Hawthorne Studies
Fritz Jules Roethlisberger & The Hawthorne Studies
Introduction:
The purpose of this brief guide is to introduce you to the work of Roethlisberger and some of the resources by and about him that are available in the Western Libraries. Although most students of management are aware of the "Hawthorne effect", many of them are not familiar with one of the researchers who was heavily involved in the Hawthorne Project and who is also regarded as one of the founders of the modern "human relations movement".
For biographical material relating to Roethlisberger (1898-1974) a good place to begin is with a fairly rare study that exists in the collection of the Business Library: Fritz J. Roethlisberger's Contributions to Management Theory and Practice: A Panel Discussion (BUS oversize H59.R55F74 1975). The four brief essays contained in it are: "FJR and His Impact on Business Schools;" FJR and the Unfreezing of Human Potential in Organizations;" FJR's Place in the Development of Management Theory" and FJR: His Later Years". More up-to-date material is found in the excellent essay by Andrea Gabor - "Fritz Roethlisberger and Elton Mayo: Two Creative Misfits Who Invented 'Human Relations' (and put the Harvard Business School on the Map)". This essay is found in Gabor's The Capitalist Philosophers (BUS stack HD70.U5G33 2000).
There are many books and chapters in books that cover the studies that were conducted at AT&T's Hawthorne Works which was part of the Western Electric plant in Cicero, Illinois. For an early study see, for example, Hawthorne Revisited: Management and the Worker: Its Critics, and Developments in Human Relations in Industry, (BUS stack HF5500.R62L26 1958) by Henry Landsberger. More recent is Richard Gillespie's Manufacturing Knowledge: A History of the Hawthorne Experiments (BUS stack HD30.42.U5G55 1991). A list of additional articles is provided below.
Roethlisberger is often mentioned along with Elton Mayo who was a Harvard colleague. In
Introduction:
The purpose of this brief guide is to introduce you to the work of Roethlisberger and some of the resources by and about him that are available in the Western Libraries. Although most students of management are aware of the "Hawthorne effect", many of them are not familiar with one of the researchers who was heavily involved in the Hawthorne Project and who is also regarded as one of the founders of the modern "human relations movement".
For biographical material relating to Roethlisberger (1898-1974) a good place to begin is with a fairly rare study that exists in the collection of the Business Library: Fritz J. Roethlisberger's Contributions to Management Theory and Practice: A Panel Discussion (BUS oversize H59.R55F74 1975). The four brief essays contained in it are: "FJR and His Impact on Business Schools;" FJR and the Unfreezing of Human Potential in Organizations;" FJR's Place in the Development of Management Theory" and FJR: His Later Years". More up-to-date material is found in the excellent essay by Andrea Gabor - "Fritz Roethlisberger and Elton Mayo: Two Creative Misfits Who Invented 'Human Relations' (and put the Harvard Business School on the Map)". This essay is found in Gabor's The Capitalist Philosophers (BUS stack HD70.U5G33 2000).
There are many books and chapters in books that cover the studies that were conducted at AT&T's Hawthorne Works which was part of the Western Electric plant in Cicero, Illinois. For an early study see, for example, Hawthorne Revisited: Management and the Worker: Its Critics, and Developments in Human Relations in Industry, (BUS stack HF5500.R62L26 1958) by Henry Landsberger. More recent is Richard Gillespie's Manufacturing Knowledge: A History of the Hawthorne Experiments (BUS stack HD30.42.U5G55 1991). A list of additional articles is provided below.
Roethlisberger is often mentioned along with Elton Mayo who was a Harvard colleague. In