Hawthorne Effect

1. The Hawthorne studies were based on the Hawthorne effect, which states that the employee’s work behavior might be different if a manager is watching and the employee might believe that the manager’s care about them based on the attention the employees are receiving. The studies were conducted at the Weston Electric Company. Within the studies the researchers changed many variables such as lighting, less hours, gender and added benefits such as breaks and an increase in pay. The results that were generated from the Hawthorne studies was that workers will increase productivity if they believe a manager is watching them and is taking pride in their work but if their prize was a higher economic growth then the employees didn’t seem to care as much. On the other hand there is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which explains how employees have many needs and in order for them to be happy he needs to fulfill all of those needs. There are a couple levels of needs and normally the ones that get filled are the lower ones such as food and water. Yet the higher ones such as self-fulfillment and creativity aren’t being met. Maslow believes if you meet those higher needs your employees will be happy, more motivated and have a more positive outlook. Out of those two I think the one that would work best is Maslow’s because it seems more detailed and specific compared to the Hawthorne effect. Both theories try to get there employees to work harder yet the Hawthorne effect just doesn’t take it to the next level like Maslow’s