Assignment 2- BUS 231

Submitted To
Ms. Kohinoor Biswas
Assistant Professor
Department of Business Administration
East West University

Submitted by
Jannatul Maua Nisha
Id: 2019-1-10-042
Course: BUS 231, Sec: 4

Submission Date
3th August, 2021
2. What is Hawthorne studies? What did they tell us about group behaviour?

Ans:

Introduction:
Hawthorne is the name of a manufacturing plant where the famous Hawthorne studies were
conducted on workers of the Western Electric Company by two scholars Elton Mayo and Fritz
Roethlisberger in the year 1920.

Hawthorne Studies Background:

The Hawthorne studies were part of a focus study on managerial strategy incorporating the
socio-psychological aspects of human behavior in organizations. The company Hawthorne
Works had commissioned a study to determine if its workers would become more productive in
higher or lower levels of light. During the study period the productivity of the sampled
employees seemed to improve when changes were made, but their performance slumped when
the study ended.

Hawthorne study Observations:

In the course of test, the study showed that people’s work performance is dependent on different
social issues and their perceived job satisfaction. Also, the researchers could identify that
additional monetary incentives and good working conditions play a less significant role in
improving employee productivity than meeting individuals’ needs and desire to belong to a
group and be included in decision making and work.

What is group behavior:

A group can be defined as two or more separate and independent individuals cooperating with
each other who willingly come together to achieve particular common objectives. A group
behavior can be stated as a course of action a group takes as a family. Or we can say that the
behavioral attribute of the group members which is reflected on the overall behavior of the group
is the group behavior. Each members of a group can act separately within their group. Though
there are two types of groups individuals form. They are formal groups and informal groups. Let
us know about these groups. But group behavior is present in both of them.
Hawthorne study and group behavior:
The Hawthorne studies discovered that workers were highly responsive to additional attention
from their managers and the feeling that their managers actually cared about, and were interested
in, their work. The studies also found that although financial motives are important, social issues
are equally if not more important factors in worker productivity. The study supported the theory
of group behavior as we could see that due to the changed environment and additional attention
from the researchers all the members of the group acted similarly. All the members performed
better than their earlier performance during the study.
The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s work performance is dependent on social issues
and job satisfaction, and that monetary incentives and good working conditions are generally less
important in improving employee productivity than meeting individuals’ need and desire to
belong to a group and be included in decision making and work.
Members create groups by forming a shared existence. They move in groups even they work in
groups. Groups influence work and work behavior of its members. They exert significant
influence on the organisation. They are inseparable from organisation and they reacts to the
changes like a single entity which was observed during the Hawthorne study. The study of group
behavior is important as Group behaviour affects productivity.
.