“The Evolution of Human Behavior In The Work Place”

“The Evolution of Human Behavior In The Work Place” Over the years, organizations and theorists alike have explored the evolving nature of workforce personality and behavior. Organizational behavior, defined as the study of what people, think, feel, and do in and around organizations. In today’s world, organizational development, worker values and performance, content and processes of work have transformed due to the lessons learned from previous studies of the field. In order to fully understand and measure the values and implications it is very important for us to take look at its roots.
Scientific Management Theory During the early 1900’s organizations sought better ways to satisfy their customers, machinery changed the way goods were processed and managers had to increase the efficiency of the work task mixtures. In 1911, Frederick Taylor, “Taylor’s: Scientific Management” (pp.10) 1 explored the effects of worker productivity by reducing the amount of time a worker spent on each task by optimizing the way the task was performed. Tasks were then codified, workers were taught new method of performing and matched by skill level and paid for increased performance.
The Hawthorne Effect Theory Researchers studied worker efficiency at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Co., during 1924-1932. According to The Hawthorne Experiments, their findings from this research ultimately would signal a fundamental shift in how employee behavior was to be understood (p.11).2 While measuring worker productivity they found that the workers enjoyed the attention they received which increased their productivity. In addition, they learned workers had independent values, interacted with one another and formed bonds of solidarity, communicated effectively and coordinated their behaviors’ informally. Furthermore,