Hawthorne studies

Examples of Hawthorne studies in the following topics:

• The Human Side: Hawthorne

  • The Hawthorne studies found that workers were more responsive to group involvement and managerial attention than to financial incentives.
  • The Hawthorne studies were conducted with the workers at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger in the 1920s.
  • The Hawthorne studies were part of a refocus on managerial strategy incorporating the socio-psychological aspects of human behavior in organizations.
  • The Hawthorne studies helped conclude 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.
  • Evaluate Mayo and Roethlisberger's Hawthorne study relative to the behavioral perspective in organizational theories

• Classical Versus Behavioral Perspectives

  • The Hawthorne studies were an important start to the behavioral perspective of management.
  • These were a series of research studies conducted with the workers at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company.
  • The Hawthorne studies found that workers were more strongly motivated by psychosocial factors than by economic or financial incentives.

• Behaviorism: Follett, Munsterberg, and Mayo

  • His research includes the Hawthorne studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933).
  • The research he conducted in the Hawthorne studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work.
  • Mayo's studies contributed to the behaviorism movement in management as managers became more aware of the "soft" skills that are important to successful management.

• The Behavioral-Science Approach

  • For example, the Hawthorne studies used the scientific method and are considered to be a part of the behavioral-science approach.
  • The behavioral-science approach and the myriad of fields it encompasses is the most common study of management science today.
  • Organizational development is considered both a field of applied behavioral science that focuses on understanding and managing organizational change as well as a field of scientific study and inquiry.
  • It uses components of behavioral sciences and studies in the fields of sociology, psychology, and theories of motivation, learning, and personality to implement effective organizational change and aid in the development of employees.
  • The study of human behavior in the context of organizational change is an integral part of empowering organizations to grow, adapt, and learn to capture competitive advantage.

• Managerial Assumption: McGregor

  • This type of human-resource development is much more similar to the behavioral management theories of Maslow's self-actualization and the Hawthorne studies than any of the classical theories of management.

• Leadership Model: University of Michigan

  • The Michigan behavioral studies are an important link in the ongoing development of behavioral theory in a leadership framework.
  • Some of these studies and observations have been informal, while others have included empirical research and data.
  • Studies dating back to the 1950s identified two broad leadership styles: an employee orientation and a production orientation.
  • The Michigan leadership studies, along with the Ohio State University studies that took place in the 1940s, are two of the best-known behavioral leadership studies and continue to be cited to this day.
  • Discuss the Michigan Leadership Studies generated in the 1950s and 1960s in the broader context of behavioral approaches to leadership

• Leadership and Gender

  • Studies on the role of gender in leadership success show mixed results.
  • The studies also showed men as more goal- and task-oriented and less relationship- and process-focused than women.
  • Nonetheless, studies demonstrating distinct leadership styles between men and woman do not represent the final word.
  • Other studies show similar results, challenging the notion that leaders' sex shapes their performance as a leader.
  • In Kanter's study, men and women, given the same degree of power and opportunity, behaved in similar ways.

• What is Organizational Behavior?

  • Organizational behavior is the field of study that investigates how organizational structures affect behavior within organizations.
  • Organizational behavior studies the impact individuals, groups, and structures have on human behavior within organizations.
  • Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple perspectives, methods, and levels of analysis.
  • Modern organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors.
  • Organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain.

• Scientific Management: Taylor and the Gilbreths

  • Scientific management focuses on improving efficiency and output through scientific studies of workers' processes.
  • A significant part of Taylorism was time studies.
  • Taylor was concerned with reducing process time and worked with factory managers on scientific time studies.
  • While Taylor was conducting his time studies, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were completing their own work in motion studies to further scientific management.
  • Differentiate between Taylorism and the Gilbreths' perspective on the one hand and motion studies on scientific management on the other

• Leadership Model: The Ohio State University

  • The Ohio State Leadership Studies found that consideration and initiating structure are two essential behaviors for leaders.
  • Prior to 1945, most studies of leadership sought to identify the individual traits of effective leaders.
  • Trait theories of leadership were the first to approach leadership study systematically.
  • Trait studies, however, yielded inconsistent results and opened the door to broader perspectives on understanding the behavior of leaders.
  • Discuss the results of the Ohio State University Leadership Model research study of 1945