Hawthorn Studies
History of Management Thought
The Hawthorne Studies
Wren and Bedeian (2009) states that there is no other study in the history of management that has received such high levels of controversial attention, laced with criticism and praises at the same misinterpreted and reinterpreted countless times. What was described as a study to investigate the relation and quantity of illumination to worker efficiency (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939), the Hawthorne studies began in 1924 and spanned for a period of 8 years at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant in Chicago, Illinois. Ultimately it was Elton Mayo and his colleagues at Harvard who has helped popularized the studies and paved the way for the development of managerial human-relations (Greenwood et al., 1983). A total of three tests were initially conducted. The first test involved increasing the illumination levels at different intervals and recording the changes in worker productivity. The second test was conducted by comparing the effect of varied amounts of light to productivity in a control group and a variable group. The third test was conducted in the same way as the second except under artificial lighting. However, all three tests failed to conclude that lighting levels had a significant effect on worker productivity. There were two other major sections of tests that were the most discussed in the Hawthorne Studies. They were known as the Relay Assembly Test Room and the Bank Wiring Observation Room (Greenwood et al., 1983), and also included two other tests, which were known as the Second Relay Assembly Group and Mica Splitting Test Room. But essentially it was the Relay Assembly Test Room that really produced the Hawthorne Effect (Parsons, 1978). All four tests, which have provided results that has baffled management theorists for many years. However, there were certain aspects of the Hawthorne Studies that can be adopted by modern managers to facilitate in the successful running of their
The Hawthorne Studies
Wren and Bedeian (2009) states that there is no other study in the history of management that has received such high levels of controversial attention, laced with criticism and praises at the same misinterpreted and reinterpreted countless times. What was described as a study to investigate the relation and quantity of illumination to worker efficiency (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939), the Hawthorne studies began in 1924 and spanned for a period of 8 years at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant in Chicago, Illinois. Ultimately it was Elton Mayo and his colleagues at Harvard who has helped popularized the studies and paved the way for the development of managerial human-relations (Greenwood et al., 1983). A total of three tests were initially conducted. The first test involved increasing the illumination levels at different intervals and recording the changes in worker productivity. The second test was conducted by comparing the effect of varied amounts of light to productivity in a control group and a variable group. The third test was conducted in the same way as the second except under artificial lighting. However, all three tests failed to conclude that lighting levels had a significant effect on worker productivity. There were two other major sections of tests that were the most discussed in the Hawthorne Studies. They were known as the Relay Assembly Test Room and the Bank Wiring Observation Room (Greenwood et al., 1983), and also included two other tests, which were known as the Second Relay Assembly Group and Mica Splitting Test Room. But essentially it was the Relay Assembly Test Room that really produced the Hawthorne Effect (Parsons, 1978). All four tests, which have provided results that has baffled management theorists for many years. However, there were certain aspects of the Hawthorne Studies that can be adopted by modern managers to facilitate in the successful running of their