ELTON MAYO THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

 They were put on piecework for 8 weeks

Output went up

Findings during experiment

Rest pauses were introduced for 5 weeks

Output went up

 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

 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

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

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

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.

THE NEOHUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL

DOUGLAS MCGREGOR THEORY X AND THEORY Y

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

DOUGLAS MCGREGOR THEORY 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

 The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he/she can

THEORY X ASSUMPTIONS (Authoritarian Management Style)

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

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

 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

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

Manager has Theory X attitude toward staff No worker initiative Autocratic

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

DIAGRAM THEORY X
MANAGEMENT

Authoritarian and repressive style. Tight control, no development. Produces limited depressed culture

DIAGRAM THEORY Y

STAFF
Theory Y liberating and developmental, control and achievement

Findings
McGregor sees the 2 theories as quite different attitudes

 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,

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

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

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

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

SYSTEMS THEORY

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

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

OPEN SYSTEM

The wider environment can include

Suppliers Customers Peer organisations The environment then impacts on the business

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

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

THE CONTINGENCY THEORY

A DEVELOPMENT IN THE SYSTEMS APPROACH

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

PEOPLE

TASKS

Contingency theory tries to get the best fit between the task and the people and the environment they work in

3 Factors to consider
Strengths and weaknesses of the organisation Objectives of the organisation The external environment of the organisation

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

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