Final Project 1

Module 2: Assignment 3: Final Project

James A. Cox, Jr.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology PSY 320 XD

Instructor: Colleen Mills

November 9, 2009

Argosy University
 Final Project 2

As a scientist/practitioner, I would suggest to the senior management at Florida Sun

Company that they advertise on-line, and in newspapers across the country. In the ads they

should include the qualifying requirements, and state emphatically that only the qualified need to

apply. In addition to the advertisements, Florida Sun Company should include incentives for

accepting this position with the company. Qualified applicants should have attained at least a

master’s degree in human resources, have the ability to work effectively with others, be

meticulous to detail, and be willing to travel. It is important as an I/O psychologist to

demonstrate knowledge in a specialty area. He or she must apply scientific principles to increase

work efficiency and productivity. Scientific management principles must be implemented in

order that work procedures are made more efficient and productive. It is important to emphasize

that scientific management and I/O psychology are not directly connected, although the

principles of scientific management did have an influence on the development of I/O

psychology.

The problem of attrition must be addressed at Florida Sun Company. In order to do this,

I would suggest that management conduct a study to determine why personnel are leaving and

not being replaced. Obviously, an internal problem exists. In order to find out what the problem

is, I would first conduct interviews with the remaining staff. I would focus on questions

involving job satisfaction and salary. Next, I would conduct a survey of current and former

employees in order to determine if the likelihood of staying with the company is directly related

to satisfaction with one’s supervisor. After determining that there is a positive correlation

between the two, I would set up training sessions with supervisors to improve their human

relations skills. Lastly, I would conduct direct observation at the company so that I could see for

myself exactly what is going on during the course of the day. I would conduct my observations

both covertly and overtly (Riggio, p.430, 2007).

 Final Project 3

I would randomly assign some personnel to the training session, but others would not

receive the training. A comparison of the two groups at the end of a specified period would

allow me to determine the effectiveness of the training session. Random assignment ensures that

any motivational differences or other individual characteristics show up in equivalent

proportions in both groups. I would try to be careful not to create a situation that is quite

different from the actual work setting. Employees at Sun Company must conduct business as

usual so that my research can be useful and effective (Riggio, p.429, 2007).

Because satisfaction in one’s supervisor is positively correlated with the likelihood of

leaving the company, I may conclude that some supervisors may have to be replaced in order to

retain quality, productive personnel. At the same time, recruitment measures would be in place,

ensuring that only the best managers are employed at Florida Sun Company. Sixty percent of the

variance in “likelihood of leaving the organization” is accounted for by satisfaction with the

supervisor. If a person is dissatisfied with his or her supervisor 60% of the time, then she or he is

likely to leave the company. I would conduct a systematic study of the tasks, duties, and

responsibilities of the jobs at Florida Sun Company, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities

needed to perform them. Before a worker can be hired or trained and before a worker’s

performance can be evaluated, it is critical to understand what the worker’s job entails. An up-

to-date job analysis must exist for the positions at Florida Sun Company in order to reflect the

work that is actually going to be performed. Without an up-to-date job analysis, it is doubtful

that Florida Sun Company will be able to hire an individual with all the knowledge, skills,

abilities, and other characteristics needed to perform the job as it currently exists (Argosy, 2009).

References:
 Final Project 4

Argosy University. (2009).Module 2: Data Collection. Industrial/Organizational Psychology

PSY320 XD. Retrieved on November 9, 2009, from http://www.myeclassonline.com

Riggio, R. E. (2007). Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology (5th ed.). Pearson.