Industrial and Organisational Psychology in Australia: The 4th Australian Industrial-

Organisational Psychology Conference

Catherine CollinsUniversity of New South Wales

Mark A. GriffinQueensland University of Technology

The Australian Industrial and Organisational PsychologyConference continues to grow as a showcase for AustralianI-O research and practice. The conference is a biannual eventand the fourth conference was recently held in Sydney.There were 530 conference delegates who attended, includ-ing a balance of academics and practitioners. The conferenceprovides a great opportunity to review some Australian I-O psychology aswell as international links with Australian research. The highlights of theconference can be captured in the following themes:

• International linkages and contributions• Quality Australian research

International Linkages and ContributionsThe 4th Australian I-O Conference attracted many conference delegates

from outside Australia, including the USA, UK, Canada, Israel, and NewZealand. Their involvement ranged from presenting individual papers andsymposia to conducting preconference workshops and keynote addresses.The international flavor at the Australian conference was kick-started withfive preconference workshops. Steve Kozlowski (Michigan State Universi-ty) conducted a workshop on how to enhance the development of employ-ees’ adaptive capabilities by taking into account individual differences (e.g.,abilities and traits) and contextual (e.g., leadership processes) and develop-mental influences (e.g., training and learning). In Denise Rousseau’s(Carnegie Mellon University) workshop, she addressed the issue of howidiosyncratic psychological contracts between individual workers and theiremployers is challenging equalizing arrangements such as procedural justiceand equal pay for equal work. David Bartram’s (SHL Group PLC, UK)workshop investigated the pros and cons of testing through the Internet andadvocated the need for developing good practice guidelines to guard againstsecurity and confidentiality issues. Robert Dipboye’s (Rice University)

The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 79

14griffin_393.qxd 12/5/01 2:52 PM Page 79

workshop on employee selection highlighted the need for balancing struc-tured and unstructured interviews with other selection methods such asassessment centers and mental ability tests. Malcom Higgs (Henley Man-agement College, UK) explored the nature of emotional intelligence and itspotential value in organizational contexts in his workshop.

A keynote presentation by Daniel Kahneman continued the internationalflavour at the conference opening. He presented research on judgment anddecision making with finance investors. Evidence to date illustrates thatindividual investors have a bias for optimism and loss aversion when mak-ing decisions, and are thus at a disadvantage in the market relative to insti-tutional investors.

Six other keynote presentations were featured in the program; five ofthese were from the preconference workshop presenters. In addition, BerylHesketh from the University of Sydney described how developments in sci-ence and technology are enabling simulations for selection and trainingpractices to become more realistic with interactive technology.

International contributions extended beyond the keynote presenters.Symposia involved overseas researchers such as Dov Zohar (Israel Instituteof Technology) and Carol Borrill (University of Aston, UK). Individual pre-sentations also included overseas researchers. Two good examples includeNatalie Allen and Tracy Hecht’s (University of Western Ontario) work on“The Romance of Teams,” and a piece of collaborative work betweenMichael Higgs and Robert Wood (Australian Graduate School of Manage-ment) with Carmen Tabernero (University of Salamanca, Spain) on individ-ual differences in implicit theories and stereotyping behaviour in organiza-tions; both pieces of work received best paper awards.

Quality Australian Research All papers presented at the 4th Australian I-O Conference were subject to a

double-blind reviewing procedure. To illustrate the Australian research present-ed, we describe a sample of the simulation and field studies that were presented.

Simulations research presented at the conference included work-in-progress from two large Australian projects jointly funded by governmentand industry. One project was the work from Andrew Neal and colleaguesat the University of Queensland. Their work with air traffic control simula-tions is extending the ability to model human performance with a particularfocus on the mental workload, skill acquisition, and motivation. Anothersimulation project was outlined in Beryl Hesketh’s keynote presentation; herwork with Australian colleagues focuses on advancing selection and trainingtechniques with driving and fire-fighting simulations.

Field studies conducted by Australian researchers were presentedthroughout the program; three papers that received best-paper awards areexemplars. First, Andrew Pirola-Merlo’s (University of New South Wales)

80 The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

14griffin_393.qxd 12/5/01 2:52 PM Page 80

work on organizational innovation differentiates processes involved in indi-vidual and team innovativeness. In his work with research and developmentteams, Pirola-Merlo has illustrated that “team climate” and “synergisticinteractions” are important components for team innovation. Second, RenuBurr and John Cordery’s (University of Western Australia) longitudinalwork with self-managing production teams investigated the relationshipbetween work-method autonomy, self-management efficacy and task moti-vation. Results built on the accumulating evidence for the positive and long-lasting impact of job design and, in particular, autonomy on an individual’scognitive functioning. Third, Catherine Jordan (University of Western Aus-tralia) and Peter Sevastos’ (Curtain University of Technology) paper vali-dated the organisational citizenship behaviour construct through a cross-val-idation procedure. Their results from state government employees providedsupport for a five-factor model of organisational citizenship behaviour.These three examples highlight that Australian I-O researchers are seekingto explore organizational issues directly through field research with longitu-dinal and multilevel designs, which is important to keep in touch with theworld of work that is increasingly dynamic.

Other research presented in symposia and individual presentationsincluded topics such as emotional intelligence and creativity, training, stress,leadership and organizational development, organizational commitment,work and family, teams, motivation and self-efficacy, psychological assess-ment, organisational change, affective events theory, and selection andattracting employees.

In addition to the academic side of the 4th Australian I-O Conference,practice forums were included in the program. The aim of these sessionswas to address issues and problems with the implementation and applicationof I-O in the business world. Examples of issues discussed included how todeal with the media, legal issues involved with assessment of people andjobs, setting up private practice, the pros and cons of psychological assess-ment online, and organizational performance in the public sector.

In conclusion, the 4th Australian I-O Conference was a resounding suc-cess. The conference now appears to be a well-established forum thatattracts both Australian and international psychologists. To give you plentyof time to organize a sabbatical and/or holiday to “the land down under,”take note that the 5th Australian I-O Conference will be held in mid-2003 inMelbourne. You are sure to receive a warm welcome!

The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 81

14griffin_393.qxd 12/5/01 2:52 PM Page 81