INDUSTRIAL/ ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Introduction

Industrial/ organizational psychology is that branch of applied psychology that is concerned

with efficient management of an industrial labour force and especially with problems
encountered by workers in a mechanized environment.

The time was gone when the workers treated as machine and employers always think about
the higher production at any cost or without taking consideration of workers. Now,
management better knows if the worker’s feel ease/ comfortable then they give their
maximum contribution.

If employers provide adequate working conditions, proper distributions of work, attractive

compensation, effective leader etc. then definitely organization achieve its success.

Concept and Meaning

Industrial/ organizational psychology is that specific area that is concerned with the study of
behaviour in work settings and the application of psychology principles to change work
behaviour.

The term ‘Industrial Psychology’ is a combination of two words ‘Industrial’ and

‘Psychology’. Industrial is that part of social life whose function is to provide civilized man
with the material goals that his condition of life demand. Psychology is the science of
behaviour in relation to environment. Thus industrial psychology is the systematic study of
the behaviour of the people at work.

According to C.S. Myres, ‘the aim of industrial psychology is primarily not to obtain greater
production or output but to give the worker greater ease at work’.
According to Thomas W. Harrell, ‘Industrial psychology may be defined as the study of
people as individuals and in groups and of the relationship between individual and group’.

‘Industrial psychology is simply the application or extension of psychology facts and

principles to the problem concerning human beings operating within the context of business
and industry’, says Blum and Naylor.

According to Tiffin and McCormick, ‘Industrial psychology is concerned with the study of
human behaviour in those aspects of life that are related to production, distribution and use
of goods and services of our civilization’.

‘The scientific study of the relationship between man and the world at work; the study of
adjustment people make to the place they go, the people they meet and the things they do
in the process of making a living’, says Guion.

Historical Development of Industrial Psychology

Bryn & Harter (1897) published a first paper describing the study and application of
psychology to work activities (Morse code telegraphic) coined the term ‘industrial
psychology’ by mistake.

During the First and Second World War when various industrial organizations and plants
faced a number of problems related to production, efficiency and individual employees, the
help of industrial psychologist are in great demand. At this stage, industrial psychology
received a special status, although it began in America in 1901, and England soon after.

The first book “The Psychology of Industrial Efficiency”, written by Hugo Munsterberg in
1913 was dealing with various problems faced by the industries and analysis of such
problem from the psychological point of view. During the war years, the Fatigue Research
Board was organized in Great Britain to discover the problems connected with working
hours, condition of work, problems associated with fatigue and monotony, accident and
safety measures and other work related matters.
In 1925, social psychology of industry entered into the arena of industrial psychology
therefore, interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, theories of motivations,
importance of communication and other associated areas were investigated.

In 1917, Journal of applied psychology made its appearance and at the same time it
introduced as a subject of applied psychology.

The classical studies started in 1927 by the famous Hawthorne group contributed to the
development of industrial psychology in a major way. Their finding ultimately changed the
trends and approach of industrial psychology from economic to social, from the work-
oriented attitude to a workers- oriented attitude.

During the Second World War, the applied psychology research unit of the Medical
Research Council of Great Britain carried out several researches and investigations to solve
many industrial and organizational problems.

American Association of Applied Psychology, 1937 was the first association for industrial
psychology. Major organization after the Second World War divided into two parts:

Human factor society, it was associated with the American group of applied psychology
with interest in human engineering problem. Ergonomics society, it was British counterpart
of human factor. Society occupational psychology and ergonomics are two journals.

In the beginning of the 1960’s organizational psychology began to enter the area of
industrial psychology and as such special emphasis was given to the organizational inputs in
the industrial situation.

The psychologists who have made valuable contributions to the development of industrial
psychology are Walter, Dill and Scott. The industrial psychology division of American
Psychological Association was established in 1945 and gave professional recognition to
industrial psychology.

Characteristics of Industrial/ Organizational Psychology

  Systematic study- Industrial psychology is the systematic study of human behaviour
concerned with collecting the information regarding human behaviour at work. For
example; the different factors which affect the work of an individual either they are
personal or related to working conditions.
 Research- Industrial psychology is not concerned with administration. They are the
part of the research. Whatever information gathered from the work should be
implemented and the personnel administration is the application of such research.
 Functional/ Applied- It is concerned with the application of information about
human behaviour to the various problems of industrial human life.
 Human engineering- It studies the varied methods of performing manual operations
for the better utilization and the least waste of effort through human engineering.

Scope of industrial Psychology

 Scientific selection of workers- Industrial psychology offers a whole arrangement of

tests such as systematic depth interviews and psychological tests of intelligence,
aptitude, skills and abilities. By these tests candidates are measured and properly
selected and placed on the job.
 Proper division of work- One of the scope of industrial psychology is the work
should be properly divided according to the abilities, skills and aptitude of the
workers so they may feel comfortable and satisfied. It may also lead higher
production.
 Minimizing the wastage of human efforts- Industrial psychology tries to minimize
the wastage of human power. It studies psychological factors causing fatigue or
accident and give feasible suggestions to prevent them.
 Promoting labour welfare- It promotes the welfare of the labour by introducing
adequate working environment through which job satisfaction; work efficiency
increases and also state the provisions of higher incentives.
 Enhancements of human relations-Human relations are the relation among
individuals in an organization and the group behaviour that emerge from their
 relations. Most of problems arise in the industries are connected to human relation.
If workers feel ease with the surrounding then automatically they get motivated and
productivity will be higher. Industrial psychology has made significant contribution in
framing the techniques of leadership, worker participation, communication etc.
 Developing industrial relations- Industrial psychology studies the attitude of the
employer and employees. Individual differs from each other’s in their thoughts,
behaviour and other parameters. Therefore, different measures may be adopted in
solving the problem relating to each individual like transfers, promotions, grievances
etc. This helps in developing industrial relationship among workers and
management.
 Increase production- It helps in attaining the major objective of the organization
than to get the best output from the existing resources. The production is
automatically increased if proper selection is made, the work will be properly
distributed, accident prevention and safety measures suggested. This will improve
and promote individual as well as industrial relations.

American Psychologist Association, Division of Industrial Psychology, The psychologist

industry, Washington, D.C., 1959 cited seven major areas which comprised the content area
of industrial psychology. These were:

1. Selection and testing

2. Management development
3. Counselling
4. Employee motivation
5. Human engineering
6. Marketing research
7. Public relations research

Implications of Industrial Psychology on Modern Industries

In today’s competitive environment industrial psychologist play a quite important role for
the betterment of employees as well as industries. They play a vital role in reducing stress,
anxiety, monotony, boredom, fatigue and increasing motivation, morale, job satisfaction
among employees. By achieving these objectives an industry can grow and survive fates as
compared to others.

Industrial psychologists had shifted their attention and interest from physical environment
of work situation to the scientific and clinical studies of individual who work in these
settings. These are the following implications of industrial psychology in modern industries.

 Technological changes in workplace create division of labour and automation of

work. Work has become more mechanical, uninteresting, and monotonous. To
overcome those problems psychologists need to analyse the causes and suggest
measures to reduce them.
 Human engineering includes designing machines as per the capabilities of average
individuals or workers so that they can perform their works easily and efficiently. It
also reduces the chance of accidents under industries and provide safe and healthy
environment to their workers.
 One of the most important implications of industrial psychology on modern
industries is recruitment and selection. Employees are selected as per their
capability and industries requirement, which helps in reducing absenteeism and
employee’s turnover.
 Industrial psychology provides ample opportunity to enhance the skills and
competencies of an employee through training.

Industrial/ Organizational Psychology Today and In The Future

Today, industrial/ organizational psychology is one of the fastest growing areas of

psychology.

There are four key trends in the world of work that are important today and in the future of
industrial/ organizational psychology.
  First Change: Changing Nature of Work

Job and organization are rapidly changing and evolving. Many jobs are becoming
increasingly complex due to technical advancements and are more demanding.
Organizations worldwide are reducing their workforces.

Organizational downsizing is a strategy of reducing an organization’s workforce to improve

organizational efficiency, productivity and competitiveness Mentzer, 2005; Molinsky &
Margolis, 2006). Organizations are downsizing because of technical advancements such as
robotic and computer assisted manufacturing that eliminate workers’ jobs, because of
increased efficiency in jobs and the elimination of overlapping worker functions, and
because of a general reduction in middle-level managers (De Meuse, Marks, & Dai, 2011;
Murphy, 1998).

Another trend is outsourcing of work—contracting with an external organization to

accomplish tasks that were previously done, or could be done, within the organization
(Davis-Blake & Broschak, 2009). Outsourcing is used to increase output and can reduce
overhead costs associated with the personnel needed to do the tasks in-house.

 Second Trend: Expanding Focus On Human Resources

Organizations have become more responsive to the needs of workers. At the same time,
organizations are realizing that skilled and creative workers are the keys to success. The
term “talent management” is a frequent buzzword heard in organizations—important
because it reflects the emphasis on the value of the worker and the need to select, care for,
and develop workers’ talents.

Companies will also have to offer more enticing benefit programs to attract and retain the
best workers—including “family friendly” policies such as employer-sponsored childcare
and extended family leaves (Grandey, 2001; Halpern & Murphy, 2005).

Research in I/O psychology is beginning to focus more broadly, seeing the worker as a
“whole person” rather than just a working being.
  Third trend: Increasing Diversity and Globalization of the Workforce

The increasing number of women and ethnic minorities entering the organizational
workforce has led to greater and greater workplace diversity. This diversity will increase in
the future. Women and ethnic minorities—who have been targets of employment
discrimination—now make up the majority of the workforce worldwide.

Although diversity has benefits, demographic and cultural differences can, if not carefully
managed, create great difficulties in the functioning of work teams—increasing destructive
conflict, inhibiting team cooperation, and impeding performance (van Knippenberg, DeDreu,
& Homan, 2004; Williams & O’Reilly, 1998). The key to dealing successfully with diversity
will involve getting beyond the “surface” issues that divide people, and getting at the
“deeper” benefits that diversity brings (Cascio, 2009; Härtel, 1998).

Fourth trend: Increasing relevance of I/ O psychology in policy and practice

Although I/O psychology has had an important impact in how we select, train, develop, and
motivate employees, there is huge potential for I/O psychology to play an even bigger part
in helping to improve work performance and make the conditions for workers better, more
rewarding, and more “healthy.”