M.A. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology Degree Program: Diversity Electives Description

Diversity Electives (Choose 3 credits)

IO 557 Managing Organizational Diversity (3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): IO 510 and IO 511 . In today’s global marketplace, the idea of diversity is a valued commodity—so valued that when Fortune magazine names the top 100 companies for minority workers each year, it impacts the stock value of those organizations. To be competitive, many companies have a diversity officer who is responsible to create diversity awareness, promoting the idea of a diverse workforce, recruiting women and minorities, and ensuring that the organization operates within all applicable Equal Opportunity Laws. But what is “diversity”? What is the role of the diversity officer? How is this role evolving, and where will it be in the future? What are the “land mines” for a person in such a position? What does it take to do this job well, both from an interpersonal and from an administrative point of view? This course is designed to answer those questions and prepare the participant to fill such a role or to advise those who do.

IO 564 Meeting the Challenges of Global Human Resource Management (3 credits)
Managing human resources on a global basis requires an understanding of global staffing issues, including international assignment; compensation/benefits practices and requirements across borders; and culturally influenced differences in ethical practices. This course is intended as an overview of these issues, with the focus selected by the participant using an individualized project. Learning outcomes of this course include:

• Managing the challenge of balancing conflicting values across cultures
• Designing value-added expatriate programs
• Identifying important considerations in international staffing

IO 566 Global Business, an Introduction (3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): IO 510 and IO 511 . An introduction to basic concepts in global business, and how different cultural perspectives may influence doing business around the world. Students will learn about some of the basic functions of business, how the execution of those functions may vary with differences among cultures, and how to research such impacts.

IO 578 Beyond Compliance: Building Ethical Organizations (3 credits)
Leaders drive performance in line with their personal values in ways that have far-reaching implications and consequences. The savvy global leader understands the impact of her or his own personal value system on the organization, and uses that understanding to make the organization a responsible corporate citizen that is a valued partner in the global marketplace. This course guides the leader through assumptions about values, understanding their impact on corporate culture and performance, and translating them into a living Code of Ethics used to guide the citizenship behavior of the organization through ethical dilemmas. Learning objectives in this course include:

• Addressing three key assumptions leaders make when setting the moral compass for their organizations
• Stating and embracing a corporate value system that is based on fundamental definitions of right and wrong that are somehow universal
• Developing a decision-making strategy based on these definitions that can be applied across cultures
• Creating a Code of Ethics that will ensure employees operate with integrity or face sanctions

IO 570 Promoting Diversity (3 credits)
Organizational mission, vision, and values statements frequently include language that indicates “diversity” as a guiding principle or a deeply held ideal. Those organizations that want to put these words into meaningful action may find it difficult to apply the principal of diversity to their enterprise. This course is designed to address the adoption of diversity in today’s modern working environments. Learning objectives include:

• Defining diversity in practical, meaningful, and useful terms
• Developing strategies for increasing diversity in leadership ranks
• Exploring implicit bias in contemporary leadership competency models and working to reduce it
• Building a business case for purposefully increasing diversity in the workforce

The Power of One (3 credits)
This course will include online course requirements (15 hours during semester) and the remaining hours of the course are devoted to learning abroad (total of 30 hours abroad during the semester or interim break with a service-learning component).

For questions concerning any course, or to inquire about the Master’s in Industrial & Organizational Psychology program in general, please call 866-907-4209 or request more information.