PSYCHOLOGY AND MANAGEMENAT SCIENCE
Author
Mr. Gitte Mohan Hanumantrao
Dept. of Education,
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad,
Sub-Campus, Osmanabad.
Mobile No. :- 09273759904 Email ID:- mohan.gitte@gmail.com
Abstract
This paper is mainly pointed to relation with psychology and management science.
Here indicated points are introduction of psychology and management science. Applications
or Use of Psychology in Management, Therefore, early applications of Psychology were in
the form of - Ability Test, Aptitude Tests, Reasoning and Verbal Skills Tests, I.Q. Tests,
Tests to measure Motor Skills and Coordination Skills, Tests to ascertain Personality Types.
Psychology in Management, Industrial Psychology, Organization Behaviour, Organization
Development, Psychology and Study of Consumer Behaviour, Other applications of
Psychology in Management, Psychometric Tests in Recruitment, Use of Psychometric Tools
in Team-building , ‘Management Science’ has become an all pervasive and all important
branch of study as well as a career option for students all over the world who wish to make a
career in industrial and Commercial enterprises.
INTRODUCTION
We all know the Psychology has emerged as the scientific study of human behavior
and underlying mental processes. In that sense Psychology can be termed as the ‘Science of
human behavior.’ There are many ‘Schools’ of thought which evolved over a period of last
150 years, such as :
o Structuralism
o Functionalism
o Behaviourism
o Gastalt School
o Congnitivism
o Constructivism
Over a period of time, Psychology has emerged as a formidable branch of Social
Sciences which extensively deals in the study of human behaviour to understand the motives
and reasons behind these behaviors, how heredity and environment shape human behavior
and how human mind makes sense and deals with ever growing complexity of the world
around us.
Around the same time that Psychology was emerging as a scientific study of human
mind and behavior, Management Science was evolving as an important field of study. Soon
management Science or ‘Management’ emerged as one of the most important subjects which
deals with how various resources such as Finance, Material, Land , Technology and Human
Resource can be brought together to produce superior economic results. With the industrial
revolution with started in England in the last 18th century, the concept of ‘Organization’ or
‘Company’ as a entity which is formed to produce goods and services to maximize economic
benefits was firmly established. At the time of industrial revolution and thereafter during the
1st and 2nd World War industrial organizations started to grow significantly in size and
complexity as the concepts of division of labour and mass production become very important.
Henry Ford developed the concept of ‘assembly line technique’ in USA in early 20th century ,
to produce motor cars in large numbers and it become a rage at that time. Even now all over
the world ‘assembly line technique’ is used to mass produce goods.
‘Management Science’ has become an all pervasive and all important branch of study
as well as a career option for students all over the world who wish to make a career in
industrial and Commercial enterprises.
As we can see from the above description, rise of Psychology and Management
Science has almost been simultaneous and both have tremendously helped each other grow in
importance. This is based on the assumption that among all the resources that are available to
an Organization, only Human Resource or ‘People’ is the only infinite resource in terms of its
capacity to produce far superior results than merely technology, finance or any other resource
can produce. This realization has given rise to the newer applications of psychology in the
Management.
Applications or Use of Psychology in Management
The first application of Psychology was during the two World Wars and the biggest
user of applications of Psychology has always been Army. Even now Army is one of the
largest users of various applications and tools/instruments developed by Psychology.
Early uses of Psychology in Army were in the form of various selection tools used for
selecting right candidates for various positions. Psychologists developed various tools/tests
such as tests to measure I.Q. (Intelligent Quotient), test to measure abilities, coordination
among various faculties (hand-eye coordination, motor skills, etc.) and tests such and
reasoning tests, aptitude tests to measure one’s natural inclination towards certain professions
and types of work. These tests were initially developed to help Army select right candidates
for the right jobs and to avoid loses due to human failures arising out of mismatch between
abilities/aptitudes and jobs assigned to people. Another major development was the
‘Personality test’ (known as M.B.T.I.) developed by Myers and Briggs based on the
Psychological Principles and research by Carl Jung – One of the greatest Psychologists of
early 20th century. This test was developed once again at the instance of Army during the 2nd
World War in order to help Army choose people with right ‘Personality Type’ for various
jobs and the avoid loss of human life. Therefore, early applications of Psychology were in the
form of :

Ability Test

Aptitude Tests

Reasoning and Verbal Skills Tests

I.Q. Tests

Tests to measure Motor Skills and Coordination Skills

Tests to ascertain Personality Types
Psychology in Management
Very soon Management experts and practitioners turned their attention to various
applications of Psychology. Form the constant interaction between these two discipline
emerged major branches of Psychology which are used extensively in Management such as :
o Industrial Psychology
o Organization Behaviour
o Organization Development
Industrial Psychology
It’s an application of Psychology developed to study impact of work in industrial
organizations such as large factories, mines and various other workplaces on human beings.
In the early 20th century, when industrial revolution was changing the world with techniques
of division of labour, assembly line manufacturing, mass-production of goods, etc. ; one
important element was being grossly neglected that was ‘human element’. People who were
employed in large and small industrial units, factories, mines, etc. were considered and
treated like mere machines, essential in the production process. The working conditions were
appalling. Workers were not given any facilities at all. They had to work continuously for
long hours in most difficult conditions. This created many physiological and psychological
problems for workers employed in such of these problems are well captured in the literature
of lat 19th and early 20t century. Charlic Chaplins famous movie, ‘Modern Times,’ depicts
the life of early industrial worker and the devastating effects of industrialization and
techniques such as ‘assembly line’ on human mind and body.
However, very soon there was a realization that human beings employed in these
factories need to be treated differently if they were to be productive over long periods of
time. Psychologists were assigned the task of studying various work systems and there impact
on human mind and body. Accordingly, major studies were undertaken to analyze of long
working hours on human body and mind. Concepts such as defined working hours in a day
and/or a week, regular intervals and breaks after every few hours for refreshment, rest basic
facilities and hygienic working conditions to be provided at the place of work, etc. were
developed. Today we take these methods and systems of work as granted but it was
application of principles and methods of Psychology which contributed to this development.
Soon various legislations and Labour Laws evolved to Protect workers from exploitation and
to create safe and healthy working conditions.
Industrial Psychology also studied impact of various incentives, monetary and nonmonetary reward methods, on the productivity and motivation of workforce. These studies ad
research, based on various Psychological principles such as ‘conditioning’, theories of
‘motivation’, theories about human behavior and personalities developed by many
Psychologists such as Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, Watson, Freud, Jung, Abraham Maslow,
Hevighrust , etc. found application in the field of Management and are today well entrenched
part of any industrial or commercial organization.
Organization Behaviour (OB)
This is a branch of Psychology devoted to study human behavior at the workplace, be
it a factory, office, laboratory or a mine. The thought behind development of this branch of
psychology is that ‘Industrial organizations and offices are also ‘Complex societies’ like in
the world outside of workplaces, and therefore, principles used in directing , controlling and
managing human behavior in the society at large are also relevant in work places and
Organizations.
In the early 20th century, further research was undertaken to study impact of working
conditions on productivity of workers. Western Electric Company was one such pioneer
Organization which actively supported various research and studies. One such study
conducted at a manufacturing plant in a place called ‘Hawthorne’ in one of the Western
Electric Factories, revealed very interesting and new information about human behavior in an
experiment to study the impact of ‘illumination or lighting’ on the productivity of workers’
Professor Elton Mayo, a great Psychologist conducted a series of experiments to study the
impact of various physical and environmental conditions on productivity. What is known as
‘Hawthorne Effect’ was discovered in one such study. The assumption behind this particular
study was that ‘better the illumination or lighting, better the productivity.’ During the
experiment, it was found that the group of workers who were given poor lighting conditions
(as compared to another group which was given much better illumination conditions) actually
had improved their productivity instead of declining. This baffled the researchers who were
assuming that productivity of these workers will drop significantly against the productivity of
workers who were given increasingly better illumination or lighting.
They found that the mere thought that ‘They were under observation’ and/or ‘better
treated differently or have been paid more attention to or given more importance’ by way of
including in the research itself was enough for these workers to increase productivity even in
adverse working conditions, such as poor lighting…! This was a revolutionary finding and
based on this finding a whole new way of looking at human behaviour at the workplace
emerged. It was found that ultimately a human being responds positively to not only working
conditions and environment around him but also and sometimes more to positive
treatment…! This discovery led to the development of a new branch of Management Science
called Human Relations or what is popularly known today as ‘Human resources Function.’
Organization Behaviour (OB) studies human behaviour in the context of workplace,
be it a factory, an office, a mine or a BPO or IT company. The Objective of this branch of
management science is to continuously design various programs and systems to develop and
best utilize human potential for the mutual benefit of Organization and individual. It is based
on the assumption that human talent and effort is the assumption that human talent and effort
is the infinite source of energy, which if properly developed, harnessed and utilized can
produce unimaginable results that otherwise a mere collection of technology and other
resources will not be able to produce.
Human talent manifests itself in various forms at the work place as it does in a society
at large… Leadership, Vision, Values, innovation and creativity, imagination an ability to
‘see’ dreams, discipline and methodology to systematically achieve those dreams are some of
the examples. Study of Organization Behaviour can give insights into the human talents and
how these talents can be developed, harnessed and deployed in the best possible manner. This
is the reason why OB is considered as one of the most important and interesting braches of
Management Science and applied Psychology.
Psychology and Study of Consumer Behaviour
Another big application of Psychology in found in the study of Consumer Behaviour.
World-wide, Marketing and Consumer Goods/FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods)
companies and Market Research Professionals continuously study consumer behaviour in
terms of their spending habits, decision, to find out how they can influence consumers to buy
their goods on Psychological principles, theories and tools.
Most of the advertisements that we are bombarded with, are designed with some of
the principles of ‘human behaviour’ in mind. Find example, it is found that ‘competitiveness’
is one of the basic traits in people. Everyone wants to do better than others in life.
Competitiveness gives rise to ‘comparisons’ and that’s why many advertisements are based
of ‘promoting competitiveness and comparison’ with others as a tool to motivate/induce
buyers to buy their products. Here is an everyday and easy example to illustrate this point.
Most of us would recall the advertisement of ‘Surf’ washing soap. Almost all advertisements
of Surf are based on this principle manifested in various forms/situations with the famous byline ‘Uski Kameez Mere Kameez Se Safed Kaisi ?’ (How come someone else’s shirt is
whiter/cleaner than mine ? ) It drives the latent competitive spirit in the mine and makes the
buyer believe that if he/she uses this product, their clothes will be ‘whiter’ than others, which
means they will ‘win’ against other…!
Other applications of Psychology in Management
Similarly, Psychology/Psychologists play a more direct role in developing, guiding
and shaping human behaviour and talent in Organizations through various applications such
as
Coaching and
Counseling to
top
Management
Teams
and
Leaders
of
a
Company/Organization, Counseling to improve performance, detect signs of likely failure
and to help avoid those failures, selection of individuals to the Leadership roles in a
Company, measurement and assessment of performance of individuals, developing ‘teamwork’ among teams/groups of individuals, career counseling to individuals at various stages
of career, etc. are just some of the examples how the Science of Psychology has permanently
influenced and shaped the practice of Management.
In the ever growing complex world driven by mind-boggling advances of technology
and it’s impact on human life ad mind, growing feeling of ‘alienation’ among modern
generation and it’s consequent dependence on religion to seek answers posed by the world;
various new fields and applications of Psychology will keep emerging to help the mankind
lead a healthy, peaceful, productive and fulfilling life and to help individuals achieve their
true potential.
Psychometric Tests in Recruitment
There are many big Multinational Organizations which engage Psychologists to
prepare very detailed psychological profiles of candidates they wish to evaluate for very
senior positions to understand/predict changes of success or failures and to generate
additional data on the candidates.
Use of Psychometric Tools in Team-building
Another frequent use of such Psychometric tools in the modern Management
processes, is for developing awareness of ‘team work’ and building teams who have better
chances of success.
In most of the Organizations where I have worked, I have always found that using
Psychometric Tests and many tools based on various Psychological principles/theories has
been extremely useful. Study of Psychology provides a deeper understanding of human
behaviour which then Trainers use to ‘process’ data that they observe during Team-building
sessions/programs to give valuable feedback and insights to participants.
Belbin’s Team Roles theory and Psychometric tools based on this theory are very
popular among trainers while conducting team-building programs. Similarly, M.B.T.I.; based
on the theories of Carl Jung is another time-tested and powerful used very frequently during
such sessions.
The above discussions just gives a glimpse of some of the very many examples of the
adaptation or integration of Psychology in Management science, ranging from attracting
talent for recruitment, motivating for employee retention, nurturing a high performance
environment, relationship management for Business Development, analyzing Consumer
behaviour, the Brand building and so no… In fact it would be apt to reaffirm that Psychology
becomes an integral part of the entire life cycle of an organization of institution.
Referances
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Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Dandkar, W.N. (1956) (Reprint 2007) Fundamentals of Experimental Psychology,
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Mishra M.N,(2008) Organizational Behavior corporate development,
Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi.
Prasad L.M., (Reprint 2008) Organizational Behavior, 4th Edition,
S.Chand & Son’s, New Delhi.
Prasad L.M., (Reprint 2009) Human Resource Management, 2nd Edition,
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