Universität Kassel – Abteilung Kommunikation und Internationales

Topic

NamesDate

Hawthorne Studies (Elton Mayo)

What? A series of experiments on factory workers

When? 1924 – 1932

Where? Hawthorne Works(Illinois, US) of Western Electric Company, manufacturing arm of AT&T

Hawthorne Studies (Elton Mayo)

Who? Industrial engineers 1927 Harvard Prof. Elton Mayo

Why? Initially: Examine Effect of various lighting levels on worker productivity

Changed to: Study the factors, which influence workers’ behavior

Important Experiments

Illumination Experiment:

Lighting intensity NOT directly related with productivity, something else does

Important Experiments

Relay assembly Experiment:

Choosing own coworkers, working as a group, being treated special.

Individuals became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation in the experiment.

Important Experiments

Bank wiring room Experiment:

Existence of informal groups or “cliques”

Workers more responsive to their peer group than to the control and incentives of management.

Elton Mayo

Summary of Mayo’s believes: Individual workers must be seen as members of a group

Monetary incentives & good working conditions are less important to the individual than the need to belong to a group.

Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have a strong influence on the behavior of those workers in a group.

Managers must be aware of these 'social needs' and cater for them to ensure that employees collaborate with the official organization rather than work against it.

Mayo's simple instructions to industrial interviewers set a template and remain influential to this day:

Criticism

Relay assembly Experiment:

Choosing own coworkers, working as a group, being treated special.

Individuals became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation in the experiment.