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    Hawthorne Studies PDF

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    ‘THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES Ronald G. Greenwood, GMI Engineering & Management Institute Charles D. Wroge, Rutgers University asteact Tis ts the prestudies a deveription of the Havthorne Studies from through the Bank Wiring Room research, Mitn “particular enphaste on the Relay Asseably Test Roos. INTRODUCTION ‘The Hawthorne Studies (Pigure 1) vere not so mach planned as foo a. revolution studies has been 80 Blerepresented ae those perforsed at Kavthorne. Nonerous writers have incorrectly — clatmed that Harvard, Mayo, and even Roethlisberger conceived the idea for these studies and administered thea. Nothing could be further fros the truth. Hence the actual history and the proper credit has rarely been awarded. The, stelysis here not only clarifies the historic Evolution of the studies, but aloo presents evidence thet wege incentives, sa'vell as behavtoral factors, they were a product of evolution, and Led Tn management theory. No’ group of ‘widely discussed nor Csused the unusual output achievements in the Relay Test Room. STUDIES LEADING TO HAWTHORNE It was General Electric Company's desire to increase the “ale of Lampe, motors and generators that Led eventually "to the Hawthorne Studies. Their campaign began in) 1910, but’ in 1913, im the hope of proving that tnereased” {liuafnatton would result in increased production and safer conditions, GE convinced the National Electric Light Assoctatton and the Association of Ediaon Illuminating Companies to test the vietbility of objects on streets under different conditions of illumination. The teats were under the Atection of Hugo Monaterberg and Ne assistant Harold Burtt. The renults of the observational tests which began” in 1914, vere startling. Where illunination was non-uniform aid of leas intensity, the targets were been more frequently (Report, 1914]. Burtt conducted the tests on Iatervale Avenue 4a the Bronx and tn the Hacvard laboratory in the winter of 1914. His tests Gemonstrated that merely providing an individual with high-intensity, unifora illumination as a way to Increase visual effietency was wrong. The electrical conpantes and illuminating engineers, interested prinactly in increasing Lighting revenues, ignored his findings, A a Cesult, I1lumtnation tests on strecto were halted and were ‘only conducted in industry for The next. ten years, Leading eventually to the studies at Hawthorne In 1918, tm am effort to increase electrical revenues, Willian ‘A. Durgin, of the Commoavealth Edison Company Of Chicago, conducted a series of tests to prove that Righer levela of {Llunination would lead to greater productivity dn factories. Durgin selected four Enteago factories here the average intensity was 2.9 footvcandles. Two of these were Fyott Foundry Coupany ‘and Foote Brothers Gear and Machinery Corporation. The tests were tun for four months in each of these Coupanies! the first month uaing existing Lighting, the second with SOX greater Light tnteneity, the third at original levels of intenstey, and the fourth at the Inigher {ntensity level. This four-step approach teat ‘was used later in the Havthorne {llumination with Durgin acting as advisor. The results of studies shoved an’ increase 10 productivity of with Mncreases of Light intensity ranging from of less than a foot candle at Pyott and 4,6 at Foote’ to highs of 4.8 (Pyott) aud 12.7 (Foote). The reoulte of Durgin's fteets were startling. Electric companies, convinced of the findings, urged further fnvestigation, The General Electric Company waa onpectally impressed end tn 1919 initiated an ‘educational campaign to sell. the idea of better Industrial Lighting. Eventually they used these research findings in their advertisements and Continued the resetreh under corporate direction HAWTHORNE, ILLUMINATION TESTS (ioveaber 24, 192%-Apr‘l 30, 1927) The success of the iLlumtnation teats, conducted by the electrical tndustry from 1920 to 1923, left some executives skeptical of the results. To overcome this eepticiea, “the electrical industry adopted a new progran combining both industrial and. Laboratory {Uluntnetion tests, While ftnanctel support cane from General Electric and other electric companies, it wae fade to appear that the tests wore strictly scientific by having then conducted by the National Research Council "under a spectally formed unit “The Comittee fon Industrial Lignting.” Dr. Ernest Fox Nichols, past President of MIT and. the Director of the General Hlectric Nels Park Lighting Laboratory in Cleveland, was chosen to heed the comfttee, The Comtttee was Offteally formed on January i, 1924. Nichole, Fecogatzing the advantage of having’a nattonally know clentiat asegctated with the terts, tavited Thomas Edison to. becone the Honorary Chairman. Edison accepted and the firet meeting of the comtttee vas held in ne West Orange, N.J., Laboratory on October BL, 1924," Frank Jewett of ATT, s committee menber, Yolunteered The Havthorne Works of the Electric Company as a test atte Nichole . died before the teste chatraanship of the committee was shifted to Dugald Ce Jackson of MIT's Electrical Engineering Department. This snift resulted in the selection of former MIT students as field engineers, with Charles Snow as the engineer for Hawthorne. The distance between the headquarters of the comittee at MIT and the Havehorne plant proved importent because as the teste ‘Snow, teolated in Chicago, wae left to his ‘as 8 result, Snow developed methods he Hawthorne Tests which vere adopted 10 peculiar to the {attial stages of the Relay Assembly Test. Roo Under the _drection of Tlumination Tests were intttared’ on Noveaber 24, 1924, tn three departnente of the Recetver and Industton Coll Winding, Relay Assembly, snd Jack Shell fand Jack Spring Inapection, The three departments appeared to. be typical of factory operations, Fequiring considerable use of the eyes. In addition, the operators in these departments vere patd under three different incentive systems! coll winding on straight plece work, relay assembly under group piece Fate, and’ Jack hell’ napecting on & straight day rate Snow, the Hawthorne vowrasau nolumnint i e3womOe 20 LN ag dee eed ee eee ea wee ew sis ‘S3IGNLS S.3NYOHLMVH 1} aunoi snow, 1925]. Clarence Stoll, Havthorme Works Manager, inelated thet all employees should be given Mivanced informstion” on ‘the tests through an article nthe HAVTHORNE MICROPHONE (the coupany newepeper), ich. an article waa published on November 24, 1924 (awenorne] ‘TMK TEST PROCEDURE. Although the teste were designed by Charles Snow,” he worked closely with Stolle assiatent George ‘Pennock. Each test group worked ‘under the existing ‘lluntnation of 5 foot candles Getth 50° watt Lamps) for a period of five veeks. The cond period lasted two weeks and used 100 wate followed “by successive yertode of Lange of 200 300 watts, 100 watts, 50 watts, 200 watts Soo "sacees “Tiese.tests’ ware fon ffom Noraaber 20, 1924 "to. April. 11, 1925. Snow kept records of production (five times “datly), on attendance, defective work, hourly {llunination (foot candles), vemperature, muntdity, and att conditions. He als) kept a log covering” such itens ee soctal pressures used by forenen to increase production, physiological ‘and peychological factors, and influences of the home covironment. Some of hin data were discovered by o ‘now method of sntervteving. FINDINGS. The 1924-25 tests revealed no direct Felationshtp between intensity of {lluatnation and rate of output. The most striking case was the Induction “Coil Winding "Control Group.” The group of ten fenale operators worked under the original Lignesng of 5” foot candles at two segregated benches in the. regular department throughout the tests. The output figures revealed "increases in production rate tall of the tines that an Sncrease inthe Test Croup. fs obtained, the magnitude of the increases belay somewhat lene than thowe of the (teat) group «+ the Feason boing, s determination not to let the Test Group beat them out!" [Suow, 1925] ‘TE 1926-1927 TESTS, The original plan call progressively decreasing levels of {Luntnatfon intensity from Il to 3 foot candles, which would be reversed} the Control Group would be under 2 constant Tevel of Il fo0t candles, However, to keep employee morale high and to prevent any dteruption in the ‘organization, the periods of low intensity were auch ‘shorter than planned (Jackson, 1926]. To secure a base period, the operators’ output was recorded in the first week of September, a procedure later used in the Relay Asseably Test Roos, "On September 8, the groupe were moved into their rooms so they could become accustomed to thelr surroundings before the test Started. From the very first day, despite the spectal Lest conditions, the output of both groups continually Ancresged with the test’ group higher than the control group (Snow, 1927]. for HIBARGER'S "MOONLIGHT TEST.” In the middle of the 1926-27 teste, ltbarger conducted hte own spectal test. He convinced Pensock, who was hie muperior, that’ some work could be done with almost no Light at all snd that cooperation was an important Factor. To avotd the expense of uoving a cotl winding bench to a haw test ‘Location, Hibarger selected two relay assembly operators willing to cooperate and placed them in a cloakrooa {n the Relay Assembly Department. Firat the two operators remained tn the regular department one veck to obtain a base output. On February 4, 1927, they aoved nto the test room, working under an’ intensity of 1 foot candle in the forenoon snd .39 foot candle in the afternoon There was only a slight decrease in output. The next day the intensity was reduced to .2 foot candle and production increased. On February 7, from 7:30 AM fo noon the intensity was .2 end productivity Anereased and in the afternoon fron 12:45 to 4:00 Paks AMurination was reduced to 102 foot candles and production decreased slightly. “Finally, the intenaity was reduced to .06 foot candies resulting in a severe @ecline tn output (iibarger, 1927] The results of Mibarger's test influenced the 1926-27 tests from this point. In period 8 illumination intensity vas reduced to 1.4 foot candles, and vigorous protests by the operators concluded the perfod with that one day. But output only declined Glightly, denonstrating that Alluatnation was nota critical” factor. In periods 9-11 the “Teat Group” and “Control Group” were moved back and forth between test room and regular room, with # supervisor aoving tn and Out. of the fest and regular Fooa to test the tmpact of muperviaton. At the conclusion it was found that the fefftctency of both groups vas about the same, but the output of the Test Group was atill higher than the Control group. This was quite discouraging to those Interested in "proving the correlation between Alluntnation and productivtey.” ‘THE RELAY ASSEMBLY ROOM TESTS (apni 25, 1927- FEBRUARY, 1933) In designing the tests in the Relay Assenbly Test Room, Hibarger selected the aasenbly of relays as the task’ to study. "Although thts task was econgateal to study, Snow nad carlter discarded it because he had Gathered evidence that output had continually increased {n the Relay Assembly Department since 1924, even vhen no tests vere in progress. To Snow, this demonstrated that some factor (perhaps the tncontive systen) was influencing output "in this depsrtaent. Mibarger "selected this operation because of nis fantliartty vith tt and because it was a repetitive Job. ALL employees were engaged in the same operation Genis wae “made even uniform by reductag the number "of “relay” types assembled” by four” of the operators in the test room), 1 complete operation could be perforaed in a short time (no more than a minute), and no machine work vas involved. The ‘selection operators, however, was probably an error by ince Snow had discovered in 1926 that, for reasone unknown, output in. the Relay Assembly Departaent’ had increased by St over the Output" intttally achieved in 1924, vhen the AUlumtnatton tests vere Degun. This was one reason for Snow's decision not to include the relay assembly operators in the 1926-1927 tests, It scene reasonable that because of the existence of thie unknown factor, Wibarger should have selected # different operation ¢9 Anvest tga The operators for the Relay Test Room were uot selected sclenttfically. An expertenced operator was chosen (operator #4) "and anked to pick other “girle T thought wouldn't be married oon, Theresa yyman accepted, and the other two...” remenbers Wands Blazejak [Greenuood, 1983]. The original teat room consisted of five vonen” operators and 2 layout operator. At the conference before the the women vere given a brief descriptto, tUlvatnetion nd thetr unusual operators were “told... that’ we had ap very cle notion of Just what might cone out of the teats, but we vere willing to get started and avait developeents. ses {T]hat any changes ... would be discussed witn the Operators with the idea of getting thetr thoughts and ‘comments before making the change. We assured then that ve would tell them all we ourselves knew about fhe results as we went along..-. The group was assured Ehat the test vas not being setup to determine the maximum output, and they were asked to work along at confortable pace and particularly not attenpt to see tow mach they could possibly do. v2» We told then that we” had 0 hhow long the teat might run; perhaps Astute Aeigee™ Uieeioen mations RCL] TEST ROOM OBSERVER. Htberger, orginally aided by Obte Hunt, and later by Lester Lareon and Douald Chipman, acted as an observer in the test room AB far as’ possible, he kept accurate records of all that happened, created and maintained a friendly atmosphere, and exercised a practical supervisory function. ' The mere fact that the room observer vas a male and assoctated with managenent placed him in « “supertor” position. The operators, however, did not Enink of him or any of the other observers as their bosses (Greenwood, 1985]. TEST ROOM, The test room was small, containing one workbench, benches for the recording apparatus, a de for the’ observer, clothes lockers and. space for storing parts. The workbench and assembly equipment. were {dentteal to that used in the regular department except for holes and chutes at the right of each worker's workplace {ato which she would drop each completed relay. The room was in the corner of Building 47-5 and vas enclosed by a tenporary wooden partition about etght feet nigh which hung from the cetling. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION. The operators were examined {n the cospany hospital before the experiments began, and thereafter at intervals of about #{x weeks. Pennock and Htbarger belteved it would be important to know whether {creased output, tf it occurred, would be accomplished at the expense of the operators’ nealth, There was also taterest ta the menstrual cycle effect on productivity. The physteal examinations were objected to at Firat, but shortly after they started operators began bringing in cake or cookies, thereby turning the event {nto a “party, ‘TEST ROOM VS REGULAR DEPARTMENT. In the Relay Test Room, after periods 1 and 2, the operators were paid on the basis of a small group incentive piece-rate system which tncluded all ste operators (operators 1-3 and the layout operator). This meant each operator Would recetve weekly earatage sore in proportion to her tndtvtdual effort, since she was paid on the baste of a group of stx instead of s group of 100 or mare operators as tn the regular department. Another Auportant factor was that’ operators 1-4 assenbled, primarily, 5 or 6 types of flat-type relays, with every effort being nade by the observers to obtain a constant flow of only a few select types of flat-type relays into the Test Room. On the other hand, Operator 5 assembled a Large vartety of barrel-type relays. In the Test Room the workers realized the experiment waa recetving the attention of the company offictals, and that they were being sotteed individuals, At the beginning of the study Pennock and other company officials frequently vistted the test room. There was cont{nued contact between these operators and the people who were conducting the tests; such contact’ between managers and operators would’ not occur tn the Life of the ordinary shop operator. The greatest change was tn the nature of supervision. In the test room there was no Croup Chief, and” the operators vorked under the general direction of Hibarger of Nis sas} Disetpline was secured primarily ‘and Understanding. The operator wve thet bench vnenever necessary and were not compelled to pick up parts from the floor when they were dropp Open conversation developed an understanding among the operators and an esprit de corps grew up within the group. In the regular department talking between dperatore was forbidden. RECORDING OF UTPUT. The number of relay types to be ‘assembled in the test room by operators 1 to & was feduced to 5 of 6 flat-type relays so that the only ateference vould be in the number of parts to be fasseabled, Operator 5, on the other hand, assenbled a large nunber of relay types, primarily barrel-type relays. A unit of measurement was used to enable the use of comparable output figures regardless of the type of relay assembled, The E-901 relay was used as the unit of measurement the piece rates were ot conversion factors based on plished for the other types assenbled, so that all output figures could be shovn ig terme’ of E-901 (or standard) relays. The assembly of relays in the Relay Test Room was automatically recorded by means of special output recorder designed by Obte Hunt in April, 1927. Ths was a converted Morkrup-Kletnschatdt Printing Telegraph Feperforstor with continuously moving half tach paper tape where the completition of each relay w: recorded by holes punched in the tape by the reperforator. | The only tape available for this purpose in 1927 had only 5 channels to record this fnformatton, Because the recorder waa notey only one could be used in the a result, only Five operators could As the holes were punched in the tape, the data was also recorded on registers where the mimerical output was recorded, ‘These numbers could be Tead at any time, but the operators could also keep track of thetr output by counting the empty partitions of the coil boxes by their work bench. A number of records vere kept, bestdes those from the autonatic recorder. A log sheet was kept by vartous observers Listing a datly” record of each operator's activities, type of relay worked on, time she started on 8, intervals of non-productive time, ete. A Datly Historical Record was also made recording the events Jihich seemed important, the changes introduced, 9 Selection of renarks fade by the operators, and’ the Kinds of “questions the tnvestigatore were asking themeelven at vartous stages of the experiment. DIVISION OF THE STUDIES INTO PERIODS. The entire course of the studies was not mapped out in advance but developed as they progressed, In the beginning, Pennock and Wibarger vere interested in the effect of = shorter working day and week. Periods I-II were introductory to get the operators used to the test room, Periods IV=VII (24 weeks) were experiaents with Fest periods and shorter working days and weeks, (oterapersed with “check” pertods of normal working hours (see Figure 2). INTRODUCTION 10 TEST KOON. Period I (2 weeks, April 25-may 10, 1927); During Pertod I the operators remained in the regular department. Their’ output lusder normal conditions vas recorded and they had their firet physical examinattons, which revealed they were in good health. Period 11 (5 weeks, May 10~June 11): ‘During Pertod IT the operators in the test room were getting used to working by themselves. The Tovestigstors were making adjustments to the recording nechantgms and making plans for keeping records of all That happened during the tests. Period IIT (8 week: June I3"August 6): At the beginning of Period II1, the six operators were forsed into a separate wage Incentive group. In the regular department they were part of a large group, which was Little affected by fone person's effort. In the small group, thelr earnings were nore directly affected by their output, EXPERIMENTS WITH REST FEKIOUS Feriod IY (3 weeks ‘August B-Septeaber 10): AE the deginntng of Pertod 1 he operators were called to Pennock's office to Plans for tvo fiverninute reat pertods duriag whe day.” They voted to have the rests st 10 A.M. and 2” PMs These tines vere very close t0 what the Fecorde revealed aa their points of lovest output. The operators enjoyed the rest pertods, but sesil coaplatned of drowsiness in the early afternoon. They Ehoughe longer rest periode vould be better, but were afraid they vould not be able to “make their rate.” During this period there vas evidence that some of the operators were developing a free and easy relationship With the cent room observers, After five weeks of two five-minute rest periods shoved a slight increase in output, It was decided” co try two ten-atmute rest periods. The operators vere consulted and vere in favor. Period V (4 weeks, September 12-0ctober 8): Yor the four weeks of Period V, the operators had a ten-minute rest period at 10 A. and 2 Pu Inmediately there was a' definite rise in output, both tn the hourly ond Rotel averages Pertod VI (4 weeks, October 10-Novenber 5): It was decided to try six’ five-minute rest pertods. The ‘operators. were consulted and they vere opposed to the short periods, but agreed to try them. For four weeks they followed this schedule. They consistently expressed their disapproval both by critical remarks ‘and by excessive Laughing and talking and returning Period VII (11 weeks, Novenber T~January 21, 1928): During the 11 week’ period the operators had a ISeminote rest in the noraing, a lunch provided by the company restaurant, ands ten-minute’ bresk in the afterngon, The operators were enthustastic about the rest periods and the lunch "on the co=pany." Operators IA and 2A, however, produced Lese and tn this period “they "demonstrated an uncooperative attitude of which there hed been occastonal evidence in the earlier periods, It was decided, therefore, £0 transfer then to the regular department. They were replaced with others who wanted to Join the test group nd had “output records comparable with those of operators 3 and 4. SHORTER MORKING DAYS AND WEEKS Pertod VIII (7 weeks January 23-Maren 10): With Pertod VIII there began series of experinente with a shorter working day a Seeks The “15, and” l0-minute rest periods continued except tn Period XII. Im Period VIL, with two new operators (I and 2) “now part of the group, the operators were offered the chotee of starting 1/3 hour Later than uaual or stopping 1/2 nour earlter. The operators chose the Latter and were very happy about Mts Despite the fact’ that working Eine was sow 10% ese than standard the total production increased. ‘This continued for 7 weeks. The investigators, who had been plenning to go back to the original working Conditions of 48 hours and no rest periods, decided instead to try a further reduction in hours to see where the total weekly output would begin to fall off. Period 1X (4 weeks, March I2-Aprtl 7): During Fertod TX, the operators again chose to stop early — one hour ‘earlier than usual, Although encouraged to work ata natural pace, the operators seemed to feel the Reed” to hurry. “Operator 2 began to adsontah the other girls to stop talking and to work faster. A contest Tor leadership developed between her and Operators 3 ‘and 4, who had formerly been the fastest operators and nad exercised some Leadership. Although the girls increased. thetr hourly output, the cut in working tine proved to be coo, drastic. and weekly production was Schedule of Test Periods—First Relay Assembly Group FIGURE 2 Daily Total No. of Rest Net Experi- Dura- Length Days Dally Period Weekly ‘mental tion of Day Per Rest ‘Time Working Dates Special Period (Weeks) (Hours) Week Periods (Min.) Hours — Included Feature 1 Apped 845 SM None None 48 42527 19 5:10 Regular dept. 2 S845 54 None None 48 well Test room 3 8 845° Si None None 48 1086 Special gang rate 4 5 8S SM 2 104705 09.10 Two $ min. ests 3 4 8 Sh 2 20 46:10 t0 108 Two 10 min. rests 6 4 gs 5K 6 3045s tolls Six 5 min. rests 7 1 mS SH 2 2 45:40 foL-2128 Rests (1S min. A.M. lupeh and 10 mi PM, res) 8 7 BIS SH 2 25 B10 1.23-28103-10 Rests and 430 stop (Orginal operators 182 replaced 1.2628 9 4 ms SH 2 25 4040312 wa Rests and 4:00 stop 0 owas $2 2 4540 4910630 Rests—check period uM 9 ss 52 2 4072 wd Rests and Sat. AM. off 12 12 BASS None None 48 93 wiles No ress full $8 br. (check per.) 3M Ms SH 2 25 45:0 11-26 106.2929 eats (pers, furnish own lunch, com pany fumishes beverage) M9 Bs sk 25 aio 29 10 8.31 Rests and Sat AM. off sass 23 434092 to 45-30 Rests 1% 4 M3 SK 25 454047301053 Rests & opers ‘hanged postions Was 8 ss 2 MSS 5S wtORs Rests 4:15 stop 25a AM. off wos 8: an 2 23 3S 1027 27-31 Rests 4:15 stop Fn. PM. and Sat AM. off » os 8: an 2 25 M35 29310 5.281 Ress 4:15 stop Fa PM. & Si AM. off oper. retumed to riginal positions mn 3 8: ae. 25 HSS 525-31 tO LIAL Rests, 4:15 stop Sa AM. off mow & a 4 2S 3020 116-3110 12-431(2) Rests 4:15 sop Mon, off snd Sat. AM. off 2 6m? “4 m4 12:7.31@) to 1-29-3207) Every other Mon off and Sat. A.M. off. Many “novie"™ workers Bw 42 a % 2:132(2) 10 6413-3212) Only #2 of conginal tal working 24 June 1932.—February 1933—All new workers—shor hours, Monday, Saturday other days off as depression deepens ‘Note Periods 1-20 are from The Industrial Worker by T.N. Whitehead, Cambridge, Mass.) Harvard University Press, 1938, p. 39. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Periods 21-24 have been ‘developed from original data in Hawthorne Test Records Greenwood 1983 Lowered, reducing the operators’ earnings. Period X (12 veeks, April June 30. tevestigators decided tow to go back to standard Working, hours after an extended period of shorter Rourey, but the rest periods vere retained. The operators at first felt very tired working longer Routes, In. the Firet weeks coments on tiredness were very, frequent, but dimintahed as time vent on and Weekly productton reached a ney high for all Speratorse AE this time, Drs Claire Turner of MIT became consultant to the Test Room, Thinking about this nigh productos, which did not show the effect of fatigue resulting {fou longer hours of work, Turner Wondered “if the frequent physteal exaninations had hale, the operators more conscious of thelr health and thus {mproved thetr health practices. A questionnatre as" prepared asking then abovt changes in thetr diet, hours of sleep and eo on. No particular change was Evident’ in’ the anavere, but they suggested their hereased output was caused ty “greater freedon,” absence of bostes,” “opportunity to set one’s own pece and to eat "what one aakes without being held Back “by 3 Bg group.” A second questionnaire, concentrating on conditions in the test room, brought bot very similar anevers with respect to’ relaxed Supervision: "sore freedom," the Tonaller group,” “the way we treated” with’ one operator mentioning her Un’ shereased earninge as an inportant factor. Dori thts period there wat tnereastng amount of soctal fctivéty among” the operators, both inside and outside of the plant, and this’ also affected their Felationships at work, A frlendly spirtt, a Willingness. to help each other, and other signe of Solidarity appeared. When one "operator was absent, two others “seigned themselves the Job of keeping up the group earnings whtle she was avay. Conversation land joking were more general sed private conversations Gtnintehed: The Joking and” banter was extended to Include the test room investigators and other Suthorittes, with whom they had contact. Tt was during thts period “that” Elton Mayo First visited the Relay ‘Test Room, We had only heard of the tests in Novenber 1927 and” asked to viatt. He had no impact on the teats at this point and vas to have very Little, if ‘any, on the Test Rooa after this tiue. lis basic Comection. with the Havehorne tests was as advisor to the {atervtewing progras beginning in 1929. Pertod XI (9 weeks, July 2-Septeaber 1): The obvious ent step wat to” remove rest periods, reverting to Standard working ‘conditions. But tt vas the end of June, and the operators had been promised an fexpeftnent with a fFiverday week during the summer. ‘The five-day schedule was astatained for 9 weeks, to Of whieh were vacation weeks for the vhole group.” The Operators Liked thts arrangement very much, ince they received their base rate for the Saturday sornings they did not work and thus there vas no apprectable Lose of earnings. Pertod x11 (12. weeks, September S-Novenber 24): In Pertod “KIL the operators reverted. to standard conditions, 48 hours per week and no rest periods. ‘Tey were’ much opposed to the change, though Ehey Understood that {twas temporary. They became very hungty. aad generally restless. Eventually, they developed ways” of adjusting co the conditions by eating at 9130 “AuMs AEter Loach they stacked off Work, talked, and joked, at tines quite botsterously. Attempts of| by threats tgpored hs bos: tne observer t0 stop the excessive tatking wore not effective, and the operators Chreate since they did not think of him as Period KELL (31 weeks, November 26-June 29, 1929): During Pertod IIT the operators worked standard hours except for the 15 and operarore supplied thetr company providing hot tea. fhe rest” periods; morale They took "pride in thelr work, tried to beat their former output records, and helped each other to alntatn "the group earnings. Operator 2 acquired an Cnoffieel poettion of Leadershtp and exerted pressure ‘on slover” operators, This sometines resulted in Ertettony but eventusily the operators achteved an ‘equilibrium so some could speed up and others slow down Without antagoniea. During this period both hourly output and total output exceeded all previous record: lO-minute rest pertods. The own morning lunch, with the ‘They welconed the return of reached its highest peak. Pertoda XIV-KXIV (June 1, 1929-Pebruary, 1933): The basic experinents of the first 13 periods vere repeated during ‘the next fev years, By Late 1932 the depression Started fo have effects on Hawthorne and the test roo. In. Pertod XEI1, starting im the Last month of 1931, saany of the oftginal operators vere tatd off and Feplaced by “novices” of people frou other depertments. The lnst period, XXIV, "which ran from June 1932 to February 1933, wae staffed by nev workers, with’short ours on Monday and Saturday and other days off. The experinent had to. be discontinued, but for all practical purposes the test results ‘are meaningless lifter 1931, The Relay Test oon vas continued from 1931 to 1933, for several reasons: First, the Western Electric ‘Company wae atill. interested tn the relationahtp between output and biological funet toning; fonds they algo desired to devise new methods of obeerving workers; and thtrd, the tests vere also continued in order for Whitehead to investigate Nis typothests that ineressed output in the Test Room was a function of attention by the operators [whitehead, 1933, pe li]. For those interested in the results after Pertod “XIV, see the various publications by Wottenead as Listed heres Susmation of Persode I-XIII in Relay Assembly Test Room. In the two and one-half years of experimentation a number of changes in working conditione Red been tried, What were thetr effects tn terme of output and the operators health and mental attitudi 1. Except for Pertods X, XI, and XI, output rose steadily except for Operstora’ 1A and 2h. In Period XIIT. Operator 4 reached an increase of about 40Z over the base period and she was one of the most skilled operators entering the tests 2, In Pertods X and XII Sdentteal condtetons existed — 4B hours per veok, a ISemtnste reat in the morning, lunch, and a l0-minote rest in the afternoon. Bot” hourly output wae higher tn Pertod X than in Pertod VIL, and in Period XII1 it was considerably higher. 3. In Periods X, XI and XIT conditions of work varied widely, from a 5-day week with rest periods to a5 1/2 day week without rest periods. Yet there was little change £m output 4. te ony one case di the hourly prodvctton output decrease an one aight have expected. In Pertod XIT, it declined when the operators resumed the 48-hour schedule with no" rest pertods, but output wat Considerably higher than under the sane conditions oe Pertod dT. It appears there was no siaple correlation between working conditions "and hourly" output. To sun upy dutput had increased steadily for nearly 2.5 years in spite of merous changes in houre of work. Morale tn the test room had steadily Saproved. The operators had averaged. only 3.5 attendance trregulartttes a year (stones: personal absences plus tardiness) compared with 15" 4 year before coming into the test AUALNSTS OF INCREASED OUTPUT: THE EFPECT OF PERIODIC ‘UANGES 101 HOURLY PAY RATES. Starting with Period IIT the method of determintg. the wooly pay of the operators wae altered, They now ere patd) on the basis of atx operators’ (operators 1-5, plus the Iayout operator) instead of s large group "of 100° opefatore an in the main departments Although thts “small group incentive syste is Gescribed in MANAGEMENT “AND' THE” WORKER, one cannot fccurately determine the weekly pay of the operators by the "method they describe, ‘The periodic. rate changes (Daywork Rates) in the test room are shown in Figure 3 and” the actual method weed at Hawthorne at this tine C0 calculate the operators earnings te show in Figure 4; these two data are required to deteraine the weekly pay of the operators: ‘An _tnportant feature of thts method ts “percentage of earnings” since it determined the actosl amount of incentive earnings for each operator tn addstion to her base Fate. The importance of the “percentage of garaings” | (wntch the operators "called the Spercentage") “as auch ehat it constantly te referred t0. by the operators as recorded in the Daily Log stintatned tn fhe Test Rooa, Tate tncantive jsten, coupled with » regular review Of the bese rate of each operartor every six onthe played a significant role in determining output. Elton Mayo” and George Pennock, tn 1925, believed that relief fron fatigue and "rates tn pay'had not vholly deterntned production changes." [Trahair, pe 238] Therefore, the incresses must be due t9 changes tn employees? ental attitude and ehte wae “the major accomplishment of our enttre study.” [Transir, p. 238] Novever, the pertodic reviews of the hourly rates were significant. "Te appears that Mayo and Roethlisberger 414 not know of “the periodic review of hourly base rates, or if they did, did not consider them important

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