PSYn4090 Organisational psychology

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kateřina Hašková (lecturer)
Mgr. Markéta Homolková (lecturer)
Mgr. Tomáš Kratochvíl, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Ing. Mgr. Jakub Procházka, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Martin Vaculík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Martin Vaculík, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! PSY409 Organisational psychology
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course focuses on group and organizational phenomena in the area of work psychology. The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge and skills that will enable them to work psychologically with an organization and with people in the organization. The discussed topics cover constructs relevant for an organization as a whole (e. g. organizational culture, leadership), the influence of an organization on its workers (e. g. stress, career, attitudes) and the influence of an organizational psychologist´s work on an organization as a whole (e. g. ethical and economic impacts).

The key part of the curriculum is to learn basic theories of organisational psychology, discuss their possible application, and train application of methods and procedures used in practice. Students also learn where and how to find up-to-date and valid information to broaden their knowledge, as well as to critically reflect on the information. As a part of study duties, students realize tasks through which they help to cultivate the field of organisational psychology in the Czech Republic.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will be able to:
a. define work & organizational psychology, describe core values of work & organizational psychology;
b. conduct literature search and understand the merits and weaknesses of evidence sources;
c. apply work & organizational psychology theory and knowledge;
d. understand how to critically evaluate theory and research in work & organizational psychology;
e. specify function of attitudes at work and explain relationship between attitudes and work behaviour;
f. identify various criteria of leadership effectiveness;
g. define and compare the main leadership theories and approaches to leadership;
h. describe different approaches to careers and career management and explain the circumstances in which career management interventions are most likely to be successful;
i. define organisational culture and identify the main approaches to organisational change;
j. define stress and well-being in the workplace;
k. describe the key steps involved in improving employee well being and organisational health;
l. evaluate work psychologist contribution for bussiness.
Syllabus
  • 1. Organizational psychology: an initial orientation
  • 2. Attitudes at work and the employment relationship
  • 3. Leadership
  • 4. Careers and career management
  • 5. Organizational culture
  • 6. Stress and well-being at work
  • 7. Economic aspects of I/O psychologist work
Literature
    required literature
  • ARNOLD, John and Ray RANDALL. Work psychology : understanding human behaviour in the workplace. 5th ed. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2010, xxix, 814. ISBN 9780273711216. info
  • WOODS, Stephen A. and Michael A. WEST. The psychology of work and organizations. Andover: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2010, xviii, 598. ISBN 9781408018866. info
Teaching methods
lectures, seminars, class discussion, team projects and its presentation, reading
Assessment methods
Written test: 20 points
Case study: 10 points
Individual assignments: 15 points
Seminar presentations: 3 points
Seminars are obligatory (5 form 6).

Grades: A (40 – 35 points), B (34 – 30 points), C (29 – 26 points), D (25 – 22 points), E (21 – 18 points), F (17 and less).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/PSYn4090