Contribution of hawthrone experiments to the present day organisation
Answers
Management and its practices have been in existence for a very long period of time and is not an unknown subject to human nature. Kings used management to rule over territories were they had to occupy as their kingdom and govern it in the best means possible. Success or failure of such kingdoms might be the result of good or bad management. Organisational behaviour can be termed as “the field of study concerned with the actions of people at work in an organisation” (Robins, 2006)
Starting in 1905 and operating until 1983, Hawthorne works had 45,000 employees and it produced a wide variety of consumer products, including telephone equipment, refrigerators and electric fans. As a result, Hawthorne works is well-known for its enormous output of telephone equipment and most importantly for its industrial experiments and studies carried out.
Between 1924 and 1932, a series of experiments were carried out on the employees at the facility. The original purpose was to study the effect of lighting on workers’ productivity.
The first illumination was conducted in three departments were illumination level in each department was increased at stated intervals. Puzzling results were obtained, production increased, though it did not correspond with the change in lighting level. The second illumination study utilized a test group and control group, where the test group had an increase in illumination and the control group at constant level. Results concluded that not only production increased in both groups but nearly at an identical rate. Another third illumination study used the same procedure but instead illumination was reduced. Still, efficiency in production of both groups increased until the lighting in the test group became so poor that the workers complained. From these studies conclusions were brought forward that employee output was not related to lighting conditions and that too many variables were not controlled hence findings could have been biased.
Such behavioural results initiated an interest within Harvard university professors Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson. Using a study group other experiments were conducted to examine what effect of monotony and fatigue on productivity and how to control those using variables such as rest breaks, work hours and incentives.
At normal conditions the work week was of 48 hours, including Saturdays, with no rest pauses. On the first experiment workers were put on piece-work salary where they were paid on each part they produced, as a result the output increased. On the second experiment the workers were given 2 rest pauses of 5 minutes each for 5 weeks and again output went up. The third experiment further increased the pauses to 10 min and the output went up sharply. For the fourth experiments a 6, 5 min breaks were given and output fell slightly as the workers complained that the work rhythm was broken. On the fifth experiments conditions for experiment three were repeated but this time a free hot meal was given by the company and output wen up again.at the sixth experiment, workers were dismissed at 4.30p.m. Instead of 5.00p.m were an output increase was recorded.
The seventh experiment had the same results as experiments six even though the workers were dismissed at 4.00 p.m. on the eighth and final experiment, all improvements were taken away and workers returned to their original working conditions. Surprisingly, results concluded that output was the highest ever recorded!
Upon concluding such experiments mayo commented that the obtained high productivity results may be affected due to the fact that workers have “the feeling of being studied” which led him to further investigation. In fact to his amusement, Mayo discovered that the general upward production trend is independent of any changes in work conditions and that response to productivity is non-linear. From the bank wiring room, mayo also stated that workers will scale back productivity to suit group norm and that organisations are social systems in which human interaction play a critical role. Being in a team, unlike on the normal factory floor, the selected workers together with their observer formed a social atmosphere which increased freedom and attitude towards work reducing the monotony of the task. (Mayo, 1927-1933)
His study now contradicted Taylor’s theory that of high productivity is a result of longer working hours and using a single established procedure given by their managers.
Hawthorne works had 45,000 employees and it produced a wide variety of consumer products, including telephone equipment, refrigerators and electric fans. As a result, Hawthorne works is well-known for its enormous output of telephone equipment and most importantly for its industrial experiments and studies carried out.
Between 1924 and 1932, a series of experiments were carried out on the employees at the facility. The original purpose was to study the effect of lighting on workers’ productivity.