Download In 21st Century I-History of Psycology-Lecture Handout and more Exercises History of Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! History and Systems of Psychology – PSY502 VU Lesson 43 PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21st CENTURY We will now touch upon two relatively modern areas of psychology; the first is organizational psychology and industrial psychology. It may be defined as the application of psychological principles and techniques to business and industrial problems. For example, psychology may be used in the selection of personnel or development of training programs for the employees which may enhance their productivity, make them more efficient and hence result in betterment of the organization. In other words, industrial and organizational psychology are two new branches of psychology which aim at improving overall performance of industrial and organizational workforce in order to improve the productivity of the organization as a whole. Industrial psychology in particular, deals with labor force that works in factories etc., while organizational psychology deals with psychology of members of any organization, may it be an educational institute or a team. Some areas which are studied under the umbrella of organizational/industrial psychology include: o Organizational design Organizational design studies how to deal with the design of organization which meets the requirements and needs. For example, an organization may be tall or flat, i.e. having greater layers of management or lesser layers of management. o Organizational culture Organizational culture studies how to deal with the culture within the organization. Every organization has its own set of values which are expected to be followed by every member of the organization. These values determine the overall productivity of the employees. Organization culture deals with the principles that govern such cultural practices. It sets out guidelines to develop, maintain and reform (if needed) the organizational culture. o Globalization Globalization refers to a phenomenon which is often misperceived to be quite recent. Globalization means the world becoming one global village where distances present no more a hurdle to communication, trade, mobility of factors, exchange of ideas etc. An important aspect of globalization is that it allows mobility of workforce to move from one part of the globe to another. This mobility of workforce has had a significant impact on the working of organizations which has become more diversified in terms of labor force composition. A modern organization may employee a workforce comprising of members from various countries other than its origin. Therefore, globalization also plays a significant role in determining industrial psychology. o Diversity Diversity refers to the workforce of an organization comprising of individuals with different characteristics and traits which may differ to a great extent. Modern organizations, in order to survive in harsh competition need to diversify their workforce. Therefore, diversity studies shape a vital part of industrial psychology studies. o Personality related factors in organizations Personality related factors in organizations refer to factors such as motivation of the employee or attitude of the employee towards the organization and his work. Therefore, organizations need to concentrate on such factors which are now a part of industrial and organizational psychology. A motivated employee, for instance, would be more productive and would be more useful for the organization. ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 95 docsity.com
