WorkCookie - Get Ahead with Industrial/Organizational Psychology in the Workplace

Organizations build strategies around what they sell instead of what customers are hiring them to accomplish.

This episode discusses the concept of Jobs to Be Done thinking
(without jargon), Why “services” is not a strategy, how to define the highest-value job your customer hires you to do, and the danger of competing on scope instead of outcomes.

In this episode: Dr. Emi Barresi, Lee Crowson Nic Krueger, Natasha Desjardins, Tim Sharples

 

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Most leadership teams think they have a strategy. What they actually have is a list of projects.

Discussed:

·    The difference between strategy and operations
(and why confusing them kills momentum)
·      How to identify whether a goal is truly strategic or just activity
·      Why last year’s “strategic goals” were likely execution improvements
·      The 3 diagnostic questions that reveal if something is strategy

In this episode: LindaAnn Rogers, Tom Bradshaw, Lee Crowson, Nic Krueger, Natasha Desjardins, Dan Baxter
 
I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
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References
Christensen, C. M. (1997). The innovator’s dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business School Press.
 
Christensen, C. M., Dillon, K., Hall, T., & Duncan, D. S. (2016). Know your customers’ “jobs to be done.” Harvard Business Review, 94(9), 54–62. https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done
 
Christensen, C. M., Hall, T., Dillon, K., & Duncan, D. S. (2016). Competing against luck: The story of innovation and customer choice. Harper Business.
 
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue ocean strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make competition irrelevant. Harvard Business School Press.
 
Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61–78. https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy
I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
 
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Layoffs, rapid change, public scrutiny, and crisis situations often reveal an organization’s true ethical posture.

This episode explores how ethical standards are tested, and sometimes abandoned, during periods of organizational pressure. Using I-O psychology frameworks, we examine ethical decision-making under uncertainty, competing stakeholder demands, and the long-term cultural consequences of short-term ethical compromises. 

In this episode:  Dr. Emi Barresi, Lee Crowson, Natasha Desjardines, Nicolas Krueger, LindaAnn Rogers, Rich Cruz, Dr. Cam Dunson, Asif Haider.

 

I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job

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References

Jin, Y., Pang, A., & Smith, J. (2018). Crisis communication and ethics: the role of public relations. The Journal of Business Strategy, 39(1), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-09-2016-0095

 

Ludviga, I., & Kalvina, A. (2024). Organizational Agility During Crisis: Do Employees’ Perceptions of Public Sector Organizations’ Strategic Agility Foster Employees’ Work Engagement and Well-being? Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 36(2), 209–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-023-09442-9

 

Nhedzi, A., & Gombarume, C. (2021). A Moral Compass of the Organisation During Crisis: Exploring the ethics roles of Strategic Communication practice. African Journal of Business Ethics, 15(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.15249/15-1-275

 

Piotrowski, C., & Guyette, R. W. (2010). Toyota Recall Crisis: Public Attitudes on Leadership and Ethics. Organization Development Journal, 28(2), 89.

 

Pope, K. S. (2019). A Human Rights and Ethics Crisis Facing the World’s Largest Organization of Psychologists: Accepting Responsibility, Understanding Causes, Implementing Solutions. European Psychologist, 24(2), 180–194. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000341

 

Schoofs, L., Fannes, G., & Claeys, A.-S. (2022). Empathy as a main ingredient of impactful crisis communication: The perspectives of crisis communication practitioners. Public Relations Review, 48(1), Article 102150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102150

 

Schowalter, A. F., & Volmer, J. (2024). Servant and Crisis Manager? The Association of Servant Leadership with Followers’ Adaptivity and Proactivity. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 31(4), 433–452. https://doi.org/10.1177/15480518241287647

 

Zarzavadjian Le Bian, A., Tresallet, C., & Martinod, E. (2020). A crisis of ethics in the ethics of crisis. Journal of Visceral Surgery, 157(4), 365–366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviscsurg.2020.07.002...

In this episode:  Dr. Emi Barresi, Lee Crowson, Natasha Desjardines, Nicolas Krueger, Rich CruzI/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/jobVisit us https://www.seboc.com/Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLIJoin an open-mic event:ReferencesAshforth, B. E., & Gibbs, B. W. (1990). The Double-Edge of Organizational Legitimation. Organization Science, 1(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1.2.177Bandura, A. (1999). Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3Boakye, D., Sarpong, D., Meissner, D., & Ofosu, G. (2024). How TalkTalk did the walk-walk: strategic reputational repair in a cyber-attack. Information Technology & People (West Linn, Or.), 37(4), 1642–1673. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-08-2022-0589Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004De Roeck, K., & Farooq, O. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership: Investigating Their Interactive Effect on Employees’ Socially Responsible Behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(4), 923–939. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3656-6Dickson, M. W., Smith, D. B., Grojean, M. W., & Ehrhart, M. (2001). An organizational climate regarding ethics: the outcome of leader values and the practices that reflect them. The Leadership Quarterly, 12(2), 197–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(01)00069-8“Open Letter from More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-Based Companies | Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.” Mnchamber.com, 25 Jan. 2026, www.mnchamber.com/blog/open-letter-more-60-ceos-minnesota-based-companies.Liu, M.-L., Lin, C.-P., Chen, M.-L., Chen, P.-C., & Chen, K.-J. (2020). Strengthening knowledge sharing and job dedication: The roles of corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 41(1), 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-06-2019-0278Ullah, I., Hameed, R. M., Kayani, N. Z., & Fazal, Y. (2022). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: Examining the mediating role of organizational ethical culture and intellectual capital. Journal of Management & Organization, 28(1), 99–119. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.48Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The Organizational Bases of Ethical Work Climates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), 101--125. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392857Weber, J., & Opoku-Dakwa, A. (2022). Ethical Work Climate 2.0: A Normative Reformulation of Victor and Cullen’s 1988 Framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 178(3), 629–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04778-4Williams, J. (2024). Greenwashing: Appearance, illusion and the future of ‘green’ capitalism. Geography Compass, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12736

Ethics in organizations live in leadership behaviors rather than documented in policies alone. We examined how leaders actively shape ethical climate and psychological safety through everyday decisions, silence, and signals.
 
In this episode:  Dr. Emi Barresi, Dr. Karen Mishra, Nic Krueger, Natasha Desjardins, CT Sanders, Chris O'Brien, Rich Cruz
 
I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI
Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events
 
References:
 
Al Halbusi, H., Williams, K. A., Ramayah, T., Aldieri, L., & Vinci, C. P. (2021). Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees’ ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit. Personnel Review, 50(1), 159–185. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2019-0522
 
Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002
 
Huang, L., & Paterson, T. A. (2017). Group Ethical Voice: Influence of Ethical Leadership and Impact on Ethical Performance. Journal of Management, 43(4), 1157–1184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314546195
 
Jurkiewicz, C. L., & Giacalone, R. A. (Eds.). (2017). Radical thoughts on ethical leadership. Information Age Publishing, Inc. Koay, K. Y., & Lim, P. K. (2022). Ethical leadership and knowledge hiding: testing the mediating and moderating mechanisms. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(3), 574–591. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2021-0091
 
Kim, B.-J., Kim, M.-J., & Lee, J. (2024). Code green: ethical leadership’s role in reconciling AI-induced job insecurity with pro-environmental behavior in the digital workplace. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), Article 1627. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04139-2
 
Kuenzi, M., Mayer, D. M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2020). Creating an ethical organizational environment: The relationship between ethical leadership, ethical organizational climate, and unethical behavior. Personnel Psychology, 73(1), 43–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12356
 
Marquardt, D. J., Manegold, J., & Brown, L. W. (2022). Integrating relational systems theory with ethical leadership: how ethical leadership relates to employee turnover intentions. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 43(1), 155–179. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-04-2021-0190
 
Mishra, A., Mishra, K., & Spreitzer, G. (2009, April 1). Downsizing the Company Without Downsizing Morale. MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/downsizing-the-company-without-downsizingmorale/
 
Mishra, K. E. M., Gretchen M. Spreitzer and Aneil K. (1998). Preserving Employee Morale during Downsizing. MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/preserving-employee-morale-during-downsizin g/
 
Paterson, T. A., & Huang, L. (2019). Am I Expected to Be Ethical? A Role-Definition Perspective of Ethical Leadership and Unethical Behavior. Journal of Management, 45(7), 2837–2860. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318771166
 
Walumbwa, F. O., Mayer, D. M., Wang, P., Wang, H., Workman, K., & Christensen, A. L. (2011). Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The roles of leader–member exchange, self-efficacy, and organizational identification. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115(2), 204–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2010.11.002