66418 - Joint Intensive Learning Unit (Winter School) - I

Learning outcomes

The aim of this intensive Unit is to provide the participants an opportunity to deepen knowledge and competences in how to design interventions in organizational and/or personnel psychology. By the end of this course, students will develop skills related to design organizational interventions. To this goal, they will know that interventions are based on: a) the knowledge of contextual factors and b) of methods necessary to run an intervention, and c) also that interventions are guided by equity and fairness principles. Each topic requires both theoretical knowledge and practical experiences. Special attention will be devoted to learning the principles of the design methodology. Such principles are applied in a practical case requiring to identify companies’ demands and needs and design a specific intervention for a complex organization.

Course contents

This Unit (reserved to Erasmus Mundus Master WOP-P students) consists of:

a) a preparatory phase (from November to February);

b) an intensive in-residence phase (between February and March);

c) a final assignment phase (after March).

 

Main topics will be:

- Design of interventions

- Ethics in intervention

- Influence of Contextual factors

- State-of-the-art / Rapid Evidence Assessment in WOP-P.

Readings/Bibliography

Paper and material will be suggested during the initial phase of the didactical activity. The teaching platform of the University of Valencia will be used in order to share and download materials, and upload assignments.

For a general orientation, these are some preliminary readings:

- Briner, R.B. & Denyer, D. (2012). Systematic review and evidence synthesis as a practice and scholarship tool. In D. Rousseau (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management. New York: Oxford University Press.

- Egan, M., Bambra, C., Thomas, S., Petticrew, M., Whitehead, M., & Thomson, H. (2007). The psychosocial and health effects of workplace reorganisation 1: A systematic review of organisational-level interventions that aim to increase employee control. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 945-954.

- Härenstam, A., Bejerot, E., Leijon, O., Schéele, P. & Waldenström, K. (The MOA Research Group) (2004) Multilevel analyses of organizational change and working conditions in public and private sector. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 13, 3, 305 - 343

- Salas, E., Stagl, K. C., & Burke, C. S. (2004). 25 years of team effectiveness in organizations: Research themes and emerging needs. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology ,19, pp. 47-91).Chichester, U.K.: John Wiley.

Teaching methods

The following teaching methods will be used:

• Reading documents (papers, reviews, ...);

• Case studies and critical analysis of methods and interventions;

• Teamwork to develop an intervention plan in Organizational or Personnel Psyhcology;

• Search of information on the internet in order to design a specific intervention in a specific organization and professional roles;

• Writing of assignments and oral group presentations.

Assessment methods

During the preparatory phase students will have to read and write some assignments.

During the in-residence phase they will have: a) to present the work and papers done before, b) integrate the results of their paper with those of the other groups. They will also work for developing an intervention in a complex organization.

During the final assignment phase, they will have to do a homework and prepare a press release text (max. 1400 words).

Teaching tools

Overhead projector, powerpoint, hand-pencil, web-sites search, group-work, instruments.

Teaching material will be downloaded from the web page of the WOP-P master.

Office hours

See the website of Salvatore Zappalà