Dr Simon Albrecht

Biography

I have been working within the in the Department of Psychology at the Caulfield Campus Monash University since early 2004. Prior to moving to Monash, for ten years, I was teaching in the Master of Organisational Psychology program at Curtin University.

Beyond having a deep commitment to the academic environment here at Monash, I also have a firm belief that organisational psychologists need to be seen to be doing real things in the real world. I have previously been a Director of a Human Resource Consultancy and have considerable experience working on a consulting basis with a wide variety of organisations. Given that the discipline of organisational psychology is based on science-practice principles, I believe that good teaching, good science and good practice are inextricably linked. I believe graduates of our program graduate with a very practical and hands on focus which is complemented by rigorous theory and exposure to high-level research methodologies.

Administration and Course Coordination

My current academic responsibilities centre on coordinating the practical placement program within the Master of Organisational Psychology (MOP) and Doctor of Psychology (Organisational) programs. This means I spend considerable amounts of time communicating with practicing psychologists, practitioners and employers about how Monash students can gain supervised and meaningful practical experience as a part of their program of studies.

I also coordinate the Master of Organisational Psychology off-campus learning (MOP-OCL) program. I am very pleased that we have been able to successfully develop an OCL program which meets the same high standards as the on-campus program and which is attracting very capable students from all parts of the country.

At the undergraduate level, I am course coordinator for the degree 'the Bachelor of Psychology and Business'. We hope that a significant number of graduates from this degree will stream into the MOP or Doctor of Psychology (Organisational) programs

Research Interests

My broad research interests focus on understanding and developing individual, team and organisational effectiveness, motivation, well-being and morale. More specifically, I am interested in understanding how we can create organisational climates characterised by trust, commitment, support and positive attitudes toward change. I am also interested in organisational politics, employee empowerment, employee engagement, leadership development and the 'feeling' or affective dimensions of such constructs. I think it is important that we demonstrate we can reliably measure such constructs and then show how they inter-relate.

• The dimensions, determinants and outcomes of organisational trust, organisational politics, organisational support, organisational climate, psychological empowerment, employee engagement, leadership, team effectiveness and organisational values.
• The impact of organisational politics, organisational support and organisational trust on organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour, and attitudes to change.
• The organisational predictors of job-related anxiety, enthusiasm, depression and contentment.
• The psychological impact of 360 feedback.
• The affective dimensions of employees' experience of organisational politics, organisational support and organisational trust and their influence on organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and attitudes to change.
• The affective dimensions of leadership and their influence on organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and attitudes to change.

Postgraduate Research Projects

I very much enjoy supervising student research and am currently supervising, or have very recently supervised, the following Doctor of Psychology (Organisational), Master of Psychology, Honours and Post Graduate Diploma research projects:

Doctor of Psychology (Organisational)
The Antecedents and Consequences of Change Cynicism.

The influence of cognitive and affective dimensions of organisational politics on employee attitudes to change and employee well-being.

The mediating role of psychological engagement on the relationship between High Involvement Work Systems and employee attitudes to change.

Master of Psychology
The effects of transformational leadership on organisational commitment and morale: A test of the mediating effects of procedural justice and employee participation.

The affective dimensions of job demands, control and support and their influence on emotional exhaustion.

The moderating influence of emotional intelligence and negative affect on the relationship between organisational politics and psychological strain.

The moderating influence of self and supervisor political skill on the association between organisational politics and attitudes towards change.

An investigation into the effects of political skill and emotional intelligence on job satisfaction.

Honours and Post Graduate Diploma
Positive mood and felt obligation as mediators of the relationship between perceived organisational support and affective commitment

Individual differences and sales performance: OPQ32i as a predictor of sales success.

Procedural justice, organisational support and job insecurity: Their influence on affective commitment.

Determinants of job satisfaction: Demands, control, sources of support and negative affectivity.

The effects of organisational demands on employees' well-being

Organisational support, supervisor support, person-organisation fit and job autonomy: Their relative influence on affective commitment.

Differential predictors of employee's attitude towards organisational changes.

Teaching

I enjoy teaching and adopt a science-practice and adult learner orientation to teaching and learning. I take classes on team development, organisational learning, and training and development. I also take classes which help students extract value from their placement experiences.

Publications

The following list of peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and fully peer-reviewed conference papers will hopefully provide you with a sense of my research interests:

Book Chapters

Albrecht, S.L. (2006). Organizational politics: Affective reactions, cognitive assessments and their influence on organizational commitment and cynicism toward change. In E. Vigoda-Gadot, & A. Drory (Eds.). Handbook of Organizational Politics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.

Albrecht, S.L. (2006). The direct and indirect effects of organizational politics on organizational support, organizational trust and organizational commitment. In E. Vigoda-Gadot, & A. Drory (Eds.). Handbook of Organizational Politics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.

Albrecht, S.L. (2003). Cynicism toward change in the public sector. In M.A. Rahim, R.T. Golembiewski, & K.D. Mackenzie (Eds.). Current Topics in Management (Vol. 8). Stamford CT: JAI Press.

Cacioppe, R.L. & Albrecht, S.L. (2001) 360 Feedback. In K. Parry (Ed.). Leadership in the Antipodes: Findings, Implications, and a Leader profile. Victoria: Victoria University.

Firns, I., Savery, L., Albrecht, S. & Travaglione, T. (1997). Regard for Senior Managers and its Impact on Attitudes, Absenteeism and Labour Turnover. In, C. Armistead and J. Kiely (Eds.). Effective Organisations: Looking into the Future. Cassell: London.

Journal Articles - Refereed

Albrecht S.L. (2006). Predictors of employee extra-role performance and turnover intentions in the Public Sector: An integrated model. International Journal of Human Resource Development and Management, 6 (2/3/4), 263-278.

Albrecht, S.L. (2005). Leadership climate in the Public Sector: Feelings matter too! International Journal of Public Administration, 28 (5&6), 397-416.

Albrecht S.L. & Travaglione, T. (2003). Trust in Public Sector Senior Management. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol 14 (2), 1-17.

Albrecht, S.L. (2002). Perceptions of integrity, competence and trust in senior management as determinants of cynicism toward change. Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal

Cacioppe, R.L. & Albrecht, S.L. (2000). Using 3600 feedback and the Integral Model to develop leadership and management skills. The Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 21, 390-404.

Albrecht, S.L. (in review). Measuring cynicism toward change - one dimension or two? Journal of Applied Measurement.

Albrecht, S.L. (in review). Predictors of employee pessimism about organizational change: Cross-validation of a social exchange related model. Group and Organization Management.

Albrecht, S. L. (in review). Determinants of contextual performance: Organisational justice, supervisor support, organisational support, trust in management and affective commitment. International Journal of Organisational Behaviour.

Conference Papers - Peer Reviewed

Albrecht, S.L. & McMillan, K.A. (2006). Predictors of employee contextual performance: Test of an integrated social exchange model. Australian Centre for Research into Employment and Work (ACREW) Conference, July 1-4, 2006, Tuscany, Italy.

Albrecht, S.L. & Wilson-Evered, E. (2006). Predictors of cynicism toward change in the Public Sector: Information about change, involvement in change and trust in senior management. 2006 Joint Conference of the APS & NZPsS, 26 - 30 September 2006, SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.

Interligi, L. & Albrecht, S.L. (2006). Organizational politics and job-related enthusiasm and anxiety: The moderating role of supervisor support and job autonomy. 20th ANZAM (Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management) Conference, December 2-5, 2006, Queensland, Australia. Italy.

Ly, C. & Albrecht, S.L. (2006). Determinants of job satisfaction: Demands, control, sources of support and negative affectivity. 2006 Joint Conference of the APS & NZPsS, 26 - 30 September 2006, SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand. Italy.

Albrecht, S.L. (2005). Organizational politics, organizational support and organizational commitment - the mediating role of organizational trust. 6th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2005, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Albrecht, S.L. (2005). Organizational support and affectivity as predictors of psychological well-being at work: A longitudinal study. The Australian Psychology Society 40th Annual Conference, September 28 -October 2, 2005, Melbourne.

Albrecht, S.L. (2005). Perceptions of leadership: Feelings matter too! Australian Centre for Research into Employment and Work (ACREW) Conference, June 24-25, 2005, Melbourne.

Albrecht, S.L. (2005). The impact of organizational politics: This time with feeling! 19th ANZAM (Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management) Conference, December 2-5, 2005, Canberra Australia.

Albrecht, S.L. & Perryer, C.R. (2004). Measuring cynicism toward change - one lump or two? 3rd Global Conference on Business & Economics, July 2004, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Albrecht, S.L. (2003). Information, involvement and trust in senior management as determinants of cynicism toward change 5th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2003, Melbourne.

Albrecht, S.L. & Cacioppe, R. (2003). The impact of 360 feedback on affective well-being at work. 17th ANZAM (Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management) Conference, December 2-5, 2003, Perth Australia.

Swyny, C.L. & Albrecht, S.L. (2003). Fit, affective outcomes and turnover intentions in call centre employees. 5th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2003, Melbourne.

Griggspall, M. & Albrecht, S.L. (2003. Measuring empowerment in the workplace: Construct validation. 5th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2003, Melbourne.

Yap, M. & Albrecht, S.L. (2003). Commitment, trust and perceived support: Do employees make distinctions in relation to their organisation, supervisor and workgroup? 5th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2003, Melbourne.

Albrecht, S.L. (2002). Cynicism toward change in the public sector. Tenth International Conference for Advances in Management, July 10-13, Boston, Ma.

Albrecht, S.L. & Sevastos, P.P. (2002). Trustworthiness and trust in senior management. Tenth International Conference for Advances in Management, July 10-13, Boston.

Albrecht, S.L. & Sevastos, P.P (2001). Trust in senior management - test of a longitudinal model. 4th Australian Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference, June 2001, Sydney

Albrecht, S.L. & Sevastos, P.P. (2000). The dimensions and structure of trust and trustworthiness in senior management. Trust in the Workplace - Beyond the Quick Fix Conference November 2000, Newcastle.

Albrecht, S.L. & Sevastos, P.P. (1999). New measures of trust in senior management. 3rd Australian Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference, Brisbane.

Travaglione, T., Firns, I., Sevastos, P., Albrecht, S., & Savery, L. (1998). Developing a parsimonious version of the Allen and Meyer commitment instrument. British Academy of Management, London.

Firns, I., Travaglione, T., Savery, L., & Albrecht, S. (1998). How reliable is self-reported absence data? British Academy of Management, London.

Travaglione, T., Albrecht, S., Firns, I., & Savery, L. (1998). Measuring identification, involvement and loyalty in times of organisational change. International Work Psychology Conference, The University of Sheffield, U.K..

Albrecht, S.L., Savery, L., Firns, I., & Travaglione, T. (1997). Trust in senior managers: The effects on other organizational attitudes and absenteeism and labour turnover outcomes. British Academy of Management, London.

Firns, I., Savery, L., Albrecht, S., & Travaglione, T. (1997). Organisational Commitment, other Organisational Attitudes, Absenteeism and Labour Turnover: Some Australian Evidence. British Academy of Management, London.