Industrial

/Organizational
psychology
• A scientific study of the behaviour of the employees
engaged in industrial organizations, problems and
adjustment patterns of workers.
• Industries: production, distribution, use of goods and
services
• Organizations: co-ordinated social system, composed of
two or more people, that function on a continuous basis to
achieve a common goal.
• Manufacturing and service firms( industries), retail stores,
NGOs, military units, hospitals, educational institutions,
govt and state agencies
• It applies various techniques, theories, and
principles of psychology to study
multifarious problems of employees working
in industries and organizations.
• Industrial psychology draws upon the facts,
generalizations and principles of psychology.
 Definition
• Definition:
• · Tiffin and McCormick “ Industrial psychology is
concerned with the study of human behaviour in those
aspects of life that are related to the production,
distribution and use of goods and services of our
civilization”
• · Blum “ IP is simply the application or extension of
psychological facts and principles to the problems
concerning human relations in business and industry”.
• Blum and Naylor state that IP draws upon the facts ,
generalisations and principles of psychology. It uses the
methods of psychology to study the industrial and
organisational setups.
 Nature of OB
1. OB APPLIES THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO PRACTICAL
MANAGERIAL PROBLEMS
2. OB FOCUSES ON THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS—
INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, AND ORGANIZATIONS
3. OB IS MULTIDISCIPLINARY IN NATURE
4. OB SEEKS TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE AT WORK
 Importance of studying organizational
behaviour

• OB provides a road map to our lives in organizations.

• The field of OB uses scientific research to help us
understand and predict organizational life.
• OB helps us influence organisational events.
• OB helps an individual understand himself/herself and
others better
• OB will help the manager understand the basics of
motivation and what he or she should do to motivate
subordinates
• the subject of OB is also useful in the field of marketing
 Scope of industrial psychology
• National Institute of Industrial Psychology(NIIP):
Scope of industrial psychology
1. 1. Study of the requirements of,elaboration and
application of suitable tests so as to secure
(a)the scientific selection of workers,
(b) (b) more reliable guidance for an individual when
choosing their life's work.
2. Investigation of the best methods of applying human
energy to (a) the elimination of unnecessary movements,
(b) advantageous distribution of rest periods.
(c) the reduction of monotony and increase of interest, etc.
• 3. Realisation of conditions
• (a) lighting, ventilation, .
• (b) methods of payment. labour representation, . which
lead to the best relations between management and labour
• 4. Training of workers : with reference to psychological
principles involved in learning
• 5. Study of the factors influencing the sale of products, eg,
advertising, designing etc
 Scope of industrial psychology

• Scientific selection of workers’—Industrial psychology offers a

whole arrangement of tests such as systematic depth interviews and
psycho-logical tests of intelligence, aptitude, skills, abilities and interest
the personnel characteristic etc. By these tests candidates are measured
and properly selected and placed on the job.
• Proper division of work - One of the scopes 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. The techniques of
motivation and morale are used for this purpose.
• 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.
• Enhancement of human 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.
Developing industrial relations — Industrial psychology
studies the attitude of the employer and employees.
Individuals differ from each other’s in their thoughts, thinking,
behaviour and other parameters. Therefore, different
measures may be adopted in solving the problem relating to
each individual. This helps in developing industrial relationship
among workers' and management.
•
• Increase production — It helps in attaining the major objective
of the organization that 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.
 Fundamental Assumptions

Nature of the people: Nature of the

• Individual differences. organizations
• Social system
• Perception
• Mutual Interest
• A whole person • Ethics
• Motivated behaviour
• Desire for involvement
• Value of the person
 Nature of the
people
Individual differences:
• Each person is different from all others.
• All people are different and this diversity needs to be
recognized and viewed as a valuable asset to
organizations.
• Individual differences mean that management can
motivate employees best by treating them differently.
• Law of individual differences
Perception:
• People look at the world and see things differently.
• Perception, which is the unique way in which each person
sees, organizes and interprets things.
• Employees see their work worlds differently for a variety of
reasons. They may differ in their
personality,needs,demographic factors, past experiences ,
A Whole Person
• Organizations employ a whole person rather than certain
characteristics.
• People function as a total human beings.
Motivated behaviour
• Normal behaviour has certain causes.
• Motivation is essential to the operation of organizations.
Desire for involvement
• Many employees are actively seeking opportunities at work
to become involved in relative decision making so that
contributing their talents and ideas to the organizational
success.
Value of the person
• Employees want to be treated with caring, respect and
dignity.
• They demand such treatment from their employers.
• They refuse to accept the idea that they are simply the
economic tools.
 Nature of
organization

Social system
• Organizations are social systems.
• Activities are governed by social laws also.
• People have the needs of social roles and status.
• Both formal and informal social system works in an
organization.
• It indicates each part is related every other parts.
Mutual interest
• Organizations are formed and maintained on the basis of
some mutuality of interests among their participants.
• Managers need employees to help them reach
organizational objectives, people need organizations to
help them reach individual objectives.
Ethics
• Organizations should treat employees in an ethical ways.
 Field’s Fundamental Assumptions
• First, OB recognizes that organizations are
dynamic and always changing.
• Second, the field of OB assumes there is no one best
way to behave in organizations, and that
different approaches are called for in different
situations
 OB Recognizes the Dynamic
Nature of Organizations
• organizations are not static, but dynamic and
ever-changing entities
• organizations are open systems—that is, self-
sustaining connections between entities that use
energy to transform resources from the
environment (such as raw materials) into some
form of output (for example, a finished product)
 OB Assumes There Is No “One Best”
Approach
• When it comes to studying human behavior in
organizations, there are no simple answers
• contingency approach A perspective suggesting
that organizational behavior is affected by a large
number of interacting factors. How someone will
behave is said to be contingent on many different
variables at once.
• “it depends.”
 Historical development of industrial
psychology
• Bryan & Harter (1897) published a first paper describing
the study and application of psychology to work activities
• During first and second world war(1914-18 and 1939-
45) , problems related to production, efficiency and
individual employees, although it began in America in
1901, and England soon after,
• During the war years, the Fatigue Research Board was
organized in Great Britain
• Field of industrial psychology progressed rapidly during 1st
quarter of 20th century.
• First book “ the psychology of industrial efficiency” by
Hugo Munsterberg.1913
• In 1917, Journal of applied psychology made its
appearance and at the same time it introduced as a
subject of applied psychology.
• In 1925, social psychology of industry entered into the
arena of industrial psychology
• The classical studies, started in 1927 by the famous
Hawthorne group. 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.
Roethlisberger,Dickson,Whitehead and Homans with
professor Elton Mayo
• 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
• Considerable attention was focussed on various human relations and
social problems of industry during the latter part of 1940's and in the
1950’s
• 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.
• Though industrial psychology was a neglected branch of applied
psychology in India. After the Second World War and particularly after
Independence, it got special recognition from Indian psychologists.
• An eminent industrial and organizational psychologist of India Professor
Durganand Sinha (1971) has made a valuable survey of the important
topics of research in industrial psychology in India.
• With the establishment of various universities, centre and institutes in
India, research in industrial psychology has been accelerated after 1950’s.
• The institute of management at Ahmedabad
• the institute of psychological researches , patna
• the Ahmedabad textile industries research association
• the Shri Ram centre for industrial relation
• the South Indian textile research association
• the Indian institute of science Bangalore
• and the department of applied psychology, Calcutta

• Ganguly, Bose, Sinha, kakar, Chatterjee, Mohanty

Organisational Behaviour to
Globalization and Diversity
 . OB to Technology
• use of the Internet and wireless technology
• Automation, the process of replacing people with
machines
• The term informate describes the process by which
workers use computer information technology to
transform a once-physical task into one that involves
manipulating a sequence of digital commands
• Indeed, organizations have been rapidly reducing the
number of employees needed to operate effectively—a
process known as downsizing-rightsizing.
• The Virtual Organization
• Telecommuting/teleworking: Going to
Work Without Leaving Home
 OB to people's Changing
Expectations.
• OB scientists do not work in a vacuum. Instead,
they are highly responsive to people’s changing
expectations with respect to various aspects of
work
Employees and Employers Desire
for Engagement
• engagement refers to a mutual commitment
between employers and employees to do things to
help one another achieve goals and aspirations
• two-way process
• High levels of pride in the organization
• Pride in the organizations’ products and
services
• Belief that the organization helps employees do
their best
• Willingness to help others on the job
• Understanding “the big picture”
• being willing to go beyond formal job
requirements when necessary
• Involving employees in making decisions
• Giving employees opportunities to express
their ideas and opinions
• Providing opportunities for employees to
develop their jobs
• Showing concern for employees’ well-being as
individuals
 The flexibility employees expect from
employers
• THE COMPRESSED WORKWEEK: The practice of working
fewer days each week, but longer hours each day (e.g., four
10-hour days)
• Four-day workweek.: Employees work 10 hours per day for
four consecutive days
• Three-day workweek: Two groups of employees are formed,
each of which works for three days of 13 hours and 20
minutes per day
• 5/4-9 compressed plan
 FLEXIBLE HOURS

• flextime programs Policies that give

employees some discretion over when they can
arrive at and leave work, thereby making it easier
to adapt their work schedules to the demands of
their personal lives.
• Contingent workforce—people hired by
organizations temporarily, to work as needed for
finite periods of time.
 IDIOSYNCRATIC WORK ARRANGEMENTS- i-deals
• uniquely customized agreements negotiated between
individual employees and their employers with respect to
employment terms benefiting each party.
• I-deals may take two forms.
• Ex ante i-deals are negotiated before one begins a job,
such as while negotiating the terms of employment (e.g.,
salary, fringe benefits, etc.).
• Ex post i-deals are arrangements about employment
terms made once a person already is working in an
organization
 JOB SHARING

• A form of regular part-time work in which

two or more employees assume the duties
of a single job, splitting its responsibilities,
salary, and benefits in proportion to the
time worked
 VOLUNTARY REDUCED WORK
TIME (V-TIME) PROGRAMS
• allow employees to reduce the amount of time
they work by a certain amount (typically 10 or 20
percent), with a proportional reduction in pay
 Organizational Justice
• The study of people’s perceptions of fairness in
organizations
• distributive justice
• procedural justice
• interpersonal justice
• informational justice
 Strategies for Promoting
Organizational Justice
1. Pay Workers What They Deserve
2. Offer Workers a Voice: fair process effect The
tendency for people to better accept outcomes into which
they have had some input in determining than when they
have no such involvement,
Methods: Meet regularly and invite input
Conduct employee surveys.
Keep an “open door policy.
3. Explain Decisions Thoroughly and in a
Manner Demonstrating Dignity and Respect
4. Train Workers to Be Fair : train managers in
ways of treating employees in a manner they will
perceive to be fair & training employees in ways of
enhancing organizational justice
 Ethical Behavior in
Organizations: Its Fundamental
Nature
• moral values (morals) People’s fundamental beliefs
regarding what is right or wrong, good or bad.
• sources of moral values is the religious background,
beliefs, and training we receive
• Ethics : Standards of conduct that guide people’s
decisions and behavior (e.g., not stealing from others).
• Just as organizations prescribe other kinds of
behavior that are expected in the workplace
(e.g., when to arrive and leave), so too should
they prescribe appropriate ethical behavior.
• Not surprisingly, most top business leaders
recognize that clearly prescribing ethical
behavior is a fundamental part of good
management.
• Ethics and the Law
• Being ethical is not the same as being legal
• law plays a large role in governing ethical
behavior within organizations.
• FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES FOR
ORGANIZATIONS : provide guidelines for
federal judges to follow when imposing penalties
on organizations found guilty of breaking federal
laws
 Why Do Some People Behave
Unethically
• Individual Differences in Cognitive
Moral Development
• Situational Determinants of Unethical
Behavior