ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT (ES24)
Assignment
The Hawthorne Studies
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The Hawthorne Studies
Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies are experiments which inspired Elton Mayo and others to develop the Human Relations Movement. These were conducted by the Western Electric Company of Chicago to measure the impact of different working conditions (such as levels of lighting, payment systems, and hours of work) on output of work employees do. The researchers, Fritz Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson, concluded that variations in output were not caused by changing physical conditions or material rewards but partly by the experiments themselves. The special treatment required by experimental participation convinced workers that management had a particular interest in them. This raised morale and led to increased productivity.
The term ‘Hawthorne effect’ is now widely used to refer to the behavior-modifying effects of being the subject of social investigation, regardless of the context of the investigation. More generally, the researchers concluded that supervisory style greatly affected worker productivity.
Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies (also known as the Hawthorne Experiments) were conducted from 1927 to 1932 at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago). This is where Professor Elton Mayo examined the impact of work conditions in employee productivity. Elton Mayo started these experiments by examining the physical and environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights, humidity) and later, moved into the psychological aspects (e.g.