The Hawthorne studies, began as an investigation into the relationship between illumination and worker productivity, evolved into a study of the increased output unrelated to lighting. Improved performance was due to incentive payments, style of the supervisor.
THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT, 6TH EDITION Electronic Resource by: Regina Greenwood and Julia Teahen Part Three Social Person Era http://www.bigfoto.com/themes/railw ay Chapter Thirteen The Hawthorne Studies Hawthorne Studies Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric Subsidiary of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company http://www.inficad.com/~ksup/welectric.html Hawthorne Studies “The Social Person” was not invented by these studies, but was brought to a wider recognition by those who interpreted the results The studies have been widely publicized, misinterpreted, praised, and criticized over the many years since the event The studies continue to generate articles and presentations Hawthorne Plant History & Time Line 1905: Western Electric moved to Cicero, Illinois Founder: Enos Barton “The Biggest Little Railway in the World” 1914: Absorbed operations from New York & Chicago Main manufacturer for Bell Telephone Laboratories Hawthorne Works included over 100 buildings Hawthorne Works was Western Electric’s Hawthorne Plant History & Time Line 1924-1933: Hawthorne Studies 1932-1938: Harvard researchers continued research “Human Element” is critical 1940: Peak production with 42,000 workers employed 1958: Western Electric Statistical Quality Control Handbook Hawthorne Plant Aerial view of Hawthorne Plant The Studies Begin Western Electric Company – Hawthorne Works Illumination Studies: 19241927 The original research issue was the effect of workplace illumination on worker productivity Those who came initially to Hawthorne were electrical engineers from MIT Mary Volango – Operator #1 Wanda Blazejak – Operator #4 Don Chipman & Theresa Layman Chipman & Layman – 1960 or 1963 Don Chipman Don Chipman & Operators Chipman and Layman Theresa, Don, Mary, & Wanda What Happened to AT&T’s Bell System and Western Electric? November 20, 1974: Antitrust suit charging monopolization and conspiracy to monopolize 1984: AT&T was ordered to divest its Bell System and Western Electric divisions Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories Current Use of Hawthorne Works 1983: Hawthorne Works converted into retail space: Hawthorne Works Plaza Super K-Mart Dominick’s Grocery Store The tower and a portion of the plant remains Hawthorne Buildings – June 1999 Hawthorne Buildings – June 1999 Current Use of Hawthorne Works Hawthorne Industrial Park Cyprus Copper Rod Schillinger Salt Logistix OmniTRAX Logistics’ Chicago Distribution Center Leadership In the view of Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger, leadership needed strengthening by social and human skills from the leader Influenced by Chester Barnard, Mayo concluded that authority had to be based on social skills in securing cooperation Management needed to focus more on building group integrity and solidarity First line supervisors were particularly important in good worker-manager relations Motivation Fritz J Roethlisberger Motivation in the human relations literature evolved and became more Mayo and Roethlisberger’s advocacy rather than based on what happened at the Hawthorne Plant Motivation Early reports, such as Clair Turner’s report and Mark Putnam’s statement to Business Week, placed money as important The test room participants stated they liked the fact they were able to make more money Motivation As time passed, the MayoRoethlisberger theme shifted: Roethlisberger’s memo that Mayo would be happy because of some evidence that physiological, not economic, factors were related to output More emphasis in later writings is placed on social belonging needs, being accepted by the group A later quote regarding discarding “economic man.” What motivates the “social person?” Can the theories of motivation discussed here be combined and applied to contemporary motivation strategies? What motivates people today? http://www.bigfoto.com/themes/railw ay Summary The Hawthorne Studies, began as an investigation into the relationship between illumination and worker productivity, evolved into a study of the increased output unrelated to lighting Improved performance was due to Incentive payments Style of the supervisor The human relations-oriented supervisor could satisfy the social needs of humans and the economic needs of the organization ... Person Era http://www.bigfoto.com/themes/railw ay Chapter Thirteen The Hawthorne Studies Hawthorne Studies Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric Subsidiary of the American Telephone and Telegraph... Handbook Hawthorne Plant Aerial view of Hawthorne Plant The Studies Begin Western Electric Company – Hawthorne Works Illumination Studies: 19241927 The original research issue was the effect of. .. because the experimenters became personally involved in the social-work situation Theresa Layman, one of the participants, rebutted this; so did Don Chipman, one of the observer experimenters The Hawthorne