Elton mayo and Management

A short journey through the works of Elton Mayo on Management

1. ELTON MAYO and his contributions to management

2. Hawthorne Studies Elton Mayo’s major contribution to management is undoubtedly Hawthorne Experiments.

3. Hawthorne Experiment So the experiment was conducted in 4 phases Illumination experiment Relay assembly test Room experiment Mass Interview phase Bank Wiring Room Experiment

4. Illumination experiment So researches created two groups of workers : Experimental group – Light intensity was varied Control group – with normal light intensities For the experimental group light intensity was lowered yet production increased, production in the control group also increased. Conclusion: Production level does not so much depend on external working conditions as it depends on rather the social issues at work. It was concluded that the experimental group production improved because of the attention the researches paid to them. Therefore social relations at work are more important than external physical conditions at work.

5. Relay assembly test Room experiment 6 women were isolated and formed a team. During the experiment they were put under supervision of a friendly supervisor. During their work the number of breaks was increased, the length was also increased, a free meal provided and were at a certain phase released earlier from work than usual. All these external working conditions produced work output increase. Then in the final phase the women were put in the conditions they were in before the experiment was started: no breaks, no meals, no earlier release. Surprisingly that produced the highest output level ever. Why? See next slide.

6. Researchers realized that what lead to the attainment of the highest output was fueled by the team spirit among the women. They had become cooperative; they whole heartedly gave themselves. They gave themselves because they felt they were participating freely, they were not bossed around, rather the disciplined derived from within the group itself. Hence Elton concluded that the informal relations influenced productivity more than formal, authoritative influence. Moreover, productivity is likely to increase in a more democratic setup than an authoritarian one because the human person cherishes freedom.

7. Mass Interview phase 21,000 employees were interviewed to determine their general attitude towards their jobs and the companies they worked for. At first researchers created questions than asked them. But they realized interviewees gave guarded answers, answers than they knew the researchers wanted to hear. This necessitated a change in interview approach: researchers decided to leave the interviewee to say whatever they wanted. It turned out that employees mostly talked about their social issues. This shows that employees can be more motivated if they are allowed to talk freely about matters important to them. Findings of these phase showed that social relations(being listened to) are important at work. Conclusion: Managers need to listen to their employees, to the matters important to them because they are human persons.

8. Bank Wiring Room Experiment A group of 14 male workers who were connecting circuits in a bank wiring room were observed. Researchers decided that each of the workers pay depended on the output of the whole group. Researchers perceived that that condition would make the more efficient workers to pressurize the less efficient workers to be more efficient for them to get a greater pay. But that didn’t happen. The group established its own standard of output which was lower than the target set for them by the employer and social pressure motivated the group members to achieve their share of the total output they set for themselves. The researchers asked the workers why they set a lower target despite the fact that they would get a lower pay and the answers were: see next slide;

9. To protect slower workers Fear of raising standards(fear of not being able maintain a higher output and more may be demanded from them by the management) Conclusion: The informal social groups at work establish their own norms which might not be similar to the organizational norms: e.g. output.

10. Now let’s answer this question Discuss the contribution of Elton Mayo to the principles and practice of management. (10 marks) Social relations at work are more important than external physical conditions at work. Informal relations influence productivity more than formal, authoritative influence. Managers need to listen to their employees, to the matters important to them because they are human persons. The informal social groups at work establish their own norms: e.g. output.