A project report on Industrial Psychology. This report will help you to learn about:- 1. Meaning and Definitions of Industrial Psychology 2. Classification of Industrial Psychology 3. Basic Concepts 4. Role in Industries 5. Applications 6. Factors Affecting.
Contents:
- Project Report on the Meaning and Definitions of Industrial Psychology
- Project Report on the Classification of Industrial Psychology
- Project Report on the Basic Concepts of Industrial Psychology
- Project Report on the Role of Industrial Psychology in Industries
- Project Report on the Applications of Industrial Psychology
- Project Report on the Factors Affecting Industrial Psychology
Project Report # 1. Meaning and Definitions of Industrial Psychology:
As its name indicates, ‘Industrial Psychology’ means psychology applied to industry. The main object of the industry is to produce goods at the most economical rates and the psychology helps to achieve this object by studying the mind of the workers. This study helps in utilizing mental and physical ability of worker, administration and organisation.
In this, scientific research on different methods for performing different operations is conducted. Thus Industrial Psychology is a science which increases output in minimum economical cost and reduces efforts required to produce the products. The Industrial Psychology is liked by both the workers and employers.
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In the early years of industrialization, no attention was paid to study the effects of environment on the mind and on the efficiency of the workers. At that time, employers wanted to take the maximum work without giving any facility to the workers.
Later on proper attention was paid to this aspect and then a large number of information concerning to the mind and its effect on the efficiency has been collected and continuous research and experiments were carried out which gave rise to this subject ‘Industrial Psychology’.
Definitions:
‘Industrial Psychology’ is the application and extension of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings working in industrial, business, service and research organisations.
Thus industrial psychology may be termed as applied psychology, as it is mainly concerned with the applications of the facts and principles of psychology to the behaviour of man working in industry.
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‘Psychology’ can be defined as the study of man and his behaviour with the aid of scientific methodology. It uses many scientific methods to collect facts about human behaviour.
Project Report # 2. Classification of Industrial Psychology:
Industrial psychology can be classified into following:
(a) Personnel psychology:
It concerns with the application of psychology to the selection, training, and supervision of people. It is also concerned with the improving communication, counseling.
(b) Managerial psychology:
It concerns with the problems of management.
(c) Human Engineering psychology:
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It is known as ergonomics, and dealt at length in the book.
(d) Consumer psychology:
It deals with the relationship between the organisation providing goods or services and the consumers.
(e) Organisational psychology:
It deals with the complete functioning of a company, and is concerned with workgroup dynamics, motivation, leadership, communication, design of organisation structure.
Project Report # 3. Basic Concepts of Industrial Psychology:
In order to understand the subject ‘Industrial Psychology’ thoroughly, we must first understand following basic concepts, which have considerable effect on the subject:
1. Causation of behaviour:
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Always there is cause for some particular behaviour. There are certain conditions which make a person to behave in a certain fashion.
2. Individual differences:
No two individuals are alike in physical characteristics, intelligence, interests, aptitudes, and personal qualities like integrity, honesty, sincerity, aggressive may be in physical or psychological characteristics form the basis of industrial psychology.
3. Learning:
Human beings greatest asset is their capacity to learn through their experience, with the things encountered in life. The individual is developed according to his ability to learn. Because of this learning we speak language, acquire customs, attitudes, develop likes or dislikes, learn skills, develop personality traits etc.
Thus behaviour of a person is largely determined by the way he has learned in life. Learning can be defined in psychology as a relatively permanent change in behaviour which occurs as a result of experience or practice. Change may be for better or worse behaviour.
4. Perception:
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The persons differ in the ways they perceive the world around them. Same things when seen by two persons may not be perceived in the same way. They also differ in the rapidity with which they perceive. The perception can be improved up to some extent by training.
5. Attitudes:
Some kinds of behaviour like beliefs, opinions, and prejudices are closely connected with attitudes. Attitude can be defined as learned orientation or disposition towards an object, person, situation or issue which makes an individual to react to them in a favourable or unfavourable manner. A person will always react to a thing, person or situation depending upon the intensity of his attitude.
6. Motivation:
Motivation is something that motivates a person into action and continues him in the course of action enthusiastically. It is the complex of force inspiring a person at work to intensify his willingniess to use his capacities to achieve certain objectives.
7. Frustration:
Every man has certain motives, but fulfillment of motives is always not as easy as one may hope for. He may have to face difficulties, barriers or obstacles. These barriers or obstacles in the way of satisfying one’s desired goals create in human beings a state of frustration.
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The frustrated man may become angry and hostile or abusive. An industrial psychologist pin points the sources of frustration and suggested remedies to eliminate or reduce them. A frustrated man may spread discontent to his fellow employees and may result in bringing down the production, industrial relations etc.
8. Personality:
Personality of a person is the sum total of all the physical and mental characteristics, capacities, and abilities available in him. Behaviour of a person is based on his personality and depends upon environment. Thus behaviour is the function of personality and environment.
9. Role Behaviour:
In real life everybody is playing certain roles. These roles may be the membership role (social community, religion, caste etc.), sex role, age roles (child adolescent, youth, adult, old etc.) These roles are imposed upon us by fate or circumstances.
Some other roles are adopted due to combination of hereditary and environment circumstances, our abilities, aptitudes and choices. Occupational organisational roles are of this type and we are required to behave according to these occupational and organisational roles.
Project Report # 4. Role of Industrial Psychology in Industries:
1. Industrial psychology helps in tracing the causes of inefficiency and waste and bringing out the different factors into light which affect adversely on the worker’s health, moral and machinery.
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2. Its aim is to make work easier more interesting and less tiring for workers, so that they may take more interest in raising production.
3. It helps regarding careful selection and placement of workers through psychological and vocational tests i.e., a job should be given to the right man and to work on right machine.
4. It has proved that proper light, air movement and pleasant surrounding conditions have good effect on the health of the workers and also on the productivity.
5. It shows that favouritism, nepotism and other unfair measures are responsible for the loss of confidence in management and which create resentment, indiscipline and ill-will while fair and uniform treatment in all the aspects including chances of advancement, security of employment leads to goodwill and helps to achieve the task.
6. It has also been suggested that wages should be fixed looking at the interest shown by workers towards their duties. This in turn will improve the efficiency, health and mental satisfaction of the workers.
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7. It discards thumb rules and arbitrary work including rate fixing and favours experimental works like Time and Motion Study.
8. It suggests that a good layout of workshop and machines; proper use of tools and other appliances ; better routing of job ; reduction in waiting time between two processes: suitable training to workers will increase efficiency and production will increase without enhancing the cost.
Project Report # 5. Applications of Industrial Psychology:
Industrial psychology is the study of people in industry and is concerned with the entire spectrum of human behaviour Industrial psychology is a useful aid to the efficient management of people at work.
The findings, principles and techniques of industrial psychology may be applied in the following areas:
1. Selection and placement of personnel:
For selecting right type of people, modern industrial concerns use many psychological tests like intelligence test, aptitude test, interest test, personality test etc. New employee should be properly received and introduced to the fellow employees, superiors, subordinates and the work environment and ensured that he feels comfortable on the job in new environment.
2. Training and development:
Psychologists help in determining the training needs of employees.
3. Performance appraisal:
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Industrial psychology helps in replacing the traditional casual approach by the systematic techniques of performance appraisal.
4. Determination of wage structure:
Industrial psychologists have developed certain systems of job evaluation to serve as a scientific basis of basic wage rate fixation.
5. Motivation:
Industrial psychologists can help the management in designing the suitable system of incentives to motivate the employees. They can also try to remove the causes of fatigue to improve the productivity.
6. Vocational guidance and counseling:
This help in finding right type of jobs by the people. Thus it helps the management in placing the man on the right job for which he is best suited. Industrial psychologists also analyse the personal problems and suggests possible solutions to the workers.
7. Improvement of morale:
Industrial psychologists can go into the causes of low morale of the employees and can determine the factors influencing the relationship between the attitudes of employees and their performance. They also study the group dynamics.
8. Human engineering (Ergonomics):
Industrial psychologists also help in designing and layout of equipment in order to get the greatest efficiency of man-machine system.
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Project Report # 6. Factors Affecting Industrial Psychology:
(i) Supervision:
Supervision is the main function which is responsible for output. Until recent years its importance was neglected but now it is being felt that first line supervision, i.e., the supervision nearest to worker is of very much importance. Supervision is responsible for improving discipline, moral of the worker and makes worker feel interested in his work.
Generally people think that discipline can be maintained, if supervisors punish them, but psychological experiments show that punishment is not the only correct solution. It suggests that ‘Reward’ may be used as another method for promoting adherence to regulations.
Reward may be in the form of money, medals, certificates, extra-vacations etc. to encourage the discipline. Thus the punishment and reward are techniques which should be employed for maintaining discipline. The method of reward improves the moral of the workers.
Supervisors should have following qualities in them so that they can dominate the workers:
1. Forcefulness.
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2. Ability to command respect i.e., ability to lead his workers.
3. Impartial.
4. Ability to impart instructions and to get them followed.
5. Ability to train the workers.
6. Ability to get suggestions gives credit where it is due.
7. Ability to get them works by increasing the cooperation.
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8. Self-confidence.
9. To make the workers feel interested in their work and develop their enthusiasm.
10. To fit each worker into the job for which he is best suited.
11. He should be able to reduce the wastage of time and labour of the worker, to minimise the fatigue, so that worker may feel interested in his work and this helps to increase the production.
12. Property of quick decisions.
13. His personal life and behaviour should be able to set the examples for the workers.
(ii) Discipline:
Discipline means employees’ self-control to meet organisational standards or objectives. Discipline relates to employee’s conduct and may be defined as the force that promotes employee to behave in accordance with the rules, regulations and orders. Discipline may be described as the force that promotes an individual or group to observe rules.
Discipline means orderliness, obedience and maintenance of proper subordination among employees and a check or restraint on the liberty of individuals. Discipline cannot be maintained merely with the help of legislative sanctions, it requires persuation on a moral plane. Discipline refers to one’s efforts at self-control for the purpose of adjusting oneself to certain needs and demands.
Discipline encourages employees to behave sensibly at work to gain the objectives of organisation. Discipline helps in reducing the absenteeism, accidents, labour turnover, grievances and frustration, and wastages, while it helps in increasing production, production quality and morale.
Discipline is of two types:
1. Positive.
2. Negative.
Generally discipline is thought of only as negative discipline but now it is being realised that positive discipline is more effective. Sound discipline helps in maintaining successful operation with full coordination.
(1) Positive Discipline:
It develops good habits among workers and establishes good tradition and customs. It improves the state of mind of the workers and performs the work in a better way with or without the general instructions.
Experiments have shown good results, if suitable incentive is given for accurate and better performances than to punish for mistakes, develops proper attitude of the workers. Incentive may be in the form of better wages, reward in the form of money, certificates, medals, promotions etc. Positive discipline helps to build up favourable feelings.
(2) Negative Discipline:
Negative discipline means imposition of penalties and fear of penalties. To secure compliance at once, a positive discipline uses constructive forces, while the negative discipline uses different forces.
Negative discipline helps to secure only minimum performance necessary to avoid punishment while positive discipline creates interest in the work. Negative discipline also encourages the worker to adopt unfavourable attitude towards foreman and the plant.
Common Discipline Problems:
Most frequent discipline problems may be related to:
(a) Attendance.
(b) On the job-behaviour.
(c) Dishonesty.
(d) Outside activities.
Disciplinary Actions:
(a) Oral warning.
(b) Written warning.
(c) Suspension.
(d) Demotion.
(e) Pay cut.
(f) Dismissal.
Disciplinary actions must be taken as per rules and procedures. Judicial approach is also necessary while taking disciplinary action.
Severity of the action depends upon following:
1. Seriousness of the problem/offence.
2. Duration of the offence.
3. Frequency and nature of the offence.
4. Employee’s work history.
5. History of organisation’s discipline practices.
6. Implication on other employees.
7. Management backing.
Discipline as a Tool of Management:
It is a tool of management to achieve the success of the target. Discipline is a force by which instructions, rules and regulations issued for the attainment of goal are followed. It is responsible for smooth working of the concern. Its importance still increases when plant is large.
Management should use both the positive and negative ways of discipline. Thus, sincere worker, when works hard, gets incentive and a careless worker gets punishment. Thus, a careless worker when finds that his fellow worker, who works hard, gets more money and respect, then he will also try to work more.
(iii) Fatigue:
It is that state of the worker by which power to work is decreased and pleasure taken in work is reduced. There are so many factors which promote fatigue. Some of them are repetition of the same work again and again, velocity of fly wheels, whirling of hammers, high speeds at which machines and tools are moving, the different types of sounds and vibrations.
At the same time piece-rate and financial incentive schemes encourage the worker to work at a faster rate. In such conditions of work tension is increased and these factors (namely tension, speed, repetition, more strain etc.) promote, fatigue.
Thus, the fatigue is responsible to reduce the power to work with the passing of time. In addition to reduction in the production, continued fatigue also affects adversely the psychology of the worker. When he is tired he cannot think clearly, he readily imagines injustice, he becomes nervous, he becomes angry very quickly and an angry man can do anything which he would have not done in the good state of mind.
It also affects the personal life of the worker because a physically exhausted and completely tired man cannot perform adequately the functions of the head of the family. Thus fatigue not only affects the production but also psychological state of mind, temperament and his personal life.
(iv) Accidents:
The cost of accidents cannot be expressed in money only. It also affects the individual and his family. Its social aspect is very tragedic because for a family an accident may mean a descent from independence to economic dependence.
They will have to accept the financial assistance from a charitable agency and which affects the social relationship of the family. After the accident, the mental attitude also changes.