hawthorne experiment

1
Hawthorne Experimentsby Elton Mayo

• Team 4
• Kennya Leal
• Richard Orsi
• Dan Wales
• Alexandra Pagliuca

2
Who is Elton Mayo?

• Psychologist and Sociologist
• 12/26/1880 9/7/1949
• Active Australian Psychologist
• Moved to the United States to participate in the
  Philadelphia post opportunity.

3
Mayos Journey

• Adelaide University
• University of Queensland
• Pennsylvania University
• Harvard Business School
• Retirement
• British Government Advisor

4
Thanks to Mayo

• Human Relations Movement
• The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization
  (1933)
• Training Within Industry Supervisor Training

5
Illumination Studies

• 1924-1927
• Funded by General Electric
• Conducted by The National Research Council (NRC)
  of the National Academy of Sciences with
  engineers from MIT
• Measured Light Intensity vs. Worker Output
• Result
• Higher worker productivity and satisfaction at
  all light levels
• Conclusions
• Light intensity has no conclusive effect on
  output
• Productivity has a psychological component
• Concept of Hawthorne Effect was created

6
Relay Assembly Test Experiments

• 1927-1929
• Manipulated factors of production to measure
  effect on output
• Pay Incentives
• Length of Work Day Work Week
• Use of Rest Periods
• Company Sponsored Meals
• Results
• Higher output and greater employee satisfaction
• Conclusions
• Positive effects even with negative influences
  workers output will increase as a response to
  attention
• Strong social bonds were created within the test
  group. Workers are influenced by need for
  recognition, security and sense of belonging

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Relay Assembly Room 2

• 1928-1929
• Measured effect on output with compensation rates
• Special observation room
• 1st Session- Relay Assemblers changed from
  departmental
• incentive to small group incentive
• 2nd Session - Adjusted back to large group
  incentive
• Results
• Small group incentives resulted in highest
  sustained level of production 112 over
  standard output base
• Output dropped to 96.2 of base in 2nd session
• Conclusion
• Pay relevant to output but not the only factor

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Mica Splitting Test Group

• 1928-1931
• Measured output with changes to work conditions
  only
• Special Observation Room
• Length of Work Day
• Use of Rest Periods
• Workers stayed on established Piece-rate
  compensation
• Result
• Productivity increased by 15 over standard
  output base
• Conclusions
• Productivity is affected by non-pay
  considerations
• Social dynamics are a basis of worker performance

9
Plant Interview Program

• 1925-1927 Objective Questions
• Work Conditions
• Work Relationships
• Yes/No Answers
• 1928-1932 Conversational / Non-directive
• Attentive Sympathetic Listening
• Concern for personal needs
• Increased in time from 30-90 minutes
• Result
• Remarkable positive employee perceptions
• Conclusions
• New Supervisory Style improved worker morale

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Bank Wiring Observation Group

• 1931-1932
• Limited changes to work conditions
• Segregated work area
• No Management Visits
• Supervision would remain the same
• Observer would record data only no interaction
  with workers
• Small group pay incentive
• Result
• No appreciable changes in output
• Conclusions
• Preexisting performance norms
• Group dictated production standards - Systemic
  Soldiering
• Work Group protection from management changes.

11
The Reality

• Groups were not selected objectively
• Workers replaced during experiment for poor
  performance
• One Italian member was working harder and above
  average to care for her family.

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Criticisms

• Hawthorne effect is simply the result of
  capitalist bias among modern industrial
  psychologists.
• -American Psychologist Magazine
• Woman liked attention and interpreted
  experimenter
• as the boss
• - Jonathan Freedman
• A distinguished industrial psychologist
• - H. Mcllvaine Parson

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Importance of the study

• Improved management
• But Professor Mayos work also helped
  establish field based empirical research as the
  primary research Methodology at HBS.
• - Mary Lee Kennedy
• These studies changed the landscape of
  management
• Taylor's engineering approach improved into a
  social science approach.

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Frederick Taylors Theories

• Experiments applied Taylors time and motion
  studies.
• The Human Factor - relationships between workers
  and managers.
• Recognized that special incentives were required
  to motivate laborers
• Failed to consider social motivation factors

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Taylors Foretellings

• Taylor noted while at the Simmonds Rolling
  Machine Company that productivity increased when
  
• Each ball bearing checking girl was made to feel
  that she was the object of special care and
  interest.
• However, Taylor has never conducted any detailed
  studies to investigate this phenomena.

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Related to Chester Barnard

• Viewed organizations as cooperative systems.
• Focused on individuals and their interactions
  with other
• humans in social relationships.
• Promoting communication
• Relates to Mayos Relay Room which every move
  was reported.

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Related To Mary P. Follett

• The Group Principle
• The potentials of the individual remain
  potentials until they are released by group life.
• Focused on
• Negotiation
• Power
• Employee Participation

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Experimental Flaws

• External factors were not considered as
  influences
• Effect of power on productivity was not analyzed
• Work groups were not chosen randomly
• Control groups were not used as standards

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How to Improve

• Random selection of workers with NO substitutes
• Keep environmental factors constant
• Consider the influence of current economic
  conditions

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Other factors to address

• Influence of improved technology
• Effect of competing interests
• Changes in social behavior
• The uncertainties of geopolitical and economic
  forces

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Hawthorne Experiments by Elton Mayo

• THANK YOU!
• Are there any
• questions or comments?

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Sources of Information

• Wren, Daniel A., and Arthur G. Bedeian. The
  Evolution of Management Thought. 6th ed. Hoboken,
  NJ John Wiley Sons, Inc., 2009. Print.
• "History of Management." ManagementGuru supports
  management studies and is maintained by
  Dr.Makamson. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.
  lthttp//www.mgmtguru.com/mgt301/301_Lecture1Page10
  .htmgt.
• "Elton Mayo the Hawthorne experiments. - Free
  Online Library." News, Magazines, Newspapers,
  Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books -
  Free Online Library. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
  lthttp//www.thefreelibrary.com/EltonMayotheHaw
  thorneexperiments.-a0151189059gt.
• "Baker Library Chronicles Human Relations
  Movement." Harvard Business School. Web. 16 Nov.
  2009. lthttp//www.hbs.edu/news/releases/092407_haw
  thorne.htmlgt.
• "Elton Mayo - encyclopedia article about Elton
  Mayo." Wikipedia (TheFreeDictionary.com mirror).
  Web. 17 Nov. 2009. lthttp//encyclopedia.thefreedic
  tionary.com/EltonMayogt.
• "ProvenModels Hawthorne effect - Elton Mayo."
  ProvenModels - Management Models Management
  Theory Business Models Michael Porter Henry
  Mintzberg Management Model Business School.
  Web. 15 Nov. 2009. lthttp//www.provenmodels.com/6/
  hawthorne-effect/elton-mayogt.