01353 - Psychology of Work and Organisations

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, the student will attain the following results:

• He/she will be familiar with the main concepts and theoretical approaches developed in the field of Work Psychology in order to explore the interdependent relationships between workers, work tasks, and organizational contexts;
• He/she will develop social skills specific for managing group interactions and conflicts;
• He/she will be able to analyze real organizational contexts and to select and employ tools and methodological approaches suitable for acting effectively according to the characteristics of each specific work environment.

Course contents

The course analyzes the theoretical assumptions and the intervention perspectives useful to promote teamwork effectiveness, suitable leadership behaviors according to different contexts and tasks and strategies for conflict management. The course will explor also the practical-professional aspects of traditional Work Psychology topics, based on current international literature with reflection on practical implications.

The main didactic goals entail the acquisition of essential knowledge aimed at:

1. Analyzing work team activities and related complexities;
2. Identifying the tools and strategies suitable for conflict prevention/management, in addition to approaches able to foster adequate interpersonal dynamics in work contexts;
3. Understand the constructs useful for reading psychosocial phenomena underlying organizational dynamics;
4. Apply theoretical approaches to the analysis of psychosocial risk factors and work-related stress risk;
5. Analyze antecedents and indicators of organizational well-being;
6. Know and apply models to the study of work motivation and the management of emotions in the workplace.

Contents:

The contents entail the analysis of the work team characteristics, their processes and the promotion of group effectiveness.

In particular:

• Work team culture
• Socialization process and roles within teams
• Communication, affective structure and sharing of activities within teams
• Group conflict: antecedents and outcomes for workers and organizations
• Management of conflicts within groups
• Main theories and research areas in Work Psychology
• Psychosocial risk factors and health
• Promotion of workers' well-being and different levels of prevention in organizational contexts
• Work engagement and job burnout
• Work stress and coping strategies
• Emotional work
• Work motivation
• Proactivity in the workplace: job crafting strategies
• Safety promotion in the workplace

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS:

For the purpose of the exam, attending students will study the PowerPoint presentations and documents presented during the lessons, in addition to the following texts:

CHMIEL, N., FRACCAROLI, F. & SVERKE, M. (2019).Introduzione alla psicologia delle organizzazioni. Bologna: Il Mulino (Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 13 - 15).

And one of the following texts:

SPELTINI G. (2002). Stare in gruppo. Bologna: Il Mulino

GUGLIELMI, D. (2015). Mobbing. Quando il lavoro ci fa soffrire. Bologna: Il Mulino

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:

For the purpose of the exam, non-attending students will study the following texts:

CHMIEL, N., FRACCAROLI, F. & SVERKE, M. (2019).Introduzione alla psicologia delle organizzazioni. Bologna: Il Mulino.

MALAGUTI, D. (2007). Fare squadra. Psicologia dei gruppi di lavoro. Bologna: Il Mulino.

And one of the following texts:

SPELTINI G. (2002). Stare in gruppo. Bologna: Il Mulino

GUGLIELMI, D. (2015). Mobbing. Quando il lavoro ci fa soffrire. Bologna: Il Mulino

Teaching methods

The following teaching methods will be adopted during the course: lectures, discussions, tasks assigned to students during the course and group exercises. In order to facilitate the acquirement of knowledge and skills, students will be invited to carry out team works and to elaborate and present papers focused on specific topics/study cases. These activities will be documented by each student in his/her Portfolio (this new tool will be described at the beginning of the course).

Rules and regulations for a correct didactic function:

1) Attendance to lessons is endorsed and will be verified: the exam (final evaluation) will take into account not only the reading of texts but also the discussion and participation. In fact the interactive experience proposed in class aims to favour learning and reduce, in part the program to be studied autonomously at home.

2) Students who won’t attend the course will have a different reading program and exam model (as specified). Students are strongly encouraged to actively participate in the didactic work and to complete the assigned homework.

3) Students are encouraged to actively participate in the course and to progressively study the assigned homework: they are also responsible for keeping up dated on what has been disclosed in class or on the professor's website (including variations of the program and on the programmed activities)

4) It is expected that students behave correctly. This concerns not only avoiding offensive behavior which could be prosecuted on a disciplinary level (e.g copying from class mates or from internet, falsifying data) but also respect of the social rules.

Assessment methods

A) For students attending the course, the following products will be requested and evaluated: 1) Portfolio; 2) Case study; 3) Oral examination to check the knowledge of course's contents.

The following marks will be associated to each product:

• Portfolio (max 8 points)
• Case study (max 7 points)
• Oral examination (max 15 points)

Final mark: 30/30

Instructions relating to these products will be given at the beginning of the course.

B) For students who won’t attend the course lessons, final exam consists of an oral examination covering the contents of the First and Second part of the course and the above-mentioned manuals by Fraccaroli and Sarchielli (2010) and Malaguti (2007). In addition, they should choose one volume between Balducci (2015) and Guglielmi (2015).

Teaching tools

The following tools will be adopted during the course:

• Group exercises
• Powerpoint presentations
• Printed documents provided by the teacher
• Additional materials available in teacher's webpage.

Links to further information

https://iol.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Dina Guglielmi

See the website of Giuseppina Speltini