SAMPLE SYLLABUS
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - DEARBORN
DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Course: Psychology 431: Organizational Entry
Instructor: Dr. Marie Waung
Office: 4061 CASL Building
Phone: 313-593-5143
E-mail: mwaung@umd.umich.edu
The course will examine the psychological aspects of the organizational entry process. The focus will be on
staffing decisions as they impact job candidate and employee attitudes and behavior. Topics to be
covered include recruitment, selection, orientation, socialization, and training. Prior to covering the
aforementioned topics, research methods techniques and basic employment law will be taught.
The course is aimed at providing students with a broader perspective of human behavior in organizations and
should help students to integrate knowledge obtained from other Industrial-Organizational (I/O) psychology and
Management courses.
Course Format: The class will be conducted entirely on-line using lectures stored on CD-Rom, e-mail, and a
course web page on which students will receive announcements and updates, participate in class discussions,
and complete assignments. Ability to use a computer modem from home or access to a computer lab is
essential. Students must obtain a campus account, x.500 account, and uniquename from the ITS Accounts
Office in 1150 CW (Computer Wing) prior to beginning the course.
Text: Heneman, H. G., III, Judge, T. A., & Heneman, R. L. (2002).
Middleton, Wisconsin: Irwin-McGraw-Hill.
Staffing Organizations, fourth edition.
Lecture: Lectures will emphasize key points. In addition, some material will be presented in more detail than the
book, and some material not covered by the book will be presented. You will be responsible for material
presented in lecture and assigned readings.
Course Requirements: Your final course grade will be based on 3 exams, a journal article review, and class
participation via the course web page.
1) Exams. There will be three 100-point exams given throughout the term. Exams will consist of
multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Each exam will cover only the material
presented since the previous exam. In other words, each exam is non-cumulative.
2) Journal Review. The journal review will be worth 40 points. You will select, review, and
critique a journal article. The topic of the article should relate to the field of
Industrial/Organizational psychology in general and organizational entry in particular. The journal
articles may not come from the list of assigned readings. A list of acceptable journals will be
provided, along with instructions for reviewing the articles.
3) Web Assignments and Class Discussions. Students will complete assignments and
participate in discussions on the course web page. Assignment and discussion participation
combined will be worth 60 points.
Final Grades: Grades will be based on the percentage of points earned out of 400 total points.
Below is an approximate grade distribution.
Percentage
94 and above
90-93
87-89
84-86
80-83
77-79
74-76
70-73
67-69
64-66
60-63
59 and below
Final Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DE
The University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students
need to register with Disability Resource Services (DRS) every semester they are taking classes.
Plagiarism, cheating, or any other honor code violation will result in failure of the course.
Week
Topic
Readings
1
2
3
Staffing Strategies and HR Planning
Research Methods Overview
Employment Laws and Regulations
Chapter 1
Lecture only
Chapter 3
Recruitment
Organizational Image
Characteristics of the Recruitment Message
Realism in Recruitment
Job Choice Process
Chapters 5
Validation
Job Analysis/Performance Criteria
Validity Generalization
Chapters 4
Exam 1
4 and 5
6 and 7
Course Pack readings for Exam 2 (See Xanedu course pack):
Estell, L. (2002). Military Intelligence. Incentive, 176. 12-16.
Gatewood, R. D., & Lautenschlager, G. J. (1993). Corporate image, recruitment
image, and initial job choice decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 36,
414-427.
Bretz, R. D., & Judge, T. A. (1998). Realistic job previews: A test of the adverse selfselection hypothesis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 330-337.
Palmer, H. & Valet, W. (2001). Job analysis: targeting needed skills. Employment
Relations Today, 85-92.
Exam 2
8 and 9
Selection
Reliability and validity
Application blanks; references; biodata;
knowledge, skill, and ability testing;
personality inventories; integrity tests
structured interviews; job knowledge test;
work samples
Chapters 7-9
Orientation and Socialization
Informational Orientation Programs
Coping Orientation Programs
Dynamics of Organizational Socialization
Socialization as an Active Process
Text pp. 603-607
10 and 11
12 and 13
Training
Training Needs Assessment
Training Design
Transfer of Training
Evaluation of Training
Course Pack readings for Exam 3 (See Xanedu course pack):
Mahaffey, C. (1999). The first 30 days: The most critical time to influence employee success.
Employment Relations Today, 53-60.
Wanous, J. P. & Reichers, A. E. (2000). New employee orientation. Human Resource
Management Review, 10, 435-451.
Anakwe, U. P., & Greenhaus, J. H. (1999). Effective socialization of employees: Socialization
content perspective. Journal of Managerial Issues, 11, 315-329.
Fritz, J. M. H., Arnett, R. C., & Conkel, M. (1999). Organizational ethical standards and
organizational commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 20, 289-299.
Hakim, D. (2001). Ford Motor workers get on the job training in religious tolerance. New
York Times.
Rossett, A. (1999). Knowledge management meets analysis. Training & Development,
53, 62-68.
Salas, E., & Cannon-bowers, J. A. (2001). The science of training: A decade of progress.
Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 471-499.
Journal Article Review due.
Exam 3