Worker Interdependence and Output: the Hawthorne Studies Reevaluated

Stephen R. G. JonesAmerican Sociological Review, Vol. 55 No. 2 (Apr., 1990), 176-

190

The Hawthorne experiment

♦ Hawthorne studies: late 1920s and early 1930s

♦ “Naïve attempt to relate worker productivity to the intensity of illumination in the Hawthorn plant of Western Electric”

♦ Hawthorne: argues that external factors suffice to explain the variation of workers output

Purpose of the Study

• “Human relations” interpretation of the Hawthorne experiment

• Attempts to synthesize external factors with workers’ interdependence, the role of social interactions and small group dynamics at the plant

Purpose of the Study

• “To study interdependence among worker output levels as recorded in the Relay Assembly Test Room during the 1927-1932 period.”

Method and Sample

• Data from the “Relay Assembly Test Room” 1927 – 1932

• Weekly records (270 weeks)

• Statistical analysis of these records

• Experimental Group: 5 women

“The process of selecting workers for the study does not seem to have been systematic”

Experimental Group

• The five women who worked in the relay room were quite young:– 4 of them were between 20 and 22 years old– 4 were born in the US, one has immigrated

from Norway– “The docile submission of Operator 1, the

restless impatience of Operator 2, the moodiness of Operator 3, the sturdy independence of Operator 4, and the aloofness of Operator 5”

Method and Data

• External Factors studied:

Unemployment rate, weather conditions (such as heat or cold waves), Economic conditions (coming depression), absence from work, reported sickness etc.

Method and Data

• Internal Factors studied

– Workers’ Interdependence: Does the output of worker 1 affect the output of worker 2? How are these interrelated? Can this be statistically measured? Can causality be identified?

Available Data

1) Statistical Inputs

• A wide range of indicators: weekly and daily outputs, heat waves, cold waves, time spent repairing machinery, voluntary rest, seating change, unemployment rate, small group pay, health, Raw materials problems, days worked per week etc.

Available Data

2) Qualitative:

Verbal accounts of early Hawthorne researchers regarding the group dynamics.

Researchers provided detailed descriptions of daily interactions in the Assembly Room.

Hypothesis

• H0: No other worker affects worker i.• H0: No other worker is affected by worker i.

In addition, following research findings were tested: (1) the relative independence of worker 5; (2) the significantly positive mutual interdependence between several pairs of workers and (3) the two pairs of workers with a significantly negative mutual interdependence

Method

• Controlling the external factors– In order to study interdependence, external

factors and their impact on output had to be isolated

– These factors included 1) factors that impacted the whole group (economic conditions, group benefits, temperature etc) and 2) factors impacting particular workers (sickness, situation at home, rest time, repair time etc.)

Method

• Interdependence was understood as a correlation between outputs of particular workers in relation to others.

• Various data were observed, including proximity at the site (for example, has there been a change when worker 1 was placed next to worker 2) and correlations between changes of outputs.

Findings (examples)

• External factors:

• worker 2 of Italian extraction was negatively affected by extremely cold weather, while workers of polish origin as well as Norwegian worker were unaffected

Findings

• Workers Interdependence: – Worker 5: Independence (due to age, marital

status and the fact that worker 5 wasn’t born in the US)

– Various levels of correlations between other workers:

• Positive effects were seen between workers 1 and 2, 2 and 4, and 3 and 4, while workers 2 and 3 have negative effects on one another

Findings and Conclusions

• The statistical results were compared with researchers’ descriptions of interactions at the Relay Assembly Test Room.

• Overall, there is a surprisingly high degree of correspondence between the present statistical analysis of worker interdependence and those verbal accounts given by the early Hawthorne researchers. The independence of worker 5, the sympathies and friendships between several pairs of the women, and the antipathies between some others are all reflected both in statistical results and in the detailed descriptions of daily interaction.

Conclusions

• The null hypothesis of independence was clearly rejected

• The role of external control variables is much weaker once the presence of interdependence is recognized

• The human relations approach to industrial sociology is not controverted by the original Hawthorne data from which it began

Discussion

• This study complemented statistical analysis with qualitative data

• The causality was better established when qualitative and psychological characteristics were employed and complemented

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