Chapter 1

Introduction to Human Relations

Learning Objectives
After studying Chapter 1, you will be able to:
 Explain the nature, purpose, and importance of human
relations.
 Identify major developments in the workplace that have
given new importance to human relations.
 Identify major forces influencing human behavior at
work.
 Review the historical development of the human
relations movement.
 Identify seven basic themes that serve as the
foundation for effective human relations.

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The Nature, Purpose, and Importance
of Human Relations

How would you describe the

study of human relations?

• Human Relations Defined

– The study of why beliefs, attitudes, and
behaviors sometimes cause problems in
personal and professional relationships

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 Human Relations in
the Age of Information
• Loss of Balance and Perspective
– Reliance on information technology comes at a
price—less personal human contact
– Over-emphasis on information causes us to
lose sight of nonverbal cues and clues

How do these tendencies affect

our abilities to interact and relate
with others?
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Major Developments That Give New
Importance to Human Relations

Labor
Labor market
market Workplace
Workplace
instability
instability incivility
incivility

Changing
Changing work
work Major
Major HR
HR Teamwork
Teamwork andand
patterns
patterns Developments
Developments participation
participation

Customer
Customer Increasing
Increasing
service
service orientation
orientation Diversity
Diversity

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Major Developments That Give New
Importance to Human Relations
• Labor Market Instability
– Mergers, closings, bankruptcies, downsizing,
and outsourcing
• “Free Agent Nation”
– Self-employed, temporary, and part-time
workers creates opportunities and challenges

How do these trends

affect human relations?
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Major Developments That Give New
Importance to Human Relations
• Increasing focus on customer service to
clients, patients, and customers
• Growing epidemic of workplace rudeness,
insensitivity, and disrespect

How do these trends affect

human relations?

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Major Developments That Give New
Importance to Human Relations
• Increasing use of team organization and
worker participation in problem-solving
• Increasing work force diversity in many
dimensions
– Ethnicity, age, physicality, values, expectations,
and work habits

How do these trends affect

human relations?
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FIGURE 1.1 Major Relationship Management Challenges

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 The Influence of the
Behavioral Sciences
• Human Relations
– Studies the “whys” of behaviors and how that
knowledge can be applied in practical ways
• Goals of Human Relations
1. Personal growth and development
2. Achievement of organizational objectives

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 Human Relations and
the “Total Person”

Emotional Control
Self-Awareness
PERSONAL WORK
Physical Fitness
LIFE LIFE
Self-Esteem
Creativity
Values

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 Need for a Supportive Environment

• A supportive environment can lead to:

– Greater personal career satisfaction
– Greater employee commitment
– Increased organizational productivity and
efficiency
• Requires full commitment and support of
management

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FIGURE 1.2 Major Forces Influencing Worker Behavior

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 Major Forces Influencing
Worker Behavior
• Organizational Culture
– The collection of shared values, beliefs, rituals,
stories, and myths that foster a feeling of
community among organizational members

How does the culture of your

institution influence the behavior of
students and faculty or workers?

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 Major Forces Influencing
Worker Behavior
• Supervisory- • Work Group
Management Influence:
Influence: – Social needs
– Productivity – Emotional support
– Customer relations – Problem solving and
– Safety consciousness goal attainment
– Loyalty to the firm

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 Major Forces Influencing
Worker Behavior
• Job Influence
– Fulfills economic needs
– Provide meaning and fulfillment
– Offer satisfying and rewarding work
– Can create frustrating sense of powerlessness
What kind of job motivates you to
work up to your potential, and
with zest? What drains you?
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 Major Forces Influencing
Worker Behavior
• Personal • Family
Characteristics: Influences:
– Behavior often reflects – Increase in dual-
a match between firm’s income families
environment and the – Problems on the job,
individual’s personal (e.g., tardiness), are
characteristics often linked to family
(person-job fit) issues

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 The Development of the Human
Relations Movement
• Early attempts to • Later attempts to
improve productivity: improve productivity:
– Focused on plant – Focus on nature of
layout and mechanical work and workers as
processes complex humans

Concern for Things Concern for People

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 The Human Relations Movement

• The Impact of the Industrial Revolution

– Shifted work from home-based craftwork to
factory production; profoundly impacting the
nature of work and workers’ roles
– Produced little understanding of employee
needs and relation to production processes
– Increased output, but processes were still
lacking in efficiency and uniformity

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 The Human Relations Movement

• Taylor’s Scientific Management

– Frederick Taylor redesigned jobs to increase
efficiency and reduce wasted effort
• Systematically studied each job to break it down
into its smallest movements.
• Productivity increased but required little thinking
by worker.

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 The Human Relations Movement

• Mayo’s Hawthorne Studies

– Original intentions:
• To study effects of illumination and ventilation on
assembly-line worker fatigue
– Fortuitous discoveries:
• Feedback (attention paid to workers) and greater
freedom from supervisory control increased worker
performance and made them feel important
• Interaction among workers created an “informal
organization” of relationships

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 Human Relations: From the Great
Depression to the New Millennium
• During the Great • During the postwar
Depression economic expansion
– Interest in human – Interest in human
relations research relations field
waned as other increased
concerns gained – Important theories
momentum emerge (Drucker,
Berne, McGregor,
Maslow, Herzberg)

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FIGURE 1.3 Major Themes in Human Relations

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KEY TERMS
human relations self-awareness
total person self-acceptance
organizational culture motivation
scientific management trust
Hawthorne studies self-disclosure
informal organization conflict resolution
communication

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