01353 - Psychology of Work and Organisations

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student: a) knows and understands the main concepts and theoretical models in W&O Psychology, in order to study the relationships between the individual, the job, and the organization; b) develops specific relational skills to interact in groups and manage conflicts at work; c) is able to analyze the work context, and relationships at work, in order to choose options and methods for the diagnosis and the intervention, based on the specific features of the different contexts.

Course contents

1. Work performance: how to measure and assess it

2. Leadership in work contexts

3. Teams at work

4. Change in organizations

5. Motivation at work

6. Recruitment and selection in organizations

7. Attitudes and emotions at work

8. Well-being and safety at work

9. Orientation and careers

Topics 1 to 5 will be in Module no. 1 (prof. Depolo), topics 6 to 9 in Module no. 2 (prof. Petruzziello)

Readings/Bibliography

The reference text is:

Truxillo, D.M., Bauer, T.N., Erdogan, B. (2020). Psicologia del lavoro e delle organizzazioni. Novara: UTET Università.

Chapters 1(Psicologia del lavoro e delle organizzazioni: la professione), 2 (La job analysis), and 6 (Formazione e sviluppo del personale) are suggested as an interesting complementary knowledge. However, their contents will not make part of the final assessment.

The teachers may present and discuss complementary documents. In case of, such complementary documents will be made available for students at the institutional platform.

An interesting suggestion (not mandatory for the final assessment) for students of this Master is:
Guglielmi, D., & Chiesa, R. (2021). Orientamento scolastico e professionale: Modelli, metodologie, strumenti. Bologna: Il Mulino.

 

Teaching methods

Lessons and guided discussions will be used, and students will be encouraged to comment and discuss course's topics. 

Examples of the most common operational issues and techniques will be presented. Filmed documents will serve as a basis for group discussions in the classroom.

Assessment methods

The final examination (unique for both modules together) will be a written test that will be presented in a closed-ended, and open-ended questions (six questions of each type) format. Duration: 50 minutes.

Questions aim to test whether students have acquired a basic knowledge in the three main areas above mentioned.

Open-ended questions:

• are formulated not to rely mainly in memorized notions, but rather on student’s ability to apply theories and models to concrete situations proposed;
• because of their greater difficulty, contribute four times more in average than the closed-ended ones to the final mark;
• are assessed against a mix of: a) precision (they require specific answers, not only to "talk about" the topic); b) adequate and proper terms; c) quality of comments/explanations, and (when requested) presence of adequate examples.

Closed-ended questions :

• come with three options to choose;
• every wrong answer pays 1/3 of what would be gained by a correct answer;
• no penalty for missing answers.

Students may at every moment decide to withdraw from the exam, without any penalty.

IMPORTANT: Please consider that on line registration to the exam list is mandatory (registration will be closed 7 days before the day of the exam)

EXCHANGE STUDENTS may answer open-ended questions in English, Spanish or French, upon previous agreement with the teachers

Teaching tools

Audiovisual tools. Other documents to be downloaded by students from the dedicated platform.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Depolo

See the website of Gerardo Petruzziello