BBA0010: Management & the Modern Corporation Nadine Woodcock OCA

Explain in 600 words the key implications of the Hawthorne Studies for Management Theory Practice. The Hawthorne Studies was the first major research programme conducted on organisational behaviour with special attention to the social relationships and interactions of the individuals in an organisation. Its aim was to investigate the changes that occur to individuals (employees) if they were to be subject to certain changes in the conditions in their working environment, and record their reactions in order to understand the factors that affect human behaviour at work. As a response to Taylorism and other Classical Management Theories, the Human Relations movement which was based on the Hawthorne Studies, turned management theory towards the vital aspect of organisational life, particularly as it related to human behaviour. If it were not for the increasing dissatisfaction with Scientific Management, it is perhaps safe to say that the Hawthorne Studies may never have been conducted. The Hawthorne Studies focused on the workers in the organisation and did not approach the organisation as a machine , whereby the employees were treated as if they were mechanical components as outlined by Clark, Smith, & Littler (2010). Unlike the classical formalist approaches who more or less ignored the human and social elements of organisation (Clark, et al., 2010); the Hawthorne Studies placed more emphasis on the workers and their needs in the workplace. This led to a more opened system view of organisation as it was discovered that employees productivity was affected not only by internal working conditions, but social factors outside the workplace as well. The Hawthorne Studies consisted of four main phases in which research activities were conducted. The researchers observed the selected workers for each experiment and recorded their findings. The Hawthorne Effect came about as a result of such observations, when it was discovered that individuals are predisposed to behaving in certain ways when they are under observation or when the researches themselves influences those being studied. An example of the Hawthorne Effect occurred during the research when the productivity of the women in the Illumination Experiments continued to increase despite the manipulation of the independent variables of the lighting. The fact that these women knew they were under observation meant that they felt the need to work well. Thus, the term is now used whenever a research design itself influences those being studied (Clark, et al., 2010: p127). Research activities such as the Interviewing Programme (1928-31) have opened avenues in management theories whereby emphasis is placed on the needs of the employees. Researchers saw that the attitudes of the workers to their job and their working conditions were crucial in shaping their behaviour at work. They developed an open-ended approach to interviewing which allowed employees to express their feelings and doubts (Clark, et al., p128). This sort of counselling helped workers release tensions and reduce stress, thereby increasing their productivity. Even in modern management practices and theories, this research activity has had a strong influence on the development of personnel management and what is now called Human Resource Management .

Another conclusion of the Hawthorne Studies is that the workplace is a social system and the large influence of the informal group on individual behaviour. With this revelation came the increasing interest and studies on human behaviour in the organisation and the emergence of the Human Relations Movement. This movement focused on how people relate to one another in the workplace as a vital way of explaining organisational behaviour. According to this school of thought, managers should possess skills for understanding causes of human behaviour at work, interpersonal communication (i.e. being able to talk to their workers while they are in their informal group ), and motivating and leading workers. The human relations school of thought still influences management theory and practice, as contemporary management focuses much attention on human resource management, organizational behavior and the attempt to understand human behaviour through experiments in the workplace (Management Thought, 2010).

Reference List E. Clark, C. Smith and C. Littler, (2010) Management and the Modern Corporation: part 1. London: University of London Press. Reference for Business, (2010) Encyclopaedia of Business 2nd ed.: Management Thought . Available: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Log-Mar/ManagementThought.html