Confluence of Dynamic Forces 377diverse employees. Theories, research methods, and applica-
tions will need to include individual differences with regard
to age, gender, ethnicity, race, and culture.
In addition to diversity, the supply of workers is shrinking
(Cascio, 1995; Cohen, 1995). The birth rate has declined for
the past 20 to 30 years, and individuals are retiring earlier be-
cause of the prosperous economy during the 1990s (Aiman-
Smith & Koppes, 2000). The shrinking labor force, record
low unemployment associated with a strong economy, and
accelerated global competition has engendered new topics for
I-O psychologists (e.g., acquisitions/mergers, employee re-
tention, work/family balance) and a revisiting of traditional
issues (e.g., job analysis, selection, training and develop-
ment, performance appraisal) (Cascio, 1995). I-O psychology
does not exist in a vacuum; societal forces will continue to
influence the discipline. Thus, additional research on socio-
economic forces is warranted.
Business Forces
Organizations must change their structures, technologies,
and processes to adapt to their environments and to survive
(Huber, 1984). Because I-O psychologists historically re-
sponded to business problems (e.g., Baritz, 1960), changes
in business directly affected I-O psychology. I-O psycholo-
gists provided employers techniques and information for im-
plementing an explicit scientific approach and developed
techniques to help employers make decisions (Dipboye
et al., 1994). When asked to identify an influence on the
field, SIOP past president (1991–1992) Richard J. Klimoski
responded,
The changing nature of organizing—favoring large manufactur-
ing enterprises right after the war, the rise of the large multi-
divisional firm, to the conglomerate, to the rise of service
providers, to the multinational firm, to the development of vir-
tual organizations. These affect such things as the need for I/O
services, the kinds of problems studied, the kinds of job venues
I/O types hold. (Richard J. Klimoski, personal communication,
August 27, 2000)The Industrial Revolution at the end of the nineteenth cen-
tury created a prevailing faith in capitalism (Katzell &
Austin, 1992). The primary business objectives were to im-
prove efficiency, increase productivity, and decrease costs
through standardization and simplification (Dipboye et al.,
1994). Scientific management advocates addressed these ob-
jectives by designing work to improve efficiency (Taylor,
1947). Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, known for their time-and-
motion studies, were concerned with individual needs in
work settings. They believed that scientific management was
more than machines, tools, procedures, and inventory con-
trol. “It meant, first of all, thepeoplewho did the jobs”
(Gilbreth, 1970, p. 103). The primary importance of scientific
management for I-O psychology was the study of work
(Baritz, 1960) and the establishment of a precedent for scien-
tists to enter organizations.
The emergence of capitalism and emphasis on efficiency
forced companies to hire the most qualified employees; thus,
selection and training were critical issues. Industrial psychol-
ogists used mental tests that had been successful in education
and in the armed forces to select hardworking and committed
employees (Katzell & Austin, 1992). According to Van De
Water (1997), mental tests were the field’s first technical
product.
An emphasis on productivity during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries influenced organization leaders
to explore ways to advertise, sell, and distribute their goods.
Psychologists recognized the value of their discipline to these
business issues as well. For example, Scripture (1895) wrote
in his book Thinking, Feeling, Doingthat advertisers could
benefit from psychology with regard to attention and mem-
ory. A young psychologist, Walter Dill Scott, was approached
by a group of businessmen to present a speech about the
value of psychology for advertising in 1901. He did so on the
condition that his name not be published because he feared
the disdain of his colleagues. This concern soon dissipated, as
Scott in 1903 published a book titled The Theory of Advertis-
ing(Ferguson, 1962–1965).
Interest in applying psychology to business problems
provided opportunities for businesses and academic psy-
chologists to collaborate. An important program for the
development of I-O psychology was the Division of Ap-
plied Psychology at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now
Carnegie-Mellon University), which was established in 1915
with Walter VanDyke Bingham as the director (Hilgard,
1987). In 1916, a new department was formed, the Bureau of
Salesmanship Research, headed by Scott. Scott and his col-
leagues devised a multiple-component selection system for
sales personnel that included a personal history blank (bio-
data), a standard interview, a reference form, and a mental
alertness test (Katzell & Austin, 1992). Later, the bureau was
renamed the Bureau of Personnel Research. Bingham created
another program, the School of Life Insurance Salesmanship,
which trained several thousand life insurance salesmen
(Hilgard, 1987). Following World War I, the Carnegie Insti-
tute of Technology expanded its work to include sales train-
ing, with the establishment of the Research Bureau of Retail
Training. Vocational interests were researched, and E. K.
Strong along with Karl Cowdery eventually developed the
Strong Vocational Interest Blank, now known as the Strong