U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
U09 314 PSYCH
Professor:
Phone:
E-mail:
Conference Hours:
Term Dates:
Meeting Times:
Location:
Douglas Bram, Ph.D.
(314) 629-3684
[email protected]
Before or after class or by appointment
January 23 - May 8, 2017
(see attached schedule of class meeting times)
Monday 6:00-8:30 pm
Eads Hall 16 (in the Active Learning Classroom)
Course Description:
This course is intended to be an upper level course to extend introductory learning
from U09 214 Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. It will explore
the impact of various employee and organizational behavior processes (e.g., decision
making, planning, coordination, communication, change management, etc.) on
organizational effectiveness and outcomes. As a psychology course, it will apply key
theories of psychology to organizational settings to provide students with
understanding for how employees, work teams, and organizations use the best
practices to achieve optimal results. This survey course also analyzes the factors
relating to organizational structures and processes and their impact on long-term
organizational effectiveness. This macro view includes organizational structure and
design, organizational types, organizational change and development, approaches to
organizational effectiveness, alliances and joint ventures, and organizationalenvironmental interfaces.
Education Objectives:
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To link psychological research, findings, and methods to workplace issues.
To provide students with frameworks and tools for better understanding
themselves as workers, co-workers, jobs, and working environments, and how
these may interact in different situations
To provide potential strategies for individual career development, job
effectiveness, workplace or productivity improvement, and team or
organizational interventions.
To understand key psychological principles as the foundation to organizational
effectiveness, including how to motivate employees, how to manage and lead
effectively, how to promote factors that result in effective organizational change
and how to use effective communication to promote optimal outcomes in an
organization (from the break room to the Board Room).
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Learning source materials:
1. There is no required textbook for this course. All required readings are posted on
Blackboard for download or obtained from library holdings. It is your responsibility
to read and bring these readings to class on the days that we cover them. Using
your computer/tablet in class is encouraged.
2. Guided lecture and applied examples from instructor’s 25 year background in the
field of organizational psychology.
Learning methods/format:
The format for class time meetings will be weekly two hour lectures with student discussions
accompanied with activity based learning. Students are encouraged to do independent
reading, researching, and reflection writing on course topics and case studies. Students are
encouraged to participate in class activities, discussions, presentations, and projects. Quizzes
will be used to further encourage learning. Blackboard will be used to provide structure and
serve as the electronic depository of our class files. Paper documents will be minimized to
promote environmental responsibility.
Washington University, St. Louis
Demonstration of learning/grading:
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
1. Learning will be demonstrated using homework assignments, in-class participation,
and quizzes. Each demonstration of learning will be worth points and your final
grade will be based on the simple percentage of earned points that you accumulate
out of the total possible points on demonstrations. The three demonstration/grading
categories are:
 In-class participation (including discussions, activities, and presentations)
 Homework assignments (including learning reflections, research and case
study analyses, self-assessments, interviews with subject matter experts, and
research analyses)
 Quizzes (in-class and take-home, multiple choice and short answer essay)
The number of points in each category will be determined as we progress in the
semester. But for example, if at the end of the semester you accumulated 85 out of
95 participation points, 183 out of 197 homework points, and 173 out of 200 test
points, your final grade would be (85+183+173)/(95+197+200) = 441/492=89.63%
2. Quizzes will be based on class lectures and source reading material. Quizzes will
take place in-class on scheduled dates or as a take-home. If you have a schedule
conflict for an examination date, please let the instructor know as soon as possible.
Makeup tests will be given only for honest and important reasons. The final
examination will be given at the time of the last class on. It will be comprehensive
final examination covering all material presented throughout the semester.
3. Video engagement activity: Each week one student will be invited to show a short
video clip that is intended to evoke emotion. The video clip should not be about
anything related to motivation, something that motivates or inspires the audience.
It can be anything from a silly pet video to a cartoon on nuclear disarmament. Just
some clip that you saw that you liked and has a motivation message, and that you
think other students would not find offensive.
4. Class leadership activity: Each week one student will be assigned to be our “class
leader”. Think of it as your birthday. For 15-30 minutes of class time, you have the
opportunity to direct our class. Your chosen activity should be related to course
topics. You can team up with one other person if you like, but just plan to do two
class leadership days.
Examples of what other students have done in the past:
a. Delivered a presentation on a topic they found interesting and wanted to
share.
b. Involved the class in one or more class activities and discussions.
c. Brought food to share before or after their activity/presentation.
d. Invited a guest speaker.
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Course Outline:
Organizational
Mechanisms:
1. Leadership
2. Organizational
structure
3. Work-life balance
4. Organizational
Change
Small Group
Mechanisms:
1. Justice
Individual
Mechanisms:
Outcomes:
1. Work Motivation
1. Performance
2. Emotions
2. Deviance
3. Job Attitudes
3. Withdrawal
Behaviors
4. Vocational Identity
2. Trust
3. Teamwork
4. Diversity
(Credit: Jason Dahling)
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Date
Topic
Reading Assignment
1/23
Introduction
Helms, J.L., & Rogers, D.T. (2011). Careers in industrial and organizational psychology. In
J.L. Helms & D.T. Rogers (Eds.), Majoring in psychology: Achieving your educational
and career goals (pp. 156-173). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
1/30
Criteria: Job Performance
2/6
Criteria: Rule Breaking & Deviance
Bolino, M.C., & Turnley, W.H. (2005). The personal costs of citizenship behavior: The
relationship between individual initiative and role overload, job stress, and workfamily conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 740-748.
Litzky, B.E., Eddleston, K.A., & Kidder, D.L. (2006). The good, the bad, and the misguided:
How managers inadvertently encourage deviant behaviors. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 20, 91-103.
Overview of Organizational
Psychology
Kim, E., & Glomb, T.M. (2010). Get smarty pants: Cognitive ability, personality, and
victimization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 889-901.
Criteria: Withdrawal Behaviors
2/13
Holtom, B.C., Mitchell, T.R., & Lee, T.W. (2006). Increasing human and social capital by
applying job embeddedness theory. Organizational Dynamics, 35, 316-331.
Quiz 1: Outcomes
Individual Mechanisms: Work Motivation
2/20
Individual Mechanisms: Emotions at Work
2/27
Individual Mechanisms: Job and Career
Attitudes
Latham, G.P. (2001). The importance of understanding and changing employee outcome
expectancies for gaining commitment to an organizational goal. Personnel Psychology,
54, 707-716.
Kohn, A. (1993). Why incentive plans cannot work. Harvard Business Review, 71 (5), 54-63.
Barsade, S.G., & Gibson, D.E. (2007). Why does affect matter in organizations? Academy of
Management Perspectives, 21, 36-59.
Brief, A.P., Butcher, A.H., & Roberson, L. (1995). Cookies, disposition, and job attitudes:
The effects of positive mood-inducing effects and negative affectivity on job
satisfaction in a field experiment. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 62, 55-62.
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Date
Topic
Reading Assignment
Arvey, R.D., Harpaz, I., & Liao, H. (2004). Work centrality and post-award work behavior of
lottery winners. The Journal of Psychology, 138, 404-420.
Individual Mechanisms: Vocational Identity
and Interests
3/6
Bergman, M.E., & Chalkley, K.M. (2007). “Ex” marks a spot: The stickiness of dirty work and
other removed stigmas. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 251-265.
Quiz 2: Individual mechanisms
Small Group Mechanisms: Organizational
Justice and Fairness Perceptions
Greenberg, J. (1990). Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden
costs of pay cuts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 561-568.
Tripp, T.M., Bies, R.J., & Aquino, K. (2002). Poetic justice or petty jealousy? The aesthetics
of revenge. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 89, 966-984.
3/13
Spring break (no class meeting)
3/20
Small Group Mechanisms: Psychological
Contracts and Trust
Rousseau, D.M. (2004). Psychological contracts in the workplace: Understanding the ties
that motivate. Academy of Management Executive, 18, 120-127.
3/27
Small Group Mechanisms: Teamwork
Jassawalla, A., Sashittal, H., & Malshe, A. (2009). Students’ perceptions of social loafing: Its
antecedents and consequences in undergraduate business classroom teams.
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8, 42-54.
Livingston, R.W., & Pearce, N.A. (2009). The Teddy-Bear Effect: Does having a baby face
benefit Black Chief Executive Officers? Psychological Science, 20, 1229-1236.
Small Group Mechanisms: Diversity
Morgan, W.B., Walker, S.S., Hebl, M.R., & King, E.B. (2013). A field experiment: Reducing
interpersonal discrimination toward pregnant job applicants. Journal of Applied
Psychology, Vol 98(5), 799-809.
4/3
Quiz 3: Small group mechanisms
Organizational Mechanisms: Leadership
Van Vugt, M., & Spisak, B.R. (2008). Sex differences in the emergence of leadership during
competitions within and between groups. Psychological Science, 19, 854-858.
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Date
Topic
Reading Assignment
Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., de Luque, M.S., & House, R.J. (2006). In the eye of the
beholder: Cross cultural lessons in leadership from Project GLOBE. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 20, 67-90.
4/10
4/17
Organizational Mechanisms: Structure
Anand, N., & Daft, R.L. (2007). What is the right organization design? Organizational
Dynamics, 36, 329-344.
Organizational Mechanisms: Social
Networks
Casciaro, T., & Lobo, M.S. (2005). Competent jerks, lovable fools, and the formation of
social networks. Harvard Business Review, 83, 92-99.
Organizational Mechanisms: Culture
Van Maanen, J. (1991). The smile factory: Work at Disneyland. In P.J. Frost, L.F. Moore,
M.R. Louis, C.C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Reframing organizational culture (pp.
58-76). Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Major, D.A., & Lauzun, H.M. (2010). Equipping managers to assist employees in addressing
work-family conflict: Applying the research literature toward innovative practice.
The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 13, 69-85.
Organizational Mechanisms: Work-Family
Balance
4/24
Organizational Mechanisms: Organizational
Change & Development
Kotter, J.P. (2007). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business
Review, 85 (1), 96-103.
Student presentations
5/1
Quiz 4: Organizational mechanisms
Student presentations
5/8
Final Exam
Comprehensive, from Quiz 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Washington University, St. Louis
U09 314 Organizational Psychology, Syllabus
Spring Semester 2017
Washington University, St. Louis