IOP3704 - Study Notes

STUDY UNIT 1: An Industrial Psychology Approach to Labour Relations What are the main reasons for the neglect of the role of industrial psychology in labour relations? 1. There is a tendency of industrial psychologists to ignore trade unions, reasons for this include:  Institutional Naivety – viewing Labour Relations (LR) primarily as interpersonal relations  Inadequate Exposure to the problems of the working class – poor sensitivity and understanding to problems of the labour  Develpoments in Organisational Psychology – such as job enrichment etc. which can run counter to the traditional goals of labour  Problems of application – behavioural science interventions showing poor results  Misconceptions about the nature of industrial conflict  Research problems – lack of opportunities fr research , inadequate communication of research results etc.  Preoccupation with the scientific method – thereby ignoring controversial issue of LR and instead researching theoretically and technically safe areas.  Strong association woth management  Treatment of unions as dummy variables  Inappropriate models of human behaviour in the work situation 2. There is a tendency of unions and specialists in LR to underplay the importance of Industrial Psychology (IS)  There is a distrust of IS  Psychological contributions are not welcome  “pro trade union” is the dominant value position  Methodologies and approaches of LR are not conducive to psychological involvement What is the definition of “the field of IS”  MAIN DEFINITION: Behaviour of individuals in the work situation  Scientific study of the relationship between man and the world at work: the study of the adjustment people make to the places they go, people they meet and the things they do in the process of making a living  Solving the human problems created by an industrial civilisation Identify the various areas of specialisation in IS, and provide a brief explanation for these terms Sub Field Description Example of a Career Personnel Psychology  Concerned with all aspects of applied individual differences  Job analysis and evaluation  Selection  Performance  Training and Development Organisational Psychology  Concerned with role related  Psychology’s strengths lie in behavioural and process analyses at the individual, group and organisational levels  As LR becomes more process orientated, psychology’s contribution will be increasingly recognised. IOP3704 - Study Notes behaviour  Pressures that groups can pose on individuals  Personal feelings of commitment to an organisation  Patterns of communication within organisation (Org) Ergonomics  Understanding of human performance in personmachine systems  Includes design of equipment and machinery to enhance worker productivity and safety Vocational and Career Counselling  Concerned with conselling which applies to problems at work  Finding a rewarding and satisfying career path  Resolving conflict between work and leisure interests  Preparing for retirement Organisational Development  Improving or changing organisations to make them more efficient Consumer Behaviour  Behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services Labour Relations  Concerned with problems between employers and employees  Usually involves a trade union  Co-operation and conflict between work parties  Resolving disputes in the workforce  Bargaining or negotiating agreements between various segments of the workforces Describe IS as a science and practice It’s scientific aspect is rooted in research to provide the knowledge that is a pre-requisite for any practical application Discuss the general value of IS in LR In general terms, the role of the psychologist in LR is as follows:  A specialist in interpersonal relationships at work whose skills may be used to restructure people’s orientations to each other and their problems  A source of methods and techniques that can be used to aid problem diagnosis, facilitate change and evaluate its effectiveness.  A person with the ability to put a different perspective on familiar situations and issues by bringing them to a broader comparative view or through the interpretative usefulness of his or her theories Discuss the specific value of IS in LR (15 marks) a) Workers as human beings  Too much emphasis has been placed on the legalistic and mechanistic aspects of the industrial employeremployee relationship. Hence, a change in emphasis in labour management from the mechanical to the behavioural science aspects with particular attention to relationships in general and labour relationships b) Individual variables  Individual  Psychologists should investigate the influence of attitudes and roles  The influence of the settling of employee grievances on attitudes also justifies investigation  NB to assess deeper feelings and attitudes of employees so that leaders of trade unions (TUs) have an adequate understanding of them  Industrial psychologists should investigate managerial attitudes towards unions so that it can be established how these influence the sound industrial systems  Unions and Employees  Workers reasons and desire for joining the unions  Union instrumentality  Extent to which union objectives coincide with members’ needs and interests  Workers commitments to unions  Research into commitments to the union, org, and dual commitment  Provide answers to Q’s such as what influences are exerted by unions on the personal development and adjustment of workers  Industrial behaviour or women relative to men  Employee Needs  Objective of field: Ensure that the needs of management and workers are continually addressed  Understand complexities and frustrations – therefore reduce hostility and aggression in bargaining and restore harmony in certain situations  Rule Related Behaviour  Understanding the processes implicated in the underlying complexities of rule-related behaviour  Environmental Influences on the individual  Understanding of values and pressures that the environment represents and creates and their influence on worker behaviour  Assist by anticipating and sensing shifts in values and their influence on workers so that organisations can respond to the changes  Outcomes of LR System  Providing info on issues such as : Do employees’ dissatisfaction and pressure for industrial change disappear under “good” management c) Organisational variables What is the potential value of industrial psychology in terms of the effect of org variables on LR?  Organisational Structure  Investigating the influence of organisational structure on labour relations with a view to: