ELTON MAYO THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES

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ELTON MAYOTHE HAWTHORNE STUDIES

• Studies carried out at the Hawthorne Plant of the
  Western Electric Company in Chicago between 1927
  and 1932

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HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL

• Due to unrest caused by Taylors scientific
  principles in the 20s and 30s work was carried
  out based in the human side of workers not
  focusing on money
• Elton Mayo was one of the main theorists
  involved.

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Background on Mayo

• Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1880
• Died in Surrey in 1949
• Worked in Australia, UK and the USA on various
  projects and lecturing

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History of the Hawthorne Studies

• Background Mayo wanted to find out what effect
  fatigue and monotony had on job productivity and
  how to control them through variables such as
• Rest breaks
• Work hours
• Temperatures
• Humidity

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In the process.

• He found a principle of human motivation that
  would help to revolutionise the theory and
  practice of management

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The experiment

• 6 women from an assembly line
• Segregated them from the rest of the factory
• Put them under the eye of a supervisor (a
  friendly observer)
• Made frequent changes to their working conditions
• Always discussed and explained the changes in
  advance

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The changes

• Changed the hours in the working week and in the
  working day
• Increased and decreased the number of work breaks
  and the time of the lunch hour
• Occasionally he would return the women to their
  original, harder working conditions

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The findings

• Under normal conditions with a 48 hour week,
  including Saturdays and no rest pauses
• Team produced 2400 relays per week each

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Findings during experiment

• They were put on piecework for 8 weeks
• Output went up
• Rest pauses were introduced for 5 weeks
• Output went up

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• Rest pauses were lengthened to 10 minutes
• Output went up
• Six 5-min pauses were introduced and the girls
  complained that their work rhythm was broken
• Output fell very slightly
• Return to 2 rest pauses the first with a hot meal
  supplied free of charge
• Output went up

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• Group were dismissed at 4.30 pm instead of 5.00
  pm
• Output went up
• They were dismissed at 4.00 pm
• Output remained the same
• Finally all improvements were taken away and the
  team went back to the conditions at the beginning
  of the experiment
• Output was the highest ever recorded at 3000
  relays per week per person

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What happened during the experiment?

• The individuals became a team and the team gave
  wholehearted co-operation with the experiment
• They were happy in the knowledge that they were
  doing what they wanted to do
• They felt they were working under less pressure
  than before
• They were not pushed around or bossed by anyone
• Under these conditions they developed an
  increased sense of responsibility which came from
  within the group itself

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Mayos Conclusions

• Individual workers cannot be treated in isolation
  but must be seen as members of a group
• Monetary incentives and good working conditions
  are less important to the individual than the
  need to belong to a group
• Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have
  strong influence on behaviour
• Managers must be aware of these social needs
  and cater for them to ensure that employees work
  with the organisation rather than against it

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Human Relations School

• The basis of the HR Movement is the use of social
  sciences to secure the commitment of individuals
  to the aims of the organisation.
• This movement, although now considered
  simplistic, established the importance of social
  factors in the workplace.

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THE NEO-HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL

• DOUGLAS MCGREGOR
• THEORY X AND THEORY Y

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What is Neo-Human Relations?

• The Hawthorne Experiments did not highlight how
  work practices and structure should be modified
  to improve worker satisfaction and productivity
• In the 40s it was realised that links between
  organisational design, motivation and
  productivity were more complex than first thought

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DOUGLAS MCGREGORTHEORY X AND THEORY Y

• McGregor, an American social psychologist,
  proposed his famous theory in his book
• The Human Side of Enterprise
• In his book he examined theories on behaviour of
  individuals at work , he has formulated 2 models

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THEORY X ASSUMPTIONS(Authoritarian Management
Style)

• The average human being has an inherent dislike
  of work and will avoid it if he/she can
• Most people must be controlled/threatened if they
  are to work hard
• The average human prefers to be directed,
  dislikes responsibility, is unambiguous, and
  desires security above everything else
• Similar view to FWT

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THEORY Y ASSUMPTIONS(Participative Management
Style)

• Effort in work is as natural as work and play
• Control and punishment are not the only ways to
  make people work man will direct himself if he is
  committed to the goals of the org
• If a job is satisfying then the result will be
  commitment to the organisation
• The average man learns not only to accept but to
  seek responsibility
• Similar view to Mayo

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• Imagination, creativity and ingenuity can be used
  to solve work problems by a large number of
  employees
• Under the conditions of modern industrial life
  the intellectual potential of the average man is
  only partly utilised

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SO managerial style can be seen as-
X MANAGERIAL STYLE Y

• Manager has Theory Y attitude towards staff
• Workers are creative
• Workers given responsibility

• Manager has Theory X attitude toward staff
• No worker initiative
• Autocratic

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DIAGRAM THEORY X

• MANAGEMENT
• STAFF

X
Authoritarian and repressive style. Tight
control, no development. Produces limited
depressed culture
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DIAGRAM THEORY Y

• STAFF
• MANAGEMENT

Y
Theory Y liberating and developmental, control
and achievement
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Findings

• McGregor sees the 2 theories as quite different
  attitudes

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X

• Can range from soft to hard approach
• It is part of the managers job to exercise
  authority and there are cases when this is the
  only method that will get results
• Much of behaviour in organisations reflects the
  Theory X view
• X is limited and unrealistic and relies on
  authority as the primary means of control
• Hard approach results in hostility, purposefully
  low output and hard union demands
• Optimal approach would be somewhere between hard
  and soft middle ground

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The problem with X

• X relies on money to motivate
• Once the need for money subsides the drive for
  motivation is lost
• Does not allow workers to reach higher levels of
  motivation as shown by Maslow

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Y

• Theory Y is difficult to put into practice on the
  shop floor
• Level of maturity of staff will play a large part
• Y can be used initially in the managing of
  management
• Y is conducive to participative problem solving
• Y will lead to higher motivation
• Y can be seen in the successful Japanese
  Management technique - TQM

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Implications for management

• Decentralisation and Delegation can be used
  freely in a Y environment
• Delayering and reduction in management levels
  flatter structures
• Job enlargement broadening the scope of an
  employees job adds variety

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• Participative Management consulting employees
  in the decision making process taps their
  creative capacity
• Performance Appraisals having the employees set
  objectives and participate in evaluation

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SYSTEMS THEORY
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Story so far

• We have seen the Classical, Human Relations and
  Neo-Human Relations schools of thought.
• All of these approaches are rather narrow and do
  not have a holistic view of the organisation
• Systems Theory is an attempt to address this
  introduced in the 60s and 70s

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What is it?

• Systems Theory argues that in any organisation
  everything is so interdependent that a small
  change in one part will mean changes in the other
  part
• Often called the Open-systems approach it views
  any one organisation as an interdependent of a
  much bigger whole
• That is with the internal and external environment

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OPEN SYSTEM
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The wider environment can include

• Suppliers
• Customers
• Peer organisations
• The environment then impacts on the business

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• The approach seeks to find the best fit from the
  elements in the diagram
• Technical factors
• Social factors
• Economic factors
• Legal factors

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Summary

• This approach to an organisation states that it
  is necessary to incorporate social and technical
  aspects of work if an effective system is to be
  incorporated
• When technology is introduced social groups
  should NOT be broken up
• This fragmentation will reduce motivation

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THE CONTINGENCY THEORY

• A DEVELOPMENT IN THE SYSTEMS APPROACH

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WHAT IS CONTINGENCY THEORY

• There is no single approach to organisational
  structure that will suit all organisations at any
  point in time.
• Contingency means It depends

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3 Factors to consider

• Strengths and weaknesses of the organisation
• Objectives of the organisation
• The external environment of the organisation

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Management approach

• Using contingency theory a manager would be
  expected to
• Develop an organisational approach that suits a
  particular situation
• The approach will change in line with external
  factors
• Within one organisation you may have a variety of
  approaches in different areas

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QUESTION TIME

• Discuss the extent to which each of the classical
  school of management and the human relations
  school of management may influence management
  behaviour in large firms.
• 14 marks