Chapter Seventeen Human Relations in Concept and Practice

Impact of Human Relations on Teaching and Practice Extensions of Human Relations Teachings: : The Committee on Human Relations in Industry (the Chicago group) with Burleigh Gardner, William Whyte, Lloyd Warner, and David Moore. The Tavistock Institute (London) influenced by Lewin. The Harvard group: they influenced Chester Barnard and vice versa. Center for Group Dynamics of Kurt Lewin, later moved to the University of Michigan as Likert’s Institute for Social Research.

Impact of Human Relations on Teaching and Practice Organized Labor and Human Relations : Critics, such as Mary B. Gilson, suggested human relations had an anti-labor bias. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was followed by a spurt in union membership. Compare the data regarding causes of work stoppages in the 1920s with the causes following passage of the National Labor Relations Act. Feelings, sentiments, and collaboration became the theme in contrast to scientific investigation. This, for Wren, is the major difference between the human relations era and OB.

Hawthorne Studies Revisited Landsberger identified four separate areas of criticism: The Mayoists’ view of society as one characterized by anomie, social disorganization, and conflict. The Relay Assembly Test Room

Hawthorne Studies Revisited Landsberger’s criticism continued: Their acceptance of management’s views of the worker and management’s “willingness to manipulate workers for management’s ends” Their failure to recognize other alternatives for accommodating industrial conflict, such as collective bargaining Their specific failure to take unions into account as a method of building social solidarity. (See Wren text for further discussion.)

Premises of an Industrial Civilization Daniel Bell’s criticisms that the Mayorists saw themselves as “social engineers” and assumed that happy workers were productive ones (“cow sociology”). Further, the counseling program, according to Bell, did not address the underlying problems in industry but only intended to make people “feel better” about their situation. Bell foresaw human relations supervision replacing efforts to improve work itself.

Premises of an Industrial Civilization William Fox’s expressed criticism that human relations would become the goal rather than the means for furthering attainment of organizational objectives. In summary – those who challenged human relations assumptions did so on these bases: That workers could be manipulated. That cooperation and collaboration overlooked other, more complex, issues. That means were confused with ends.

Research Methods and Results Alex Carey noted that the measurement had changed in reporting the results of comparing the Mica Splitters with the second Relay Assembly group. In so doing, the researchers concluded that supervision, not incentives, led to the increases and Carey says this is an erroneous conclusion. Mica Splitting Test at Hawthorne

Research Methods and Results Carey also criticized the claim of “friendly supervision.” Output did not increase until two operatives were replaced with more “cooperative” ones. Franke and Kaul concluded that it was neither supervision nor incentives but discipline, the economic hard times, and relief from fatigue that led to increased productivity. Recall that Clair Turner rejected this latter point as a cause.

Research Methods and Results Toelle noted that Franke and Kaul treated the Relay Assemblers as one group when in fact there was the original group and the change of operatives that created a second group. He agreed with Schlaifer that the “passage of time” explained most of the increased output. The passage of time argument, that is, that it took a while for the group to coalesce and for trust to be built with the observer-supervisor, is also supported by the recollections of the participants.

Research Methods and Results A final criticism rests with the “Science versus Advocacy” problem. The “advocacy” issue is that Mayo selectively perceived the data to fit his social philosophy. Elton Mayo

Research Methods and Results This weighs heavily against Mayo and is one of the reasons the Hawthorne Studies have created so much fuss. Richard Trahair, in The Humanist Temper, an excellent biography of Mayo, and Richard Gillespie, in a thorough study, also stress Mayo’s errors as an advocate and not a scientist. Gillespie claims that Mayo “manufactured” the Hawthorne findings.

Research Methods and Results Finally, economic incentives were played down as a contributing factor as the Hawthorne Study proceeded and as the years passed. Yet the data and the recollections of the participants suggest that money was indeed a contributing factor. Hawthorne Study participants decades later: Left to right: Theresa Layman, Don Chipman, Mary Volango, and Wanda Blazejak.

Summary The Hawthorne Studies advanced the idea of improving human relations in organizations. Accepted findings of Hawthorne: Human relations is a toll for understanding organization behavior, not an end in itself. Trust is crucial in building interpersonal relationships to bind the needs of people and organizations. Financial incentives are important but not the only incentives. Selecting facts to fit preconceived ideas should be avoided.

Chapter Eighteen The Social Person Era in Retrospect

The Social Person Era The Economic Environment The New Technologies The Social Environment The Political Environment

The Economic Environment The 1920s were a period of prosperity, rising real wages, and low unemployment. The unemployment rate in 1929 was 3 percent. Although the stock market crashed in 1929, the impact on employment came more slowly and the peak was not reached in Note: The use of “Darby corrected” data to gauge how federal and state unemployment relief programs reduced the reported number of unemployed by about 5 percent.

Stock Market Crash – 1929 President Hoover proposed work sharing rather than lay-offs, and this seemed to work for awhile. Employee stock ownership plans were double-edged swords; prosperity for the 1920s, but tragedy in the 1930s. Herbert Hoover Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society

Stock Market Crash Attitudes toward women working outside the home changed as two wage earner families became more important Will Rogers’ made an observation that the automobiles bought during the prosperous 1920s were used to look for work in the 1930s. Keynesian economics ran counter to the Protestant ethic notion of thrift. Model T 1927 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society

The New Technologies Joseph Schumpeter’s ( ) ideas about innovation and economic development are noteworthy. Economic development came from innovation. “Creative Destruction” He favored supply side economics, not the Keynesian approach. Joseph Schumpeter

The New Technologies Transportation, communication, and entertainment progress was apparent in automobiles, aircraft, radio, television, etc. Developments in main frame computers, dry copying, polio vaccine, antibiotics, DNA, etc. Public sector projects led to atomic energy; dam, road, and bridge building; the Tennessee Valley Authority, etc. Spirit of St. Louis Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society

The Social Environment The Lynds’ study of “Middletown” found workers of the 1920s were guided by economic motives. This supports, on a limited basis, the pros and cons of incentives during the Hawthorne studies.

The Social Environment Social values were in transition, shifting from the Protestant work ethic to a social ethic. More collective action and turning to groups for security – consistent with an emphasis in management thought during this time on social needs

David C. McClelland ( ) Found a decline in the need for achievement and the rise of a need for affiliation. David C. McClelland

David Riesman Noted the shift from the inner-directed to the other- directed person. Inner-directed – represented the era of laissez-faire capitalism, the Protestant Ethic, and emphasized self- direction and control. Other-directed – characterized by high social mobility and by emphasis on consumption rater than production and on getting along and being accepted by others as the key to accomplishment. Shift from the “invisible hand to glad hand” – shift from individualism to collectivism.

The Social Environment Dale Carnegie – “getting along” solution of How to Win Friends and Influence People. William G. Scott’s use of fictional literature to show the shift in social values toward more emphasis on the group and the social person.

The Political Environment The New Deal of F. D. Roosevelt promised to reshuffle society’s cards to benefit the “little people.” This brought an abundance of legislation. Franklin D. Roosevelt Courtesy of the Constitution Society

Legislation Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and a maximum 44 hour work week, with time and a half pay for hours over that, for covered workers. The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (1938) Federal Anti-Injunction Act, known more commonly as the Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932, pre FDR)

The National Labor Relations Act (1935) The most important piece of legislation for labor in U.S. History Guaranteed the right to bargain collectively Guaranteed the right of self-organization. This would lead to the downfall of employee representation plans Specified unfair practices of management Established the National Labor Relations Board.

The Wagner Act Also a critical turning point for unions… A new union, the CIO, was formed for industrial workers and enjoyed instant success. Work stoppages increased from and were caused primarily by the desire to organize a union.

Summary of Part Three Figure 18-1 depicts the Social Person Era. Mary Parker Follett bridged the Scientific Management era with the emerging group. The Hawthorne Studies brought the human relations movement to the forefront. Increased concern for people Calls for less rigid organizational structures View that financial motives are only one part Concern for emotion as well as efficiency The human relations movement reflected the cultural environment.

Summary of Part Three cont. Two approaches to post-Hawthorne research: Micro researchers studied people in groups. Macro researchers viewed leadership as a group interactive-situational phenomenon, leading to organizational behavior and organization theory. Descendants of Scientific Management, like Mooney, Reiley, Davis, and Barnard, addressed new organizational issues. The culture of the period, shaped by economic stress, led to a decline in the Protestant ethic and more focus on people, not production.

Internet Resources Academy of Management – Management History Division Website List of Internet Resources compiled by Charles Booth Western Libraries Business Library – Biographies of Gurus People whose Ideas Influence Organisational Work Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Experiences Bell System Memorial – Western Electric History What we Teach Students about the Hawthorne Studies Mary Parker Follett Mary Parker Follett Foundation

Internet Resources Chester Barnard - Brownlow Commission Excerpts Eduard Lindeman Jacob Moreno Kurt Lewin - Force Field Analysis Kurt Lewin National Labor Relations Act National Labor Relations Act – Document Images Abraham Maslow

Internet Resources James Worthy Biography and Papers McCormick and Company, Inc. History +People?OpenDocument T. W. Adorno – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Rensis Likert Colleagues Salute William Foote Whyte The Tavistock Institute Herbert A. Simon George C. Homans

Internet Resources Past Presidents of the Academy of Management (photos) Joseph Schumpeter – 50 th Anniversary of his Death The New Deal Network Links Related to the New Deal Fair Labor Standards Act

End of Part Three