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Republic of the Philippines

SAMAR STATE UNIVERSITY


COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Catbalogan City, Samar
Telephone Numbers: (055)-542-8394/ (055)-251-2139
Website: www.ssu.edu.ph

Critique Paper

I. Course Number : PSYCH 304


II. Course Descriptive Title : Field Method
III. Credit Units : 5 units
IV. Professor/s : Mary Jane B. Cinco
V. Academic Term & School Year : Second Semester, SY 2017-2018
VI. Submitted by : Maria Divina V. Santiago
Tiza Gwen Y. Pitos

INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

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
psychologists perform a wide variety of tasks, including studying worker attitudes and
behavior, evaluating companies, and conducting leadership training. The overall goal of
this field is to study and understand human behavior in the workplace.

The study of Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology originated in the United


States in the early 1900s through the work of psychologists Hugo Münsterberg and
Walter Dill Scott (both of whom were trained by German physiologist and
psychologist Wilhelm Wundt), while its practical application developed largely through
the work of American industrial engineer Frederick W. Taylor. I-O psychology grew
rapidly after World War I and even more so after World War II.

THE BEGINNINGS OF IO IN THE PHILIPPINES

Perhaps the first Filipino IO psychologist was Mariano Obias who graduated with
a PhD in Comparative and Physiological Psychology from Stanford in 1955 and then
went on to head the Personnel department at Caltex Philippines. However, as an
academic field, although psychology was first introduced in the Philippines in 1926, the
actual teaching of IO psychology did not emerge until the 1960’s when Fr. Jaime
Bulatao, one of the founding fathers of psychology in the Philippines, introduced the
science of group process in the Ateneo de Manila University. The Philippine Institute of
Applied Behavioral Science was established in the 1970's by Fr. Eugene Moran,
together with Carmencita Abella, Teresita Nitorreda, and Jose de Jesus. It was one of
the pioneer groups in adult. education methodologies and introduced alternative modes
of interventions such as sensitivity training and the use of structured learning
experiences (Ortigas, 1990a). In 1974, the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU)
Department of Psychology also created the Ateneo Human Resources Center (which
was later renamed to Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development or
Ateneo CORD). This center was intended to be the practice and extension arm of the
department especially in the field of IO and Social Psychology.
On a national level, although the Psychological Association of the Philippines
was founded in 1962, the first standing committee in IO psychology was created in
1988. Ten years later, a formal division in IO psychology was created with Dr. Carmela
Ortigas as its head.
In terms of the science of IO, the first documented IO psychology research done
in the country was "The Personality of the Esteemed Filipino Employee" by Aurora
Yambot in 1966 as her Master's thesis in AdMU. However, research in IO did not begin
to flourish until the 1980s. Some notable researches during this time were Dr. Lenora V.
de Jesus' (1985) dissertation in UP entitled "Explaining and predicting Filipino industrial
workers' performance and satisfaction: The socio-psychological perspective" and Dr.
Arnaryllis Torres' (1988) book entitled "The Urban Filipino Worker in an Industrializing
Society".
Perhaps the first recognition for work in IO was given to Dr. Amaryllis T. Torres
who was named an Outstanding Young Scientist by the National Academy of Science
and Technology (NAST) in 1985 in recognition of her researches in population. industrial
psychology, social development and participatory strategies, and in evaluation studies,
as well as her work on training.

EDUCATION IN IO PSYCHOLOGY

Like in the West, IO psychology was initially treated as an application of Social


Psychology. However, with the growth of research, theories, principles and practices
that are specific to organizations, it has since moved out of the shadows of Social
Psychology through the establishment of specific courses and degree programs.
Today, an Introduction to IO Psychology course is a Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) mandated requirement of A.B. and B.S. Psychology programs. In
addition, a number of institutions also offer BS Industrial Psychology programs.
RESEARCH IN IO PSYCHOLOGY

Research in IO psychology in the country is still in its infancy. A survey of


psychological publications in 1997 revealed that only 5% of research in the Philippines
is done in IO psychology (Bernardo, 1997). However, perhaps because of the
increasing students and the number of universities offering IO programs, the past
decades have seen increasing productivity in IO research. The most popular research
topics are human resource development (HRD), organization development, leadership
and productivity. Unfortunately, a great majority (80%) of researches in IO psychology
are student theses and dissertations that remain unpublished.
Of the 20% of IO research that is published, 9% are in international publications
such as: Career Development Quarterly (Salazar, 2001), Journal of Applied Psychology
(Bagozzi, Verbeke, & Gavino, 2003), Psychological Reports (Kakuyama, Onglatco.
Tsuzuki, & Matsui. T. (2003), Organization Development Journal (Reyes-Sagun, 1988),
Human Relations (Colarelli, Hechanova & Canali, 2002) and Applied Psychology: An
International Review (Hechanova. Beehr, & Christiansen, 2003).
The dearth of research in IO psychology is a reflection of many factors primary of
which is competitive and tedious of getting published in international peer reviewed
journals.
The formidable process of publication is coupled by a lack of critical mass of IO
psychologists. This is also compounded by a lack of resources. But perhaps the
greatest hurdle that IO researchers face is that many organizations in the Philippines
are not willing to open their doors to research because of confidentiality concerns. With
all of these constraints, it is not surprising that, although IO has become popular major,
the graduation of rate of MA students is poor mostly because many IO students never
finish their thesis.

PRACTICE OF IO PSYCHOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Other than in the academe, IO psychologists have mainly practiced in the field of
Human Resource Management (HRM). A recent study by the Personnel Management of
the Philippines (PMAP) and the Ateneo CORD on the profile of the Filipino HR
practitioner reveals that 49% of HR practitioners have psychology or behavioral science
backgrounds. In addition, 58% of HR practitioners surveyed had graduate
units/education in psychology or HRM related courses (Lanuza, 2005).
Today, typical areas of practice within HRM include recruitment and selection,
training and development, compensation and benefits or rewards management,
performance management, labor and employee relations and organization
development. The strong influence of the West is evident in the evolution of IO
psychology and, subsequently, human resource management in the Philippines. Like in
the West, the first HR roles and functions to emerge in the Philippines were those
related to personnel administration. However, in the past decade, HR has been called to
step up and play a more strategic role.

ISSUES IN IO PSYCHOLOGY

What’s in a Name?
Despite the fact that it is one of the fastest growing areas in psychology, the
reality is that the term IO psychology is still faced with a number challenges— foremost
of which is its label. Even in North America that has the largest population of IO
psychologists, the term is not very well known or understood (Ryan, m03). IO Guru Paul
Muchinsky (2002) cites the many labels that are being used by people in this field:
organizational psychologist, work psychologist, occupational psychologist, job
psychologist, company psychologist, labor psychologist, and employment psychologist.
Admittedly, all of these labels may also be open to misinterpretation especially by
laymen.

In Search of an Identity
An emerging issue in IO psychology in the past decade is establishing its own
identity. The study of work behavior is not the exclusive domain of psychologists; it is
shared with other fields such as management, sociology, economics, and political
science, to name a few. In Philippines, only half of HR are trained in behavioral sciences
– the rest having various backgrounds such as management, communications, etc.
(Lanuza, 2005). Such multi-disciplinary nature has also made it difficult to differentiate
itself from HR practitioners that are products of these other fields. There is die issue of
whether HR practitioners would rather choose MBA rather than an MA degree because
10 psychology appears to be fairly unfamiliar to general public.

Science vs. Practice


IO Psychology utilizes a scientist-practitioner model where the practice of human
resource management is based on the science of IO psychology (Katzell & Austin,
1992). Gasser et al (2004) explains that this means that IO psychologists should be
able to assist organizations in coming up with solution and decisions that are based on
empirical data rather than merely gut feel. They also contend that IO psychologists
should be able to show evidence of success of interventions through good research
rather than just testimony or anecdotal evidence. Finally, they opine that IO
psychologists should be able to look beyond specific situation or contexts and let
empirical evidence generate and test theory on the psychology of the worker, teams,
and organizations.
Basic vs. Applied Research
Similarly, such tension is also visible in the nature of researches IO psychologists
engage in. When practitioners do engage in research for their organizations, their
problems tend to be narrow in focus and they are often pressured to come up with quick
decisions. Organizations are less concerned with theory building, and more focused on
practical, realistic solutions to current problems. On the other hand, basic research
deals with theory building and testing which often requires much time and a variety of
settings from which to derive generalizations. There is also the perception that research
by academics is of little value to practitioners whereas academics feel that research
produced by practitioners is too "messy" (Hyatt et al, 1970). Tie authors also observe
that there is not a lot of overlap in the areas of practitioners and academics. Thus, we
see practitioners with little interface between the two.

To license or not to license


The debate on licensure of IO psychologists has been ongoing for the past
decades even in countries where the practice of IO is fully developed. Those for
licensure contend that it will prevent and curb unethical practice thereby raising the
stature of the profession. On the other hand, there are those who argue that unlike
clinical psychologists whose practice is protected by client-therapist privacy, IO practice
is done in a public arena and the quality of service can be validated by clients.

Research and Knowledge Building


The practice of IO psychology in the Philippines may be characterized as one of
adoption rather than creation. The paradigms, frameworks, and models currently used
in the country are all largely based on concepts research and derived from the
experiences of other countries and cultures. In addition, majority of the researches in IO
are descriptive in nature rather than theory testing or building.

Bridging Academe and Industry


Research in IO has been hindered by lack of resources and recognition of its
value. Therefore, it is important that a partnership is built between academe and
industry. If the country is to progress in terms of human management, industry must be
willing to partner in research endeavors. There are many experiences of HR
practitioners and organizations that are left undocumented because they do not have
the time, interest or skill in translating them to knowledge. This is another area of
possible collaboration between industry and academe.

Disseminating Knowledge
Although the dearth in research is lamentable, what is even more distressing is
that very little of the research in IO get published. Part of this gap is because our
journals are not readily available nor are interesting to the HR practitioners. Clearly, if
we are to maximize the value of our research, we need to make more effort in
disseminating our findings.

Relevant Education in IO
The requirement of CHED to include IO as an undergraduate program is a good
sign that IO is recognized as a legitimate area of competency for psychology students.
However, there is a need to review the psychology curriculum to ensure that psychology
students are better equipped to take on HR work. The BS Psychology programs are
popular as pre-med courses.
However, the A.B. Psychology programs tend to be quite general in nature and
students may have only one course related to IO psychology. That B.S. Human
Resource Management programs are emerging from Business/Management schools
indicates that psychology students will have greater competition for HR jobs.

Ensuring Ethical Practices and Standards


Whether or not licensure will be implemented, there is a need to safeguard
ethical standards of practice in IO. Unfortunately, unlike in other countries, we do not
even have agreed upon guidelines for the conduct of practice in IO. We also do not
have clear standards for the training of IO psychologists. These are areas that will need
to prioritized by IO psychologists.

Raising the Profile of IO Psychology


In addition, there is a need for better marketing of the IO profession and
programs. If we are to raise the stature of IO psychology, it is important that we
establish the competitive advantage of IO students vis a vis business management
programs. This suggests the need for greater visibility of IO psychologists in
conferences and other venues. More importantly, we need to be able to identifying
ourselves as IO psychologists so the term becomes more familiar to laymen.

Becoming Partners in Nation Building


Beyond making a contribution to the global scientific community, we also need to
start examining our role in nation-building. Ensuring the viability of organizations is key
to nation building especially in a developing country. However, there are national issues
that require our attention. Although there are individual IO psychologists working with
government, there is still much more that we can contribute as a community of scientist
and practitioners.

Strengthening Our IO Community


Implicit in all these challenges is the need for a stronger and more focused
community of IO psychologists. Although the IO Division in the PAP exists, there is very
little interaction and dialogue within this division that occurs outside the annual PAP
convention. One may contend that such situation may be due to a lack of critical mass
of IO psychologists or even that this is not unique to the field of IO.

EMERGING TRENDS IN IO

Beyond the need to address the above issues, the applied nature of the field
requires that IO psychologists are able to adjust to the fast-changing environments.
From such dynamism emerge various trends in both research and practice.

Global Trends in IO
In a round table discussion during a SIOP conference, IO gurus talked about
what is to come in the field of IO (Harris. 2001). The first theme identified is the growing
use of technology in 1IO related functions such as testing, employee development,
performance management, compensation and benefits administration, etc. In addition,
there is emerging research on the interface of people and technology. However, there
are also concerns for privacy issues as well as the possible dehumanization of work due
to technology.
A second theme cited was talent management. As opposed to the issue of
employee turnover, talent management is concerned about attracting and keeping the
high potentials or performers in an organization. Other themes cited were work-life
balance, and emotional intelligence.
IO psychologists also noted growing government regulation on HR management
(Harris, 301). On one hand, the increase in regulation can make organizations realize
value of IO. Such was the case of the equal opportunity law in the US that made it
necessary for organizations to provide evidence the validity of their selection tools and
procedures. On the other hand, regulation is a double-edged sword as it can also stifle
the practice of HR.
The growth of global HR consulting companies and multinational corporations
can also be both none and boon. On one hand, it will allow us to generate knowledge
on people and organizations across cultures. On the other hand, it can also encourage
organizations to simply transplant HR systems programs without regards for its
applicability in the local culture. This can deflate the interest in generating local
knowledge.
An area where counseling and IO psychologists may interface more in future is in
career counseling and executive coaching. This service involves a third-party providing
one-on-one feedback and coaching sessions to top talent of organizations.

Local Trends in IO
Closer to the home front, Franco’s (2005) study on the issues and trends in
Philippine HR found that the top issues reported by Philippine organizations are: a poor
economy, lack of of peace and order in the country poverty and rise in number of skilled
employees leaving to work abroad globalization and increasing use of information
technology. In turn, Philippine organizations have responded by improving quality of
products/services, improving organizational efficiency and productivity, capacity
building, decreasing operational costs, motivating and rewards employees and
networking and alliance building. Consequently, to address the issues facing
organizations, human resource (HR) practitioners report their priority responses are:
facilitating change, creating an HR information system, developing new HR
competencies, and becoming a business partner.

CONCLUSION

IO in the Philippines has seen a steady growth since it's introduction three
decade ago. In a country where economic growth is key to national development,
Filipino IO psychologists can play a vital role in nation building. The increasing
population of trained IO psychologists and the growing body of indigenous knowledge in
human resource management highlight the potential to influence not just individuals, but
organizations and national policy as well. However, there are many challenges that we
will need to conquer such as resource constraints, identity and image issues, and the
need to balance demands of science and practice. All these challenges suggest that
there is much more to be done within ourselves and working with others, so that that we
can indeed make a difference.

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