Description
Two skills were evaluated for each process. One skill involved proper use of the work process, and one skill reflected empirical/statistical evaluation of the work process.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 37
The Industrial-Organizational Psychology Curriculum:
Is What We Teach Valued by Business?
Michael Gasser*, Benjamin Walsh, and Adam Butler
University of Northern Iowa
Arecent survey of Fellows in the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP) examines the characteristics that distinguish graduate edu-
cation in industrial-organizational psychology (I-O) from graduate education in
human resources management (HRM) as taught in business schools (Gasser,
Butler, Waddilove, & Tan, 2004). The survey reveals that a distinguishing fea-
ture of I-O educational training is the use of empirical/statistical evaluation as
part of sound scientific methodology. Graduate education in I-O typically fol-
lows a scientist–practitioner model, two orientations that Dunnette (1990)
argues a good I-O psychologist should blend. According to the scientist–prac-
titioner model, a practitioner should use the scientific method to carefully eval-
uate whether what is being done in an organization actually works. For exam-
ple, does a training program teach the employees what they were expected to
learn? Does a selection test actually predict the future performance of employ-
ees? The scientist–practitioner model suggests that it is impossible to know the
answer to those questions unless the practitioner uses an empirical/statistical
methodology. Further, the scientist–practitioner model promotes the idea that
empirically based evaluations are of great benefit to the organization.
Empirical/statistical methodology is an important part of I-O graduate
training. Bartles, Macan, Gutting, Lemming, and McCrea (2005) examine the
curricula of 102 doctoral and 122 master’s I-O graduate programs and find
that 73 of the master’s programs and 64 of the doctoral programs use a bal-
anced scientist–practitioner model. Three of the master’s programs and 27 of
the doctoral programs use a curriculum focusing mostly on research. Given
Dunnette’s (1990) description of the scientist–practitioner model as incorpo-
rating a strong empirical/statistical element in training, it seems that most
I-O programs highlight this skill for their students. Ajob analysis of I-O psy-
chologists done by Blakeney et al. (2002) also shows that the capacity to con-
duct empirical analyses is one of the top skills defining the job. Finally, Tra-
hand and McAllister (2002) find that statistical methods and research meth-
ods are the two highest rated competencies for coverage in the curricula of
master’s level programs. At all levels, graduate training in I-O psychology is
characterized by a focus on empirical/statistical methodology.
If graduate training in empirical/statistical methodology is an important
characteristic that distinguishes I-O psychologists, then it is important to
know if this skill is valued in the general business community. Asurvey done
by Lentz, Tuttle, Allen, Brutus, and Handler (2005) shows that some of the
top concerns of I-O psychologists for the coming decade include showing a
*Note: Send correspondence to Michael Gasser, Department of Psychology, University of
Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, 50614-0505; E-mail: [email protected].
connection between the skills of I-O psychologists and the financial success
of an organization, increasing the recognition of I-O in the business commu-
nity, competing with business school graduates, and improving the perceived
relevance of I-O in the business community. All of these issues are related to
an overall concern about how I-O is valued in the business community.
In this study we compared the emphasis I-O program coordinators place
on training for practical applications and empirical/statistical evaluation with
the value business leaders place on these same skills in potential employees.
Do business leaders value the same skills in potential employees that are
emphasized in I-O graduate training? This question is especially important
for graduates who will soon be in the job market and I-O program coordina-
tors who are training the next generation of I-O psychologists. Private-sector
human resources (HR) positions are the jobs for which many graduates in
I-O are competing (Lowe, 1993). Employment in business settings is com-
mon even with undergraduate psychology majors (Borden & Rajecki, 2000)
and even more likely with undergraduate psychology majors focusing specif-
ically on I-O (Kirnan, Reilly, & Decker, 2000). If the skills taught in I-O pro-
grams are not valued or are less valued than more generic business skills that
involve the ability to perform a business process without evaluation, then
I-O graduates are at a disadvantage in their job search.
Method
We created a survey that included four work processes (i.e., hiring, training,
employee surveys, compensation). Two skills were evaluated for each process.
One skill involved proper use of the work process, and one skill reflected
empirical/statistical evaluation of the work process. The authors of this study
chose the four work processes intuitively because they represented major cate-
gories of work in the HR domain and seemed to be readily identifiable by both
I-O psychologists and business professionals. The two skills for each domain
were identified as defining skills for I-O program graduates (empirical/statisti-
cal evaluation skills) and business school graduates (applied skills) in previous
research (Gasser, Butler, Waddilove, & Tan, 2004). The work processes includ-
ed in the survey were (the specific usage or empirical/statistical evaluation skill
is in parentheses) hiring (i.e., the ability to legally conduct an interview, using
statistics to determine if the interview is hiring better employees), training (i.e.,
presenting information clearly and effectively in a training session, using sta-
tistics to evaluate whether the material was learned in the training session),
employee surveys (i.e., organizing and presenting survey responses, using sta-
tistics to link the results of the survey to changes that should be made in the
organization), and compensation (i.e., appropriately and legally managing a
compensation program, using statistics to evaluate a compensation system to
see how it is affecting employee motivation).
Two groups of participants were included in this study. The first group
included local business leaders (i.e., full-time, salaried employees of local busi-
38 July 2008 Volume 46 Number 1
nesses, n = 30). The employees were selected because they were in leadership
positions with a clear set of subordinates. Graduate students, employed as interns
in each respective organization, approached the business leaders and asked them
to complete the survey. All of the business leaders approached agreed to partic-
ipate in the study. No incentives were offered for participation. Business leaders
completed paper-and-pencil versions of the survey. Fifteen reported the job title
of “manager” and 5 reported the job title of “president/vice president”; thus, the
majority of the sample held managerial roles within their respective organiza-
tions. These individuals were instructed to imagine they were hiring an employ-
ee who would handle human resource functions. Then, they were asked to eval-
uate the list of skills as if those skills were characteristics of a candidate for the
aforementioned HR position. For business leaders, skills were evaluated on a
scale ranging from 5 = very valuable to 1 = not valuable.
The second group of participants included coordinators of I-O graduate
programs (n = 30), identified from the Webpage for SIOP. Each of the I-O
program coordinators contacted agreed to participate in the study by com-
pleting the survey via telephone. No incentives were given for participation.
The I-O coordinators and the business leaders evaluated identical skills.
However, I-O coordinators were instructed to evaluate the list of skills based
on the emphasis their graduate program places on teaching each skill. For
I-O program coordinators, skills were evaluated on a scale ranging from 5 =
very strong emphasis to 1 = very little emphasis.
Results
Independent-sample t-tests were used to evaluate whether significant
mean differences existed between the responses of the business leaders and
the responses of the I-O graduate program coordinators. The first business
process analyzed was hiring. The first skill, “being able to appropriately and
legally conduct an interview,” was reported as being valued significantly
more by business leaders (M = 4.77, SD = .43) than was emphasized in I-O
programs (M = 3.43, SD = 1.07), t(58) = 6.32, p < .01. Conversely, “using
statistics to determine if the interview is really hiring better employees,” was
not found to be significant (t(57) = -1.63, p = .11). I-O program directors
reported a mean of 4.13 (SD = .97) for this skill and business leaders report-
ed a mean of 3.72 (SD = .96).
Next, training was analyzed. First, “being able to present information
clearly and effectively in a training session” was reported as being valued sig-
nificantly more by business leaders (M = 4.57, SD = .63) than was empha-
sized in I-O graduate programs (M = 4.07, SD = .98), t(58) = 2.36, p = .02.
On the other hand, “using statistics to determine if the employees really
learned what was being taught in a training session” was reported as being
emphasized significantly more in I-O programs (M = 4.07, SD = .83) than it
was valued by business leaders (M = 3.54, SD = .88), t(56) = -2.37, p = .02.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 39
The third work process analyzed was employee surveys. Interestingly, the
first skill, “being able to organize and present the responses of a large number
of surveyed employees,” was reported as being emphasized more in I-O pro-
grams (M = 4.33, SD = .84) than it was valued by business leaders
(M = 3.90, SD = .82), t(57) = -2.02, p = .05. The second skill, “using statis-
tics to link the results of the survey to changes that should be made in the
organization,” was reported as being valued significantly more by business
leaders (M = 4.41, SD = .87) than it was emphasized in I-O programs (M =
3.87, SD = 1.00), t(57) = 2.23, p = .03. Thus, for this work process the results
were in the opposite direction from the results of the first two work processes.
The last work process examined was compensation. First, “being able to
appropriately and legally manage an employee compensation program” was
reported as being valued significantly more by business leaders (M = 4.67,
SD = .55) than it was emphasized in I-O programs (M = 2.27, SD = 1.17),
t(58) = 10.16, p < .01. Second, “using statistics to evaluate a compensation
system to see how it is affecting the motivation of the employees” was report-
ed as being valued more by business leaders (M= 3.86, SD = .85) than it was
emphasized in I-O programs (M = 2.53, SD = 1.17), t(56) = 4.91, p < .01.
Business leaders consistently valued work processes related to compensation
more than such processes were emphasized in I-O program curriculums.
Discussion
Business leaders value both the applied skills and the statistical/empirical
skills within each job process. The means for business leaders are above three (on
a five-point scale), indicating a positive reaction to the skill. This is also general-
ly true for the emphasis placed on each skill by I-O program directors. For both
applied and statistical/empirical skills, all of the means derived from the data pro-
vided by I-O program directors are above three (on a five-point scale) except for
the compensation-related skills. Means for both empirical/statistical evaluation
and applied usage in compensation fall below three for I-O program directors.
For both the selection and training work processes, business leaders value
the applied usage skill to a greater degree than I-O program directors report
emphasizing the same skill in their programs. For the training work process,
business leaders value the empirical/statistical skill to a lesser degree than
I-O graduate program directors report emphasizing this skill. The result is
nonsignificant for the selection-related empirical/statistical skill.
For the work process “employee surveys,” business leaders value empiri-
cal/statistical evaluation of the work process to a greater degree than I-O pro-
gram directors report emphasizing that skill in their graduate curriculum. For
the applied usage skill, I-O program coordinators place more emphasis on
organizing and presenting responses to employee surveys than business lead-
ers report valuing that same skill. This finding is the opposite of what we
expected. Although we are aware of no empirical data to support this asser-
tion, anecdotal evidence suggested by management professionals involved in
40 July 2008 Volume 46 Number 1
the study indicate that the evaluation of employee survey data is one of the few
activities in which empirical/statistical evaluation is used within a HR depart-
ment. It is understandable that business leaders in this circumstance consider
empirical/statistical evaluation to be so valuable. It is also possible that some
I-O program coordinators interpret “organizing and presenting the responses”
as constituting statistical evaluation in addition to presentation of the respons-
es. Another possibility is that organizing and presenting the results is a process
considered to be at a more introductory level compared to actually making rec-
ommendations for change based on the results of the survey. Thus, it may be
that in a graduate training program the more basic process of organizing and
presenting results receives the most focus.
I-O program directors reported less emphasis in I-O graduate programs
on topics related to compensation, either in terms of appropriate usage or
empirical/statistical evaluation of the effect of compensation on motivation,
when compared to the value placed on these skills by business leaders. This
lower emphasis on compensation is problematic because compensation is a
topic of interest among business leaders. In fact, processes related to com-
pensation showed the largest discrepancy between what business leaders
value and what I-O program directors report is emphasized in their curricu-
lum, both for applied usage and also for empirical/statistical evaluation.
Given the difference between the value business leaders place on these
skills and the emphasis placed on them in I-O graduate training, graduates
from an I-O program may be at a disadvantage when applying for HR posi-
tions. One implication of this research is that I-O programs may need to
redesign their curricula to place a heavier focus on applied business skills,
especially skills related to compensation. On the other hand, rather than alter-
ing I-O program curricula, I-O programs may need to indicate to students that
their education is oriented to preparing them for positions in organizational
consulting and/or academia. Another potential implication of this study is that,
instead of altering the curriculum, I-O psychologists must do more advertising
to educate business leaders about the value of the skills they possess.
One concern with this study is that the business leaders probably have a low
level of information regarding what is required to do empirical/statistical evalu-
ation for any of the work processes examined. They may believe that most busi-
ness professionals can easily do proper evaluation. However, evaluations done
without the benefit of scientific rigor are often more at the level of basic reac-
tion criteria or are based on anecdotal information. To address this concern, the
process of scientific methodology and empirical data analysis would have had
to be explained within the survey or through some training of the business pro-
fessionals. For logistical reasons, these additions to the study were not possible.
Another related concern with this study is the low level of information pro-
vided to the surveyed business leaders about the type of job they are supposed-
ly hiring for. In addition, no information was given about what other qualities
candidates might have. Because of this low level of information, the decisions
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 41
made by the business leaders should be considered low-involvement decisions.
As a result, their ability to determine the value of certain skills as opposed to oth-
ers may be less valid than in a situation where they have more knowledge of the
job and job candidates they are considering. Future researchers may want to
present the skills and work-process areas they investigate in the context of
resumés to be evaluated for a specific job with a full job description.
Additional concerns exist with the business leader sample. Although the
business leaders are generally in positions where they are expected to conduct
interviews when hiring subordinates, we do not collect data on level of expe-
rience with general HR functions or the number of interviews they had con-
ducted in the past. Finally, another limitation of the sample is that the busi-
ness leaders come from local organizations, while the sample of I-O program
coordinators come from a number of locations in the U.S. Future researchers
may wish to collect equivalent national samples of both business leaders and
I-O program coordinators.
Also for logistical reasons, the number of work processes we are able to
explore is limited. Very different results may have been discovered when
examining other work processes. For example, in the general area of motiva-
tion, researchers may examine work redesign and job satisfaction, areas typ-
ically studied in I-O program curricula. Future researchers may wish to
examine other work processes besides those we examined and other features
that distinguish I-O besides an emphasis on empirical/statistical evaluation
when examining what skills business leaders value.
References
Bartels, L., Macan, T., Gutting, B., Lemming, M., & McCrea, R. (2005, January). Teaching
the practitioner side of the scientist–practitioner model. The Industrial-Organizational Psychol-
ogist, 42, 60–64.
Blakeney, R., Broene, R., Dyck, J., Frank, B., Glenn, D., Johnson, D., et al. (2002, April).
Implications of the results of a job analysis of I-O psychologists. The Industrial-Organizational
Psychologist, 39, 29–37.
Borden, V. M., & Rajecki, D. W. (2000). First-year employment outcomes of psychology
baccalaureates: Relatedness, preparedness, and prospects. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 164–168.
Dunnette, M. (1990). Blending the science and practice of industrial and organizational psy-
chology: Where are we and where are we going? In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.),
Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 1–27). Palo Alto, CA: Con-
sulting Psychologists Press, Inc.
Gasser, M., Butler, A., Waddilove, L., & Tan, R. (2004). Defining the profession of indus-
trial-organizational psychology. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 42, 15–20.
Kirnan, J. P., Reilly, M., & Decker, W. (2000). Effectiveness of an undergraduate program
in industrial/organizational psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 1, 27–30.
Lentz, E., Tuttle, M., Allen, T., Brutus, S., & Handler, C. (2005, July). The future of I-O psy-
chology: Asurvey of SIOP members. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 43, 159–167.
Lowe, R. H. (1993). Master’s programs in industrial/organizational psychology: Current sta-
tus and a call for action. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24, 27–34.
Trahan, W. A. & McAllister, H. A. (2002). Master’s level training in industrial/organiza-
tional psychology: Does it meet the SIOP guidelines? Journal of Business and Psychology, 16,
457–465.
42 July 2008 Volume 46 Number 1
doc_891886395.pdf
Two skills were evaluated for each process. One skill involved proper use of the work process, and one skill reflected empirical/statistical evaluation of the work process.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 37
The Industrial-Organizational Psychology Curriculum:
Is What We Teach Valued by Business?
Michael Gasser*, Benjamin Walsh, and Adam Butler
University of Northern Iowa
Arecent survey of Fellows in the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP) examines the characteristics that distinguish graduate edu-
cation in industrial-organizational psychology (I-O) from graduate education in
human resources management (HRM) as taught in business schools (Gasser,
Butler, Waddilove, & Tan, 2004). The survey reveals that a distinguishing fea-
ture of I-O educational training is the use of empirical/statistical evaluation as
part of sound scientific methodology. Graduate education in I-O typically fol-
lows a scientist–practitioner model, two orientations that Dunnette (1990)
argues a good I-O psychologist should blend. According to the scientist–prac-
titioner model, a practitioner should use the scientific method to carefully eval-
uate whether what is being done in an organization actually works. For exam-
ple, does a training program teach the employees what they were expected to
learn? Does a selection test actually predict the future performance of employ-
ees? The scientist–practitioner model suggests that it is impossible to know the
answer to those questions unless the practitioner uses an empirical/statistical
methodology. Further, the scientist–practitioner model promotes the idea that
empirically based evaluations are of great benefit to the organization.
Empirical/statistical methodology is an important part of I-O graduate
training. Bartles, Macan, Gutting, Lemming, and McCrea (2005) examine the
curricula of 102 doctoral and 122 master’s I-O graduate programs and find
that 73 of the master’s programs and 64 of the doctoral programs use a bal-
anced scientist–practitioner model. Three of the master’s programs and 27 of
the doctoral programs use a curriculum focusing mostly on research. Given
Dunnette’s (1990) description of the scientist–practitioner model as incorpo-
rating a strong empirical/statistical element in training, it seems that most
I-O programs highlight this skill for their students. Ajob analysis of I-O psy-
chologists done by Blakeney et al. (2002) also shows that the capacity to con-
duct empirical analyses is one of the top skills defining the job. Finally, Tra-
hand and McAllister (2002) find that statistical methods and research meth-
ods are the two highest rated competencies for coverage in the curricula of
master’s level programs. At all levels, graduate training in I-O psychology is
characterized by a focus on empirical/statistical methodology.
If graduate training in empirical/statistical methodology is an important
characteristic that distinguishes I-O psychologists, then it is important to
know if this skill is valued in the general business community. Asurvey done
by Lentz, Tuttle, Allen, Brutus, and Handler (2005) shows that some of the
top concerns of I-O psychologists for the coming decade include showing a
*Note: Send correspondence to Michael Gasser, Department of Psychology, University of
Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, 50614-0505; E-mail: [email protected].
connection between the skills of I-O psychologists and the financial success
of an organization, increasing the recognition of I-O in the business commu-
nity, competing with business school graduates, and improving the perceived
relevance of I-O in the business community. All of these issues are related to
an overall concern about how I-O is valued in the business community.
In this study we compared the emphasis I-O program coordinators place
on training for practical applications and empirical/statistical evaluation with
the value business leaders place on these same skills in potential employees.
Do business leaders value the same skills in potential employees that are
emphasized in I-O graduate training? This question is especially important
for graduates who will soon be in the job market and I-O program coordina-
tors who are training the next generation of I-O psychologists. Private-sector
human resources (HR) positions are the jobs for which many graduates in
I-O are competing (Lowe, 1993). Employment in business settings is com-
mon even with undergraduate psychology majors (Borden & Rajecki, 2000)
and even more likely with undergraduate psychology majors focusing specif-
ically on I-O (Kirnan, Reilly, & Decker, 2000). If the skills taught in I-O pro-
grams are not valued or are less valued than more generic business skills that
involve the ability to perform a business process without evaluation, then
I-O graduates are at a disadvantage in their job search.
Method
We created a survey that included four work processes (i.e., hiring, training,
employee surveys, compensation). Two skills were evaluated for each process.
One skill involved proper use of the work process, and one skill reflected
empirical/statistical evaluation of the work process. The authors of this study
chose the four work processes intuitively because they represented major cate-
gories of work in the HR domain and seemed to be readily identifiable by both
I-O psychologists and business professionals. The two skills for each domain
were identified as defining skills for I-O program graduates (empirical/statisti-
cal evaluation skills) and business school graduates (applied skills) in previous
research (Gasser, Butler, Waddilove, & Tan, 2004). The work processes includ-
ed in the survey were (the specific usage or empirical/statistical evaluation skill
is in parentheses) hiring (i.e., the ability to legally conduct an interview, using
statistics to determine if the interview is hiring better employees), training (i.e.,
presenting information clearly and effectively in a training session, using sta-
tistics to evaluate whether the material was learned in the training session),
employee surveys (i.e., organizing and presenting survey responses, using sta-
tistics to link the results of the survey to changes that should be made in the
organization), and compensation (i.e., appropriately and legally managing a
compensation program, using statistics to evaluate a compensation system to
see how it is affecting employee motivation).
Two groups of participants were included in this study. The first group
included local business leaders (i.e., full-time, salaried employees of local busi-
38 July 2008 Volume 46 Number 1
nesses, n = 30). The employees were selected because they were in leadership
positions with a clear set of subordinates. Graduate students, employed as interns
in each respective organization, approached the business leaders and asked them
to complete the survey. All of the business leaders approached agreed to partic-
ipate in the study. No incentives were offered for participation. Business leaders
completed paper-and-pencil versions of the survey. Fifteen reported the job title
of “manager” and 5 reported the job title of “president/vice president”; thus, the
majority of the sample held managerial roles within their respective organiza-
tions. These individuals were instructed to imagine they were hiring an employ-
ee who would handle human resource functions. Then, they were asked to eval-
uate the list of skills as if those skills were characteristics of a candidate for the
aforementioned HR position. For business leaders, skills were evaluated on a
scale ranging from 5 = very valuable to 1 = not valuable.
The second group of participants included coordinators of I-O graduate
programs (n = 30), identified from the Webpage for SIOP. Each of the I-O
program coordinators contacted agreed to participate in the study by com-
pleting the survey via telephone. No incentives were given for participation.
The I-O coordinators and the business leaders evaluated identical skills.
However, I-O coordinators were instructed to evaluate the list of skills based
on the emphasis their graduate program places on teaching each skill. For
I-O program coordinators, skills were evaluated on a scale ranging from 5 =
very strong emphasis to 1 = very little emphasis.
Results
Independent-sample t-tests were used to evaluate whether significant
mean differences existed between the responses of the business leaders and
the responses of the I-O graduate program coordinators. The first business
process analyzed was hiring. The first skill, “being able to appropriately and
legally conduct an interview,” was reported as being valued significantly
more by business leaders (M = 4.77, SD = .43) than was emphasized in I-O
programs (M = 3.43, SD = 1.07), t(58) = 6.32, p < .01. Conversely, “using
statistics to determine if the interview is really hiring better employees,” was
not found to be significant (t(57) = -1.63, p = .11). I-O program directors
reported a mean of 4.13 (SD = .97) for this skill and business leaders report-
ed a mean of 3.72 (SD = .96).
Next, training was analyzed. First, “being able to present information
clearly and effectively in a training session” was reported as being valued sig-
nificantly more by business leaders (M = 4.57, SD = .63) than was empha-
sized in I-O graduate programs (M = 4.07, SD = .98), t(58) = 2.36, p = .02.
On the other hand, “using statistics to determine if the employees really
learned what was being taught in a training session” was reported as being
emphasized significantly more in I-O programs (M = 4.07, SD = .83) than it
was valued by business leaders (M = 3.54, SD = .88), t(56) = -2.37, p = .02.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 39
The third work process analyzed was employee surveys. Interestingly, the
first skill, “being able to organize and present the responses of a large number
of surveyed employees,” was reported as being emphasized more in I-O pro-
grams (M = 4.33, SD = .84) than it was valued by business leaders
(M = 3.90, SD = .82), t(57) = -2.02, p = .05. The second skill, “using statis-
tics to link the results of the survey to changes that should be made in the
organization,” was reported as being valued significantly more by business
leaders (M = 4.41, SD = .87) than it was emphasized in I-O programs (M =
3.87, SD = 1.00), t(57) = 2.23, p = .03. Thus, for this work process the results
were in the opposite direction from the results of the first two work processes.
The last work process examined was compensation. First, “being able to
appropriately and legally manage an employee compensation program” was
reported as being valued significantly more by business leaders (M = 4.67,
SD = .55) than it was emphasized in I-O programs (M = 2.27, SD = 1.17),
t(58) = 10.16, p < .01. Second, “using statistics to evaluate a compensation
system to see how it is affecting the motivation of the employees” was report-
ed as being valued more by business leaders (M= 3.86, SD = .85) than it was
emphasized in I-O programs (M = 2.53, SD = 1.17), t(56) = 4.91, p < .01.
Business leaders consistently valued work processes related to compensation
more than such processes were emphasized in I-O program curriculums.
Discussion
Business leaders value both the applied skills and the statistical/empirical
skills within each job process. The means for business leaders are above three (on
a five-point scale), indicating a positive reaction to the skill. This is also general-
ly true for the emphasis placed on each skill by I-O program directors. For both
applied and statistical/empirical skills, all of the means derived from the data pro-
vided by I-O program directors are above three (on a five-point scale) except for
the compensation-related skills. Means for both empirical/statistical evaluation
and applied usage in compensation fall below three for I-O program directors.
For both the selection and training work processes, business leaders value
the applied usage skill to a greater degree than I-O program directors report
emphasizing the same skill in their programs. For the training work process,
business leaders value the empirical/statistical skill to a lesser degree than
I-O graduate program directors report emphasizing this skill. The result is
nonsignificant for the selection-related empirical/statistical skill.
For the work process “employee surveys,” business leaders value empiri-
cal/statistical evaluation of the work process to a greater degree than I-O pro-
gram directors report emphasizing that skill in their graduate curriculum. For
the applied usage skill, I-O program coordinators place more emphasis on
organizing and presenting responses to employee surveys than business lead-
ers report valuing that same skill. This finding is the opposite of what we
expected. Although we are aware of no empirical data to support this asser-
tion, anecdotal evidence suggested by management professionals involved in
40 July 2008 Volume 46 Number 1
the study indicate that the evaluation of employee survey data is one of the few
activities in which empirical/statistical evaluation is used within a HR depart-
ment. It is understandable that business leaders in this circumstance consider
empirical/statistical evaluation to be so valuable. It is also possible that some
I-O program coordinators interpret “organizing and presenting the responses”
as constituting statistical evaluation in addition to presentation of the respons-
es. Another possibility is that organizing and presenting the results is a process
considered to be at a more introductory level compared to actually making rec-
ommendations for change based on the results of the survey. Thus, it may be
that in a graduate training program the more basic process of organizing and
presenting results receives the most focus.
I-O program directors reported less emphasis in I-O graduate programs
on topics related to compensation, either in terms of appropriate usage or
empirical/statistical evaluation of the effect of compensation on motivation,
when compared to the value placed on these skills by business leaders. This
lower emphasis on compensation is problematic because compensation is a
topic of interest among business leaders. In fact, processes related to com-
pensation showed the largest discrepancy between what business leaders
value and what I-O program directors report is emphasized in their curricu-
lum, both for applied usage and also for empirical/statistical evaluation.
Given the difference between the value business leaders place on these
skills and the emphasis placed on them in I-O graduate training, graduates
from an I-O program may be at a disadvantage when applying for HR posi-
tions. One implication of this research is that I-O programs may need to
redesign their curricula to place a heavier focus on applied business skills,
especially skills related to compensation. On the other hand, rather than alter-
ing I-O program curricula, I-O programs may need to indicate to students that
their education is oriented to preparing them for positions in organizational
consulting and/or academia. Another potential implication of this study is that,
instead of altering the curriculum, I-O psychologists must do more advertising
to educate business leaders about the value of the skills they possess.
One concern with this study is that the business leaders probably have a low
level of information regarding what is required to do empirical/statistical evalu-
ation for any of the work processes examined. They may believe that most busi-
ness professionals can easily do proper evaluation. However, evaluations done
without the benefit of scientific rigor are often more at the level of basic reac-
tion criteria or are based on anecdotal information. To address this concern, the
process of scientific methodology and empirical data analysis would have had
to be explained within the survey or through some training of the business pro-
fessionals. For logistical reasons, these additions to the study were not possible.
Another related concern with this study is the low level of information pro-
vided to the surveyed business leaders about the type of job they are supposed-
ly hiring for. In addition, no information was given about what other qualities
candidates might have. Because of this low level of information, the decisions
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 41
made by the business leaders should be considered low-involvement decisions.
As a result, their ability to determine the value of certain skills as opposed to oth-
ers may be less valid than in a situation where they have more knowledge of the
job and job candidates they are considering. Future researchers may want to
present the skills and work-process areas they investigate in the context of
resumés to be evaluated for a specific job with a full job description.
Additional concerns exist with the business leader sample. Although the
business leaders are generally in positions where they are expected to conduct
interviews when hiring subordinates, we do not collect data on level of expe-
rience with general HR functions or the number of interviews they had con-
ducted in the past. Finally, another limitation of the sample is that the busi-
ness leaders come from local organizations, while the sample of I-O program
coordinators come from a number of locations in the U.S. Future researchers
may wish to collect equivalent national samples of both business leaders and
I-O program coordinators.
Also for logistical reasons, the number of work processes we are able to
explore is limited. Very different results may have been discovered when
examining other work processes. For example, in the general area of motiva-
tion, researchers may examine work redesign and job satisfaction, areas typ-
ically studied in I-O program curricula. Future researchers may wish to
examine other work processes besides those we examined and other features
that distinguish I-O besides an emphasis on empirical/statistical evaluation
when examining what skills business leaders value.
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