History of Organisational Psychology (Oxford Encyclopedia) Flashcards
(47 cards)
Organisations are social entities
Organisations consist of group of members, who are united in achieving a goal or end, of which gives purpose & reason for its existence.
Interchangeable terms for organisational psychology
- work psychology
- industrial psychology
- I-O psychology
Organisational psychology
(1) applies scientific concepts & interpretive models
(2) in assessing mental & behavioural aspects of organisations
(3) human behaviour & interaction.
What are the mental & behavioural aspects of organisations?
So individual & groups behaviours & dynamics (social networks). Organisational psychology is also interested in macro-level processes (org. strategy, structure, & change), but only to the extent that it impacts individual behaviour. (mainly with scientific research from the subfield psychology; a focus on individual behaviour leads us to explore the topics of employee well-being (stress & burnout), work motivation & job attitudes, individual differences at work, assessment & measurement & quantitative approaches for insights.
Industrial revolution — Industrial social network problems (19th Century)
A growing technological society - concern was how to adapt adults to working places - & analyse working behaviour.
The study of the scientific organisation of work (Charles Babbage, Henry Metcalfe, & Henry R. Towne)
- Management of people in production
- Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 - 1915) developed the Taylor Systems & the core ideas of management.
- Applied psychological techniques such as reaction-time measures & studies of movement & cooperation among workers.
The Taylor system
Rationalise working procedures to increase labour productivity.
- salaries & incentives
- increase satisfaction
- increase worker efficiency
The Taylor system was seen as inhumane; management as a “machine” Why is this so?
Taylor maintained that workers must accomplish their tasks always under supervision & evaluation from others, the focus on solely on worker efficiency (& reducing errors).
The Study of the Formal Organisation of Enterprises (Henri Fayol; 1841 - 1925)
Governance, order & control of units within enterprises, which he had called “administration”. Enterprises seen as whole operating system with some principles. His work was seen as, very far from effective.
The Social Theory of Bureaucracy (Max Weber; 1864 - 1920)
Organisations viewed as hierarchically built bodies (vertical chain of command), supported with impersonal & standardised procedures strictly followed by members who operate at various levels & are charged with differential responsibilities & power.
Recall elements\ of bureaucracy
- formal rules
- well-defined methods
- rationality
- objectivity
The Human Subject at Work (Hugo Munsterberg; 1863 - 1916)
“Father of psychotechnology” - “science of practical applications of psychology in the service of culture”. Devised tests to measure people’s abilities relative to a certain job . He favoured empirical-based personnel selection. Person, situation, & means-ends relationship we element to consider in every intervention (three factors interacting within the test).
Hugo Munsterberg wanted to find out
If the person fits in the job (working role)
Psychological tests were done on a large number of soldiers to assign them to better-defined jobs.
- Army Alpha & Army Beta Tests assessed men (Yerkers; 1876 - 1956)
- Personnel classification tests (Scott, Bingham,Watson, Thondike, & Terman; 1889 - 1955)
- Questionnaire for the detection of war neurosis (Woodworth; 1869 - 1962)
Following world war I, organisational psychology became a growing area with research not only in the military space, but also in specialised universities, & the rise of private centres (Scott & Bingham).
Advice for:
- training of professionals
- personnel selection
What were psychologists looking at during this time?
- the worker
- his abilities (&individual differences)
- his psychophysical constitution
knowledge of the human factor became indispensable…
To help workers & employers achieve more efficient work practices.
Key topics in organisational psychology
individual human differences:
- fatigue effect
- well-being of the worker
- effective selection procedures
- job analysis
- study of time and motion in working activities
The Human Relations Model (Elton Mayo, 1880 - 1949)
Psychologists began to focus on human relations in industry, paying attention to social dimensions of the production process, & taking into account the “human value” of work
Examples of social dimesions (variables) in production
Affecting group efficiency & productivity:
- informal rules
- leadership
- social climate, expectation, & fears
Members interactions & member’s belonging to one effective totality (social network)
holistic approach to work problems:
- inter view & surveys
Other holistic perspectives include Kurt Lewin’s model & other sociological contributions, like Weber’s bureaucratic model of management
- understanding of work from a human perspective.
Following the influence of World War II, nations started to rebuild their economies, resulting in new types of economic structures (EEC; EU). Man/Machine problems characterised industrial activities, organisation became a new term, & further, organisational studies was reviewed by the Annual Review of psychology first in 1961.
Moreover, the viewpoint related to individual differences that dominated industrial studies was now complemented by other research oriented towards group & social levels of phenomena (as below).
The Sociotechnical Perspective
A view of organisations as systems in which continuous interaction takes place between instruments (technology) and human operators.
