The Hawthorne plant of General Electric Company in Chicago makes a phone call.

At the time of the

experiments, it employed about 30,000 employees. There was dissatisfaction among the workers and
the productivity was not upto mark. In order to find out the real reason for this, the team was created
led by Elton Mayo, Whitehead and Roethlisberger and company representative William Dixon. The aim
was to study the relationship between physical working conditions and productivity. The entire
experiment was conducted in four phases: 1. Lighting experiments (1924-1927) Experiments to
determine the impact of changes in lighting on performance. 2. Experiments in the relay-assembly test
room (1927-1928) were experimented with determining the impact of changes in hours and other
working conditions on productivity. 3. Mass Interview Programme (1928-1930) Conducting extensive
interviews to determine the attitudes and moods of employees 4. Bank Wiring Surveillance Room
Experiments (1931-1932) Definition and analysis of a public organization at work. 1. Lighting
experiments have been conducted to find out how different levels of lighting, i.e. the amount of light in
the workplace (physical factor) affects performance. Hypothesis: The higher the lighting, the higher the
performance. Experiment: A group of workers was selected and placed in two separate groups. One
group was exposed to varying intensity of lighting. This group was named as an experimental group
because it underwent experimental changes. The other group was called a controlled group because it
continued to operate in constant lighting conditions. The researchers found that as they increased
coverage in the experimental group, both groups increased production. When the intensity of the
lighting was reduced, production continued to grow in both groups. Production in the experimental
group decreased only when the lighting was reduced to the level of moonlight. Thus, it was concluded
that lighting does not affect performance, and something else interferes with performance. Therefore,
another stage of experiments was carried out. 2. Experiments in the relay assembly test room were
designed to determine the impact of changes in different working conditions on the performance of the
group, as lighting experiments could not establish a link between lighting intensity and production. Two
girls were selected for this purpose and the girls were asked to choose four more girls as staff. The work
involved the assembly of telephone repeaters. The output depends on the speed and continuity with
which the girls work. An observer with the girls was appointed to oversee their work. Below were the
changes and subsequent results: i. that each girl's additional salary is based on the other five, not on the
exit of a larger group of, say, 100 workers or so. Productivity has increased compared to the previous
one. Changes have been made at rest intervals. Two to five minutes of rest intervals were introduced
one in the morning and the other in the evening session. They were increased to 10 minutes.
Performance has been increased. The rest period was reduced to five minutes, but the frequency was
increased. Performance was slightly reduced, and the girls complained that frequent rest intervals
affected the rhythm of work. iv. The amount of rest was reduced to two out of ten minutes each, but in
the morning, coffee or soup was served along with a sandwich and in the evening, the appetizer was
provided. Productivity has increased. V. Changes have been made during working hours and working
hours, such as reducing by an hour to the end of the day and eliminating Saturday work. The girls were
allowed to leave at 4:30 p.m. instead of the usual 5 p.m. In this case, performance has increased.
Hawthorne's research was carried out by workers at the Hawthorne Western Electric Company plant by
Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger in the 1920s. Hawthorne's research was part of a refocus on
management strategy that incorporates the socio-psychological aspects of human behavior in
organizations. The following video from the ATT archives contains interviews with individuals who
participated in these studies. It provides additional information on how research was conducted and
how they have changed employers' views on employee motivation. Initially, the studies looked at
whether workers are more responsive and more efficient in certain environmental conditions, such as
improved lighting. The results were unexpected: Mayo and Roethlisberger found that workers were
more responsive to social factors, such as the people they worked with as a team, and the amount of
interest their manager had in their work than the factors (lighting, etc.) that the researchers went to
check. Hawthorne's research has shown that employees are very sensitive to the extra attention of their
managers and the feeling that their managers are actually caring and interested in their work. Studies
have also shown that while financial motives are important, social issues are equally important factors in
productivity. A number of other experiments were conducted in Hawthorne's studies, including one in
which two women were selected as test subjects and then asked to select four other workers to join the
test team. Together, the women worked on assembling telephone repeaters in a separate room for five
years (1927-1932). Their output was measured during this time - first, in secret. It started for two before
the women moved into the experiment room and continued throughout the study. In B experiment
room, they had a supervisor who discussed change with them and sometimes used women's
suggestions. The researchers then spent five years measuring how different variables affected both
group performance and human performance. Some of the variables included giving two five-minute
breaks (after discussing with the group the best period of time) and then moving to two 10-minute
breaks (no group preference). Intangible variable motivators typically improve performance, even if the
variable was simply a change to its original state. The researchers concluded that the employees worked
more because they thought they were being monitored individually. The researchers hypothesized that
the choice of their own colleagues, working in a group, was seen as special (as evidenced by working in a
separate room), and having a sympathetic supervisor were the real reasons for improving productivity.
Hawthorne's research has shown that people's productivity depends on social issues and job
satisfaction, and that monetary incentives and good working conditions tend to be less important for
improving employee productivity than meeting the needs and desires of individuals to belong to a group
and to be included in decision-making and work. Check out your understanding of the answer to the
question (s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in this section. This short quiz
doesn't count in your class in class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times. Use this quiz to
test your understanding and decide whether (1) should explore the previous section further or (2) move
on to the next section. F.W. Taylor in his experiments increased production, rationalizing it. Elton Mayo
and his followers sought to increase production by humanizing it through behavioral experiments
popularly known as Hawthorne Experiments/Research. The fact remains that the impact of the
organizational behaviour study will remain incomplete without mentioning Hawthorne's
research/experiments. In November 1924, a group of research professors from the well-known Harvard
Business School of the United States began studying the human aspects of work and working conditions
at the Hawthrone plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago. The company produced bells and
other electrical equipment for the telephone industry. Prominent professors included in the research
team were Elton Mayo (psychologist), Roethlisberger and Hoihead (sociologists) and William Dixon
(company representative). Over the past seven years, the team conducted four separate experimental
and behavioral studies. These were: 1. Lighting Experiments (1924-27) to find out the impact of lighting
on productivity. 2. Experiments in Relay Assembly Hall (1927-28) to find out the impact of changes in the
number of working hours and related hours productivity conditions. 2. Employee survey experiments
(1928-30) to find out how employees are treated and feel about work. 3. Experiments of bank posting
(1931-32) to find out the social system of the organization. More information on each of these four
experiments to follow : Lighting Experiment Experiments in Lighting were a direct continuation of Elton
Mayo's earlier lighting experiments done in the textile industry in 1923 and 1924. The experiment began
in 1924. It consisted of a series of studies of trial groups in which lighting levels varied, but conditions
were constant. The aim was to study the relationship between the quality and quantity of lighting with
the efficiency of the workers. It was found that performance increased to almost the same speed in both
test and control groups selected for the experiments. During the final experiment, it was found that
output decreased when the light level, i.e. the intensity of moonlight, decreased. Because the
researchers found no positive and linear link between lighting and worker efficiency, they concluded
that the results were screwed in the absence of simple and direct cause-and-effect communication. One
important fact revealed in the study was that people behave differently when they are studied, than
they might behave. It is from this term the Hawthorne effect was coined. Relay Assembly Test Hall
ExperimentErs conducted the following experiment to study workers of segregation based on a certain
range of variable working conditions. The variables selected included the temperature and humidity of
the workroom, work schedule, rest breaks and food intake. Five women were selected in the assembly
relay test room and closely followed the forecasting variables as well as the output. The time spent by
each woman to assemble a telephone relay from about forty parts was measured. Like their lighting
experiments, the researchers were surprised to find that the link between the predictor variables and
industrial efficiency simply wasn't found. But, these relay experiments led researchers to suspect that
employee attitudes and feelings were critical variables previously not taken into account. Researchers, in
turn, have undergone radical changes in their minds. Page 2 In 1928, a number of researchers began to
go directly to the workers, keeping the variables of previous experiments aside, talking about what they
thought was important to them. About 20,000 workers were interviewed for this purpose within two
years. Unlike previous experiments in which the interviewer has a set of biases, interviewers intended to
skillfully listen to what the employee said all about himself/myself and work. With in an interview The
researchers found that workers would open up and talk freely about what is most important, and
sometimes problematic, issues in their minds. Fig. 11.1: Formal and informal elements of organizations.
Interview experiments have allowed researchers to discover a rich and intriguing world previously still
unfolding and not explored in Hawthorne's works undertaken so far. The opening of an informal
organization and its connection with a formal organization, as shown in the pic. 11.1, was a culminate of
experiments on the survey of employees. These experiments led to a richer understanding of the social,
interpersonal dynamics of people at work. The history of 7D begins with the work of Frederick Winslow
Taylor when he developed scientific management in 1890 at the Midwale Steel Company. Bethelham
Steel Company : It has progressed with significant developments, discoveries and contributions over
time. One hundred years of progress in organizational behavior are summarized in Table 11.1. Elton
Mayo, an Australian citizen, led Hawthorne Research at Harvard. In his classic letter in 1931, The Human
Problems of Industrial Civilization, he advised managers to address the emotional needs of employees at
work. Elton Mayo - The Theory of Human Relations - Elton Mayo formed the theory of human relations
after the amazing results of the study of the Western Electric Company. The Hawthorne effect is a form
of reactivity in which subjects improve the aspect of their behavior, experimentally measured simply in
response to what they are being studied for, rather than in response to any specific experimental
manipulation. The term was coined in 1955 by Henry A. Landsberger when analyzing old experiments
from 1924-1932 to the Hawthorne plant (a Western electric manufacturing plant outside Chicago).
Hawthorne Works commissioned a study to see if its workers would become more productive at higher
or lower levels of light. Productivity seems to increase when changes were made and fell when the study
was completed. It was suggested that productivity gains were due to the motivational effect of interest
in them. While the study of workplace lighting is the basis of the Hawthorne effect, other changes, such
as maintaining clean workstations, clearing obstacle floors and even moving workstations, have led to
increased productivity over short periods of time. Thus, the term is used to identify any type of short-
term performance improvement. Table 11.1: One Hundred Years of Progress in Organizational
Behaviour of the 1890s 1900s 1910s Frederick Taylor Development Of Scientific Management Max
Weber Concepts of Bureaucracy and Protestant Ethics Walter Cannon Opening Emergency (Stress)
Response Mayo Lighting Research in the Textile Industry hawthorne Research in Western Electric
Electric The 1930s 1940s Kurt Levin Ronald Lippitt and Ralph White's early guidance on the research of
Abraham Maslow needed a hierarchy of B.F. motivation theory. Skineer's formulation of the behavioral
approach of Charles Walker and Robert Guest studies the routine work of 1950s Ralph Stogdill in Ohio
State Leadership Research by Douglas McGregor examining the human side of Frederick Herzberg's two-
factor theory of motivation and job enrichment Arthur Turner and Paul Lawrence explore various
industrial jobs with Robert Blake and Jane Muton's management grid Patricia Kane Smith researching
satisfaction in the work and retirement of Fred Fidler in the extraordinary leadership theory of 1970s J.
Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham's work characterizations Robert House's theory of the path of
purpose and the charismatic leadership theory of the 1980s Peter Block political skills for commissioners
Larry Hurschhorn's teamwork approach to Charles Manz's approach to the self-managed working groups
of Edgar Shane's approach to leadership and organizational culture Page 3 Term gets its name from a
factory called Hawthorne Works where a series of experiments on factory workers was conducted
between 1924 and 1932. This effect was observed with a minute's increase in light. Assessment of the
Hawthorn effect continues in the modern era. Most textbooks on industrial/professional psychology and
organizational behaviour refer to lighting studies. Only occasionally other studies are mentioned. In
lighting studies, the intensity of light has been altered to study its effects on productivity. Relay
Assembly Experiments In one of the studies, the experimenters selected two women as test subjects
and asked them to select four other workers to join the test group. Together, the women worked in a
separate room for five years (1927-1932) assembling telephone relays. The output was measured
mechanically, counting how many finished repeaters each fell from the gutter. This measurement began
in secret two weeks before the women moved to the experiment room and continued throughout the
study. In the experiment room, they had a supervisor who discussed changes with them and
occasionally used their suggestions. The researchers then spent five years measuring how different
variables affected the performance of the group and individuals. The performance increased, but when
they got six 5-minute rests, they didn't like it and reduced the output. food during breaks. 30 minutes a
day (exit went up); reducing it more (the output per hour went up, but the total output of production
return to the first condition (where output peaked). Changing a variable usually improves performance,
even if the variable was just a change to the original state. However, he said it is a natural human
process to adapt to the environment without knowing the purpose of the experiment taking place. The
researchers concluded that the workers worked harder because they thought they were being
monitored individually. The researchers hypothesized that choosing their own employees to work in a
group was seen as special (as evidenced by working in a separate room) and having a sympathetic
supervisor were real reasons for improving productivity. One interpretation, mainly due to Elton Mayo,
was that six people became a team, and the team completely and spontaneously gave themselves to the
experiment. (A second study of the relay assembly hall was conducted, the results of which were not as
significant as the first experiment.) Interview program workers were interviewed in a bid to test
Hawthorne's research. Participants were asked about supervisory practices and the morale of the staff.
The results proved that up-and-going communication in an organization creates a positive attitude in the
work environment. Workers rejoice that their ideas are heard. Bank Wiring Room Experimenters did
their last experiment on workers in a bank wiring room. During this experiment, the workers found that
the beflavioural standards set by the working group had a powerful effect on the group's performance.
In total and content, the higher the norm, the higher the performance and vice versa. Experiments with
the bank's wiring well confirmed the influence of peer strength and the importance of group influence
on the behavior and productivity of employees. Hawthorne's best contribution is that it has laid the
groundwork for understanding the social and psychological behaviour of people at work. It opened up
new perspectives and boundaries to study the management of people that have since been followed by
many behavioral scientists. That he paved the way for further research into human management as
Landsberger puts it, the most impressive academic battle has raged since then or perhaps it would have
been more accurate to say that a limited number of Gunners retained a steady barrage of reusing the
same ammunition. The beleaguered Mayo garrison, however, continued its existence behind the reliable
protection of the factory walls. However, Hawthorne Experiments are not free from criticism. These
experiments have been strongly criticized by Australian and British researchers as insufficiently
controlled and interpreted. However, what is most important in Hawthorne's research is that they
stimulated interest in the human factor in Research Research that informal associations, which can be
found in almost every organization, have a profound impact on the efficiency of workers. The purpose of
the Bank Writing Room Experiment study was to find out how incentive payments would affect the
group's performance. The surprising result was that productivity had actually declined. Workers
appeared to suspect that their productivity may have been boosted to justify the dismissal of some
workers later. The study was conducted by Mayo and W. Lloyd Warner between 1931 and 1932 on a
group of fourteen people who collected phone switching equipment. Researchers found that while
workers were paid according to individual productivity, productivity declined because men feared the
company would lower the base rate. Detailed observation between men revealed the existence of
informal groups or clicks within official groups. These clicks have developed informal rules of conduct as
well as mechanisms to enforce them. The cliques served to control the group members and manage the
bosses; when bosses asked questions, members of the click gave the same answers, even if they were
not true. These results show that workers are more responsive to the social strength of their peers than
to control and management incentives. Management. five stages of hawthorne studies pdf 8