INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TRENDS 0

Industrial Organizational Psychology Trends

Jada Thomas

Arkansas Tech University

March 5th, 2017

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Industrial Organizational Psychology Trends

Industrial-organizational psychology is the branch of psychology that applies

psychological theories and principles to organizations. Often referred to as I-O psychology, this

field focuses on increasing workplace productivity and related issues such as the physical and

mental well being of employees. Industrial organizational psychology focuses on acquired

principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and this knowledge can be applied to

problem with in the workforce. The description industrial organizational psychology is a survey

of psychological applications in industrial settings with emphasis upon selection, placement,

training techniques, organizational theory, and decision-making processes. The current trends for

industrial organizational psychology are globalization, innovation, and technology.

Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop

international influence or start operating on an international scale. Globalization focuses on

cross-cultural leadership, that causes change in organizational policies and practices. An

important trend for Industrial organizational psychology is globalization instead of organizations

primary competition being the rival across town it now it exists on a global level. Globalization

has lead to the need for the use of virtual workplace. Virtual workplaces may well change both

how I-O psychologists perform their daily duties and the scope of their projects. Technological

advances such as electronic whiteboards and Skype allow collaboration with people sitting on

the opposite side of the world.

Globalization has even modified the way organizations hire and seek new talent. Most

organizations require applicants to apply online for employment nowadays. Since social media
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is a big trend now a lot of companies now advertise job opportunities on these platforms. This

gives organizations the chance to find the best talent on a global scale and can even schedule

phone interviews, face-to-face interviews via Skype TM. Social media also gives organizations a

look into the applicant they are considering for employment although some states are creating

privacy legislation to protect employees and job applicants from having to share their social

media profiles (National Conference of State Legislature, 2013).

Organizational innovation is the implementation of a new organizational method in the

undertakings business practices, workplace organization or external relations. Changes in

business practices, workplace organization or external relations that are based on organizational

methods already in use in the undertaking, changes in management strategy, mergers and

acquisitions, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting

purely from changes in factor prices, customization, regular seasonal and other cyclical changes,

trading of new or significantly improved products are not considered innovations. Innovation is

also an important trend in Industrial organization psychology in helping organizations become

more globalized as previously mentioned workplaces are having to find more ways to keep up

with current trends and one of the biggest trends currently is globalization. Organizations are

looking for talent all over the world to join the workforce even if the talent is not local this bring

in the need for innovation and investment in hybrid technology. Research and development is an

important part of innovating for companies, they must stay on top of the latest technology

infrastructure, specialized equipment and facilities, and regional networks. Innovation is a key

factor in an organization sustaining competitive strength. Innovation is all about staying ahead

of the curve and keeping up with the trends and knowing when to make the decision to change

within an organization to remain afloat.

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Organizational Technology and Innovation are almost one in the same, as the new

innovations must have an infrastructure to operate on. In the Sales Industry Enterprise Account

Managers are constantly on the go but still need to have access to internal systems in for them to

order. Laptops, Mobile device, and Tablets play an important role in making this possible. Many

of the applications that are accessible from laptops are now being optimize so they are accessible

on mobile device and tablets. These innovations along with technologies give employees access

to the company network and tools that they need to complete their work while on the go.

Conclusion

These trends are important to Industrial Organizational Psychology because they tie into what I-

O psychology means and focus on. The trends also focus of the current work world and not just

the individual in the workplace. Through these trends learn proper ways to communicate when it

comes to organizational issues as well as environmental issues. The research shows how these

trends are the concentration for I-O psychology and how they all work together to get a better

understanding about I-O psychology.

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Reference

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2013). Employer access to social media usernames

and passwords; Year-end summary for 2012 legislation. Retrieved from

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/telecom/employer-access-to-social-media-passwords.aspx.

Top Ten I-O Workplace Trends for 2016. (2015, December 22). Retrieved March 05, 2017, from

http://neoacademic.com/2016/01/06/top-ten-i-o-workplace-trends-for-2016/

Writer, L. G. (2013, August 28). Trends in Industrial Psychology. Retrieved March 05, 2017,

from http://work.chron.com/trends-industrial-psychology-24967.html

What is I-O? (n.d.). Retrieved March 05, 2017, from

http://www.siop.org/tip/Apr13/19_TipTopics.aspx