Business & Industrial Psychology

In 1929, W.S. Dale wrote that industrial psychology had a definite part to play in business and industry because it would increase output without increasing the "demands on the energy of the worker." Since that time, business and industrial psychology has become an integral part of how organizations do business by helping businesses focus on key productivity issues including the physical and mental well-being of workers.

What is Business and Industrial Psychology

The term industrial psychology is a typographical error. While transcribing a speech he had given at the American Psychological Association in 1903, W. L. Bryan wrote about the need for research on concrete activities that occur in everyday life as it related to ‘"individual’" psychology. But, he wrote "industrial" and did not catch his mistake. Thus, business and industrial psychology field was born.

Business and industrial (B/I) psychology, also known as industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology, is the application of psychological theory and techniques to workplace issues such as employee selection, job design, management methods and decision making.

Frequently, it is described in the context of Human Resources and affects the daily lives of millions of workers. Today, B/I psychology also includes work issues related to human factors such as workplace safety, human error, human capability and human computer interactions.

Buiness Aspects

B/I psychology focuses on organizational policies and procedures that affect individual workers. This includes areas such as job analysis, employee recruitment and selection, performance reviews and the application of employment laws.

Research in B/I psychology by Middle Tennessee State University researchers Thomas Tang and Linda Sarsfield-Baldwin showed that organizational success is tied to organizational justice. Successful businesses have well-established policies and procedures that are fairly and consistently applied to all employees in all areas of the organization.

If procedural justice is present, employees have more positive attitudes about their work and the workplace. They also tend to see the distribution of resources, in the form of salaries, benefits, equipment, etc., as fair and equitable. This is known as distributive justice. Both procedural and distributive justice play an important part in employee recruiting and retention, which are essential to an organization’s success.

Industrial (Organizational) Aspects

The industrial aspects of B/I psychology focus on organizational performance at the individual, team, department, division and company levels. Much of the emphasis is on interpersonal relationships and individual differences and how they affect the organization. It includes topics such as motivation, work/life balance/ organizational culture, employee development and leadership styles.

Organizational Citizenship

B/I psychologists study organizational citizenship behavior, which is the way employees act and what they do that it not included in their job descriptions. It includes behaviors such as courtesy, teamwork, conscientiousness, and integrity. These are discretionary behaviors that are not formally recognized or rewarded but which contribute to the success of the business. B/I psychologists examine and identify ways to improve organizational citizenship behavior.

Human Factors

B/I psychology uses human factors to improve productivity in the workplace while reducing safety risks. It examines how people work both physically and cognitively and how they interact with the world around them. Research in human factors is used to design equipment such as computer keyboards and screens, ergonomic chairs and lighting systems, all in an effort to improve productivity and retain skilled employees. Human factors analysis help identify opportunities for process improvement and employee training needs.

World War II focused the attention of the military, manufacturers, and businesses on the importance of human factors. While engineers were focused on the technology of flight, they paid little attention to cockpit design and instrument layout. In order to ensure that pilots could complete their missions safely and effectively, human factors psychologists designed aircraft cockpits in the context of how pilots saw, thought and moved their bodies.

References

• "The New Zealand Railways Magazine: Industrial Psychology," W. S. Dale, 1929
• "Psychology Applied to Work: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology," Paul Muchinsky, 1997
• "SAM Advanced Management Journal: Distributive and Procedural Justice as Related to Satisfaction and Commitment," T. Tang & L. Sarsfield-Baldwin, 1996
• "Journal of Management: Procedural Justice in Performance Eval.," M. Korsgaard & L. Roberson, 1995
• "Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology: 5. A Study To Improve Organizational Citizenship Behaviors," Min-Huei. Chien, 2003