Management and Organization in Global Environment: The Hawthorne Studies

The Hawthorne Studies were conducted by Elton Mayo and his associates in the Western Electrical Company’s Hawthorne plant in the USA, between 1927 and 1930. The experiments emphasized the wider managerial applications of behavioral science methods. The Hawthorne effect, a physiological phenomenon, was introduced, revealing the increased need for social recognition, attention from superiors, and respect from peers. The studies emphasized the importance of teamwork and interpersonal relationships in the workplace, and the significance of leadership practices, communication, job design, and motivational strategies. The experiments were criticized for their methodological flaws, but their contributions to personnel management and human relations remain significant.

Running head: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT:
THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES
Management and Organization in Global Environment: The Hawthorne Studies
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MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
HAWTHORNE STUDIES
Table of Contents
Management Summary..............................................................................................................3
Section 1: Introduction...............................................................................................................4
Section 2: The Hawthorne Studies.............................................................................................5
General Principles..................................................................................................................5
Component 1: The Illumination Studies................................................................................7
Component 2: The Relay Room Experiments.......................................................................9
Component 3: The Bank Wiring Experiments.....................................................................10
Section 3: Conclusions.............................................................................................................11
Summary..................................................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................14
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................16

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
HAWTHORNE STUDIES
Management Summary
Elton Mayo, a renowned scholar of the era, along with his associates performed the
Hawthorne studies in the Western Electrical Company’s Hawthorne plant in the USA,
between the period of 1927 and 1930. The results of this experiment emphasized that the
methods of behavioral science methods have wider managerial applications that was
perceived in the early 1920s. A close observation of the conclusions derived from the
experiments led to the introduction of the Hawthorne effect, thereby being revealed as a
physiological phenomenon. Increased need for social recognition, attention received from the
superiors and the respect gained from the peers, are a few of those, which have been
attributed. As many scientific theories were developed on the basis of the conclusions as well
as based on the flaws of the Hawthorne studies revealed, the combined effort of the
management and the workers create a wisdom of teamwork within the working environment
by sharing a common purpose that can be considered as the key factor associated with their
increased productivity even if it implies that the management has to emphasize the
development of interpersonal relationship with the workers at the individual level. Notably, in
the ways, through which the Hawthorne effect has been interpreted by literary experts until
date, its fundamental contributions exist at the base of generating new ideas. This help to
distinguish the prominence of the interdependency between worker groups and organizational
leadership practices, in addition to the communication practices, job design and the
motivational strategies used within the setting. This has, in turn, drawn attention of scholars
for studying the dynamics of personnel management besides human relations.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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Section 1: Introduction
Inspired by the principles of scientific management as denoted by Frederick Winslow Taylor,
the Hawthorne Studies were conducted in the year 1924. It was conducted within the
Hawthorne plant, which was then functioning under the Western Electric Company in
Chicago, by its management, rather than being initiated by any specialized research group,
which was also a key factor contributing to the criticisms and debates that the experiments
stirred after being published (Hassard, 2012). These experiments began with an investigation
to understand and explain the correlation of illumination with productivity. Gradually, the
experiments received attention from the scholars in the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and in the Harvard University between 1927 and 1933 (Wickstrom &
Bendix, 2000). Subsequently, a change in the direction of these experiments was observed
towards a comprehensive perspective concerning the ‘change impacts of rest pauses’,
demanded by the workers and their work hours on their trends of productivity with significant
contributions from Elton Mayo, who was at the time a new recruit to the Harvard University
(Gale, 2004). At the time of the experimentation, the company possessed a prominent
industrial standing, with its reputation in maintaining parallel welfare capitalism to the
productivity trends observed within its workforce, thereby making it one of the most
innovative and leading manufacturer within the industry. This certainly drove the company
towards its development of a singular pattern of cultural inheritance with augmented level of
sustainability and productivity (Hassard, 2012).
These changes are often attributed as the Hawthorne effect, whereby a vibrant and apparent
change is witnessed in the normal behavior of the subjects, i.e. within the workers of the
Western Electric Company, with complete awareness of their productive trends and behavior
within the workplace. To the scholars specifically, understanding the Hawthorne effect is
perceived as crucial, owing to its ability to influence or rather to contaminate the

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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environmental components being studied. It has been drawn specifically on the intentions of
many traditional as well as modern ethnographers, who are concerned with the impacts of
this phenomenon when the nature and the behavior of the research subjects change with their
consciousness of being observed. In other words, the Hawthorne effect manipulates the
natural setting, in which the data needs to be obtained to substantiate the research findings
rationally. Irrespective of its significance in this context, a precise definition explaining the
Hawthorne effect is lacking within the literary context, which is therefore accepted as a
general phenomenon “where participants in an experimental study alter their behavior or
performance because they are aware that they are being observed” (Oswald, Sherratt &
Smith, 2014, pp. 55).
Section 2: The Hawthorne Studies
General Principles
The fundamental principles drawn by the results of the Hawthorne experiments implied that
the workers’ behavior is largely affected by the presence of different small informal social
groups formed within the workplace. These groups play a significant role in nonverbally and
gradually determining the behavioral norms, trends as well as the employees' attitudes and
their overall productivity by affecting the informal power grid within the workplace (Landy
& Conte, 2010). The Hawthorne effect also advocates that people are socio-psychological
beings and therefore, forming and getting involved in social groups is too crucial for them to
gain a social perspective. Management, in this regard, plays a crucial role to determine
employee satisfaction and motivate the workers towards enhanced productivity in alignment
with the organizational goals to success. It is in this context that, supervisors and the
management decision-makers of the organization need to put efforts to understand the
individual problems within the social groups, which in turn defines the concept of

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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interpersonal relationships and its significance within an organizational environment (Clegg
& Bailey, 2007).
The significance of Hawthorne experiments is also visible with the introduction and
justification of using a two-way communication procedure, emphasizing its benefits to secure
the cooperation and coordination between the workers in alignment with the objectives of the
management and the organization on the whole that in turn poses its impacts on the decision-
making process. The theory thus assumes that workers offer a greater degree of productive
output within organizational environments enriched with the opportunity for the workers to
express their opinions, feelings and grievances without the fear of being rebuked or
underestimated (Landy & Conte, 2010). When relating this assumption with the Maslow’s
need hierarchy, it can be denoted to satisfy the psychological need of the employees to be
treated with respect by their peers and simultaneously, suffices their social needs of
recognition.
It is thus that leadership practices within the organization and the pressures experienced by
the workers to deliver a higher degree of productivity in a consistent manner impose
significant impacts on the overall rate of employee satisfaction as well as their performance.
This also represents the dynamics of a democratic authoritative style of management that is
believed as conducive to employee satisfaction resulting in higher productivity. However,
considering the modern organizational frameworks, conflicts within the workers as well as
between the management and the employees have evolved as a common phenomenon, which
may arise due to a variety of reasons (Landy & Conte, 2010). At varied instances, it is the due
to the maladjustments between the individuals and the organization that conflicts rise ,
thereby increasing the risks of bad or uncooperative behavior from the workers along with
their poor performances as a depiction of their dissatisfaction. The theory also denotes

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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employees as the individuals lacking the ability of pure rational decision making, as the
workers need both materialistic rewards and intrinsic motivations to boost their performances
as well as productivity levels in a consistent manner (Clegg & Bailey, 2007). Irrespective of
these contributions, the Hawthorne effects have been widely criticized by the scholars
specifically because of its methodological flaws.
Component 1: The Illumination Studies
Hawthorne experiments were performed through a series of experiments, the illumination
studies being the first. It was initiated between 1924 and 1927, with the primary objective to
examine the impacts of varying light illuminations on workers’ overall productivity. The
methodology applied for the experiment comprised a series of observational sessions for the
test groups, including the workers of the manufacturing organisation. In each of these
sessions, the illumination levels were changed by holding the other conditions within the
workplace as constant. The research samples were accordingly divided into two groups, i.e.
test groups and the control groups. On observing the productivity rates of both these worker
groups, insignificant or negligible differences were noted by Mayo, with regards to the
workers’ ability to raise their level of productivity (Ebrary.net, 2018).
The experiment was conducted at multiple levels and within differing illumination settings,
whereby the final experiment of this series revealed that the overall rate of productive output
by the workers declined in correlation with the lowering level of same, which was termed as
‘moonlight intensity’ by Mayo. However, the experiment was concluded by stating that a
positive linear correlation was not observable between workers’ productive efficacy and the
levels of illumination, controversially stating that the experimental results lacked adequate
reliability even when lacking a direct and simple cause-effect relationship. The researchers
further concluded that the workers are quite likely to depict different workplace behavioural

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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traits on being aware that they are being closely observed and studied as compared to when
they work without being monitored (Anteby & Khurana, no date).
The test or the experimental group, as denoted by the researchers in Hawthorne, created for
the purpose of this experiment were exposed to experimental changes. The other group noted
as the control group, was included in the experiment by progressing under the continuous
illumination intensities. Through a close observation, the experimental results stressed that
when the level of illumination increased within the test group, an increased level of
productivity was observed within both the test and control groups. Even when the
illumination level is lowered, the production levels in both the groups continued increasing,
which implied that illumination did not have a direct impact in their performances but their
uniform changes in productivity were the impacts of other workplace components (Levitt &
List, 2011).
The conclusions therefore drew in connection to this experiment, which were affected by the
predominant perceptions of the then scenario that human factor was crucial to the level of
productivity, but failed to justify the specific factors that might, in turn, affect this
relationship. In addition, the experiment covered three departments, involving only women
workers, which also makes the experiment gender bias with limited applicability within the
wider context. Influence of the weather conditions, even though the additional lighting was
suspended during the summer, cannot be ignored in this context. Scholars have not only
criticised but also hailed the conclusions drawn from the illumination experiments as one of
the most ground-breaking and extensive social-science experiments of that era. Nonetheless,
from a critical perspective, the experimental design lacks strength in terms of methodological
relevance and objectivity, thereby offering ambiguous mixed results (Levitt & List, 2011).

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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Component 2: The Relay Room Experiments
The obstacles witnessed during the illumination experiments and the methodological flaws
observed by the researchers themselves led to the need for further experiments in the series to
identify the exact factors affecting the productivity levels of the workers within the
manufacturing industry. It was thus that the next experiment executed by Mayo and the
management group in Hawthorne emphasised the productive levels of workers. This time, the
workers were categorised into groups, taking into consideration the extensive range of
variables existing within the different working conditions (Schlaifer, 1980). The influencing
variables or the determinant factors taken into consideration for the next experiment, i.e. the
relay room experiments, included humidity in the workplace, the temperature inside, work
schedule followed in the setting, the amount and contents of food they consumed and their
pattern of rest breaks. The Relay Assembly Test Room comprised five women, who carefully
recorded ‘the prediction variables’ as well as ‘the outputs’. The time taken by each of these
research subjects to assemble a forty-part telephone relay was measured. In conclusion to
these experiments, it was discovered that the predictor variables and the degree of industrial
efficiency was vague to be able to conclude if they are correlated. The results obtained,
therefore, challenged the preconceived notions of the researchers asserting that employee
sentiments and their attitude within the workplace are critical in terms of their productivity
levels (Schlaifer, 1980).
Emphasising the methodological processes used for conducting the experiment, the
objectives underlying the study aimed to examine the change impacts of the various job
conditions, under which the workers are asked to perform. The intention was therefore to test
the determinants of group productivity within the workplace environment. In this experiment
process, a relay assembly test room was set up by the researchers, as against the method used
for the illumination experiment, including two principal participants, both of whom were

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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females. Arguably, the gender-based division of workers in the study of organisational
behaviour might be treated with lesser significance in the current era. However, during the
late 1920s, employment opportunities for women were quite limited as compared to the men
in the society, which in turn, affected the internal validity of the experiment as well as its
industrial applicability to a substantial extent (Martin & Siebert, 2016).
In addition, these primary respondents were further asked to make decisions and select other
girls as co-workers to perform telephone relays. Each of these relays included quite a few
parts, which the girls required to assemble into finished products. Their productivity levels
also were determined by the frequency and the continuity of the relays conducted, which was
periodically introduced with sequential changes in every four to twelve weeks. Although an
observer was involved in the process of supervising the girls during the experiment, it fails to
diminish the possibilities of biases embedded into the methodological approach used for these
studies. Notably, prior to the implementation of each change, due consultation was performed
with the girls, which sufficed the needed ethical considerations. However, it simultaneously
made the respondents aware of the continuous observation to be practiced on them
throughout the experimental process, which probed them to change their natural behaviour by
a significant extent. However, as they were allowed to reveal their opinions and concerns
related to the workplace environment, a close observation was possible to examine the
changes in their attitude and degree of satisfaction (Greenwood, Bolton & Greenwood, 1983).
Component 3: The Bank Wiring Experiments
The bank wiring experiments comprised the next series of an experiment, which was
conducted by Mayo in the course of the Hawthorne studies. This followed the conclusions of
the mass interviewing programmed conducted in the series. The objective of the bank wiring
experiments was focused on conducting critical examinations and interpretations of the
effects of relatively smaller groups of individuals on the workers’ overall level of

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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productivity. In this particular experiment, the researchers focused on the inclusion of 14
male workers, shifting their focus from the study of female workers in the organisation.
These 14 workers formed a small work-group and were involved in the terminal bank's
assembly using the telephone exchanges. These individuals were bestowed with the work
responsibility to attach the wire with the switches as were built in telephone exchanges.
Unlike the past experiments, the researchers also offered due significance to the
determination of the material as well as the intrinsic benefits that would motivate the
employees to perform better and yield greater productivity (Franke & Kaul, 1978).
Correspondingly, hourly wage rates were determined for each worker based on the then
running average output. When observing this small group of male workers, the researchers
were of the view that workers having a higher rate of productivity are quite likely to impose a
positive impact on workers having a comparatively lower rate of productivity. This would, in
turn, increase their accumulated output for the company, simultaneously rendering them with
the advantages of the group incentive plan. However, the researchers failed to observe any
significant change to their productivity trends or outcomes before and after their inclusion in
the experiment, as the workers in coordination created their personalised standards for
productivity that would, in turn, align with their convenience rather than depicting alignment
with the organisational goals. The results thus obtained through this experiment indicated that
the workers are motivated in a workplace by social recognition as they are motivated by the
satisfaction they gain as a result of their economic needs fulfilment (Olson, Verley, Santos, &
Salas, 2004).
Section 3: Conclusions
Since the publication of the Hawthorne studies, it has been criticised by many scholars
around the world for its methodological faults and incomprehensiveness. Although it was
obstructed by multiple gaps and biases in the methodologies applied, it undoubtedly paved

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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the way for the evolution of numerous management theories that have shaped the idea of
modern organisational behaviour and its dynamics today. Nonetheless, it was limited by the
socio-demographic and economic factors of the era that suggests interactions between the
internal organizational and the external business environment. In the then era, workers in the
manufacturing industry were defined as symbolic to the machinery employed in the
organisation, and hence, were believed to be transacted easily. It also meant that production
from the workers can be increased, which made them prone to stressful work life and
subjected to their prolonged working hours, in addition to insufficient wages to sustain a
healthy and satisfactory life as well as detrimental working conditions as their welfare needs
were overlooked by the management. When compared to the researches conducted today and
their sophisticated use of methodological strategies to obtain the most reliable, valid and
comprehensive data, the Hawthorne studies apparently fell short but if viewed from a time-
based perspective, its contributions to scientific management theories become undeniable.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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Summary
Arguably, even though the contributions from the Hawthorne effect can be regarded as an
ideal to the understanding of organizational management, there are apparent methodological
flaws those have attracted rigorous criticisms to the study over the past ages. At the scholarly
level, the studies fall short of validity, as per the standards of controlled environment based
experiments, as the workers were aware of their situation of being observed, which in turn
could have allowed them to intentionally or unintentionally manipulate the research
outcomes. The conclusions drawn from these experiments also provided more than necessary
significance to the human aspects even though it is not the only factor determining workers’
productivity.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: THE
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