EN3586 WORKPLACE CULTURE AND Human relations and

human resources
INTERACTION approaches
WHAT DID WE LEARN LAST TIME?

▪Machine as a metaphor for an organisation

▪Classical approaches
▪Fayol
▪Weber
▪Taylor

▪Their influences on the nature of communication in

an organisation
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

▪Human Relations approaches

▪Human Resources approaches

HUMAN RELATIONS
APPROACHES
METAPHOR OF
FAMILY
IMPETUS FOR HUMAN RELATIONS
APPROACHES
▪Hawthorne Studies – conducted at Western Electric
Company’s plant in Hawthorne, Illinois by Elton Mayo
of Harvard University
▪Research question: How would changes in the work
environment affect factory workers’ productivity?
▪Motive – increase output, improve efficiency
 VIDEO – HAWTHORNE STUDIES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLVp-CrBnPo
ILLUMINATION STUDIES
▪Designed to determine influence of lighting
level on worker productivity
▪Finding - Altering the lighting levels in
different ways resulted in an increase in
productivity
RELAY ASSEMBLY TEST ROOM STUDIES
▪Various aspects of work environment were altered
▪Finding - Productivity remained high
▪Women had more contact with people (researchers,
management)
▪Social satisfactions relating to human association were
more important determinant than any
physical/economic aspects
▪Influence of social group seen as important
INTERVIEW PROGRAMME
▪Looking at relationship between environment and
productivity
▪Found that interviewees were more interested in
talking about feelings/attitudes
▪Finding - problems of worker-management
cooperation were outcome of workers’ emotional
attitude rather than objective difficulties of
situation
WIRING ROOM STUDIES
▪Observation of group of employees in the wiring
room
▪Finding – workers developed own norms regarding
rate of productivity that were different from
organisational targets: slow/speedy workers
pressured to speed up/slow down
▪Conclusion: social group’s influence greater than
that of organisational power structure
CONCLUSIONS OF HAWTHORNE STUDIES
▪Output increased as a result of attention paid
to workers by researchers
▪i.e. Attention can cause changes in behaviour –
‘Hawthorne effect’
▪Informal social factors (e.g. social interaction)
increased output
▪Management style was also a factor
▪e.g. open communication between managers and
workers in relay assembly test room
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Image credit: Simply Psychology

HERZBERG’S MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY

▪Studied the variables that are

perceived to be desirable/undesirable
for organisations
▪ Hygiene factors
▪ Motivation factors
▪Satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work
arise from different factors and are not
simply opposite reactions to the same
factors
▪To truly motivate staff, management must
not only provide hygiene factors to avoid
dissatisfaction, but must also provide
factors intrinsic to the work itself (i.e.
motivation factors) in order for
employees to be happy with their jobs
▪Herzberg argued that job enrichment was
necessary for intrinsic motivation

Image credit: Chartered Management Institute

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y
X = manager influenced by negative aspects of
classical theories
Y = manager who follows ideas of human relations
movement
THE TYPICAL THEORY X MANAGER
BELIEVES . . .
▪Managers are responsible for organising resources
(human, material) to achieve economic goals of
organisation
▪Management is a process of directing, motivating,
controlling people, and modifying their behaviour
▪Without management, people would be
passive/resistant: they need to be persuaded,
rewarded, punished, controlled, etc.
FIVE THEORY X ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT
HUMAN NATURE
The average person . . .
▪is by nature lazy, and works as little as possible
▪lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, prefers to be led
▪is self-centred and indifferent to the needs of the organisation
▪is resistant to change
▪is gullible and not very bright
THE TYPICAL THEORY Y MANAGER
BELIEVES . . .
▪External control is not the only way to motivate;
people can exercise self-direction/self-control if
committed to objectives
▪Commitment to objectives comes from the rewards
associated with these objectives
THEORY Y ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN
NATURE
▪The average person learns (in right conditions) to
accept and seek responsibility
▪Imagination, creativity are common rather than
rare
▪The intellectual potential of the average human is
only partially utilised
MCGREGOR’S VIEWS
▪Job of X is to be strong/forceful;
▪Job of Y is to bring out natural tendencies of the
intelligent, committed worker
▪Believed that Theory X views were widespread
among managers
▪Felt that managers should see workers as motivated
by Maslow’s higher order needs, that they are
capable of independent achievement (i.e. Theory Y)
HUMAN RELATIONS VS. CLASSICAL
APPROACHES
▪Human relations theories diverge greatly from a
mechanistic view of organisations and people
▪Metaphor of family – see relationships as central to
understanding of the way in which an organisation
functions
▪Employees seen as individuals characterised by
need for attention, social interaction, individual
achievement – not just financial gain, but desire to
satisfy higher-order needs
SUMMARY
▪Maslow – a general theory of motivation:
highlights basic psychological needs that humans
possess
▪Herzberg – takes ideas explicitly into the
workplace by looking at job characteristics
▪ McGregor – focus on process of dealing with
employees – emphasises management
assumptions about workers and implications for
organisational behaviour
HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACHES AND
COMMUNICATION
▪What are the four elements of communication
that can be influenced by an organisation’s
approach to management?
▪In an organisation strongly influenced by
human relations approaches, what form would
these elements take?
 IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION -
CONTENT
▪Maslow – emphasises importance of affiliations
through social interaction; must be fulfilled before
moving to higher levels
▪Herzberg – social interaction can lead to
satisfaction
▪➔Mostly maintenance-related (task-related
communication still exists)
IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION – DIRECTION
OF FLOW
▪Vertical communication still goes on, just as with
classical approaches
▪But horizontal communication is strongly
encouraged
▪McGregor emphasises ability of employees to
achieve or excel without management
interference
▪Implication: interaction is just as important as
downward communication in accomplishment of
goals
IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION –
CHANNEL
▪Human relations –concerned with satisfying
human needs
▪Human relations approaches favour channels with
high social presence (e.g. face-to-face)
IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION –
STYLE
▪Emphasis on social organisation and the satisfaction
of affiliation needs – style will be relatively
informal
▪Breaking down status differential between
management and workers; status differences
reduced – less reliance on titles and other
characteristics of formality
 HUMAN
RELATIONS
APPROACHES
AND YOUR
WORKPLACE
EXPERIENCE?
HUMAN RESOURCES
APPROACHES
 EARLIER APPROACHES VS HUMAN
RESOURCES APPROACHES
▪ Classical perspective – ‘workers work’
▪ Human relations perspective – ‘workers feel’
▪ Human resources perspective
▪ individuals have feelings to be considered
▪ individual labour is important for organisational goals
▪ employees are seen as assets with ideas – they can contribute to the organisation’s
goals

▪Emphasis on contributions by employees (e.g. their thoughts

and ideas)
IMPETUS OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES
APPROACHES

Satisfaction
Work Job satisfaction Productivity
of Higher-
factors
Order
needs
Does an increase in job satisfaction
necessarily lead to an increase in
productivity?
• Little support in empirical research
• Too simplistic – other possible
factors are not accounted for (e.g.
personal considerations)
SOME POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF
HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACHES
1. ‘Pseudoparticipation’ – asking for
employees’ opinions without having any
intention of using them
2. ‘Paradox of participation’ – workers feel
frustrated because they contributed but have
no control over decision-making
HUMAN RELATIONS VS. HUMAN
RESOURCES
▪Human relations manager opens participation
channels in order to satisfy employees’ needs
for affiliation and esteem
▪Human resources manager does it to take
advantage of innovative ideas i.e. sees
employees as human resources.
▪ Human resources approach aspires to
maximise both productivity and employees’
needs
BLAKE AND MOUTON’S MANAGERIAL
GRID
▪Also called Leadership Grid
▪Tool for training managers in leadership
styles
▪Assumption – leaders are most effective
when they exhibit concern for both
people and production
FIVE PROTOTYPICAL MANAGERIAL STYLES
▪Impoverished – shows little concern for
people and production
▪Country club – pleasant workplace, friendly
relations
▪Authority-compliance – high concern for
production but low concern for people
▪Team management – maximising
productivity goals and employee needs
▪Middle-of-the-road – balance and
compromise
BLAKE AND MOUTON’S MANAGERIAL
GRID

Blake & Mouton (1964) The Managerial Grid

LIKERT’S SYSTEM IV
▪Different management systems examined in
terms of:
▪ Motivational factors
▪ Communication
▪ Decision-making
▪ Goal setting
▪ Control
SYSTEM I: EXPLOITIVE AUTHORTATIVE
ORGANISATION
▪Motivation through threats and fear
▪Downward and inaccurate communication
▪Top-level decision-making
▪Giving of orders
▪Top-level control
SYSTEM II: BENEVOLENT AUTHORITATIVE
ORGANISATION
▪Motivation through economic and ego
rewards
▪Limited communication
▪Decision making at top
▪Goal setting through orders
▪Top-level control
▪Authoritative style ‘best for the workers’
SYSTEM III: CONSULTATIVE ORGANISATION
▪Decisions still made at top
▪Control still at upper levels of hierarchy
▪BUT employees are consulted before decisions
are made, and their views are considered
▪Goals set after discussion
▪High level of upward and downward
communication
SYSTEM IV: PARTICIPATIVE ORGANISATION
▪Decision-making is performed by every organisational
member
▪Goals set by complete work groups
▪Control at all levels
▪Communication is extensive – up, down, horizontal
▪Contributions of all are strongly valued
▪Employees rewarded through satisfaction of wide range
of needs
OUCHI’S THEORY Z
▪Alternative to McGregor’s Theories X and Y
▪Based on principles of management
represented in Japanese organisations
▪Suggests ways in which Japanese organisations
use human resources differently from US
THEORY Z
▪Theory Z principles emphasize the importance
of developing and nurturing the human
resources in an organization
▪Set of principles through which the Japanese
model can be adopted by western organisations:
▪ Long-term (not necessarily lifetime) employment
▪ Large investment in training and development
▪ Cognitive skills of employees also valued through use of
collective decision-making
▪ Job rotation instead of job specialisation
▪ Slow promotion to allow for more time on training
HUMAN RESOURCES VS. EARLIER
APPROACHES
▪Like classical approaches: emphasis on organisational
effectiveness and productivity
▪Extension of human relations approaches– higher-order
needs for challenge and self-actualisation are fulfilled
through organisational activities
▪Human resources approaches are different in terms of
goals:
▪ To maximise both productivity and satisfaction of individual
needs
▪ To optimise both goals: emphasis on employee contributions
SUMMARY
▪Blake and Mouton’s grid emphasises dual
importance of productivity and people
▪Likert’s System IV describes an organisation
where employees’ ideas are valued through
participative management systems
▪Ouchi’s Theory Z highlights contributions of
employees through long–term employment,
collectivity, training and development
▪They all emphasise the importance of employee
contributions to meet both organisational and
individual goals
HUMAN RESOURCES APPROACHES AND
COMMUNICATION
▪What are the four elements of communication that can be
influenced by an organisation’s approach to management?
▪In an organisation strongly influenced by human resources
approaches, what form would these elements take?
COMMUNICATION - CONTENT
▪Innovation element is critical –
input/interaction about new ideas
needed from employees
▪Task and maintenance-related too
▪Communication about new ideas can
maximise both organisational
effectiveness and individual goal
achievement
COMMUNICATION – DIRECTION OF FLOW
▪Goal – to encourage flow of ideas from all
locations throughout organisation – up, down,
horizontal, diagonal; often in team-based settings
▪Sometimes organisational chart reconfigured to
optimise the flow of new ideas e.g. cross-
functional teams (individuals from marketing,
manufacturing, sales etc. to discuss new
project/product)
▪Team-based communication flow expected to
maximise contributions of different members
COMMUNICATION - CHANNEL
▪Wide range of channels are used to make optimal
use of human resources
▪Managers try and match channel to task
▪ Task with high level of uncertainty – ‘rich’
communication channel
▪ Task with low level of uncertainty – ‘lean’ channel
▪Organisational members trying to make best use of
human resources will favour ‘rich’ channels
COMMUNICATION - STYLE
▪Fulfilling human needs - informal
▪Enhancing organisational
effectiveness – employees likely to feel
more comfortable contributing in an
informal manner
▪Informal style also more in keeping
with multidirectional team-based
communication
HUMAN RESOURCES
APPROACHES AND
YOUR WORKPLACE
REFERENCES
Miller, K. (2006). Organizational Communication: Approaches and
processes. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth
Pugh, D., & Hickson, D. (1989). Writers on organizations. Newbury
Park, CA: Sage.
Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of
telecommunications. New York: Wiley.