EPPP - I/O Psychology Part 2

Distinguishes btwn:

The Rational-Economic Model: Decision makers attempt to maximize benefits by systematically searching for the best solution.

Bounded Rationality (Admin.) Model: Proposes that rational decison making is limited by internal & external constraints so that decision makers often stratisfice rather than optimize (i.e., consider solutions until a fairly good one is encountered & then stop searching due to limited time & resources).

(Janis) Refers to the suspension of critical thinking that may occur when the grp is highly cohessive & grp leader is ver directive.

Occurs when the desire of group members for unanimity & cohesiveness overrides their ability to realistically appraise or determine alternative courses of action.

Sx's include a sense of invulnerability, unquestioned acceptance of the grps inherent morality, & presence of self-appointed mind-guard who discourages members of considering or opposing grp decision.

It can be alleviated when the group leader encourages dissent, has someone play devil's advocate, & refrains from stating his/her decision or solution too quickly.

The tendency of groups to make more extreme decisions (either more conservative or more risky) than indiv. members would have made alone.

The research has generally provided more support for grp polarization than for the risky shift

(Osborn) The tendency for the grp to make decisions in the risky direction only than each member would have alone

A method of generating creative ideas that requires indivs. or grp members to freely suggest any idea or thought w/out criticism, evaluation, or censorship.

Research suggests that individuals brainstorming alone do better than the same number brainstorming together.

An an alt. work schedule that involves decreasing the number of work days by increasing the number of hours worked each day. (consists of 4 9-10hr days or 3 12hr days)

It has a positive association with:

Better supervisor ratings of EE performance,

EE overall job satisfaction

EE satisfaction w/the work schedule, w/the effects being strongest for employee attitudes.

No consistent effects on absenteeism or objective measures of job perf.

Disadvantage: Increases the risk for fatigue, which can have a negative impact on productivity & safety

(Baltes et. al.) An alt. work schedule that allows workers to choose the times they will begin & end work.

Requires workers to be at work during core hours but allows EE's to pick own start & stop point.

It has a positive association with:

Increased EE productivity,

Overall job satisfaction

Satisfaction w/the work schedule

Decreased absenteeism; geatest impact w/effect size of .93.

Benefits may decrease over time

Disadvantages: Porblems it can cause in communication, work scheduling & work flow

Of the 3 fixed shifts:

Day/Fixed:

Swing/Rotating: Assoc. w/more probs. such as:

Poorest work quality,

Higher accident/injury rates &

Lower productivity than day/fixed shifts; due to disruption in normal circadian rhythym.

Has most detrimental effects on social relationships.

Negative effects are reduced when the rotation is forward day, swing, night vs. backward.

Night/Graveyard: Assoc. w/most problems such as accidents, poor perf., rpt more health probs.; however this may be alleviated if the worker voluntarily chooses this shift.

3 Types:

Bargaining (Negotiationg): Most common technique that involves opposing sides in the dispute exchange offers, counteroffers & consessions directly or thru a representative. If barganing deadlocks then…

Mediation: Neutral 3rd party intervention that uses various tactics to facilitate voluntary agreement btwn disputants. The mediator cannot dictate an agreement btwn disputants but helps clarify the issues, facilitates communication, & offers alternatives and recommendations.

Arbitration: An arbitrator has more authority than a mediator & controls both the process & outcomes of conflict resolution. There are a few types:

Binding: 2 sides agree in advance to accept the settlement recommendations by the arbitrator.

Voluntary: Parties agree only to the arbitration process.

Conventional: Arbitrator is free to choose any settlement solution.

Final Offer: Arbitrator must select one of the final offers made by the disputants.

Refers to a variety of techniques & strategies aimed at the planned change of an org. using behavioral science principlles & theories.

According to this model of planned change, when driving forces (which promote change) become stronger than restraining forces (which resist change), change is likely to occur.

Org. change involves 3 stages:

Unfreezing: Occurs when the need for change is recognized & steps are taken to make members receptive to change.

Changing: Involves moving the org. in the new direction by helping EE's acquire new behaviors, values & attitudes.

Refreezing: Entails supporting the changes that have been made by reinforcing efforts to change, promote norms & values that maintain change & ID deviations from desired change & taking corrective action.

An org. devel. technique in which a consultant helps members of the org. help themselves by improving their ability to percieve, understand & alter behaviors that are adversely affecting interactions at work & the orgs. effectivness.

External consultant observes EE's while they engage in interactions that are a normal part of their jobs.

The consultant then meets w/EE's to discuss the interpersonal probs. s/he observed & to help them ID methods for resolving those probs.

A process consultant observes grp members in action & helps them ID & rectify probs. related to communication patterns, decision-making, conflict resolution, etc…

Consultant focuses on process (interactions) btwn ppl & how these processes interfere w/the achievement of their goals.

(OD intervention) That focuses on ID EE's attitudes & perceptions rather than on interactions & other overt behaviors.

3 Phases:

Data Collection Phase: During this phase the consultant devels. an attitude survey & distributes it to EE's & interviews them to ID major issues of concern to devel. surveys; then consultant summarizes results of survey.

Feedback Meeting Phase: During this pahse the consultant meets w/the grp of EE's to present survey results & ID probs. that need to be addressed (Focus on issues that are viewed diff. by diff. EE's)

Action Plan Phase: During this phase EE's meet in teams to devel. specific plans for each prob. (Identified in phase 2).

The purpose of the feedback is to provide EE's w/info about the orgs. strengths & weaknesses in order for the org. to be effective.

Primary goal is to humanize work & the work env.

Emphasize EE empowerment by having EE's participate in decision-making that affects their jobs

Often includes the use of Quality cirlces, which are voluntary grps of EE's who generate possible solutions to probs. & present their recommendations to management (only make recommendations).

Less popular now & being replaced by self-managed work teams

Which are small voluntary grps of EE's who work together on a oarticular job & meet regularly to generate possible solutions to probs. & present their recommendations to management (only make recommendations). Reps from the quality circles then present their solutions to management.

Autonomous work grps whose members are trained in the skills needed to effectively perform grp task. The Fx of these indiv. is to make hiring, budget, & other org. functions that were previously made by managers. * Leadership usually rotates from one team member to another & the leader acts as a facilitator who is responsible for removing obstacles & obtaining necessary resources.

(Management theory) Primary focus is on the continuous improvment of the quality of the orgs. goods & services & the EE's quality-of-work life. Achieved by: Top-level commitment to quality Making the elimination of defects top priority Emphasis on customer service, Training EE's EE involvement (especially teamwork) Continuing imporvment/change * Empowering EE's by having teams perform Fx's traditionally performed by a manager or supervisor. Studies found TQM failures despite the goal of commitment to EE involvement; EE's often did not participate fully in prob. solving & decision making.

A change agent is an indiv. who is responsible for guiding the change effort.

Internal Change Agent: A member of the org., is already familiar w/company's culture, norms & power structure & has a personal interest in the change effort.

External Change Agent (Consultant): Often able to see the situation more objectively & to bring in a new perspective, to be better recieved by the members of the org. bc of his/her impartiality, is likely to have greater influence & status & is more willing to take risks.

(Chin & Benne) Pressure to change is often met w/resistance at both indiv. & org. levels & strategies for overcoming resistance is classified in terms of 3 basic types:

Rational-Empirical: Based on assumption that ppl are basically rational & will act in accordance w/their self-interests once they have been provided w/necessary info.; will not resist change once they recognize they will benefit from it.

Normative-Educative: Based on premise that peer pressure & sociocultural norms are more potent forces of change. (Ex: Grp discussions).

Power-Coercive: Involves using power & legitamate authority to coerce EE's to comply w/plan for change & coercion can take form of rewards &/or punishment.

Workers evals. of org. policies & procedures are often based on their percieved fairness (justice).

There are 3 Types of justice:

Distributive: Refers to perceptions about fairness of decision outcomes of org. policies & procedures. (Ex: EE's recieve the pay/benefits they believe they deserve)

Procedural: Refers to perception about fairness in the way procedures & policies are implemented & used to make decisions.

Interactional: Refers to perceptions about how EE's feel the quality & content of interactions w/managers & other EE's.

Primary goal is to imporve the orgs. effectivness & efficiency by enhancing the functioning of the individuals, teams & org. as a whole.

EE's assumptions about org. justices are assoc. w/a # of outcomes such as job perf., job satisfaction, org. committment & turnover.

Org. culture is embedded w/in national culture & influenced by it.

The culture of nations can be described in terms of 5 dimensions:

Power Distance: Refers to the extent to which ppl accept an unequal distribution of power.

Uncertainty Avoidance: Refers to the willingness /ability of ppl to tolerate ambiguity & uncertainty.

Individualism: The extent to which indiv. or closely-knit social structures (families) are the basis of the social system.

Masculinity: Refers to the value placed on assertivness, indpendence & competitiveness.

Long-Term Orientation: The extent to which ppl focus on the future vs. the past & present.

Org. culture can be described in terms of 3 basic levels:

Observable Artifacts: Includes the companies dress code, stories, rituals & annual rpts.

Espoused Values & Beliefs: Includes the orgs. norms, goals & ideiologies.

Basic Underlying Assumptions: Unconscious taken for granted perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, thoughts & emotions underlying an orgs. culture can act as cognitive defense mechanism for indiv. & grps that can impede the ability to make changes in the org.

One Fx of the culture is to provide stability, meaning & thereby reduce anxiety among org. members that would otherwise be caused by uncertainty about current & future events.

Refers to the match btwn the EE's values, needs, preferences, etc. & the culture of the org.

A good P-O fit has been linked to several benefits including enhanced satisfaction, motivation & org. commitment & reduced stress & turnover.

Selection & socialization have been ID as the primary opportunities for ensuring a good P-O fit.

Selection helps Id indiv. whose charateristics match the charteristics of the org.

Socialization helps EE's acquire the skills, knowledge & attitudes that are compatible w/the orgs. culture.

Predicts that the highest level of learning & perf. are asoc. w/moderate levels of arousal, especially when moderate arousal is coupled w/moderate task difficulty.

Inverted U Theory: Predicts that for every activity there is an optimum level of arousal & that arousal above or below that level has a negative impact on performance.

(Karasek's) Predicts that job demand & job control are the primary contributors to job stress.

Jobs associated w/the highest levels of stress are characterized by a combination of high job demand and low job control and include machine-paced jobs & service jobs.

Caused by accumulated stress associated with overwork.

Its primary Sx's are:

A feeling of low personal accomplishment,

Depersonalization, and

Emotional exhaustion.

An early sign of burnout is a sudden increase in work effort w/out an increase in productivity.

The jobs most likely to lead to stress-related probs. are those that cive workers very little control over their tasks or work conditions (e.g., machine paced tasks).

Conflict caused by incompatible work & family role demands.

The ADA requires companies with 15 or more EE's to avoid using procedures that discriminate against people w/physical or mental disabilities.

It also requires that, when a disabled person is able to perform the essential functions of a job, an employer consider the person qualified & make “reasonable accommodations" that help the person perform the job as long as the accommodations do not result in undue hardship for the employer.

(Lawler, 1973) Assumes that job satisfaction is affected by comparisons of one's own inputs & outcomes to the inputs & outcomes of others (similar to equity theory).

Workers compare their own input/outcome ratios to the input/outcome ratios of comprable others.

When the ratios are the same = worker satisfied

When the worker's own ratio is larger than that of comprable others, the worker may feel guilt/discomfort

When the worker's ratio is less than that of comprable others, they are dissatisfied.

(Thorndike & Woodworth) Method used to increase transfer of training; involves maximizing the similarity btwn the learning & perf. environemtns/settings.

Providing identical elements — i.e., ensuring that training and performance environments are similar in terms of materials, conditions, etc. — maximizes transfer of training.

Often part of a needs assessment & is conducted to ID the organization's goals.

(1997) Emphasizes the impact of self-regulation on behavior. Distinguishes btwn 4 processes that contribute to self-regulation:

Goal-Setting

Self-Observation

Self-Evaluation

Self-Reaction

Self-regulation (exercising influence over own behavior) is a primary determinant of Motivation.

To max. worker motivation a job should be designed so that the job maximizes opportunities for self-regulation.

(Herbert Simon) Pioneer in field of artificial intelligence & there are 2 main goals in using & studying computers:

To augment human intelligence

To help understand how humans think

Describes a job in terms of 5 core dimensions that have an impact on 3 "critical psychological states" (meaningfulness, autonomy & performance feedback) thet, in turn, affect motivation, quality of work perf., satisfaction, absenteeism & turnover.

Methods for combining predictor scores:

Multiple Regression is compensatory

Multiple Cutoff is noncompensatory

Distinguishes btwn 2 competing selves which has been applied to ethical business & other types of decision making:

The "Should Self": (Rational & Cool Headed) Refers to our ethical intentions & beliefs we should act in ways that are consistent w/our ethical prinicples.

The "Want Self": (Emotional & Hot-Headed) Applies to our actual behavior & reflects self-interest & a relative disregard for ethical concerns.

Method of job performance appraisal used to eval. an EE's job perf.

An EE is compared to every other EE on dimensions of job perf.

Training program devel begins with:

Needs Analysis: (Needs Assess) that consists of 3 components:

Org. Analysis: To ID org. goals & determine if training is needed to achieve goals.

Job Analysis: To ID what must be done to perf. job successfully.

Person Analysis: To determine which EE's req. training & what knowledge, skills & abilites (KSA's) they need to acquire.

Their research assessed the genetic contribution to job satisfaction by correlating the scores obtained by 34 pairs of identical twins reared apart on job satisfaction questionnaire.

The results of the study produces statistically significant heritability estimates w/about 30% of variance in job satisfaction scores being due to genetic factors.

Identify ways to reduce EE accidents (worker safety)

Engineering psychologists (aka Human Factor Psychologists) are interested in the interactions btwn humans & machines (env.)

They design tasks, products, & other elements in the env. so they best match human abilities & limitations.