The Alliance Begins

During the recent SIOP 24th Annual Conference (New Orleans; April 2-4) the presidents of Division 1 of IAAP (Josè Maria Peirò), of SIOP (Gary Latham), and of EAWOP (Franco Fraccaroli) have signed a declaration of collaboration with the objective of founding the Alliance for Organizational Psychology.

EAWOP, Division 1 of IAAP, and SIOP have fully agreed, and thus the Alliance for Organizational Psychology is now a reality. Its governing body holds its first meeting in Bologna, Italy, in November.

Each of the founding partners has appointed three representatives to the governing body of the Alliance. EAWOP will be represented by Nik Chmiel, Franco Fraccaroli, and Salvatore Zappala. Division 1’s representatives are Handan Sinangil, Gary Latham, and Barbara Kozusznik. Representing SIOP will be Adrienne Colella, Eduardo Salas, and Donald Truxillo. They and President Milt Hakel, Secretary General Arnold Bakker, and Treasurer Jose Maria Peiro will meet to make the decisions needed to transform the ideas presented in the Governance Plan and its Addendum into the lean, flexible and responsive global federation envisioned by the founding partners (you can opt in see these documents on the Alliance website).

The agenda in Bologna will contain three major items: 1) creation and registration of a not-for-profit legal entity; 2) admission of additional federated societies; and 3) provision of web services to members including an opt-in portal. Considerable advance work is already being done. For example, EAWOP is now in the process of revising its incorporation, so much of the information gathered in that effort can inform the registration of the Alliance. Regarding the second item, EAWOP’s procedure for admitting new Constituents (national groups of work and organizational psychologists) will serve as a template for a similar process in the Alliance. Finally, both EAWOP and SIOP have extensive experience with websites, so identifying the specifications for the Alliance’s web services is underway. Other agenda items will be added as needed.

The Alliance’s URL is http://www.AllianceOrgPsych.org. If you visit the site, you will have the opportunity to opt in by clicking the Register link (upper right corner of the home page, next to Login). 
Upon registering you will gain access to the content open to Alliance members. At present, SIOP is hosting the Alliance website, and Milt Hakel is serving as webmaster.

Please consider this announcement to be a call and invitation for participation, regardless of any previous or current personal involvement in the discussions that have brought the Alliance to its launch. The Alliance needs your input and ideas.

Final agreement about launching the Alliance as an independent global federation came at the recent EAWOP congress in Maastricht. In 1992, Maastricht saw the launch of the European Commission. Now it has seen another launch, one that in the world of organizational psychology will be just as significant.