Differences Between Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Business Programs

Industrial/organizational psychology is a branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace. The purpose of I/O psychology is “to enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior” (Rucci, 2008). For example, principles of learning are used to develop training programs and incentive plans; principles of social psychology are used to form work groups and understand employee conflict; and principles of motivation and emotion are used to motivate and satisfy employees.

The application of psychological principles is what best differentiates I/O psychology from related fields normally taught in business colleges. While many of the areas covered in this text are similar to those found in a human resource management (HRM) or organizational behavior text, the techniques and the reasons behind them are often different. For example, many HRM texts advocate the unstructured interview as an excellent solution for selecting the best employees. I/O psychologists, however, consider unstructured interviews to be of less value than more suitable alternatives such as psychological tests, behavioral interviews, work samples, biodata, and assessment centers (Berry, 2003).

A second difference between I/O psychology and business fields is that I/O psychology examines factors that affect the people in an organization as opposed to the broader aspects of running an organization such as marketing channels, transportation networks, and cost accounting (Kimbrough, Durley, & Muñoz, 2005).

As you can see from the typical graduate courses Business (MBA) programs examine such areas as accounting, economics, and marketing, whereas I/O programs focus almost exclusively on issues involving the people in an organization (Moberg & Moore, 2011). I/O psychology relies extensively on research, quantitative methods, and testing techniques. I/O psychologists are trained to use empirical data and statistics rather than intuition to make decisions. I/O psychologists are not clinical psychologists who happen to be in industry, and they do not conduct therapy for workers. There are psychologists who work for organizations and help employees with such problems as drug and alcohol abuse, but these are counselors rather than I/O psychologists. A factor that helps differentiate I/O psychology from other branches of psychology is the reliance on the scientist-practitioner model.

Comparison of commonly required courses in I/O psychology and MBA programs.

                    Courses                                                     Program Type

                                                                                        I/O         MBA

• Research methods                                                  90%        6%
• Quantitative methods                                             82%        50%
• Employee selection                                                 80%        0%
• Organizational psychology/behavior                    80%        48%
• Psychometrics/test construction                            62%        0%
• Training & development                                         60%        2%
• Performance appraisal                                            38%        2%
• Finance                                                                     0%          94%
• Marketing                                                                  0%          90%
• Corporate strategies and policies                           4%          82%
• Accounting                                                                0%          78%
• Information systems                                                 0%          68%
• Economics                                                                  0%          66%
• Operations management                                           0%          56%
• Culture/global/international business                     12%        42%
•  Ethics                                                                         20%         36% 

That is, I/O psychologists act as scientists when they conduct research and as practitioners when they work with actual organizations. In addition, I/O psychologists act as scientist-practitioners when they apply research findings so that the work they perform with organizations will be of high quality and enhance an organization’s effectiveness.

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