With the aim to gather Southeast Asia scholars to share their research ideas and findings, the “Industrial & Organisational (I/O) Psychology Research Trends in Southeast Asia” research colloquium was jointly organised by UTAR Centre of Applied Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya, Indonesia, on 24 June 2023 via ZOOM.

Dean of Faculty of Psychology of Chulalongkorn University Nattasuda Taephant kick-started the colloquium with an opening address, and said, “I do believe this research colloquium is a starting point for the academic community in I/O psychology in Southeast Asia to build up a network, start a community, and share knowledge. I do believe this will help I/O psychology in Southeast Asia, and strengthen and develop the knowledge that embraces diversity in our community.”

UTAR Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) Dean Dr Lee Lai Meng said, “This colloquium has provided a platform for like-minded people with similar interest to come together, and to learn and inspire each other through knowledge sharing. I hope all participants will gain knowledge, develop a deep interest, and generate new ideas in I/O psychology research areas. I also hope we will be able to ignite each other’s passion in this much needed and important research area that makes the workplace and well-being of employers and employees better.”

PThe first presenter was Head of West-East Psychological Science Research Center and Chairperson of Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Chulalongkorn University, Dr Jennifer Chavanovanich, who presented on “Inequality, Organisational Norms, and Everyday Resistance among Employees in Thailand”, which is also part of a cross-cultural project. She explained, “Inequality in the workplace, both pay and gender inequality, can hinder positive organisational outcomes, such has higher turnover intentions, as well as reduce employees’ sense of cooperation and shared organisational identification. Much of this work has yet to examine how perceived inequality is related to deviant workplace behaviours, that is, voluntary actions which threaten the well-being of the organisation and its employees.”

Her research focused on ‘everyday resistance’, which can be considered as deviant workplace behaviours. “Unlike organised protests or social movements, ‘everyday resistance’ is typically hidden or disguised, and may even appear quite commonplace, for instance, working slowly, or not following company’s rules,” explained Dr Jennifer. The research found that employees who perceive unfairness are likely to engage in everyday resistance; and perception of gender inequality is likely to decrease a perception that an organisation is just, which in turn decreases a likelihood of everyday resistance behaviours.

Second presenter was UTAR FAS academic Dr Ooh Seow Ling, who presented on “Task Conflict and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) at Individual and Group Levels: The Moderating Role of Supervisor’s Conflict Handling”. Results from her research pointed out that supervisor’s conflict-handling strategies included, problem-solving, compromising, yielding, avoiding, and forcing.

She explained further, “Individual OCB and group OCB are likely to have distinct construct functions, in terms of both causes and outcomes. Conflict management training that tailor to our culture can be designed for employees to prevent any negative effects of the conflict from escalation.”

Assoc Prof Dr Wustari L. Mangundjaya from Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya was the third presenter. She presented on “Change Leader Across Culture”, which looked into the meaning of change leader; characteristics of change leader; impact of culture on a change leader; and characteristics of local culture. She elucidated, “Change leadership is the style or way of a change leader who desires to make changes to achieve better organisational conditions. The three dimensions of change leadership are, initiator or pioneer, implementer, and coach. It shows that culture, norms, and values play preferences of the people about change leader. Different cultures might prefer different types of change leadership.”

She then concluded, “Culture plays an important role in change leadership, as people might not have the commitment to change, if they think that the leader do not care for them, including their culture. Culture influences leadership style, and leaders could also influence the culture. Therefore, change leader should pay attention to its culture when they want to conduct organisational change. Change is inevitable, and the success of change lies in the hands of the people and leaders.”

The final presenter, Dr Christopher F. Sasot from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, spoke on “Employees’ Positioning of One Private University in the Philippines during Covid-19”. His research looked into the ways the employees of National University (NU) Laguna position the institution given its new work set-up during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results revealed six positions ascribed to NU Laguna namely, Provider, Responsive One, Helper, Guide, Carer, and Supporter. These positions also resulted from the rights gained by the employees, which eventually became the basis for the duties ascribed to them.

He also added, “In this study, Goffman’s concept of Framing is relevant to understand the positioning made. All the positions fall within the “needy” frame. It can be interpreted from the responses that the employees were concerned about how NU Laguna is providing for their needs in several aspects of their lives.” His research also drew conclusions that the constructions ascribed to NU Laguna by the employees give positive positions to the former for being able to address the rights claimed by the latter. The positions also imply the significant role NU Laguna plays in enhancing the experiences of its employees, especially during challenging situations.

The virtual research colloquium also saw participants engaging the presenters in interactive Q&A sessions, which enabled participants to deepen their understandings and acquire new knowledge.