Business Psychology 2600-DSMdz1PB
Module 1: The Importance of Psychological Knowledge for Managers
• Why is psychological knowledge needed by managers?
• How to acquire scientific knowledge in social sciences (management, psychology, economics)? Differences between experimental and correlational research.
• Situational and psychological realism in empirical research. External and internal validity.
• The importance of psychological knowledge in human resource management, organizational behavior, and consumer behavior.
Module 2: Human Cognitive Functioning and Its Importance in Management Decision Making
• How do our minds work? Cognitive categories, connection networks, and working memory.
• The impact of limited cognitive resources and competition for available cognitive resources.
• Two systems of thought: analytic vs. holistic thinking. Automatic and controlled processes.
• Activation of cognitive schemas/representations.
• The reliability of memory and dynamics of memory records.
• Decision making and cognitive errors in management.
Module 3: Human Emotional Functioning and Developing Emotional Intelligence
• Types of emotional reactions.
• Can we trust what we feel? The role of interpreting physiological arousal.
• Positive-negative asymmetry and its consequences.
• Dynamics of emotional reactions.
• Emotional intelligence and its importance for managing people.
• The significance of emotions in consumer decision making and management.
Module 4: Human Behavioral Functioning and Effective Actions
• How to act more effectively? Planning and action strategies.
• Processing information about oneself and others, including the fundamental attribution error.
• Motivation and cognitive dissonance.
• The transformative effects of exerting power over others.
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
After finishing the course, the student:
In terms of knowledge:
• recognizes cognitive biases (e.g., primacy effect, recency effect, anchoring) (K_W01).
• explains methods of acquiring scientific knowledge in social sciences, including differences between correlational and experimental studies, methods of data collection and analysis, and the creation of research reports (K_W01).
• identifies automatic and controlled processes as well as the activation of cognitive schemas in the context of business management (K_W05).
• recognizes the role of emotions in managerial and consumer decision-making (K_W05).
• formulates conclusions regarding the impact of human cognitive functioning on decision-making in the context of business management and market function (K_W05).
In terms of skills:
• identifies phenomena related to emotional arousal (e.g., effects of missattribution of arousal) and their impact on relationships within the organization (K_U02).
• classifies the role of emotions in consumer decision-making and organizational management, considering the dynamics of emotional reactions (e.g., exposure effect, habituation) (K_U02).
• analyzes human cognitive functioning, including limitations of cognitive resources and their impact on decision-making in management (K_U05).
• utilizes scientific sources in English related to psychology in business (K_U06).
• analyzes their own behaviors and decisions utilizing psychological knowledge discussed in class (K_U08).
In terms of social competencies:
• evaluates managerial actions and decisions using psychological knowledge to analyze human behaviors and group dynamics (K_K01).
• critically verifies published scientific research (considering -among other factors - internal and external validity) in the context of human resource management in organizations (K_K02).
• assesses the ethical consequences of exercising power over others in the organization, understanding the transformative effects of power on team members' behavior (K_K03).
Assessment criteria
1. Midterm (test in the last class - 50% of the grade; the midterm must be passed with a minimum of 50%),
2. Semester Activity (online quizzes, open questions, in-class participation - 50% of the grade).
Bonus Points: Participation in research (10% added to the „semester activity” section).
The subject has no official resit session. Passing is related to work throughout the entire semester. The final grade will be the weighted average of the result from the midterm (weight=0.5) and the semester activity (weight=0.5). Individuals who, due to illness (documented by a medical certificate), cannot take the pass test at the scheduled time, will take the test at a later date.
To pass, a total of 60% of the points is required at the end of the semester, including a minimum of 50% of points from the pass midterm. Scoring below 50% on the pass midterm makes passing impossible, regardless of the total score for the entire semester. Only individuals who worked systematically throughout the semester (scored at least 50% of points for the semester part) will be allowed to retake the pass test.
After the deadline for completing the online quizzes, they will not be reopened.
Bibliography
Primary resources:
• Educational materials available on the platform. • Wieczorkowska-Wierzbinska, G. "Psychological Constraints" (2011).
• Arnold J, Randall R, Patterson F, Silvester J, Robertson I, Cooper CL, Burnes B, Harris D & Axtell C (2016) "Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior in the Workplace, 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson."
Supplementary resources:
• Additional materials provided on the e-learning platform.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: