THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT, 6 TH EDITION Electronic Resource by: Regina Greenwood and Julia Teahen

Human Relations in Concept and Practice Chapter Seventeen

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.Tavistock Institute  The Harvard Group 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.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.National Labor Relations Act of 1935

Compare the data regarding causes of work stoppages in the 1920s with the causes following passage of the National Labor Relations Act. Impact of Human Relations on Teaching and Practice "Police battle with striking truck drivers," Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1934; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives and Records Administration.

Impact of Human Relations on Teaching and Practice  Feelings, sentiments, and collaboration became the theme in contrast to scientific investigation.  This is the major difference between the human relations era and organizational behavior. Flint Sit Down Strike

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.

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.