Contemporary Trends in

Developing and
Organizing Management
BEHAVIOURAL MANAGEMENT THEORY
HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH
ELTON MAYO STUDIES

THE BEHAVIORISTS TOOK MANAGEMENT

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD

They focused on employees

As individuals
As parts of work groups
As persons with needs to be met by the organization

George Elton Mayo (1880 1949)

 George Elton Mayo(26 December 1880 7

September 1949) was anAustralianborn
psychologist,industrial researcher, and
organizational theorist.
Mayo was formally trained at theUniversity of
Adelaide, acquiring a Bachelor of Arts Degree
graduating with First Class Honours, majoring in
philosophy and psychology,and was later
awarded an honorary Master of Arts Degree from
theUniversity of Queensland(UQ).

While in Queensland, Mayo served on the University's war

committee and pioneered research into the psychoanalytic
treatment of shell-shock. As a psychologist Mayo often
helped soldiers returning from World War I recover from the
stresses of war and with a Brisbane physician, pioneered
thepsychoanalytictreatment ofshell-shockand conducted
psycho-pathological tests.He was a lecturer in psychology
and mental philosophy at the UQ between 1911 and 1922,
when he sailed to the United States.[4]In 1926 he was
appointed to theHarvard Business School(HBS) as a
professor of industrial research.

The role that Mayo had in the development of

management is usually associated with his discovery of

Social man and the need for this in the work place.

Mayo found that workers acted according to

sentiments and emotion.

He felt that if you treated the worker with respect and

tried to meet their needs than they would be a better
worker for you and both management and the
employee would benefit.

The Hawthorne Plant of WESTERN ELECTRIC

Chicago(29,000 employees)

The Hawthorne Studies (or Hawthorne Experiments) were

conducted from 1927 to 1932 at the Western Electric
Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago)

The experiments
There were four main phases to the
Hawthorne experiments:

The
The
The
The

illumination experiments
relay assembly test room
interviewing program
bank wiring observation room

1.The illumination experiments

The workers were divided into two
groups

A. experiment group

B. control group

Performance Recording Device

2.The relay assembly test room

The experiment was divided
into 13 periods during which
the workers were subjected
to a series of planned and
controlled changes to their:
A. Conditions of work
B. Hours of work
C. Rest pauses
D. Provision of refreshments
Women in the Relay Assembly

3.The interviewing program

20.000 interviews
A. An impartial and nonjudgmental approach
B. Concentrated on
listening

Interviews
period

30 min

90 min

Factory Cabling Department

4.The bank wiring observation room

14 men

The group developed its own pattern of informal social relations

and norms of what constituted proper behaviour

Group pressures on individual workers were stonger than financial

incentives offered by management

CONCLUSION
Workplaces are social environments and within
them, people are motivated by much more than
economic self-interest
In the training world, the Hawthorne Effect is a chameleon

The mere act of showing people that you're concerned about

them usually spurs them to better job performance

Carrying the theory to the edges of cynicism, some

would say it doesn't make any difference what you
teach because the Hawthorne Effect will produce
the positive outcome you want.
In fact, the contention is that about 50% of any
successful training session can be attributed to
the Hawthorne Effect.
The Hawthorne Effect has also been called the
'Somebody Upstairs Cares' syndrome
When people spend a large portion of their time at work,
they must have a sense of belonging, of being part of a
team. When they do, they produce better. That's the
Hawthorne Effect.

The following were the main

conclusions drawn by Prof. Mayo on the
basis of Hawthorne

studies:

1. Social Unit:
A factory is not only a techno-economic unit, but also a social unit.
Men are social beings. This social characteristic at work plays an
important role in motivating people. The output increased in Relay
Room due to effectively functioning of a social group with a warm
relationship with its supervisors.
2. Group Influence:
The workers in a group develop a common psychological bond
uniting them as group in the form of informal organisation. Their
behaviour is influenced by these groups. Pressure of a group,
rather than management demands, frequently has the strongest
influence on how productive workers would be.

3. Group Behaviour:
Management must understand that a typical group behaviour can
dominate or even supersede individual propensities.
4. Motivation:
Human and social motivation can play even a greater role than mere
monitory incentives in moving or motivating and managing employee
group.
5. Supervision:
The style of supervision affects workers attitude to work and his
productivity. A supervisor who is friendly with his workers and takes
interest in their social problems can get co-operation and better results
from the subordinates.

6. Working Conditions:
Productivity increases as a result of improved working conditions in the
organisation.

7. Employee Morale:
Mayo pointed out that workers were not simply cogs, in the
machinery, instead the employee morale (both individual and in
groups) can have profound effects on productivity.
8. Communication:
Experiments have shown that the output increases when workers
are explained the logic behind various decisions and their
participation in decision making brings better results.
9. Balanced Approach:
The problems of workers could not be solved by taking one factor
i.e. management could not achieve the results by emphasizing
one aspect. All the things should be discussed and decision be
taken for improving the whole situation. A balanced approach to
the whole situation can show better results.