Human Relations Domain

Organizational Theory
Suzanne Beaumaster, Ph.D.
 Other Names
• Human Values
• Human Behavior
• Human Affairs
A Precursor to…
Organizational Behavior
Human Factors
Ergonomics
 Historical Context
Antecedents
• Scientific Management
• Industrialized work (factory)
• Dehumanization
• Working conditions
A scientific management experiment ensues…
 The Hawthorne Experiment
Research studies at the Western Electric Hawthorne
Plant 1924-1932, tested productivity levels in the
vein of scientific management.
• The study examined the relationship between light
intensity and worker efficiency.
• The hypothesis was that greater illumination would
yield higher productivity.
• Two work groups of female employees were
selected for “control” and “experimental” groups.
• Changes in worker productivity via the manipulation
of lighting in the experimental group was measured
against the production of the control group.
 Hawthorne Continued
• The study failed to find any simple
relationship as poor lighting and improved
lighting seemed to both increase
productivity.
• In the final stage, when the group pretended
to increase lighting the worker group
reported higher satisfaction.
• The study was abandoned--something was
“awry”.
 Hawthorne Revisited
• A group of theorists looked at the findings again from a different
perspective…
• Their conclusions proposed 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.
• One theory suggested that the reason for increased worker productivity
was simply that the researchers interacted with the female employees;
and, this was first time any one 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.
• Later, the phenomenon of a researcher corrupting an experiment simply
by his presence would be termed the “Hawthorne effect”.
 Characteristics of Human Relations
• Human needs make up a very important element
within the hierarchy of management.
• Deals with human feelings and attitude, as well as
leadership and motivation within the organizational
context.
• Individuals have an important role in the
relationship between employees and organizations.
• The needs of the individual and the needs of the
organization should be integrated.
• Achieving effectiveness and efficiency is important.
• Motivation of employees is paramount to success.
 Theorists--Elton Mayo
• A psychologist who worked directly with the
Hawthorne experiments.
• Elton Mayo believed that work satisfaction
was based on recognition, security, and being
part of a team, over and above monetary
rewards.
• He raised awareness of the need for
management to be more involved with
workers at an individual emotional level.
This change in thinking gave birth to the
“human relations” approach to management.
 Mayo
• Work is a group activity.
• The social world of the adult is primarily patterned about work activity.
• The need for recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important in
determining workers' morale and productivity than the physical conditions
under which he works.
• A complaint is not necessarily an objective recital of facts; it is commonly a
symptom manifesting disturbance of an individual's status position.
• The worker is a person whose attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by
social demands from both inside and outside the work plant.
• Informal groups within the work plant exercise strong social controls over the
work habits and attitudes of the individual worker.
• The change from an established society in the home to an adaptive society in
the work plant resulting from the use of new techniques tends continually to
disrupt the social organization of a work plant and industry generally.
• Group collaboration does not occur by accident; it must be planned and
developed. If group collaboration is achieved the human relations within a
work plant may reach a cohesion which resists the disrupting effects of
adaptive society.
 Theorists--Abraham Maslow

Maslow was an American psychologist.

He is mostly noted today for his proposal of a
hierarchy of human needs and is considered the
father of humanistic psychology.
 The Hierarchy of Needs

—“the desire to become more and

Self- more what one is, to become
Actualization everything that one is capable of

becoming."
Esteem Needs:
self-esteem, competence or
mastery of task. attention and
recognition from others.

Belonging/Love Needs:
The need for social interaction and acceptance.

Safety Needs:
The need for stability and consistency. These needs are mostly
psychological in nature. A home, family etc.

Physiological Needs:
These are basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc.
 Self Actualization
Operationalizing Self Actualization through Biographical
analysis.
o Reality Centered
o Problem Centered
o Different perception of means and ends
o Solitude and deep personal relationships
o Unhostile sense of humor
o Acceptance of self and others
o Spontaneous
o Humility and Respect
o Ethics based in spirituality but not conventional religion
o Creative
o Peak Experiences
 Theorists--Frederick Herzberg
Frederick Herzberg, contributed to human
relations and motivation two theories of
motivation:
– Hygiene Theory
– Motivation
 Hygiene Factors/Dissatisfiers
Herzbergs' first component in his approach to motivation theory
involves what are known as the hygiene factors and includes the
work and organizational environment.
Hygiene Factors
• The organization
• Its policies and its administration
• The kind of supervision (leadership and management, including
perceptions) which people receive while on the job
• Working conditions (including ergonomics)
• Interpersonal relations
• Salary
• Status
• Job security
These factors do not lead to higher levels of motivation but without
them there is dissatisfaction.
 Hygiene Factors
• Company policies and administration
• Supervision
• Working conditions and interpersonal
relations
• Salary, status and security
 Motivators/Satisfiers
The second component in Herzbergs' motivation
theory involves what people actually do on the job
and should be engineered into the jobs employees
do in order to develop intrinsic motivation with the
workforce. The motivators are:
• Achievement
• Recognition
• Growth / advancement
• Interest in the job

These factors result from internal instincts in employees,

yielding motivation rather than movement.
 Motivators
• Achievement
• Recognition for achievement
• Interest in the task
• Responsibility for enlarged task
• Growth and advancement to higher level
tasks
 Theorists--Douglas McGregor
According to McGregor, the traditional organization is
based on certain assumptions about human nature and
human motivation. These assumptions, McGregor
called Theory X.
McGregor felt that management needed practices based
on a more accurate understanding of human nature and
motivation. As a result of his feeling, McGregor
developed an alternative theory of human behavior
called Theory Y. this theory assumes that people are
not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. It suggests that
people can be basically self-directed and creative at
work if properly motivated.
 Theory X
1) The average human being has an inherent dislike of
work and will avoid it if he can.
2) Because of this human characteristic of dislike of
work, most people must be coerced, controlled,
directed, threatened with punishment to get them to
put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of
organizational objectives.
3) The average human being prefers to be directed,
wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little
ambition, wants security above all.
 Theory Y
1)The expenditure of physical and mental effort  in work is as natural as
play or rest.
2) External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for
bringing about effort toward organizational objectives. Man will
exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to
which he is committed.
3) Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with
their achievement.
4) The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to
accept but to seek responsibility.
5) The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination,
ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is
widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.
6) Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual
potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized.
 Theorist—Chris Argyris
In an attempt to analyze the situation where workers are treated as
dehumanized or undervalued components, Chris Argyris, compared
bureaucratic / pyramidal values (the organizational counterpart to Theory
X assumptions about people) with a more humanistic / democratic value
system (the organizational counterpart to Theory Y assumptions about
people).
Humanistic / Democratic Value System

If, on the other hand, humanistic or democratic values are adhered to in an

organization, Argyris claims that trusting, authentic relationships will develop
among people and will result in increased interpersonal competence, intergroup
cooperation, flexibility, and the like and should result in increases in
organizational effectiveness.

In this kind of environment people are treated as human beings, both

organizational members and the organization itself are given an opportunity to
develop to the fullest potential, and there is an attempt to make work exciting
and challenging.

Implicit in "living" these values is "treating each human being as a person with
a complex set of needs, all of which are important in her/ his work and in her/
his life... and providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence
the way in which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment."
Bureaucratic/ Pyramidal Value System

Bureaucratic or pyramidal values leads to poor, shallow, and mistrustful

relationships.

Because these relationships do not permit the natural and free expression of
feelings, they are phony or non-authentic and result in decreased interpersonal
competence. "Without interpersonal competence or a 'psychologically safe'
environment, the organization is a breeding ground for mistrust, intergroup
conflict, rigidity, and so on, which in turn lead to a decrease in organizational
success in problem solving."
Bureaucratic / Pyramidal
Important human relationships-the
crucial ones-are those related to
achieving the organization's objectives,
i.e., getting the job done.
Effectiveness in human relationship
increases as behavior becomes more
rational, logical, and clearly
communicated; but effectiveness
decreases as behavior becomes more
emotional.
Human relationships are most
effectively motivated by carefully
defined direction, authority, and control,
as well as appropriate rewards and
penalties that emphasize rational
behavior and achievement of the
objective.
Humanistic / Democratic
The important human relationships are
not only those related to achieving the
organization's objectives but those
related to maintaining the organization's
internal system and adapting to the
environment as well.
Human relationships increase in
effectiveness as all the relevant behavior
(rational and interpersonal) becomes
conscious, discussible, and controllable.
In addition to direction, controls, and
rewards and penalties, human
relationships are most effectively
influenced through authentic
relationships, internal commitment,
psychological success, and the process
of confirmation.