An examination of how Organisational Psychology can influence the workplace : Organisational Psychology – Research based essay, Ireland

Title: An examination of how Organisational Psychology can influence the workplace
This theory-based essay will examine a one key topic from the semester (such as Group Dynamics, Motivation, Leadership styles etc).

A good method is to pick a leadership style/s and analyse it in comparison to some psychological theory/ies while critically analysing good research throughout. Be careful of simply listing facts in a surface manner, at MSC level critical analysis is key. Don’t just describe a theory, analyse a theory, compare and contrast research on the area.

So for example. Paper/Theory/Author A said this and Paper/Theory/Author B agrees or doesn’t agree or says something different, and then what does all this mean.

Some pointers:

Short introduction/background and short conclusion

In main body of essay give a detailed breakdown of the theory with supporting research and then link this to organisation/leadership, analyse its relevance Don’t cover too many aspects, keep the number down so you that you can explore topics in depth and provide good critical analysis on up-to-date research on the area as well as basic descriptive writing. Go from surface descriptions to detailed analysis.

Remember to emphasise psychological theory via up-to-date psychology research papers as this is Organisational Psychology. Don’t have it too general, as in too factual but then lacking psychology research

You are expected to reference relevant and up-to-date literature as much as possible to enhance the descriptive approach.

A combination of description is required as a baseline, but then critical analysis of the literature and theory is required to support the descriptions.

A theory can be described and then supported by focused research literature to support the overall theory. For example, Motivation can be broken into literature and theory related work performance, satisfaction, psychological contracts OR Group Dynamics can examine individual differences, personality and traits, group relations, groups decision making
Theory and Literature must all be examined from a Work/Organisational Psychology context. Some literature may not specifically label itself as an Organisational Psychology paper but if it applicable then it can be included.

Suggested example structure
1. Abstract 200-250 words – (not included in word count)
2. Introduction (approx. 250-400 words)
3. Main body of text (approx. 2500 words)
4. Conclusions with brief recommendations based on evidence examined (approx. 250 words)
5. Reference list – Harvard referencing – (Not included in word count)