Neoclassical

Paradigm of
Public
Administrati

Social Context
The classical paradigm produced profit for
the owners of factories, and efficiency of
the workers, but within limits
It also created unintended negative
consequences
Piece-rate payment system (the result of
time-motion studies) forced workers to
work inhumanely fast on the assembly line
of factories. For ex., in Henry Fords car
factories

Social Context
The forced fast-pace of work, and the
repetitiveness of work, led workers to
secretly coordinate and set
production levels below what they
were capable of
Workers exerted social pressure on
each other to produce no more than
the level they had decided on

Public Admin. implication

For administrators, the classical
paradigm meant they were forced to
churn out large number of projects
Since emphasis was on
standardization of work, and the
quantity of projects produced, the
large number of projects produced
were not creative, neither was their
any effort to solve the big problems
in the public sphere

Public Admin. implication

A focus on overly narrow specialization, meant
administrators did not have any sense of the
actual larger effects of their individual
specialized work
This led to zombie-like lack of motivation in
public administrators, and increased
indulgence in bribery to keep themselves
motivated
A series of industry-level studies (1924-1932)
led to the popularization of these critiques, and
showed a way forward (neo-classical
paradigm)

Principles of the Neo-Classical Paradigm

1. Classical Paradigm focused on how to change tasks so
they yielded more output in a shorter time. In contrast,
the Neo-classical Paradigm focused on how to change
the conditions of workers (socio-material) to improve
satisfaction, and in turn, productivity
2. Went beyond physical contributions to include creative,
cognitive, and emotional aspects of workers
3. SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, and social belongingness are at
the heart of organizational behavioreffectiveness of
work is dependent on the social well-being of workers
4. Social well-being is more important for workers than
material well-being

The Hawthorne Studies 1924-1932

Elton Mayo and his associates conducted their
studies in the Hawthorne plant of the western
electrical company, U.S.A., between 1924 and 1932.
According to them, behavioral science methods
have many areas of application in management.
Behaviourism , or behavioral psychology holds
that psychology should concern itself with the
observable behavior of people and animals, not with
unobservable events that take place in their minds.
Psychological change can be said to happen, when
an observable input on someone produces an
observable change in their behavior.
Hypothesis: Increasing light, will increase
productivity

The Hawthorne Studies 1924-1932

The Hawthorne Studies was composed of a
series of studies. We will Focus on Four
important parts of the studies
1.Illumination Study ( 1924)
1. Designed to test the effect of lighting intensity
on worker productivity
2. Decreasing Light, increasing light, keeping
light same each led to increased productivity
3. Inference: Being observed, and being included
in a prestigious study made workers feel like
they were the face of the organization, not just
tools. That they belonged
4. As sense of belongingness increased
productivity increased. Sense of belongingness

The Hawthorne Studies 1924-1932

2. Relay Assembly Test Room Study (1927-1932)
1. Assembly of telephone relays
2. Workers allowed to have control over some aspect of their
work day freedom to choose when to have lunch break
3. Productivity increased 30%
4. Bottom Line: Supervisors should give back freedom to
workers to make decisions about their work day. Increase
employee morale AND productivity
3. Interviewing Program (1928-1930)
5. Interview of employees where employees expressed their
ideas and feelings (e.g., likes and dislikes), and supervisors
quietly but actively listened
6. Bottom Line: Supervisors should change behavior, and not
be stuck in commanding mode
7. Organization should create avenues where workers can
critique

The Hawthorne Studies 1924-1932

4. Bank Wiring Room Observation Study (1931
- 1932)
1. Social groups can influence production and
individual work behavior
2. Informal social organization (Cliques, informal
friendship groups, enemy groups) exists
simultaneously with organizations formal
organization structure
3. Informal organization constrain or facilitate
employee behavior within formal
organizational structure
4. Bottom line: Resources should be spent by
organization to study and facilitate informal
friendship between employees

Principles of the Neo-Classical Paradigm

The Lessons of the Hawthorne Studies became known as the

Neo-classical Paradigm. Some also called this paradigm the
human resources approach to public administration

Three other approaches developed side by side with the

human resources approach during the Neo-classical period:
1. Bureaucracy studies which focused on complex and large scale
organisation and internal problems.
2. Systems analysis which considered public administration as
systems that is sets of interdependent elements needing
coordination.
3. The ecological paradigm states simply that administration must
be studied and practiced as part of its surrounding socio-cultural
11
environment.

Conclusions of the Neo-Classical Paradigm

A business organization is basically a social system. It
is not just a techno-economic system
The employer can be motivated by psychological and
social wants because his behavior is also influenced
by feelings, emotions and attitudes. Thus economic/
monetary incentives are not the only method to
motivate people, and may be less important than the
need to belong to a unofficial friendly groups
Managers must be aware of these 'social needs' and
cater for them to ensure that employees collaborate
with the official organization rather than work against
it.

Conclusions of the Neo-Classical Paradigm

Management must learn to develop cooperative attitudes and not rely merely
on command
Participation becomes an important
instrument in human relations
movement. In order to achieve
participation, effective two-way
communication network is essential.