George Elton Mayo

Father of Research on the

Human Problems of Industry
(1880-1949)
Brief Biography
Social theorist and industrial psychologist
Birth: December 26 1880 (Adelaide, Australia)
Death: September 7 1949 (Guildford, Surrey, UK)
Vocation: Medical Student -> Newspaperman ->
Laborer -> Businessman
Occupation: Psychologist, Industrial Researcher,
Organizational Theorist
Education: University of Adelaide - Bachelor of Arts
Degree major in Philosophy and Psychology
1926 - Associate Professor (Harvard School of Business
Administration)
Major Publications
1. The Human Problems of an Industrial
Civilization (1933)
2. The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation
(1945)
Contribution to management
1. Hawthorne Effects/Experiments
2. Management Theories
3. Hawthorne Effect at Work
Hawthorne effect
Discovered
by
researcher
Henry
A.
Landsberger
Western Electrics Hawthorne Works electric
company (outside Hawthorne, Illinois)
Relationship between productivity and work
environment
Landsberger: A short-term improvement in
performance caused by observing workers
Tendency of some people to work harder and
perform better when they are participants in an
experiment
Individuals tend to change their behavior due to
the attention they are receiving from researchers
rather than because of any manipulation of
independent variables
Hawthorne experiments
Illumination test
Conducted by Elton Mayo and Fritz
Roethlisberger in the 1920s
To determine the optimal amount of lighting,
temperature, and humidity for assembling
electronic components at Western Electric's
Hawthorne plant
Focus of the study: determine if increasing or
decreasing amount of light
that workers
received would have an effect on worker
productivity

Result: increased productivity due to changes

but then decreased at after the experiment was
over
Conclusion: illumination was one factor but not
the most important, the other factors that were
not controlled presented problem with test result
(human factors)
Relay assembly test
April 25, 1987
Evaluate effect rest periods and hours of work
would have on efficiency
Result: improved worker health and absenteeism
decreased
Conclusion: worker attitudes within the group
were influential as was the more personal
atmosphere of the test room
Bank wiring test
November 1931
Purpose: observe and study social relationships
and social structures within a group
W. Lloyd Warner and William J. Dickson
Result: Showed the most admired worker among
the group was the one who demonstrated the
greatest resentment of authority by slowing
down production the most
Conclusion: tie the importance of what workers
felt about one another to worker motivation
Hawthorne studies conclusion
choosing one's own coworkers, working as
a group, being treated as special (as evidenced
by working in a separate room), and having a
sympathetic supervisor were reasons for
increases in worker productivity.
Work was much more than people went to work
purely for money and a living
Morale and productivity affected by recognition
they received
It took Elton Mayo some time to work through the results of
his Hawthorne Experiments, particularly the seemingly
illogical results of the Relay Assembly room experiments. His
main conclusion was that the prevaling view of the time, that
people went to work purely for money and a living, was deeply
flawed. Work was much more. It was first and foremost a
group activity in which other people and their behaviour, be
they colleagues, managers or observers, affected how well
people worked. People's morale and productivity were
affected not so much by the conditions in which they worked
but by the recognition they received. The rises in productivity
in the Relay Assembly Room were achieved under the
interested eye of the observers not because the conditions
made the workers feel good but because the workers felt
valued.

Management theories
Motivational Management
Mayo helped to lay the foundation for the
human relations movement.
The workers are not just concerned with money
but could be better motivated by having their
social needs met while at work
He concluded that workers are best motivated
by:
o better
communication
between
managers and workers
o greater manager involvement in
employees working lives
o working in groups or teams
His theory most closely fits in with a
paternalistic style of management
Mayo recognized the inadequacies of Taylors
scientific management approach and underlined
the importance of relationships among people in
industrial organizations
Elton Mayo developed a matrix that demonstrates the
role of varying combinations of group norms and group
cohesiveness play in team effectiveness
Groups
Low norms
High norms

Low
cohesiveness
Ineffective or no
impact
Some degree of
positive impact

High
cohesiveness
Negative impact
Greatest positive
impact

Elton Mayo laid the ground rules for interviewing

o The principles of which have been subsequently
repeated in numerous how to books on
leadership, coaching and mentoring over the last
half century
Hawthorne effect at work
Informal group dynamic
Issue of gender differences
Productive and unproductive groups
Misinterpretation of womens workplace
behavior
360o feedback
more attention by physician = better end result
dissatisfaction
of
individuals
treated
disrespectfully

AWARDS
Roby Fletcher Prize in Psychology and graduated with
Honours (B.A. 1910; M.A. 1926)
BOOKS
George Elton Mayo: Psychology of Pierre Janet,
London: Greenwood Press, 1972; Routledge, reprint
edition 2013.
George Elton Mayo: The Human Problems of an
Industrial Civilization, Routledge, reprint edition 2003
George Elton Mayo: The Social Problems of an
Industrial Civilization, Routledge, 2007