...The Hawthorne defect: Persistence of a flawed theory “Like other hallowed but unproven concepts in psychology, the so -called Hawthorne effect has a life of its own.” By Berkeley Rice http://www.cs.unc.edu/~stotts/204/nohawth.html Most students of social psych are familiar with, or had better be if they want to pass. For decades, countless textbooks, Ph.D. theses, journal articles, and learned panels have cited it as a possible explanation for everything from why juvenile criminals in experimental program decide to go straight to why insomniacs sleep better in the laboratory. Whenever psychologists gather, one I apt to hear mention of the Hawthorne effect-even though, as it happens, the effect was never actually demonstrated by the original study. Proponents of the Hawthorne effect say that people who are singled out for a study of any kind may improve their performance or behavior not because of any specific condition being tested, but simply because of all the attention they receive. Those who mention the effect usually want to cast doubt on whether a given social innovation, instructional method, or therapy is really responsible for the change in behavior. Though the Hawthorne effect has been generalized to every kind of psychological study, it grew out of a pioneering series of experiments that tested the impact of improved working conditions on productivity. In typical accounts of the findings, current textbooks report: “To the surprise of the researchers, every innovation...
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...theories on the Hawthorne Studies help to inform my understanding of contemporary management functions and the employer-employee relationship by providing a critical analysis of the Hawthorne Studies, which were a major contributor in the development of management practices and the human relations movement. The Hawthorne Studies were a group of experiments undertaken in the 1920's and 1930's at Western Electrics Hawthorne Plant that provided new insights into individual and group behaviours. The study was lead be George Elton Mayo, he concluded that individual and group behaviour are closely related. Mayo concluded that social standards in the workplace were a greater factor in determining the production output of individuals then other factors such as money and environmental factors. The results of the Hawthorne studies are widely disputed due to mismanagement and corruption of some of the experiments. Bramel highlights the corrupted elements of the experiments, particularly the removal and replacement of participants mid experiment, and holds the studies in a negative light. Bramel is not the only one to cast doubt on the validity of the experiments however, there have been many opponents to the hawthorn studies’ findings over the years. Alex Carey was one of the most vocal opponents of the validity of the Hawthorne studies’ findings. Carey was particularly vocal on the dismissal and replacement of experiment participants and the subsequent corruption of the experiments results “The...
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...Assignment The Implication of Hawthorne Study in 21st Century Ashab Anis Joy ID: 2012-1-10-255 Class: MGT Course Code: 101 Sec: 7 Semester: Fall East West University Bachelor of Business Administration East West University 20th November 2012 Introduction The Hawthorne Experiments were conducted between 1927 and 1932 at the works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago. Basically the aim of these experiments was to ” attempt to reduce worker dissatisfaction and resist trade union influence by the putting in place of a paternalistic package of social and recreational benefits calculated to sustain workers “loyalty” (Sheldrake 105:1996). Many little assignments were conducted in hope of putting into practice the above theory. Despite the economic progress brought about in party by Scientific Management, critics were calling attention to the severe labour/management conflict, apathy, boredom, and wasted human resources. These concerns lead a number of researchers to examine the discrepancy between how an organisation was supposed to work versus how the workers actually behaved. In addition, factors like World War I, developments in psychology (e.g. Freud) and later the depression, all brought into question some of the basic assumptions of the Scientific Management School. One of the primary critics of the time, Elton Mayo, claimed that this ‘alienation’ stemmed from the breakdown of the social structures caused by industrialisation, the factory system, and its related...
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...industrial management from Harvard, carried out studies at the Western Electric company’s Hawthorne works, As Jiao(2009) said “with the attempt to find the factors affecting workers’ productivity, the studies included a series of behavior experiments” which was then called as “Hawthorne Experiments”. Regardless of some controversies, conclusions from the studies not only help Mayo extended his own theory in management, but also give loads of enlightenment to other fields (such as educations、sociology 、organizational behavior, etc.) This essay will show the key findings of Hawthorne studies as well as its repercussions in many fields. In the first section, operations and conclusions of each experiment will be simply introduced. Secondly, a series of new ideas originated from these findings by Mayo will be elaborated and also its applications in practice. The final part is to show some criticism on both Mayo’s research method and his theory. 2.1 Experiment One ---------Illumination studies During 1924 to 1927, Mayo’s group tested a department’s productivity under all levels of illumination in order to discover the effects of light on efficiency. However, they ended in failure for there were almost always increasing output during the process. (But, latter it was considered as an evidence of Hawthorne Effect) 2.2 Experiment Two ------- Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment The second experiment concentrated on the relationship between workers’ welfare and productivity. In this...
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...The Hawthorne Experiments: Management Takes A New Direction General Electric, the major manufacturer of light bulbs, had preliminary evidence that better lighting of the work place improved worker productivity, but wanted to validate these findings to sell more light bulbs, especially to businesses. GE funded the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an impartial study. AT&T's Western Electric Hawthorne plant located in Cicero, Illinois, was chosen as the laboratory. Beginning with this early test, the “Hawthorne Experiments” were a series of studies into worker productivity performed at the Cicero plant beginning in 1924 and ceasing in 1932. Illumination Studies, 1924 -1927 The earliest experiment (1924) was conducted by the NRC with engineers from MIT. The study would end in 1927 with the NRC abandoning the project. The group examined the relationship between light intensity and worker efficiency. The hypothesis was that greater illumination would yield higher productivity. Two work groups of female employees were selected for “control” and “experimental” groups. By comparing the changes on worker productivity by manipulating lighting in the experimental group with the production of the control group, the researchers could validate and measure the impact of lighting. The study, however, failed to find any simple relationship as poor lighting and improved lighting seemed in increase productivity. Indeed, in the final stage...
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...The Hawthorne Experiments The Hawthorne experiments were groundbreaking studies in human relations that were conducted between 1924 and 1932 at Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works in Chicago. Originally designed as illumination studies to determine the relationship between lighting and productivity, the initial tests were sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1927 a research team from the Harvard Business School was invited to join the studies after the illumination tests drew unanticipated results. Two additional series of tests, the relay-assembly tests and the bank-wiring tests, followed the illumination tests. The studies assumed the label Hawthorne experiments or studies from the location of the Western Electric plant. Concluded by 1932, the Hawthorne studies, with emphasis on a new interpretation of group behavior, were the basis for the school of human relations. ILLUMINATION TESTS In the early 1920s Chicago's Western Electric Hawthorne Works employed 12,000 workers. The plant was a primary manufacturer of telephones, and in 1924 the company provided a site to cooperate with the NRC on a series of test room studies to determine the relationship between illumination and worker efficiency. The basic idea was to vary and record levels of illumination in a test room with the expectation that as lighting was increased, productivity would too. In another test room, illumination was decreased, with the correlating...
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...Do the Hawthorne Studies truly deserve to be recognised as producing a fundamental change in the development of management thought? The Hawthorne Studies were a set of studies carried out by Western Electric between 1924 and 1932 in conjunction with researchers from the Harvard Business School, led by Elton Mayo, at their Hawthorne Works plant (Sonnenfeld 1985 p. 112). Researchers initially set out to find the effects of lighting upon levels of production, but ultimately the evidence gathered lead to a significant shift in management thought: from Scientific Management to Human Relations (Hassard 2012 p. 1432). The methods of the studies and their originality have been censured by some scholars, some of whom feel this invalidates the findings and therefore the significance of the studies, but, despite their flaws, it is impossible to deny the far reaching influence of these studies upon the development of management thought. Scientific management was developed by Frederick Taylor to improve industrial efficiency (Taylor 1911), it was this theory of management which Western Electric was using to direct their employees at the time the Hawthorne Studies commenced. Some of the key principles of the theory were: that managers should scientifically determine how a task should be completed most efficiently and; that managers should then select the best person for the job, train them to do their tasks efficiently, and monitor performance to ensure these specifications are met (Law...
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...The Hawthorne Studies; conducted in 1927 to 1932 by Elton Mayo, has been revered in the fields of psychology and management respectively. Both have derived various lessons from different aspects of the study. For example, the field of psychology looks at the affects that working in a form of an exclusive group has as presented in the Relay Assembly Test Room experiment. Management on the other hand has learned that the human psyche has varying effects on their productivity and are not merely drones driven by a single goal. (Hai, 2011) However, many criticise the relevance and contributions of the Hawthorne Studies to the studies of work and organizations. Criticisms sprouted from the results of the studies conducted which were; for the majority, inconclusive and hence being unreliable. The fact that those making these statements are ignoring is that; many management theories wouldn’t have been developed without these studies. Before the time of the Hawthorne Studies, management viewed their workers as simple drones in the company who do as they were told without question. To cut cost whilst maintaining production levels, companies would subject longer working hours and lower wages under considerably poor working conditions in order to maximise their profit. They did so because they believed the workers would continue production regardless similar to machines. When scientific management was introduced in the early twentieth century by Frederick Taylor, a huge shift in managerial...
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...Some of the major phases of Hawthorne experiments are as follows: 1. Illumination Experiments 2. Relay Assembly Test Room Experiments 3. Mass Interviewing Programme 4. Bank Wiring Observation Room Experiment. 1. Experiments to determine the effects of changes in illumination on productivity, illumination experiments, 1924-27. 2. Experiments to determine the effects of changes in hours and other working conditions on productivity, relay assembly test room experiments, 1927-28; 3. Conducting plant-wide interviews to determine worker attitudes and sentiments, mass interviewing programme, 1928-30; and 4. Determination and analysis of social organisation at work, bank wiring observation room experiments, 1931-32. 1. Illumination Experiments: Illumination experiments were undertaken to find out how varying levels of illumination (amount of light at the workplace, a physical factor) affected the productivity. The hypothesis was that with higher illumination, productivity will increase. In the first series of experiments, a group of workers was chosen and placed in two separate groups. One group was exposed to varying intensities of illumination. Since this group was subjected to experimental changes, it was termed as experimental group. Another group, called as control group, continued to work under constant intensities of illumination. The researchers found that as they increased the illumination in the experimental group, both groups increased production. When the intensity...
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...The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The original research at the Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois, on lighting changes and work structure changes such as working hours and break times were originally interpreted by Elton Mayo and others to mean that paying attention to overall worker needs would improve productivity. Later interpretations such as that done by Landsberger suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity. This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect". Introduction Elton Mayo’s team conducted a number of experiments involving six female workers. These experiments are often referred to as the Hawthorne experiments or Hawthorne studies as they took place at The Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago. Hawthorne Experiment Details Over the course of five years, Mayo’s team altered the female worker’s working conditions and monitored how the change in working conditions affected the workers morale and productivity. The changes in working conditions included changes in working hours, rest brakes, lighting, humidity, and temperature. The changes were explained to the workers prior to implementation. Hawthorne Experiment Results At the end of the five year period, the female...
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...management thought has been changed due to the applied research of the Hawthorne effect. Work productivity and social behaviour and interaction have influenced management to further look at ways to improve and sustain the outcome of their workers. However one can see why a person would consider the Hawthorne studies as inefficient and not capable of truly deserving to be recognised as the fundamental change for management and being scientifically correct in the research and study used. The effects of the Hawthorne studies towards management provided managers with a different way to lead and create an understanding of their worker’s behaviour. Giving insight on different ways the productivity of its workers occurred, the future of management was influenced by the methodologies created by the Hawthorne studies. However the studies themselves cannot be truly deserving of its scientific findings, it has contributed very much to the change of management. The Hawthorne effect provides management with a better understanding of the work behaviour and attitudes of physical, economic and social variables (Pennock, G.A 1930). During the years 1927 to 1932 of the industrial revolution the series of investigations for work behaviour were conducted with the use of five selected women at Western electric factory, Hawthorne, Chicago. The research found that over time productivity continued to rise due to the experiments socialisation of workers (Obrenovic, Z 2014). Even if a change of conditions...
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...The Romantic Age was a period between 1820 and 1865 where many writers began to stray from European models. They began to write with their own beliefs and views of life. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Washington Irving are all authors from this age. Literary works such as "Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment" by Hawthorne, "The Raven" by Poe, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Irving are representative of their literary age because they employ numerous Romantic age characteristics. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne has many Romantic ideals present within. Hawthorne's use of supernatural mysterious objects and idealistic views throughout the story are noticeable characteristics in this literary work. As Hawthorne describes...
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...Hawthorne essay Hawthorne’s short stories “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” and “Rappaccini's Daughter” both discuss his personal scientific views. Hawthorn does not agree with the idea of trying to play god during the course of natural events. Nathaniel Hawthorne believes that human life should not be sacrificed for the use of science. Throughout these two short stories Hawthorne illustrates how Dr. Heidegger and Rappaccini have misused science, and how they both lose something valuable. In the short story “Dr.Heidegger’s Experiment”, Dr. Heidegger sacrifices human life in order to obtain more knowledge. As Hawthorne mentioned, “I rejoice that I have so well selected the subjects of my experiment”(506). Just as the experiment is about to begin...
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...alone. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Letter from Brook Farm is just one of many primary documents preserving firsthand accounts of life in these communities. There are enough primary sources in enough detail such that Sterling F. Delano was able to create a secondary source, providing some evaluation and analysis in what has been referred to as a standard for a starting point when researching these societies in the book Brook Farm: The Dark Side of Utopia. Brook Farm was actually far from singular as a utopia experiment. In The Americanization of Utopia: Fourierism and the Dilemmma of Utopian Dissent in the United States an article by Carl J. Guarneri. Guarneri points out many such communities and experiments took place in the 1800’s. The Harmonys in Pennsylvania and New Harmony in Indianna, Onieda in New York, the list goes on although daily life Brook Farm, as was experienced by one of the community members, Nathanial Hawthorne, being the subject of the primary source of this paper. Brook Farm is seen as a trivial contribution by some writers, Guarneri’s article states the contrary that while Brook Farm is one of many experiments it was an important part of the utopian experiments of the time. Other secondary sources, reviews of Brook Farm: The Dark Side of Utopia from Leigh E. Schmidt, Alison Easton and Carl J. Guarneri also indicate that Brook Farm was more than just a minor contributor to the utopian experiments of the 1800’s. The Brook Farm experiment was designed by...
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...his later detractors? George Elton Mayo (1880-1949) was an Australian psychologist, sociologist and organizational theorist. He led a team together with Whitehead and Roethlisberger, set to study the relationship between productivity and physical working conditions. His research results have led to the establishing of new theories like the human relation (Hawthorne) and motivation theory. The Hawthorne study, a new approach that is being introduced by the sociologist, has been called the human relation approach of management. This approach was generated, because the positive aspect of the variables of the scientific management, and the focuses on mechanical and psychological variables, could not bring about a positive response in work behavior and efficiency at work. The key contributions are contained into two points; organizational situation to be viewed in social, economic and technical terms; and the social process of group behavior which can be studied in clinical method analogous. These studies have a historical importance to the behavioral approach of the analysis of management problems. The practical experiments allowed Elton Mayo to deduce the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work. Physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value, thus concluding that working performance is dependent on social factors and job content. Elton upholds his beliefs in the factors that hinders the productivity and efficiency in work...
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