curricular resources and activities have instrumentally helped in building the right profile for my dream career. I have learned the importance of effective management and leadership styles through the application of I-O psychology. I understand the importance of managers in shaping human behavior in the organizational context, including motivation, effective management skills, and other aspects that define an effective human resources manager. Importantly, I comprehend the influence of human resources managers on organizational productivity as a product of employee management skills. 

References

Abioro, M. (2013). Effect of employee motivation on organizational performance.  Acta de Gerencia Ciencia ,  1 (3), 17-27. 

Koppes, L. L. (Ed.). (2014).  Historical perspectives in industrial and organizational psychology . Psychology Press. 

Muchinsky, P. M. (2016).  Psychology applied to work: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology . Cengage Learning. 

Onetonline.org. (2020). 11-3121.00 - Human Resources Managers . Retrieved 26 March 2020, from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-3121.00 

Saleh, R. M. M., Nusari, M., Habtoor, N., & Isaac, O. (2018). The Effect of Leadership Style on Organizational Performance: Organizational Commitment as a Mediator Variable in the Manufacturing Sector of Yemen.  International Journal of Management And Human Science ,  2 (4), 13-24.