Industrial/Organizational
Psychology
Instructor: Frank T. McAndrew
Psychology Department Web
Page
Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
Textbook:
Industrial/Organizational
Psychology: An Applied Approach (7th Ed., 2013) by M.G. Aamodt;
ISBN-13: 978-1-111-83997-0
In addition to the text, there are a number of readings on reserve in
the SMC library. These readings are listed at the end of the syllabus.
Grading:
The format for the classes in this
course will be primarily lecture and discussion, with a number of
in-class activities. Your final grade will be the percentage of
possible points that you accumulate out of the total possible points on
three examinations and four class projects. No make up tests will be
given without prior permission and a very good excuse. The tests will
be based on the textbook, the outside readings, and class lectures. The
third test will be given during final examination week, but it is not a
comprehensive final exam. As a rough guide for grading, use the
following percentages:
(A =
93-100%)
(A- = 90-92%)
(B+ = 88-89%)
(B = 83-87%)
(B-=80-82%)
(C+=78-79%)
(C = 73-77%)
(D+=68-69%)
(D = 63-67%)
(D-=60-62%)
(F = anything < 60%)
Learning Goals:
Your learning will be assessed by the quality of the written
work that you hand in and your performance on a series of three
examinations. Every course that you take is
designed to help you acquire knowledge and skills. The
departmental learning goals & competencies assessed in this
course include the following:
1) Effectively and ethically apply the scientific method to studying
the mind, the brain,
and behavior.
2) Understand the basic theoretical approaches and classic empirical
findings of
psychology.
3) Effectively communicate with clear, grammatically-correct writing.
4) Make effective oral presentations that are clear, well-organized,
and interesting (Some,
but not all, will do this).
Goal # 2 listed above will be assessed via the tests & the job
analysis project.
Goals #1 & 3 will be assessed via the job analysis project
Goals# 3 & 4 will be assessed via all of the projects in the
class
Team Building Exercise(Project #1) (Outside Readings #1, 2, & 3)
Employee Recruiting & Selection (Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6) (Outside Reading #4)
Career Choice and Career Development
TEST #1
Job Analysis & Performance Evaluation (Chapters 2 & 7; Outside Reading #5)
Performance Evaluation Criteria (Project #32
Conducting a Job Analysis (Project #3)
Designing and Evaluating Training Programs (Chapter 8)
Organizational Structure, Culture, & Communication (Chapters 11 & 14) (Outside Readings#6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
The Work Environment: Health, Safety, & Job Stress (Chapter 15) (Outside Readings#11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
TEST #2
Leadership and Management Style (Chapter 12) (Outside Reading#16)
Downsizing the Company (Project #4)
Group
Dynamics and
Organizational Behavior (Chapter 13)
Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction (Chapters 9 & 10) (Outside Readings #17, 18, 19)
TEST #3
This term, you will engage in a wide variety of in-class activities designed to make you more familiar with the concepts you are studying in the text. Among other things, you will be filling out personality scales and engaging in group problem-solving and decision-making tasks. These tasks will not be graded, and you will find that they are a lot more fun than listening to me lecture. There will be four projects this term which will count toward your final grade. Three of these assignments will result in a brief written assignment(a few pages), and one is a project that involves "field work" and a somewhat longer paper. The details of these assignments will be presented to you in class, but a general description of each is listed below.
Project #1 - Team
Building Exercise (10 Points)
In our first class project, we will engage in a series
of team-building exercises not unlike those that are
frequently conducted
by corporations that are attempting to increase morale, cohesiveness,
and productivity among their employees. Often, these
exercises take the form of wilderness hikes where coworkers have to
work together to navigate their way through obstacle courses or engage
in physically challenging activities. It is believed that
getting employees out of their comfort zones and interacting with their
colleagues under completely different conditions can have long-term
beneficial effects. We cannot do something quite as exotic as a
wilderness field trip, but we will do our best to capture the spirit of
corporate team building. Hopefully, these events will be
fun. Some people will win money; some will not.
Some people will get wet; some will not. In addition to
giving you a first hand experience with team building, these exercises
will also serve as an icebreaker at the beginning of this new class and
get you to interact with other members of the class in an interesting
situation. Hopefully, we will all get to know each other a
bit better. These exercises will take place partially in
class and also at the college swimming pool.
Project #2 -
The Problem of Criteria in Performance Evaluation (15 Points)
It is more difficult than it might first appear to develop valid
criteria for evaluating the performance of employees. Your assignment
in this project is to develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness
of sales representatives for a major toy company. The sales reps are
responsible for establishing and servicing accounts with retailers who
will carry the company's toys on its shelves. The job entails getting
the retailers to purchase toys from the company for sale to the public.
The sales reps are responsible for finding new clients as well as for
keeping the old ones satisfied. The sales reps are assigned to
territories by the company, with the more senior employees getting the
choice of the most desirable territories. Territories can differ
greatly in terms of such things as geographic area covered, population
base, and average number and size of retail stores in the territory.
Your assignment will be evaluated according to how well you get around
the criteria problems we have discussed, such as contamination and the
problem of using "hard" vs. "soft" criteria. In your proposal, be very
specific about exactly what measurements would be used, when they will
be taken, how often they will be taken, and so on. Be sure to defend
your decision. The length of your memo should be no more than 2 or 3
pages.
Project #3 -
Job Analysis(25 points)
A job analysis identifies the important aspects of a job that
distinguish it from other jobs. The job analyst must describe in
specific terms the nature of the tasks performed by workers on the job
and the degree to which an employee is involved with data, people, and
things. Job analysis is a necessary first step in creating effective
selection, training, and performance appraisal programs. After reading
the chapter on job analysis in the textbook, you will plan and conduct
a job analysis of a job found on or near the Knox campus.(Possible
examples: Librarian, Coach, Professor, Food Service Worker, Pizza
Delivery Person, Head Resident, Security Guard) You must choose an
approach to job analysis from among the many that you have learned
about in this course. You will describe the procedures you used to
collect data and explain why these were the most appropriate ones to
use for your analysis. Be sure to select a job that you can obtain
information about through observation and interviews with job holders
or others familiar with the job. Once you have determined what the job
involves, make suggestions for fairly evaluating a person performing
that job. Also,
be sure to write a complete and accurate job description for the job
that you have analyzed. The results of your job analysis will
begin with a brief
explanation of what job analysis is and why it is necessary for our
company. Go to the Occupational Information Network at
http://www.occupationalinfo.org/onet/. Be sure to include the numerical
O*NET code for
the job that you have chosen.
Project #5 - Downsizing
the Company(5 points)
One of the most difficult decisions faced by managers is deciding which
employees must be let go when lay-offs due to "downsizing" become
necessary. To help you examine the values that you would bring to bear
in this situation, you will be provided with brief biographical
sketches of 9 employees; three of these people must be fired. You will
write a report to the CEO of the company with your recommendations for
termination and a careful explanation of the criteria you used in
reaching this decision. You will make an oral presentation of your
recommendations to the executive council(i.e., the rest of the class)
and defend your recommendations against sharp questioning.
I
have
put copies of the Powerpoint slides that I used in class on the
web. To see copies of the PPT slides that were
used in the lectures for this course, click on the picture of the
overhead projector.