Professor Olson To Present Research at Institute of Work Psychology International Conference in the UK

As a player in the global education arena, Associate Professor of Management and Leadership Dr. Deborah Olson is leading the way in representing the University of La Verne abroad.

Olson submitted two peer-reviewed papers, “Strengths-Based Leadership Development: Two Applications of a Positive Algorithm for Growth and Learning” and “The Use of Social and Professional Networking Sites in Job Applicant Screening: An Empirical Investigation of Privacy, Justice, and Job Pursuit Variables,” to the Institute of Work Psychology International Conference. Both were accepted for publication.

Hosted by Sheffield Town Hall, UK, the conference will include 200 delegates from 36 countries from around the world June 24-26, 2014.

“This builds an international reputation in two key areas of work on effective leadership and effective organizational process,” Olson said. “National (and international) reputation are a key part of the mission.”

The first paper she wrote is about leadership development and how to build talents in leaders to optimize their effectiveness in their leadership roles.

“This builds on the work that I have done with my students in both graduate and undergraduate courses at La Verne,” Olson said. “This is also an important area of research in Positive Organizational Scholarship more broadly.”

Olson’s second paper discusses the use of social media by organizational leaders to recruit and select people to fill open jobs.

“This is an important area of research since social media are being use more frequently in a wide range of social contexts,” Olson said.

She hopes that attendees will learn to “share information on new options for positive leadership development and how to help leaders identify leadership roles that will draw on their strengths and build their self-confidence.”

“Regarding social media, the focus is on learning how candidates perceive the use of social media so that managers who are recruiting people using social media design their systems and processes carefully and thoughtfully,” Olson said.