CONTEMPORARY INFLUENCE

Mayo’s contribution to the Human Relations Movement in Management Practice

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Biography

George Elton Mayo (26 December 1880 - 7 September 1949)

Australian psychologist, sociologist organization theorist

University of Queensland University of Pennsylvania Harvard Business School

Human Relations Movement Hawthorne Studies (1927-1932) The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization

Illumination Study (1924-1927

Dugald C. Jackson, who was a professor of electrical engineering at the MIT.

Relationship between variations in workplace lighting and employee productivity.

Researchers believed employee output would vary but results showed no such effect, output still increased.

Relay Assembly Test

Clair Turner Test the effect pay had on performance. Pay was not the only contributing factor.

The interviewing program (1929-1930)

Conducted to obtain insights into employee and supervisor relationships.

How is your general health? Are you happy on the job? Are you influenced by any pressure from your

working associates?

Anomie and pessimistic reveries.

Mayos Findings

Not solely motivated by money. Personal and social factors. Team work. Leadership.

Social, economic, political and cultural factors which gave rise to Mayo’s theories

Mayo seemed to suffer from depression (negative reverie) himself from time to time, and so became interested in the causes of mental illness

Durkheim’s ideas about anomie in the modern person influenced Mayo’s ideas

Workers’ unionism, unrest in the workplace (strikes) and sympathy for socialist ideas following the Russian Revolution in 1917, meant that businesses were keen to train managers to keep the workers pacified and willing to work.

Management Innovators: Wren and Greenwood (1998)

‘Mayo was mistaken (financial incentives are important) but he broadened our view of the person in the work place.’ (p. 176)

‘Although we know now that Mayo should not have downplayed financial incentives and neglected an essential part of why performance increased in the relay assembly test room, social scientists such as Mayo have enlarged our understanding of social and group needs, working conditions, and supervision.’

‘The “social person” concept added to... Our understanding of human motives; it prepared the way for a broader consideration of human needs.’

The Humanist Temper: Richard Trahair (2006)

He made a ‘ unique contribution to the application of social and psychological ideas to work’. (p.355)

False Prophets:James Hoopes (2003)

‘ Mayo’s fuzzy mix of therapy and management’ continues to influence that area of management theory known as ‘organisational behaviour’. (p.159)

The Weekend Australian 19-20 March, 2011.

‘Open lines of communication are really important. Sometimes, their manager just showing interest and concern, giving recognition or working with them on meeting their challenges can make a big difference.’

Review Questions

Identify three findings from the Hawthorne research that you could use as a manager.

What did Elton Mayo mean by pessimistic reveries and anomie? How did he think they might be overcome?

How are the methods and findings of Mayo and the other Hawthorne researchers different to those of Taylor/ scientific management?

What was the main contribution of the Hawthorne studies to the history of management theory?

Discussion

References

Hoopes, J. 2003, False Prophets, Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, USA.

Parker, D 2011, ‘Employee Overload is Bad for Business’, The Weekend Australian, 19-20 March, p.1, Weekend Professional.

Trahair, R.C.S, 2006, The Humanist Temper, Transaction publishers, New Brunswick, USA.

Wren, D & Bedeian, A, 2009, The Evolution of Management Thought, 6th Edn, Wiley, New York.

Wren, D & Greenwood, R, 1998, Management innovators, Oxford University Press, New York.

http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_02.htmlhttp://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100454b.htmhttp://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/hawthorne/04.htmlHistory of Management Thought, week 6 lecture slides.