ABRAHAM MASLOWS

Biographical sketch
Maslows was born in 1908 in New York. His parents were Russian immigrants couple. His
childhood was spent in miserable conditions. He was frequently abused by Irish and Italian
children. He studied under the guidance and protection of two eminent professors Harry
Harrlow and William Sheldon. He wrote his Doctoral thesis on sexual and aggressive
behavior of primates (monkey) housed at 700 of Madison. He extended his concept of
dominant feeding of human beings. He concluded that highly dominant people have strong
feeling and self esteem and confidence.
Such people lack intimacy and self consciousness during the course of the study. Maslow was
the faculty of Brooklyn college in New York city or a decade. Later on he became a professor
and chairman of department of Psychology Brandis University 1951.
CONTRIBUTION
1. Hierarchy Needs
The greatest contribution of Maslow made to management thoughts was through his need
hierarchy theory. The essence of the theory is that human need can be arranged in hierarchy
that is in a particular order from lower to higher needs which will emerge as the result of
gratification of the lower level needs. Maslow has presented a classification of needs of
hierarchial order. The needs lower in the hierarchy must be satisfied before any of the needs
above them are activated. Maslow had identified five levels of need hierarchy as depicted n
the figure below.
1. Physical Needs.
These needs are basic for the existence of survival of the individual. These are the most
essential needs such as neeed of food, water, air, vitamins, minerals, shelter, sleep, etc. Until
these basic needs are satisfied, the other needs will not motivate an individual.
2. Safety Needs.
They are also known as security needs and are related to freedom of fear and pain. Individual
needs, physical as well as emotional also come under this domain.
3. Love Needs.
These needs are known as affiliation, acception or belongingness need. The individual has to
be accepted by others.
4. Esteem Needs.
They are needs related to feeling of competence ans self respect. The fulfillment of these
provides satisfaction, prestige, power and status.
5. Need for Self Actualization.
Actualization is the persons motivation to transfer his perception into reality.
DOUGLAS MCGREGOR
He was the professor of MIT. He was a well known psychologist and had contributed much
to the management through his famous book “The Human Side of an Enterprise”. He
propounded two contrasting theories of X and Y.
Theory X It represents the old stereotyped and authorization management. It represented the
following assumptions.
1. Work is inherently is dis satisfied in nature to people.
2. Most of the people are not ambitious and little desire for responsibility and prefer to be
directed.
3. Most of the people have little capacity for creativity for solving organizational problems.
4. Motivation occurs at the psychological or safely level.
5. Most of the people shall be closely controlled and often coerced to achieve organizational
objectives.
Theory X is based practically on the mechanist approach to human relations. This theory
suggests that threats of punishment and strict control are the way to manage people. Theory X
is based on the philosophy and belief that people are based on monetary gains, fringe benefits
and threats and punishment.
Theory Y
McGregor developed an alternative theory Y which assumed that the people not unreliable
and lazy by nature. If men are properly motivated they would really be creative. A woman
who is properly motivated can achieve his goals directing his own efforts and thus he can
help in accomplishing organizational goals. The theory Y is based on the following
assumptions.
1. Work is a natural as play if condition is favorable.
2. Self Control if often in achieving organizational goals.
3. The capacity for creatively solving organizational problem is widely distributed in people.
4. People can be self directed in creative work if properly motivated.
5. The intellectual potentiabilities of the average human being are not fully utilized under the
condition of modern industrialization.
McGregor theory X and Y have the tremendous impact on managerial thinking in modern
organizations. These theories have added new dimensions and insights to problem of human
motivation of work.
Theory X leads naturally to an emphasis on the tactics of control. Theory Y leads to the pr3-
ocupations with the nature of the relationship, commitment, enlargement, maximum exercise
of initiatives.
UNIT 4 MANAGEMENT THINKERS - CLASSICAL

LESSON 10 F.W. TAYLOR

LESSON 11 HENRY FAYOL

LESSON 12 GEORGE ELTON MAYO

LESSON 10 F.W. TAYLOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

10.0 OBJECTIVES

10.1 INTRODUCTION

10.2 PERSONAL LIFE

10.3 CONTRIBUTIONS

10.4 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

10.4.1 PRINCIPALS TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY
10.4.2 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

10.5 SUMMARY

10.6 REFERENCES

10.7 GLOSSARY
 BBM 105 Unit 4, Lesson 10

LESSON 10 F.W. TAYLOR

After learning about various schools of management of thoughts, we will now
study about the main management thinkers. In this lesson and the next two lessons
we study about the classical thinkers. Frederick W. Taylor was the first man in
recorded history who deemed work deserving of systematic observation and study.
He is regarded as the father of scientific management, and was one of the first
management consultants.

10.0 Objectives

After reading this chapter you will be able to:

 Know about the life of F.W. Taylor

 Understand the concept of scientific management

 Critically evaluate the contribution of Fredrick W. Taylor towards scientific

management

10.1 Introduction
Frederick Winslow Taylor is known as “the father of scientific management”.
He insisted that management itself would have to change and, further, Taylor
suggested that decisions based on rules of thumb be replaced with precise
procedures developed after careful study of individual situations. On Taylor's
'scientific management' rests, above all, the tremendous surge of affluence in the
last years which has lifted the working masses in the developed countries well above
any level recorded before, even for the well-to-do. Taylor, though the Isaac Newton
(or perhaps the Archimedes) of the science of work, laid only first foundations,
however. Not much has been added to them since - even though he has been dead
all of ninety years.

10.2 Personal Life

Taylor was born in 1856 to a wealthy Quaker family in Germantown,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Franklin Taylor, a Princeton educated lawyer,
built his wealth on mortgages. His mother, Emily Annette Taylor was an ardent
abolitionist and a coworker with Lucretia Mott. Educated early by his mother, Taylor
studied for two years in France and Germany and traveled Europe for eighteen
months. In 1872, he entered Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.

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Upon graduation, Taylor was accepted at Harvard Law. However, due to

rapidly deteriorating eyesight, Taylor had to consider an alternative career. After the
depression of 1873, Taylor became an industrial apprentice patternmaker, gaining
shop-floor experience at a pump-manufacturing company Enterprise Hydraulic
Works, Philadelphia. Taylor's career progressed in 1878 when he became a machine
shop laborer at Midvale Steel Works. Taylor was promoted to gang-boss, foreman,
research director, and finally, chief engineer at Midvale. Taylor took night study at
Stevens Institute of Technology and in 1883 obtained a degree in Mechanical
Engineering through a highly unusual, for the time, series of correspondence
courses. While at Stevens Institute of Technology, Taylor was a Brother of the
Gamma Chapter of Theta Xi. On May 3, 1884, he married Louise M. Spooner of
Philadelphia.

From 1890 until 1893 Taylor worked as a general manager and a consulting
engineer to management for Manufacturing Investment Company, Philadelphia, a
company that operated large paper mills in Maine and Wisconsin. In 1893, Taylor
opened an independent consulting practice in Philadelphia. His business card read
"Systematizing Shop Management and Manufacturing Costs a Specialty". In 1898,
Taylor joined Bethlehem Steel, where he, Maunsel White, and a team of assistants
developed high speed steel. For his process of treating high speed tool steels he
received a personal gold medal at the Paris exposition in 1900, and was awarded
the Elliott Cresson Medal that same year by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.
Taylor was forced to leave Bethlehem Steel in 1901 after antagonisms with other
managers.

On October 19, 1906, Taylor was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of

Science by the University of Pennsylvania. Taylor eventually became a professor at
the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Late winter of 1915 Taylor
caught pneumonia and one day after his fifty-ninth birthday, on March 21, he died.

10.3 Contributions
Taylor’s experiments and studies provided a scientific approach to
business management and process improvement. The following contributions are
very significant in the process of overall development of management thought:

 Taylor suggested the importance of compensation for performance. Wage

incentives and bonus are still very commonly used methods to improve
efficiency.

 He began the careful study of tasks and jobs.

 He emphasized on the importance of selection criteria.

 He analyzed the concept of mass production methods in manufacturing

factories. Taylor's own name for his approach was scientific management.
Taylor's methods began from his observation that, in general, workers who
perform repetitive tasks work at their slowest rate if there is no punishment
attached to it. He called this "soldiering". This reflects the idea that workers

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have a vested interest in their own well-being, and do not benefit from working
above the defined rate of work when it will not increase their compensation.
He also stated that there was one best method for performing a particular
task, and that if it were taught to workers, their productivity would go up.

 By observing workers, he decided that labor should include rest breaks so

that the worker has time to recover from fatigue. He proved this with the task
of unloading ore where workers were taught to take rest during work and as a
result production increased.

 He emphasized on the concept of Division of Labor. According to Taylor, each

worker should be assigned a specific task so that he can perform it in the
most efficient manner. He also stated that unless people manage
themselves, somebody has to take care of administration, and thus there is a
division of work between workers and administrators. One of the tasks of
administration is to select the right person for the right job.

10.4 Scientific Management

Taylor believed that the industrial management of his day was amateurish,
that management could be formulated as an academic discipline, and that the best
results would come from the partnership between a trained and qualified
management and a cooperative and innovative workforce.

The main elements of the Scientific Management are: "Time studies

Functional or specialized supervision Standardization of tools and implements
Standardization of work methods Separate Planning function Management by
exception principle The use of "slide-rules and similar time-saving devices"
Instruction cards for workmen Task allocation and large bonus for successful
performance The use of the 'differential rate' Mnemonic systems for classifying
products and implements A routing system A modern costing system etc. etc. " Taylor
called these elements "merely the elements or details of the mechanisms of
management" He saw them as extensions of the four principles of management.

 The development of a true science

 The scientific selection of the workman

 The scientific education and development of the workman

 Intimate and friendly cooperation between the management and the men.

10.4.1 Principles to increase efficiency

He established the following principles to increase efficiency:

1. Develop a standard method for performing each job. This involves the
following:

 Study the way the job is performed now

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 Gather detailed, time and motion information.

 Try different methods to see which one is the best.

 Determine new best ways to do it.

2. Select workers with appropriate skills and abilities so that it matches with the
job to be performed.

3. Train workers in the standard method previously developed.

4. Establish a fair level of performance and provide wage incentives to workers

for increased output. Workers should benefit from higher output.

5. Support workers by planning their work and eliminating interruptions

These principles became the basic guidelines for managing the work of
individuals. Taylor's approach had a significant impact on American society; it led to
increases in productivity. His ideas also stimulated others to continue the formulation
of management thought.

10.4.2 Limitations of Scientific Management

Scientific Management approach by Taylor proved to be very helpful to the

organizations in order to increase the efficiency however, in many cases it was not
fully addressed by managers. Following are some of such limitations.

 It was found that managers often implemented only the increased output side
of Taylor’s plan. They did not allow workers to share in increased output.

 Taylor believed that scientific management cannot work unless the worker
benefits. In his view management should arrange the work in such a way that
one is able to produce more and get paid more, by teaching and implementing
more efficient procedures for producing a product.

 Individuals are different from each other: the most efficient way of working for
one person may be inefficient for another;

 The economic interests of workers and management are rarely identical, thus
the measurement processes and the retraining required by Taylor's methods
were frequently resented and sometimes sabotaged by the workforce.

 Although Taylor did not compare workers with machines, some of his critics
use this metaphor to explain how his approach makes work more efficient by
removing unnecessary or wasted effort. However, some would say that this
approach ignores the complications introduced because workers are
necessarily human with personal needs and interpersonal difficulties. They
also say that workers have no time to relax because of difficulties introduced
by making jobs so efficient. As a result, workers worked harder, but became
dissatisfied with the work environment.

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 Taylor’s principles stresses rigidly on the routine works i.e. following set of
rules and regulations, work procedures etc. They are not adaptive to the
changing scenario and flexible work schedules.

Self-check Questions
1. What is the Taylor’s approach of scientific management?
2. List out major contributions of Frederic Taylor towards development of
management practices
3. What are the major limitations of Taylor’s approach?

10.5 Summary

Scientific management by Taylor had a tremendous influence on

management practice in the early twentieth century. Although it does not represent a
complete theory of management, it has contributed to the study of management and
organizations in many areas, including human resource management and industrial
engineering. Many of the tenets of scientific management are still valid today.

10.6 References
1. Robbins, S. P. & Coulter, M. (2003). Management, 8th Ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

2. Koontz, H & O’Donnell, Cryril, Principles of Management, 3 rd Ed., McGraw-Hill

Series.

3. Wren, Daniel. The Evolution of Management Thought. 3rd ed. New York:
John Wiley and Sons, 1987.

4. http://www.accel-team.com/scientific/scientific_03.html

5. http://www.scribd.com/doc/4541824/Schools-of-Management-Thought

10.7 Glossary
1. Mass ProductionIt refers to the manufacture of a
product on large scale
2. Time Study It refers to an analysis of a specific
job in an effort to find the most efficient method in
terms of time and effort.

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LESSON 11 HENRI FAYOL

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

11.0 OBJECTIVES

11.1 INTRODUCTION

11.2 PERSONAL LIFE

11.3 FAYOLISM

11.4 FOURTEEN PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

11.5 LIMITATIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT

11.6 SUMMARY

11.7 REFERENCES

11.8 GLOSSARY
BBM 105 Unit 4, Lesson 11

LESSON 11 HENRI FAYOL

In the present chapter we will discuss about another management thinker –
Henri Fayol. Whereas Taylor focused on the issues involved in the management of
work and productivity of the individual worker, the work of Fayol is focused on the
total organization and attempts to develop principles that will direct managers to be
more efficient in activities.

11.0 Objectives

After reading this chapter you will be able to:

 Know about the life of Henri Fayol

 Understand the Concept of Administrative Management Approach of Classical

Theory

 Understand the 14 principles of management presented by Henri Fayol

 Evaluate the relevance of Fayol’s principles

11.1 Introduction
Henri Fayol was a management practitioner who brought his experience to
bear on the subject of management functions and principles. He realized that
organizations were becoming more complex and required their managers to work
more professionally. His motivation was to create a theoretical foundation for an
educational program for managers who lacked formal training in those days. He was
one of the most influential contributors to concepts of management. His theorising
about administration was built on personal observation and experience of what
worked well in terms of organisation. His aspiration for an "administrative science"
sought a consistent set of principles that all organizations must apply in order to run
properly.

11.2 Personal Life

Henri Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey, where his
father, an engineer, was appointed superintendent of works to build a bridge over the
Golden Horn. They returned to France in 1847. Fayol studied at the mining school
"École Nationale Supérieure des Mines" in Saint-Étienne.

Nineteen years old he started as an engineer at a mining company

"Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" in Commentry. He became

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director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 1000 people, and held that
position over 30 years until 1918. By 1900 the company was one of the largest
producers of iron and steel in France, and regarded as a vital national industry.

In 1916 he published his experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et

Générale", only a few years after Frederick Winslow Taylor, had published his theory
about Scientific Management.

11.3 Fayolism
In 1916, as director of the company, Fayol penned the book General and
Industrial Management. In this book, Fayol classified the study of management into
several functional areas which are still commonly used in executive training and
corporate development programs. In his book he argued that management was a
universal process consisting of functions, which he termed planning, organizing,
commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Forecasting and Planning was the act of
anticipating the future and acting accordingly. Organization was the development of
the institution's resources, both material and human. Commanding was keeping the
institution’s actions and processes running. Co-ordination was the alignment and
harmonization of the groups’ efforts. Finally, Control meant that the above activities
were performed in accordance with appropriate rules and procedures

Fayol believed that all managers performed these functions and that the
functions distinguished management as a separate discipline of study apart from
accounting, finance, and production. Basing his work on his experience as a
successful managing director of a mining company, he developed generic 'Principles
of Management' to help organizations achieve optimum performance working toward
their goals. Now let us understand the principles of management presented by Fayol.

11.4 Fourteen Principles of Management

Fayol set down specific principles for practicing managers to apply that he
had found useful during his years as a manager. He felt these principles could be
used not only in business organizations but also in government, the military, religious
organizations, and financial institutions.

Fayol's principles were not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, his aim was to
provide managers with the necessary building blocks to serve as guidelines for
managerial activities. In sum, the principles emphasize efficiency, order, stability, and
fairness. While they are now over 80 years old, they are very similar to principles still
being applied by managers today. These principles are:

1. Division of Labor

Division of labor means achieving the maximum efficiency from labor through
specialization across all aspects of organization (commercial, financial, security,
accounting, managerial) rather than just technical activities. According to Fayol,

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specialization of labor results in increase in productivity. Fayol did not provide the
level of detail that Taylor's competing Scientific Management School prescribed.
Scientific Management broke individual operational tasks into its basic elements.
Fayol claimed that division of labor is limited as an instrument to achieve optimum
performance.

2. Establishment of Authority and Responsibility

Authority was defined by Fayol as the "right to give orders and the power to
exact obedience". It is needed to carry out managerial tasks. Authority arises from
two sources: official and personal. Experience, intelligence, integrity and leadership
ability are indispensable complements of a manager's official authority. Managers
need to act knowing that authority comes with responsibility and they both are
positively correlated.

3. Enforcement of Discipline

Upholding discipline is a core activity when running an organization, although

its form varies across organizations. Management can sanction employees with
warnings, penalties, demotions or even dismissals. Employees must respect the
rules that govern the organization.

4. Unity of Command

An employee should receive orders from one supervisor only. Dual command
generates tension, confusion and conflict, and results diluted responsibility and
blurred communication.

5. Unity of Direction

A common objective for a group of activities is an essential condition to

obtaining unity of action, coordination of strength and the focusing of effort. Each
group of activities in an organization should be grouped together under one head
and one plan.

6. Subordination of Individual Interest to the Interests of the Organization

The interests of one person should not be placed before the interests of the
organization as a whole. Reconciling general interest with that of the group or the
individual is one of the greatest problems managers face. This applies to the
relationship between staff and supervisor as well. Too often, managers pursue
personal interest rather than the common good.

7. Fair Remuneration for All

Fayol determined compensation for services should be based on systematic

attempt to reward good performance. Employee satisfaction is dependent on the
composition of both financial and non-financial factors.

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8. Centralization of Control and Authority

The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be adopted

depends on the specific organization, but managers should retain final responsibility
to do the tasks successfully.

9. Adoption of a 'Scalar Chain'

A chain of authority should extend from the top to the bottom of the
organization. This chain implements the unity-of-command principle and allows the
orderly flow of information. This chain of supervision connects the managing director
to the lowest ranks. Fayol stated that hierarchy makes employees aware of their
place and duties and defines organization’s lines of communication. When swift
action is required, Fayol's grasp of the limitations of the formal organization made
him propose a system of delegation of authority that facilitates horizontal
communication.

10. A Sense of Order and Purpose

Human and material resources must be in the right place at the right time.
Facilities must be tidy, materials orderly stored and staff selected according to strict
procedures and clear job descriptions. Fayol advocated the creation of detailed
organizational charts to support this principle.

11. Equity and Fairness in Dealings between Staff and Managers

Employees should be treated as equally as possible. Equity is the

combination of justice and kindness. Managers must constantly apply the correct
balance between equity and discipline.

12. Stability of Jobs and Positions

According to Fayol successful firms usually had a stable group of employees.

Fayol viewed personnel planning, management development and turnover
management as steps to provide stability.

13. Development of Individual Initiative

Initiative is the power to conceive a plan and ensure its success. Although
Fayol regarded management responsible for taking initiatives, he made clear that
this extends to all employees through delegation of authority. For taking initiatives,
employees must have freedom.

14. Esprit de Corps

Managers should encourage a sense of unity of effort through harmony of

interests. This involves building and maintaining staff and management morale and
unity. Fayol considered that the management style of 'divide and rule' is
counterproductive.

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Self-check Questions
1. As a manager of an organization, how would you assess the importance of
the principles of management established by Fayol.

2. What is the major difference between scientific management and

administrative management approach?

11.5 Limitations of Administrative Management

Fayol’s principles of management are very relevant in the present business
situations when applied with some flexibility and variations. These principles can still
be used to identify structural flaws and sources of conflict within an organization. The
problem with Fayol's principles of management is to know when to apply them and
how to adapt them to new situations.

The concept of giving appropriate authority with responsibility is also widely

commented on (if not well practiced.) Unfortunately his principles of "unity of
command" and "unity of direction" are consistently violated in "matrix management"
which is the structure of choice for many of today’s companies.

11.6 Summary
Although administrative management has been criticized as being rigid and
inflexible and the validity of the functional approach to management has been
questioned, this school of thought still influences management theory and practice.
The functional approach to management is still the dominant way of organizing
management knowledge, and many of Fayol's principles of management, when
applied with the flexibility that he advocated, are still considered relevant.

11.7 References
1. Robbins, S. P. & Coulter, M. (2003). Management, 8th Ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

2. Koontz, H & O’Donnell, Cryril, Principles of Management, 3 rd Ed., McGraw-Hill

Series.

3. Wren, Daniel. The Evolution of Management Thought. 3rd edition New York:
John Wiley and Sons, 1987.

4. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-administrativetheory.html

5. http://www.economist.com/business/management/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=12762398

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11.8 Glossary
1. Authority It means the right to give orders and the
power to exact obedience.

2. Remuneration It refers to the compensation paid to

the workers.

3. Scalar Chain It refers to the chain of authority

extending from the top to the bottom of the
organization.

4. Esprit de Corps It is an intangible term used for the

capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or
a goal, or even in oneself and others.

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LESSON 12 GEORGE ELTON MAYO

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

12.0 OBJECTIVES

12.1 INTRODUCTION

12.2 PERSONAL LIFE

12.3 HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENT

12.4 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

12.5 SUMMARY

12.6 REFERENCES

12.7 GLOSSARY
BBM 105 Unit 4, Lesson 12

LESSON 12 GEORGE ELTON MAYO

Any company controlling many thousand workers tends to lack any
satisfactory criterion of the actual value of its methods of dealing with people.

—Elton Mayo, Professor of Industrial Management, Harvard Business School, 1933

In this lesson, we will study about Mayo and his contributions to the field of
management.

12.0 Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:

 Know about the life of George Elton Mayo

 Understand the concept of Hawthorne experiment and Hawthorne Effect.

 To know about the principles of Human Relations Approach

 To evaluate the shortcomings of the approach

12.1 Introduction
Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement, and is
known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies, and his book The Human
Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under
the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting
the behavior of individuals at work. However it was not Mayo who conducted the
practical experiments but his employees Roethlisberger and Dickinson. This enabled
him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. Mayo’s views
lead to the construction of manager as a leader supported by knowledge and skills to
build social cooperation.

12.2 Personal Life

George Elton Mayo (1880-1949), social theorist and industrial psychologist,
was born on 26 December 1880 in Adelaide, eldest son of George Gibbes Mayo,
draftsman and later civil engineer, and his wife Henrietta Mary, née Donaldson.
Educated at Queen's School and the Collegiate School of St Peter, he lost interest in
medicine at the University of Adelaide and, after 1901, at medical schools in
Edinburgh and London. In 1903 he went to West Africa, and returned to London,
writing articles for magazines and teaching English at the Working Men's College. He
returned to Adelaide in 1905 to a partnership in the printing firm of J. H. Sherring &
Co., but in 1907 he went back to the university to study philosophy and psychology

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under (Sir) William Mitchell. He won the Roby Fletcher prize in psychology and
graduated with honours (B.A., 1910; M.A., 1926) and was named the David Murray
research scholar. In 1911 he became foundation lecturer in mental and moral
philosophy at the new University of Queensland and in 1919-23 held the first chair of
philosophy there. On 18 April 1913 in Brisbane he had married Dorothea Mc Connel.

In Brisbane Elton Mayo was a public figure, lecturing for the Workers'
Educational Association and serving on the university's war committee. Influenced by
Freud, Jung and Pierre Janet, he studied the nature of nervous breakdown and with
a Brisbane physician, Dr T. H. Mathewson, pioneered the psychoanalytic treatment
of shell-shock. His first book, Democracy and Freedom (Melbourne, 1919), stated
the basis of his social thought later developed in numerous articles and in his major
works, The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization (New York, 1933) and The
Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization (London, 1945). Observing the disturbing
level of industrial strife and political conflict in Australia, Mayo formulated an analogy
between war neurosis and the psychological causes of industrial unrest. Drawing on
social anthropology, he argued that the worker's morale, or mental health, depended
on his perception of the social function of his work. He saw the solution to industrial
unrest in sociological research and industrial management rather than in radical
politics.

Mayo left Australia for the United States of America in 1922. A Rockefeller
grant enabled him, as a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania's
Wharton School, to investigate the high labor turnover at a textile mill. This work
attracted the attention of the Harvard School of Business Administration where he
was appointed associate professor in 1926 and professor of industrial research in
1929. There he joined and designed investigations into personal and social factors
determining work output at the Western Electric Co.'s Chicago plant; these famous
Hawthorne experiments were path breaking studies in modern social research. Mayo
was one of the most influential, if controversial, social scientists of his day.

In 1947 he retired from Harvard to England where he died at Guildford,

Surrey, on 1 September 1949; a short man, who smoked excessively, he had
suffered from chronic hypertension. His wife and two daughters survived him. The
Elton Mayo School of Management in Adelaide was developed as a tribute to him.

Dr Helen Mayo was his sister. His brother Sir Herbert (1885-1972) became a
justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia and president of the Law Council of
Australia. Another brother, John Christian (1891-1955), was a prominent Adelaide
radiotherapist and surgeon and another sister Mary Penelope Mayo, M.A., (1889-
1969) was a historian of early Adelaide.

12.3 Hawthorne Experiment

In 1924, a research team launched an experiment at the Hawthorne plant of
the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. Their experiment was designed to
identify factors other than fatigue that would diminish worker productivity. Initially, it
was believed that physical surroundings (e.g., noise, light, humidity) would have an
impact on productivity. Testing was conducted by selecting two groups of women

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who would perform an assembly operation, with each group in a separate room. One
group was to be the control group, working in a room where no change in the
physical surroundings would be made. The second group would perform their tasks
under changing physical conditions. As various features of the physical surroundings
were altered in the second room, the researchers would record the level of output
and compare it with the output of the control group.

One such alteration of the physical surroundings was the level of lighting.
Illumination was increased in stages, and the researchers recorded an increase in
output as well. To further test their hypothesis, the light was dimmed. Much to their
surprise, output by the women increased again. Even when the light level was
reduced to the point where it resembled moonlight, output increased. What made
this finding even more difficult to interpret was that the control group was also
increasing its output without any alteration in the physical surroundings. Increased
output was also obtained when the researchers expanded the length of the workday
and eliminated rest periods. Indeed, many of the women reported that they were
more satisfied with their jobs than before the experiments began.

In 1927, Mayo and his team were called in to assist in the interpretation of the
results and to conduct further experiments as needed. One such experiment was to
alter supervisory authority so that the women could determine on their own when
they would take a rest break. Another was to increase the salary of the women in the
experimental group while the women in the control group would keep the same pay.

Again, productivity went up in both groups. After several years of intensive

study, Mayo and his colleagues began to piece together what was happening. First,
they concluded that financial incentives did not influence productivity since output
went up in both groups though only the experimental group received more pay.
Instead, they learned through interviews and observation that an "emotional chain
reaction" was causing the increase in productivity?" Having been singled out to be
participants in the experiment, the women developed a group pride that motivated
them to increase their performance. No longer did they feel that they were isolated
individuals in the plant; now they felt they were part of an important group. The
support received from their supervisors and the opportunity to make decisions about
their job contributed to this motivation.

The preliminary findings were that behavior is not merely physiological but
also psychological. This was a break with the Scientific Management School that
saw work productivity as “mechanical”, and led to the decision to learn more about
worker behavior. George Pennock, Western Electric’s superintendent of inspection
suggested that the reason for increased worker productivity was simply that the
researchers interacted with the employees; and, this was first time anyone had
shown an interest in the workers. Basically, the workers were trying to please the
researchers by continuing to increase their output and report satisfaction in the
study, no matter what the intervention was.

Mayo and his colleagues realized that an important contribution to the study
and practice of management had evolved from a seemingly failed experiment. First,
the Hawthorne study suggested that workers were not so much driven by pay and
working conditions as by psychological wants and desires which could be satisfied
by belonging to a work group. Second, giving workers responsibility for decisions

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concerning the task, whether as individuals or in a group was a stimulus to treat the
task as more important. And finally, recognition by superiors made workers feel that
they were making a unique and important contribution to the organization.

The Hawthorne experiment was a turning point in the study of management,

suggesting that a worker is not simply an extension of the machinery. As the results
of the study became known among theorists and practitioners alike, an outpouring of
research was conducted based on many theories and discoveries made in
psychology.

Thus, the Hawthorne study opened the study of management to a whole new
arena of ideas from the social sciences that had previously been ignored. And, as an
unintended contribution to research methodology, the experiments led to a rethinking
of field research practices. That is, the researcher can influence the outcome of the
experiment by being too closely involved with the subjects who are participating in
the experiment. This outcome, referred to as the Hawthorne effect in research
methodology, is exemplified by subjects behaving differently because of the active
participation of the Hawthorne researchers in the experiment.

The human relations movement drew heavily in support of its findings on a

series of Hawthorne Studies. The neglect of human aspect and over-emphasis
machines, materials and abstract functions led to the development of this approach.
Prof. Elton Mayo is considered as the initial profounder of the Human Relations or
Behavioral Approach to Management

Management functions & processes are discharged by a number of individual

(human beings) and successful management is one that gets the best from these
individuals. Management therefore involves getting this done with and through
people. Understanding worker response and inter-personal relations is essential in
the development of any management approach. The core of human relations
approach is "being nice to workers" and it focused on the following six propositions:

 A focus on people, rather than upon machines or economics

 People exist in an organizational environment rather than an organized

social context

 A key activity in human relations is motivating people

 Motivation should be directed towards team work which requires both the
co-ordination and cooperation of individuals involved.

 Human relations, through team work, seeks to fulfill both individual and
organizational objectives simultaneously

 Both individuals and organizations share desire for efficiency, that is, they
try to achieve maximum results with minimum inputs

The human relations approach emphasizes on the individual and focuses on

inter-personal approach. It studies the individual, his needs and behaviour. Its main
concepts are motivation and job satisfaction.

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Self-check Questions
1. Give some details about the life of Mayo.

2. What were the reasons of increase in productivity in any intervention in

Hawthorne Experiment?

3. How Human Relations approach is different from Scientific or Classical theory

of management?

12.4 Critical Analysis

Whereas scientific management made the simplification of work and the

indifference of workers to anything but a financial reward seem almost both
inevitable and desirable, the Hawthorne researchers identified that much of what
individuals found meaningful in work was their association with others. The economic
rewards of work were potentially picayune compared to the feeling of solidarity and
worth created among individuals working together toward a common end. A
manager’s effectiveness, therefore, could be measured on the extent to which those
in the organization internalized a common purpose and perceived the connection
between their actions and the organization’s ability to fulfill this common purpose.
Management, then, was not about controlling human behavior but unleashing human
possibility. By viewing the organization as a rationally engineered machine, scientific
management had perverted the social character of work and thereby negated the
individual. By re-conceptualizing the organization as a social system that constantly
adjusted to the needs, sentiments, and emotions of its members, and the members
to it, Roethlisberger and his colleagues believed that organizational life presented a
context—for both management and worker—to cultivate a meaningful existence.
The Hawthorne Studies were not perfect. Flaws in both method and
interpretation appear with the perspective of hindsight. Despite modern criticism that
the research was flawed and that incentives played a larger role in improving worker
productivity than the Hawthorne plant researchers concluded. These studies
changed the landscape of management from Taylor’s engineering approach to a
social sciences approach. Worker productivity would, henceforth, be interpreted
predominately in terms of social group dynamics, motivation, leadership, and “human
relations”. The practice of management could not be the aloof technician of Taylor’s
Scientific Management, designing the job, selecting and training the “right” worker,
and rewarding for performance. The manager was an immediate part of the social
system in which work is performed, responsible for leading, motivating,
communicating, and designing the social milieu in which work takes place. Still
Human Relations Approach was not able to fully understand various concepts of
leadership and motivation, because their focus was individual human beings, not an
organized group in an organization to fulfill a certain task. The human relations
approach became foundation of behavioral approach to management, which
addressed the above stated issues.

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Self-check Questions
1. What things will you implement from Human Relations Approach, if you would
be a manager in a company?

2. What are the major benefits to management from Human Relations

Approach?

3. Where do you think, the Human Relations Approach lacks.

12.5 Summary
The failure of Elton Mayo in Hawthorne experiments to prove the effect of
illumination on workers’ productivity led to a new discovery of a management
approach. According to this approach if the employees are felt important, motivated
and treated well, their productivity increases unaffected by the working conditions.
So not only the engineering or scientific approach is important, human relations is
equally important factor to be considered by the management.

12.6 References

1. Lupton, T. (1963), On the Shop Floor, Oxford: Pergamon.

2. Mayo, E. (1933), The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization,

Macmillan.

3. Mayo, E. (1949), The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization, Routledge

& Kegan Paul.

4. Parker, S. R., Brown, R. K., Child, J., Smith, M. A. (1967), The Sociology of
Industry, London: George Allen and Unwin, 99-112.

5. Pugh, D. S., Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R. (eds.) (1971), Writers on

Organizations, Second Edition, London: Penguin, 126-130.

12.7 Glossary
1. Productivity It refers to the amount of output per unit of
input (labor, equipment, and capital).

2. Motivation It is an internal state or condition

(sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that

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serves to activate or energize behavior and give it

direction.

3. Leadership It is a process by which a person influences

others to accomplish an objective and directs the
organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and
coherent.

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