Chair of Business Psychology & Human Resource Management

Dress rehearsal in the project "Strong together" was successful

On the weekend (17. & 18.9.) we were finally able to put the results of the first one and a half years of the project into practice and carry out our freshly developed team training with firefighters of the volunteer fire department of the joint municipality Thedinghausen - local fire department Riede. With numerous case studies, exercises and discussions, various areas of teamwork in fire protection operations were addressed. We had a lot of fun to finally present our elaborations to the target group and are grateful for the input and feedback of the participants. In the next step, we will conduct the training with trainees of the Cologne Fire Department to evaluate its effectiveness.

The aim of the DGUV-funded third-party project "Strong Together - Team Training Firefighting" is to develop, implement and evaluate a professional team training concept for fire protection training that is specially adapted to this target group. The training aims to improve the team processes in operational force structures in terms of non-technical skills such as communication, coordination, decision-making and leadership behavior, for greater safety and less stress during operations.

New Publication from Michèle Rieth and Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We are pleased to share our new publication “Automation as an equal team player for humans? - A view into the field and implications for research and practice” in the journal “Applied Ergonomics” (Q1 Journal). It deals with teamwork between humans and automation, known as "Human-Autonomy Teaming" (HAT), which is becoming increasingly possible as a result of technical advances.

Based on 28 international expert interviews, we analyze the practical reality and feasibility of HAT, taking into account the current possibilities of various industries and science. In addition, from an expert's point of view, the requirements for HAT are identified that are necessary in order to be able to use automation as effectively as possible in the sense of a team player for humans. Those aspects are transferred into a model and the need for further research in the area of ​​HAT is derived. The results show that the concept of the HAT is hardly applied in practice but that the scientifically discussed topics are relevant to practice. Today's technology is far from being able to meet the identified requirements for successful HAT. It is now up to researchers and practitioners to jointly pave the way for a successful HAT, whereby the presented model and the identified research needs can serve as orientation.

The publication is currently freely available here.

New third-party funded project KARAT

The project "Artificial intelligence for healthy work in driving professions: Workload and Safety in Traffic and Transport (KARAT)" implements an employee-oriented AI application to support the driving professions in Germany. By using individual data, physiological reactions and driving data as well as publicly available data (e.g. weather data, major events, traffic situations), an analysis of workload based on machine learning is developed. This application allows the prognosis of the individually health and work related optimal travel and shift scheduling and suggests measures for stress reduction as well as optimal work, assignment and route planning.

Das Projektkonsortium besteht aus den erfahrenen Forschungspartnern FOM Hochschule Essen (Koordination), Universität Bremen, Universität Duisburg-Essen und Universität Hohenheim sowie den Praxispartnern Duisport-Gruppe (Duisburg), dem KMU-Transport­unternehmen Sherwood (Köln) und dem Speditionsverband VSL NRW (Düsseldorf).

New Publication by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We would like to draw your attention on the book "Künstliche Intelligenz in Wirtschaft & Gesellschaft". In this book Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann and three other authors publish the book chapter: "Künstliche Intelligenz zur Unterstützung neuer Arbeitswelten in Produktion und Logistik" (S. 155-167).

Members of the University of Bremen have free access to this book as an e-book in the library. 
You can find it under the following link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-658-29550-9

New research project approved

Starts soon: Strong together - professional team training for more safety and less stress in fire fighting

Dealing with dangerous situations and stress is part of the work of firefighters. According to the accident statistics of the German Statutory Accident Insurance (DGUV) for volunteer fire brigades, accidents and injuries occur repeatedly during emergency response and especially during firefighting. Understanding and applying effective teamwork processes within the emergency force structures (group, squadron, troop) can reduce accidents during stressful situations. Teamwork processes can already be specifically trained in fire safety training, although such training is not yet provided for in previous training guidelines.
The aim of our project is therefore to develop, implement and evaluate a professional team training concept for fire protection training that is specially tailored to fire protection. The aim of the training is to improve the team processes in emergency response structures with regard to non-technical skills such as communication, coordination, decision making and management behaviour, for more safety and less stress in operations. These are conveyed in a practice-oriented manner using typical fire brigade case studies and trained in practical deployment exercises.

Project partners are: Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann (University of Bremen), Jun.-Prof. Dr. Corinna Peifer (Ruhr-University Bochum), Jessica Freywald (Professional Fire Department Cologne), Maik Holtz (Professional Fire Department Cologne)

The project was approved by the DGUV and is expected to start in spring 2020. In addition to material and travel expenses, Prof. Hagemann was also granted a position for a scientific employee for 3 years.

Visit to the AOW Conference in Braunschweig

From 25 to 27 September, the conference of the DGP's Section for Work, Organisational and Economic Psychology (AOW) took place in Braunschweig.
This year Michèle Rieth, Martina Schaper and Prof. Vera Hagemann were present for a professional exchange. For the presentation of current research results from the Diamant project, Martina Schaper presented a poster on the topic "Development of a Risk Assessment - Assessment of the Hazard Potential of Digitized Workplaces". Michèle Rieth presented concepts and initial findings during her doctorate in her lecture on "Analysis of Competence Requirements for Employees in High Reliability Organizations due to the Introduction of Automation". Vera Hagemann gave a lecture on Wednesday on "Analysis of the effects of process feedback on resource- and goal-oriented communication to support teamwork processes" and on Thursday on "Cooperation on the rails: effective design of non-technical skill training for train drivers". Another very important and topical topic at the conference was Human Resource Analytics, and how we can prepare our students of work, organizational and business psychology for these developments in practice.

New Publication by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We would like to draw your attention to the book "Verwaltungspsychologie - Ein Lehrbuch für das Studium". In this book Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann and Prof. Dr. Annette Kluge of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum publish the book chapter "Organizational and Personnel Development" (pp. 63-101). 
You can find it under the following link: https://www.hogrefe.de/shop/verwaltungspsychologie-88679.html. 

Kick-off event of the DIAMANT project in Bonn

On 06.12.18 the kick-off meeting of the project "Digitalized Ideas and Work Management in Production, Logistics and Trade" (DIAMANT) took place in Bonn. The internal project meeting of the partners served the personal presentation of relevant questions, the exchange of experiences in the implementation of digitization in companies as well as the team building for the joint project work in the next three years. The participants were the University of Trier (project coordinator), the University of Bremen, the FOM University, the University of Duisburg-Essen, Balcke-Dürr, BOGE and REWE.

Congress of the German Society of Psychology in Frankfurt

From 15 to 20 September 2018, the 51st Congress of the German Society of Psychology took place in Frankfurt am Main under the motto "Psychology Shapes". 

The program was very diversified and the Göthe-University Frankfurt as organizer of the congress welcomed us in best weather. On Thursday, September 20, Professor Hagemann gave her lecture on "Interrelations between individual and team-level process feedback and collective orientation, need for cognition and interdependent team performance". 

Information about the congress and impressions can be found here: 
https://www.dgpskongress.de/frontend/index.php?folder_id=219

Lecture at the Congress of the German Society of Psychology

From 15 to 20 September 2018, the 51st Congress of the German Society of Psychology will take place in Frankfurt am Main under the motto "Psychology Shapes".

On Thursday, September 20, Professor Hagemann will give her lecture on "Interrelations between Individual- and Team-Level Process Feedback and Collective Orientation, Need for Cognition and Interdependent Team Performance".

Information about the congress and the program can be found here:
https://www.dgpskongress.de/frontend/index.php?folder_id=117

Final Presentation in the Project Module with ZF Friedrichshafen AG

The project module, of the fifth semester in the focus "Behavior-oriented WiWi" in the Bachelor BWL, took place this year in cooperation with ZF Friedrichshafen AG. The topic of the project module was: "International Teams and Diversity".

On January 29, 2019, the final presentation took place as part of the project module. We welcomed the ZF Friedrichshafen AG team to the final presentation at the University of Bremen.
The project module was very successful and we look forward to continuing our cooperation in the future. 

New publication from Michèle Rieth and Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann on the effects of the Covid-19 measures on employees

We are pleased to share our new publication "The Impact of Telework and Closure of Educational and Childcare Facilities on Working People During COVID-19" in the German Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology (Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie).

The study examines the impact of telework and closure of educational and childcare facilities on working people during COVID-19. We compare telework versus nontelework conditions and people with and without stay-at-home children. Data from 465 working people in Germany were collected via an online survey. People who do not work from home experienced more stress, more negative and less positive affect, less life satisfaction and trust in government, but also less loss of control over career success than those working from home. Concerning the conservation of resources theory, working from home can thus be seen as a resource gain, representing, in accordance with the self-regulation theory, a way to deal with pandemic threats. However, home office only seems to be beneficial if working conditions at home are supportive; otherwise, it is experienced as a resource threat or loss, especially with stay-at-home children.

You can find the publication freely available here.

Participation in the AOWI conference in Chemnitz

From September 22 to 24 2021, the conference of the Division of Work, Organizational, Business, and Engineering Psychology (AOWI) of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) will take place in Chemnitz. This year's motto is "Sustainable interaction with people and technology". This conference is one of the most important events in the business psychology community and we are very pleased to be widely represented there.

This year, Prof. Vera Hagemann, Lena Heinemann and Michèle Rieth will be on site for a professional exchange. Specifically, the Department of Business Psychology & Human Resources will be represented with a total of two symposia and five papers. The symposia will be chaired by Prof. Hagemann, one on "Working in Times of Covid-19" and one on "Safe Teamwork and Rule Breaking in High Risk Organizations". Michèle Rieth will give a presentation on the former about the impact of Covid-19 measures on employees. Lena Heinemann and colleagues will give two presentations on the second about the development of a questionnaire to assess stressors and resources in teamwork in fire protection operations as well as their collection for the purpose of training development. Vera Hagemann will present findings from her laboratory studies on "The effects of collective orientation and process feedback on coordination and performance of interdependent teams". Michèle Rieth will additionally present findings from her doctoral dissertation in a talk titled "Key Aspects for the Implementation of Human Automation Interaction and Human Autonomy Teaming - An Expert Study". The Department of Business Psychology & Human Resources is looking forward to the conference and hopes to meet many colleagues in person again after a long time.

Detailed information on the individual contributions can be found here.

New e-book publication

At the chair of Business Psychology and Human Resources at the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics of the University of Bremen, students in the bachelor's program Business Studies with a major in Behavioral Economics, wrote a book on "Human Autonomy Teaming" as part of the project module "Human Resource Management and Business Psychology "and published it online under the direction of the module coordinators Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann and Michèle Rieth, M.Sc.

“Siri, what's the weather like today?” Or “Alexa, is there a traffic jam on the A1 between Bremen and Hamburg?” This type of interaction between people and technology is widespread today and already represents a small Human Autonomy Team. Technical advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence enable this new form of teamwork. Such a team consists of at least one person and one technical entity, the so-called autonomous agent, who work together interdependently in order to successfully complete a common task. Nowadays, technical systems are no longer viewed as pure tools, but can increasingly act independently as team members. Accordingly, team and automation research has increasingly devoted itself to this area, which is also what this book addresses.

The book is the result of the project module and is available at the following link. Over the course of the semester, the students independently devoted themselves to various aspects of Human Autonomy Teaming, such as the requirements of this new form of teamwork or areas of application as well as the future of Human Autonomy Teaming, and recorded their findings in the five chapters. An intensive scientific literature research preceded this. The contents of the chapters were discussed and reflected upon together during the seminar. In addition, every student participates in a project group on topics such as layout, editing, citation, etc. Although the project module was very complex, from the point of view of all involved people, it was worthwhile with an enormously steep learning curve: The result is impressive!

You can also find the publication here:
Rieth, M. & Hagemann, V. (Hrsg.). (2021). Human Autonomy Teaming – Die Teamarbeit der Zukunft. Media, Universität Bremen. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/481

Here, you can also find a report on this topic in the University of Bremen Online Magazine up2date.

New research project AMADEE-20 Mars Simulation

The mission of the research project AMADEE-20 is aimed to study equipment behaviour involving the simultaneous deployment of instruments and robotic vehicles with humans-in-the-loop, including research-grade spacesuit simulators. Furthermore, it is intended to develop platforms for testing life-detection or geoscientific techniques, robotic support tools providing a high situational awareness and to catalyse the visibility of planetary exploration. Lastly, it is targeted to evolve the know-how of managing crewed missions to Mars by deploying a realistic Mission Support decision making framework. If you would like to have more information about the mission please visit the following website: https://oewf.org/en/portfolio/amadee-20/.

The project is managed by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann (University of Bremen, Department of Business Psychology and Human Resource Management) and Dr.-Ing. Christiane Heinicke (University of Bremen, ZARM - Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity). Additionally, Lara Watermann (M.Sc.) from the Department of Business Psychology and Human Resource Management supports the team.

Lecture held at the WK Personal in Düsseldorf

On Thursday (17.09.) Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann held a lecture on "Characteristics in digital logistics work: Measurement of mental stress and strain". A special feature of this year's event was that, despite Corona, it took place live on site and was not digitally performed. The exchange in the review board was perceived as extremely valuable. In addition to the excellent weather, the organization of the conference and the (working) atmosphere were excellent.

New Publication by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We would like to draw your attention to the journal article "Changes of collective orientation through a medical student's anaesthesia simulation course - simulation-based training study with non-technical skills debriefing versus medical debriefing". Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann published this together with four other authors in the journal "BMC Medical Education".

You can find the article under the following link: https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12909-019-1765-x.

Meeting of the Project DIAMANT on 24.06.2019

On 24.06.19 the second internal working meeting of the project "Digitalized Ideas and Work Management in Production, Logistics and Trade" (DIAMANT) took place at the FOM University in Essen. The meeting of the partners from science and practice served the presentation of the results from the first work packages and the personal exchange of experiences in the conversion of digitization strategies in the respective enterprises. In concrete terms, the results of the interviews conducted in the companies in the first work package were discussed. These serve as a basis for the development of the Risk Assessment Tool, the pretest of which is currently underway. Initial evaluations of the pretest have already been presented and discussed.

A further focus of the presentation of results was the joint process analysis carried out in the course of the second work package in the form of the interaction room as the basis for the digitisation strategies to be worked out. In addition, the subsequent project steps were discussed and prepared. Among other things, the focus here was on the use of the risk assessment tool in the companies and the design of the learning and experiment rooms. In addition, the transfer process was presented in the form of relevant publications and planned workshops.

Participating partners from the scientific community were the University of Trier (project coordinator), the University of Bremen, the FOM University and the University of Duisburg-Essen. The expert support was represented by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). The practical partners were represented by Balcke-Dürr, BOGE and REWE.

New Publication by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We would like to draw your attention to the publication "Collective orientation and its implications for coordination and team performance in interdependent work contexts" in the journal "Team Performance Management", which Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann has published together with two other authors.

Members of the University of Bremen can find this publication here.

Lecture by Michèle Rieth in the Diginomics Brownbag

On Wednesday the 10.7. our PhD student Michèle Rieth gives her research talk on "New Competence Requirements in Organizations due to Digitization" in the Brownbag. The lecture will take place in WiWi 2 Room 4190 from 12.15 to 13.45.

All interested are cordially invited.

New Publication by Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann

We would like to draw your attention to the book "Arbeitswelten der Zukunft". In this book Prof. Dr. Vera Hagemann and four other authors publish the book chapter: "Arbeitswelten der Logistik im Wandel - Gestaltung digitisierter Arbeit im Kontext des Internet der Dinge und von Industrie 4.0." (pp. 67-85). Students of the University of Bremen have free access to this book as an e-book in the library. 
You can find it under the following link: https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783658233969#aboutBook

Entering the Service

On March 01, 2018 Prof. Dr. Dipl-Psych. Vera Hagemann took up the professorship for Human Resources and now represents the department in research and teaching.