A-Level Coursework on "Industrial Psychology"

A-Level Coursework 6 pages (2403 words) Sources: 11

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Industrial Psychology

Any human interaction will necessarily be influenced by individually differential factors such as age, gender, and culture. So the primary response to this question is likely to be yes, there will be cultural differences when it comes to interviews. The literature appears to confirm this. Wheeler (2008), for example, focuses on job interviews when examining the cultural factor. The author emphasizes the North American tendency to assume that candidates from all cultures will be westernized and understand the operating principles of the North American culture. Experience has proven, however, that this is not the case. There are perhaps few cultures that differ more from the North American one than those in the Asian countries such as China and Japan. The general tendency within American culture, for example is to be individualistic, whereas the Chinese culture tends to be collectivist. The latter is, for example, far ore family- and group-oriented than the former. Americans consider accomplishing things independently of others a professional virtue. An interviewee from a collectivist culture, on the other hand, would tend to focus on his or her family to show commitment to the well-being of the group.

2.

False positive and false negative errors can occur during the employee selection process (Antariksa, n.d.). The false positive error occurs when an applicant is selected based on the prediction that he or she will succeed in the position; however, the time of his or her employment results in failure. There are three types of costs when this error occurs; the first is during the time of the person's employment in terms of production failure or lost profits; the second concerns the costs associated with training; and the third concerns the costs of recruiting a replacement. The false negative error occurs when a candidate is rejected based on the prediction that he or she would have failed, when in fact the person would have succeeded. The costs associated with this error are lower. However, the cost is still significant, in terms of losing a potentially profitable and valuable employee.

In terms of material costs, making a false positive selection error is worse than a false negative. Hence, a company might pay more attention to reducing these. One way to reduce either error is to improve the selection criteria. Careful testing of the factors that resulted in a false selection can be weeded out in this way. A trial period for each employee is another potential method of reducing false positive or negative selections. While the same or similar methods could be used to reduce either false positive or false negative selections, I doubt that reducing either would increase the other. Instead, reducing one would more likely reduce the other as well.

3.

To provide a training program for my team, I will follow some of the suggestions made by Silverman (2011). Most of the training program components will be applicable to all players, with only the Strength Training and Skill Building components differentiated according to the different positions. Cardiovascular and Speed conditioning will be doen daily. For the Cardiovascular component, players will be provided with interval training, which means an initial spring of 100 yards, followed by 90, 75, and 60 yards springs. Two-minute breaks will be given between sets. This training will be provided three times per week for all positions. To build speed, a series of 40-yard sprints will be undertaken. Players will begin the dash by taking the stance they take on the field. At least five sprints will be run, with a 10 yard walk after each. Skill Building will be given according to the position of each player. Running backs will do high-knee and change-of-direction drills; quarterbacks will do accuracy drills; wide receivers will work to improve their hands and footwork; and linemen will do blocking and shedding drills. Strength training will occur three times per week in a gym. These exercises will be designed according to the position and needs of each player.

4.

Employee feedback in any situation tends to be stressful for me. The main reason for this is that I always wonder whether my work will be adequate according to my supervisors, despite my every effort to do the best I could. The way in which my work as grad assistant football coach was appraised is by means of a comprehensive performance appraisal. Company policy is to complete these for every employee who has been employed for a semester or more. Various components of the work are evaluated, such as the assigned duties and other responsibilities. The way in which it was done for me was by means of visitation, during which my work was observed and evaluated. While I understand the rationale beyond this, visitation by a person outside of my normal work situation created an unusually stressful work environment for me. For this reason, I am not sure that I worked or connected as well with my team as I do on other occasions. I therefore feel that there is some room for improvement in this type of evaluation. Instead of an outside party, I would have preferred to be observed and evaluated by the head coach for whom I was doing the assistant work. This would have resulted in less stress for me and also a more accurate assessment of the work I generally did with my students (University of South Florida, n.d.). Nevertheless, I appreciated the fact that those who evaluated my work took time to schedule a meeting with me to discuss my performance. In general, I agree with what they found, although I did make the point that I was under unusual stress.

5.

Organizational change is always difficult to accomplish. The main reason for this is that human beings tend to resist change in favor of the status quo. Change means anxiety, since it brings with it uncertainty regarding the new situation. Usually, when change is suggested, regardless of the soundness of the reasons behind it, people tend to be negative and resistant towards it before accepting the new premise. This does not, however, make a difference to the fact that change is sometimes a necessity in organizations. Most companies, I believe, would want a type of organizational culture that promotes either collaboration or creativity, depending upon the specific goals of a company. In a company that offers information products, for example, creativity is of utmost importance to remain relevant in an extremely competitive and innovative business climate (Tharp, n.d., p. 3-4). For a coaching and sports business such as the University, however, there is greater emphasis on collaboration than innovation. Teams must be encouraged to work together in collective format for the benefit of the team as a whole and the ultimate benefit of the university as a whole. Hence, as an assistant coach, a collaborative culture is the one I would seek to encourage in my sports team as well as among the coaches working with that team.

6.

In teams that are made up of different cultures and genders, it is likely that this component would have an influence on the cohesion and communication, as well as task performance, of the team. The reason for this is that team work, in many ways, relies on trust. The more different individuals are in terms of culture and other factors, the more time it will take for them to communicate effectively and trust each other. Lee and Ma (n.d., p. 3), for example, suggest that conflicts may arise as a result of cultural factors rather than material disagreements about the task at hand. This could be detrimental to the task being performed. Hence, managers should make every effort to ensure the smooth communication among cultures.

7.

Because justice is a very human phenomenon, it is also highly integrated with specific cultures. What might be considered justice in the United States might not be considered in the same light in a country such as China or Korea. Organizational justice is one type of justice that is increasingly important in terms of culture. Taras and Rowney (n.d.), for example, consider the academic environment in this regard, where cultural differences could influence the perception of justice within the American academic environment. The authors (p.9) mention various types of justice, which are perceived and preferred differently among individualist and collectivist cultures. Individualist cultures such as the United States, for example, prefer the equity rule, which means rewards are determined by individual contributions. Collectivist cultures such as China, on the other hand, prefer equality and need rules. The equality rule means that rewards are identical for each group member, regardless of individual contribution. The need rule determines that outcomes are distributed according to individual needs. Managers and educators in a multicultural setting should be aware of these differences in perception in order to enhance the educational experiences of all their students.

8.

My general goal in everything that I do, whether this be as student, employee, family member, citizen, or indeed human being, is that I… READ MORE

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