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Studies carried out at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago between 1927 and 1932
Background on Mayo
Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1880 Died in Surrey in 1949 Worked in Australia, UK and the USA on various projects and lecturing
In the process.
He found a principle of human motivation that would help to revolutionise the theory and practice of management
The experiment
6 women from an assembly line Segregated them from the rest of the factory
The changes
Changed the hours in the working week and in the working day Increased and decreased the number of work breaks and the time of the lunch hour Occasionally he would return the women to their original, harder working conditions
The findings
Under normal conditions with a 48 hour week, including Saturdays and no rest pauses: Team produced 2400 relays per week each
Six 5-min pauses were introduced and the girls complained that their work rhythm was broken
Output fell very slightly
Finally all improvements were taken away and the team went back to the conditions at the beginning of the experiment
Mayos Conclusions
Individual workers cannot be treated in isolation but must be seen as members of a group Monetary incentives and good working conditions are less important to the individual than the need to belong to a group Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have strong influence on behaviour Managers must be aware of these
The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he/she can
THEORY Y ASSUMPTIONS
(Participative Management Style)
Effort in work is as natural as work and play Control and punishment are not the only ways to make people work man will direct himself if he is committed to the goals of the org If a job is satisfying then the result will be commitment to the organisation The average man learns not only to accept but to seek responsibility Similar view to Mayo
Imagination, creativity and ingenuity can be used to solve work problems by a large number of employees Under the conditions of modern industrial life the intellectual potential of the average man is only partly utilised
Manager has Theory Y attitude towards staff Workers are creative Workers given responsibility
DIAGRAM THEORY X
MANAGEMENT
Authoritarian and repressive style. Tight control, no development. Produces limited depressed culture
DIAGRAM THEORY Y
STAFF
Theory Y liberating and developmental, control and achievement
Findings
McGregor sees the 2 theories as quite different attitudes
It is part of the managers job to exercise authority and there are cases when this is the only method that will get results
Much of behaviour in organisations reflects the Theory X view
X is limited and unrealistic and relies on authority as the primary means of control
Hard approach results in hostility,
Y
Theory Y is difficult to put into practice on the shop floor Level of maturity of staff will play a large part Y can be used initially in the managing of management Y is conducive to participative problem solving
Participative Management consulting employees in the decision making process taps their creative capacity Performance Appraisals having the employees set objectives and participate in evaluation
SYSTEMS THEORY
Story so far
We have seen the Classical, Human Relations and Neo-Human Relations schools of thought. All of these approaches are rather narrow and do not have a holistic view of the organisation Systems Theory is an attempt to address this introduced in the 60s and 70s
What is it?
Systems Theory argues that in any organisation everything is so interdependent that a small change in one part will mean changes in the other part Often called the Open-systems approach it views any one organisation as an interdependent of a much bigger whole That is with the internal and external environment
OPEN SYSTEM
The approach seeks to find the best fit from the elements in the diagram Technical factors Social factors Economic factors Legal factors
Summary
This approach to an organisation states that it is necessary to incorporate social and technical aspects of work if an effective system is to be incorporated When technology is introduced social groups should NOT be broken up This fragmentation will reduce motivation
PEOPLE
TASKS
Contingency theory tries to get the best fit between the task and the people and the environment they work in
3 Factors to consider
Strengths and weaknesses of the organisation Objectives of the organisation The external environment of the organisation
Management approach
Using contingency theory a manager would be expected to
Develop an organisational approach that suits a particular situation The approach will change in line with external factors Within one organisation you may have
QUESTION TIME
Discuss the extent to which each of the classical school of management and the human relations school of management may influence management behaviour in large firms. 14 marks