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

The Human Factor: Preparing the Way CHAPTER NINE

The Human Factor – Preparing the Way  Personnel Management  Psychology and the Individual  The Social Problem  Participative Decision Making

Personnel Management – A Dual Heritage  One part of personnel management can be found in the industrial betterment/welfare movement.  The other side comes from scientific management and the needs for record.

Personnel Management – As Welfare Work  A number of companies hired a welfare secretary to advise management. Their duties were many, and in some cases appeared to be paternalistic.  Many secretaries were female, perhaps because of their experience in vocational guidance or social work, or perhaps because some of their duties resembled a role stereotype of what a woman did – i.e. administering dining facilities, handling illnesses, etc.

Personnel Management – As Welfare Work  Scientific management emphasized improved personnel selection, placement, wage plans, and other matters that involved employee welfare.  Others advanced personnel management.  Mary Gilson, Clothcraft Shops of the Joseph & Feiss Co., is one example of the scientific management viewpoint.  Jane Williams at Plimpton Press.  The Henry Gantt/Elizabeth Briscoe clash at Bancroft Mills relates similarities and differences between the welfarists and those of scientific management.  Henry Ford and his $5 per day minimum is worth mentioning, as well as his "sociological department.”sociological department

Ford Motor Company Sociology Dept. This image was taken before the Sociological Dept. intervention. This image was taken after the Sociological Dept. intervention. Images: From the Collections of Ford Motor Company Archives and The Henry Ford, AR

Personnel Management – As Welfare Work  This approach grew out of the Social Gospel movement.  The moral behavior of unmarried females factory workers was a concern.  Early companies establishing welfare offices : National Cash Register Company in 1897 John Bancroft and Sons in 1899 H.J. Heinz Company in 1902 International Harvester Company in 1903.

Personnel Management – Scientific Management Roots  Scientific management emphasized  Personnel selection  Placement  Wage plans  Other issues involving employee welfare.  Welfare work eventually was replace with “Employment Management” after 1910 as personnel practices were standardized and improved.

Psychology and the Individual  Wilhelm Wundt pioneered scientific psychology. Wilhelm Wundt  He opened the first laboratory in Leipzig in  He founded experimental psychology, leading to applied and industrial psychology. William Wundt Courtesy of Dr. Charles I. Abramson

The Birth of Industrial Psychology  Hugo Münsterberg ( ) applied scientific psychology to industrial problems Hugo Münsterberg  Münsterberg sought  Best possible worker  Best possible work  Best possible effect Hugo Munsterberg

The Birth of Industrial Psychology  Munsterberg advocated Munsterberg  Tests for worker selection  Research in the learning process in training  Studied under Wundt

Foundations of the Social Person – Industrial Sociology  Whiting Williams ( )  Emile Durkheim ( )  Charles H. Cooley ( )  Gestalt Psychology

Whiting Williams ( )  Williams was a participant- observer. He put on the clothes and guise of a worker to study work first hand. Williams  He emphasized the centrality of work.  He believed  that the job defines social status as well as a person’s place in the work situation  that the workplace is a part of a larger social system. Whiting Williams from Weekly London Tabloid, called 'ANSWERS', dated 24th February 1934.

Whiting Williams  Williams saw earnings as a matter of social comparison – influencing how a person viewed himself relative to others (similar to equity theory).  The “Eleventh Commandment” – “Thou shalt not take thy neighbor for granted.”  Summary – Industrial sociology began with Williams and the Social Gospel influenced his thoughts. Whiting Williams, working on the railroad, 1922 The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Emile Durkheim: Contributions to Sociological Theory  Anomie – state of confusion, insecurity, and “normlessness.”  Mechanical societies were dominated by a collective consciousness.  Organic societies were characterized by interdependence and the division of labor leading to anomie.  Durkheim’s thinking influenced the human relationists’ view of the need for social solidarity. Durkheim’s

Social Behaviorism  C. H. Cooley – “Looking Glass Self” is a very interesting way of looking at the formation of self- efficacy, personality development, and other similar ideas. C. H. Cooley  Gestalt psychology – the whole system is greater than the sum of its parts. Charles H. Cooley

Employee Participation in Decision Making  Three paths for giving employees a “voice” in the organization led to the democratization of the workplace:  Membership in a union that would represent the workers’.  Union-management cooperation  Employee representation plans.

The Trade Union Movement and Industrial Relations  John R. Commons ( ) was the “Father of Industrial Relations.” John R. Commons  He was probably the first to use the term “Human Resources.”  He wrote of the need for workers to have a voice in the workplace. John R. Commons, courtesy of the Wisconsin Electronic Reader

The Trade Union Movement and Industrial Relations  John R. Commons admired Taylor.  He was not anti-scientific management because it worked in some firms, but felt workers needed a say- so in the workplace. John R. Commons, courtesy of the Wisconsin Electronic Reader

The Trade Union Movement and Industrial Relations  American Federation of Labor formed under the leadership of Samuel Gompers in 1886.Samuel Gompers  Goal was to achieve gains for organized labor through bargaining power, not productivity.  Gompers said “more, more, and then more” was what labor wanted. Samuel Gompers, courtesy of Library of Congress

The Era of Union- Management Cooperation  Morris Cooke, Ordway Tead, and Robert Valentine were examples of those who were trying to reformulate what labor felt was the unyielding, no union, position of scientific management.  The revised emphasis was to be on consent:  Union-management cooperation plans began when union membership was in decline in the early 1920’s. Unions agreed to accept scientific management if they were involved by electing representatives and could bargain about wages, hours working conditions, etc.

Employee Representation Plans  Employee representation plans did not involve unions but the workers elected representatives and participated through shop councils and committees.  Unions did not like these plans, but studies of these plans indicated they were progressive and improved labor- management relations.

Summary  The 1920s was prosperous for employers and employees.  Despite a surplus of labor, employers created “industrial goodwill” with a variety of employee benefit programs.  Scientific Management inspired social scientists and psychologists to study the workplace.  Industrial Sociology began in the 1920s.  The Social Gospel spawned the industrial betterment/welfare movement.

What impact did industrial psychology and industrial sociology have on subsequent management theory and practice? Impact of Industrial Psychology