The SIOP Exchange

A Quiet Revolution

By Karin Soweid, SIOP Blogger

Recently, on a flight to Boston, I found myself immersed in thought about the psychological preferences that are categorized and defined by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.  I suppose this is what one does with their ‘off time’ when they are immersed in a doctoral program in industrial-organizational psychology.  In parallel with the hum of the engines, I quietly reflected, acknowledging how many times I have taken this assessment tool over the past eight years and my subsequently varying four-letter outcomes during vastly different life experiences in that timeframe.  I couldn’t help but remark and marvel at how these considerable transitions in preference underscore a woman in her doctoral journey. 

The HRM Value Blog

By Mahesh Subramony, SIOP Blogger

In December 1912, a group of managers with different backgrounds, but with a common interest in systemizing the discipline dealing with the ‘handling of employees’ formed the Employment Managers’ Association in Boston. Their aims included “to discuss problems of employes (sic); their training and their efficiency”, and “to compare experiences which shall throw light on the failures and successes in conducting the employment department (Bloomfield, 1916; p.77).  Within the next decade, similar associations had formed in most large cities in the US, and the profession of employment management – a precursor of modern day HRM – was born.

Are We Ready To Innovate?

By Manisha Bajaj, SIOP Blogger

What’s going on?

What contributes to the success of smartphones such as iPhones and Droid? Is it their product design or is it the applications (Apps) that you can buy on them? Or is it both? Putting this another way…

• Would you still buy an iPhone or Droid if the weight loss or online music Apps were not available on these devices?
• Also, would any of these Apps be available if there were no devices like the iPhone or Droid?

The House that Management Consulting Built

By Paul Thoresen, SIOP Blogger

On the premiere episode, of House of Lies (a Showtime Original Series) “management consultants” are painted as soulless opportunists.  With the tagline Survival of the Slickest, this should not be very surprising to most. The show’s first episode portrays the main protagonist (played by Don Cheadle) attempting to win over clients with flattery, meaningless jargon, and several other less than productive tactics. Is this the general impression that the public holds for those who consult to management?

How Selection Consultants Change the World

By Adam W. Hilliard, SIOP Blogger

Both now and in the past, you’d be farfetched to find a child without some dream of grandeur, whether it be saving the world as a secret agent, exploring new frontiers as an astronaut, or running a country as president. It’s not often that those dreams are truly realized, as we settle into our lives of happy stability and somewhat more…attainable visions. However, one of my early mentors wasn’t shy of encouraging that dream to stay alive, and for that I’m going to make the bold statement that selection consultants can and do change the world on a daily basis.

1.    Making managers’ and applicants lives easier – There are few things more stressful than the hiring process (aside from maybe the firing process) for managers. Is the candidate creatively “embellishing” their resume? What about on an interview?