STAGE 1927: ELTON MAYO'S HAWTHORNE (Industrial Relation)

STAGE 1927: ELTON MAYO'S HAWTHORNE

          Contrast with scientific management versus Hawthorn Scientific Management was a simple motivation theory based on Adam Smith and utilitarianism (the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people). The idea is that people work best when they are maximizing self-interest. Whereas the Hawthorn Studies said that workers act more according to sentiments and emotions. It can be said that people need to hang around with others. The key point of Hawthorn Studies is that when people have sense of belongings and are treated with respect, they try to meet their needs which both manage and employees would benefit.

          Hawthorn Studies came out as a cataclysmic break from Taylor and Fayol. Money is not the only motivator; people worked for something other social factors than just money. Classical theory focuses on the formal behaviour of organization and human emotions are ignored. Nevertheless, in Hawthorn studies, Human relationship is emphasizes.

          Elton Mayo (1880-1949) and his colleagues concerned the importance of social needs such as job satisfaction and group relations. In other words, they matched the concept of ‘social man’ to the classical concept of ‘rational man’. Hawthorn studies carried out at the Hawthorn plant of the Western Electric Company during the period 1927-1932. Elton Mayo started several experiments by examining the physical and environmental influences of the workplace and later, moved into the psychological aspects.

          The first experiment conducted in order to examine the effects of changing in lighting on the productivity. It was thought that workers might work better when there were more lights but, productivity went up regardless of lights a lot or not. The result of the experiments was ambiguous, because no obvious correlation was found between production output and lighting conditions. Actually, their behaviour changed when they are being observed. Researchers began to wonder what kind of changes would influence output.

          The second experiment was the relay assembly test room. They gauged the effects of rest pauses, shorter work days, shorter work hours, wage incentives, and refreshments on output. It seemed to increase productivity by improvements in their working conditions. As a result of these two experiments, there was a key that managers had been ignoring. They made workers feel like cared about them, they felt themselves important and special. People work better when they are part of a social structure. That is why Hawthorne Effect also called the 'Somebody upstairs cares' syndrome.

          A third stage was the interviewing of over 20,000 employees over three years to find out more about how employees felt about their supervisors and working. But it was showed that they liked talking about their family and social issues beyond issue of work conditions and supervision. Interviews also revealed that informal work group acts as a powerful controlling force.

          The fourth experiment was the bank wiring room. There were two major findings. First, informal groups were made and developed informal rules of ‘norms’. Then, these cliques didn’t operate as much as they could. Second, the group members agreed between themselves what was a fair day’s output. It showed that workers were more responsive to the social forces of their peer group than to management control.

          From the experiments, ‘Hawthorn effect’ suggests that satisfactions and sense of belonging that people obtained at work are more important in determining productivity than physical conditions under they work. These conclusions led to the Human Relations approach to management. Criticism: However, in a way, the Hawthorne Effect can be construed as an enemy of the modern manager. Carrying the theory further toward cynicism, it could be said that it doesn't matter how you manage, because the Hawthorne Effect will produce the positive outcome you want.

          In conclusion of the experimental design problem, Hawthorn Studies represents that Man’s social nature was seen as important to the functioning of organizations. When human being interacts with each other over a long period of time, they develop social structure and begin to meet socially outside of work. In fact, their informal groups had a positive influence on productivity. This strengthened Mayo’s concept of the ‘social man’ motivated by social needs and work group pressures. In modern days, working in a group is considered as making synergy effect and enhancing motivation indeed. Therefore, it can be conclude that the Hawthorne studies greatly influenced on human resource management.