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Hawthorne Studies

Elton Mayos Study on EmployeeMotivation and Work Productivity

Developed by: Melissa Mackay

Boise State University

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What Will Be Covered

Definition of the Hawthorne Studies

Experiment that Mayo conducted

Results

Conclusions

Brainstorming: How this can be used inorganizations

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What Will Be Covered

Cont.

Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of topic

How it works in the field

Real World Example

Summary

References

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Definition of Hawthorne

Studies

The Hawthorne Studies were

conducted from 1927-1932 at theWestern Electric Hawthorne

Works in Chicago, where Harvard

Business School Professor EltonMayo examined productivity and

work conditions.

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http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthrone_02.

Definition of Hawthorne

Studies Cont.

Mayo wanted to find out what effect

fatigue and monotony had on jobproductivity and how to control them

through such variables as rest

breaks, work hours, temperatures

and humidity.

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Mayos Experiment

Five women assembled telephone relays, onesupplied the parts.

Made frequent changes in working conditions withtheir consent.

Records were kept of relays made, temperature andhumidity of rooms, medical and personal histories,eating and sleeping habits, and bits of conversation

on the job.

No one supervised the girls.

They were told to work as they felt and at a

comfortable pace.

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Mayos Experiment

Cont.

Productive capacity was measured by recording the

girls output for two weeks before the study began.

First five weeks, no changes were made.

Third stage, a pay system was ensured allowing the

girls to earn in proportion to their efforts.

Eight weeks later, two five-minute rest pauses were

added.

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Mayos Experiment

Cont.

Eighth phase, workday ended a half-day early.

Ninth phase, the girls finished an hour earlier thanusual.

Five-day week introduced.

Girls went back to no breaks, lunches and a full

work week,

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Results

Researchers found that output rateswerent directly related to the physical

conditions of the work.

Output went up when: They were put on piece-work for eight weeks.

Two five minute rest pauses were introduced for

five weeks. Rest pauses were lengthened to ten minutes.

A hot meal was supplied during first pause.

They were dismissed at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5:00p.m.

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http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-reshef/mayo.htm

Results Cont.

Output slightly fell when six five minute pauseswere added.

It remained the same when they were dismissed at4:00 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m.

Mayo believes what actually happened was thatsix individuals became a team and the team gaveitself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to

cooperation in the experiment. The consequencewas that they felt themselves to be participatingfreely and without afterthought, and were happy inthe knowledge that they were working withoutcoercion from above or limitations from below.

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Conclusions

Work is a group activity.

Social world for an adult is primarily patternedabout work.

Need for recognition, security and sense of

belonging.

Complaints, commonly a symptom manifesting

disturbance of an individuals status position.

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Conclusions Cont.

Attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by

social demands.

Informal groups at work are strong social controls

over the work habits and attitudes of a worker.

Change from established society to adaptive

society.

Group collaboration.

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Brainstorming: How this can

be used in organizations

Cooperation and communicationwith coworkers.

Rearrange/reorganize jobfunctions.

Create an atmosphere ofworking as a team.

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Nuts and Bolts:

Explanation of Topic

Interviewing

Provide insight to workers moral,

their likes and dislikes and how

they felt about their bosses.

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Nuts and Bolts:

Explanation of Topic Cont.

Role of Supervisor

Retained the responsibility of

making sure that their workers

reached production levels, should

lead their workers.

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Nuts and Bolts:

Explanation of Topic Cont.

Management

Need to gain active support and

participation from workers, while

maintaining managerial control.

Be patient with workers, listen tothem, and avoid creating emotional

upsets.

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http://couses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-reshef/mayo.htm

Nuts and Bolts:

Explanation of Topic Cont.

TeamworkCooperation, communication, sense

of belonging. Mans desire to be continuouslyassociated in work with his fellows isa strong, if not the strongest, humancharacteristic. Any disregard of it by

management or any ill-advisedattempt to defeat this human impulseleads instantly to some form of defeatfor management itself.

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How it Works in the

Field

Aspects of Hawthorne Studies

Workers

Management

Motivation

Productivity

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How it Works in the

Field Cont.

Workers

Insights, suggestions, likes and

dislikes, moral, training.

Management

Transfer of power to workers,knowing their workers.

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How it Works in the

Field Cont.

Motivation

Incentives to increase productivity

and quality.

Productivity

By increasing the output rate andkeeping costs down, the company

will be able to increase profits.

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Real World Example

Swedish Case

Pay system didnt fit the structure

of jobs and organization.

Two years later an incentivesystem was added, productivity

went up 45%.

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Real World Example

Cont.

Swedish Case

New incentive system provided

motivation through tying

cooperation and teamwork.

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Exercise

Brainstorm ideas that can motivateemployees to increase productivityand find ways to implement them.

Think of more efficient ways in which

a process can be completed and whoyou might go to in order to find thisout.

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Summary

Hawthorne Studies dealing with

worker motivation and workproductivity.

Increase communication and

cooperation among coworkers.

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Summary Cont.

Motivation can cause an increase in

productivity

Involve employees in decision making.

Create a sense of belonging by creating

teams.

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References

Man and Work in Society. Edited by

Eugene Louis Cass and Frederick G.

Zimmer. 1975. New York: Van Nostrand

Reinhold Company.

Manufacturing Knowledge, A History of

the Hawthorne Experiments. Richard

Gillespie. 1952. New York: Press Syndicate

of the University of Cambridge. http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-

reshef/mayo.html

http://www.accel-

team.com/motivation/hawthorne 02.html

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