The Importance Of Harthworne Study For The American Organization Theory

The influence of the Hawthorne study on the American organization theory
Content
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................2 I. A. B. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) C. II. A. B. C. D. Theoretical repercussions in the US.............................................................................................. 4 The scientific management ........................................................................................................ 4 The human relations movement ............................................................................................... 4 The discovery of the Harvard team research in the continuity of Mayo’s researches ....... 4 Leadership theories................................................................................................................ 5 Management style theories ................................................................................................... 6 Needs and expectations theories .......................................................................................... 8 Motivation theories................................................................................................................ 8 Development of the individual in the organization .............................................................. 9 Continuation of the human relations movement ..................................................................... 9 Practical repercussions in the US..................................................................................................11 Scientific management to human relations movement...........................................................11 Human relations movement ......................................................................................................11 Following developments.......................................................................................................... 12 Actual management in the United States ................................................................................ 12

Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................. 14Sources................................................................................................................................................... 15

1

Introduction
The American organizational theory has known for century many evolutions: the general process of industrialization first led to scientific analyses; bureaucratization, unionization and the rise of the engineering professions explained also the emergence of scientific development. Finally the humanrelations school is associated with the rise of welfare capitalism, vocational guidance, personnel administration, and growing importance of the social-psychological science and consulting. This last part is the particular subject of this paper and started with the Hawthorne experience (1927/1932).

As the book of Jean-Michel Plane1 presents it, George Elton Mayo (1880 – 1949) was an organizationaltheorist born in Australia and who lived in the US. He considered in his research the question of the repetition of tasks and its consequences on employees; he then did researches on fatigue and medical psychology. The studies in the workshops of the Western Electric Company of Chicago in 1924 about the effects of a better lighting made the company realize soon that there were other reasons asphysiological. For this reason they asked Mayo, who was known for criticizing Taylor’s organization concepts, to participate to their research. The first experiences were studies about the fatigue, the interest of the work, or the effects of pauses and allowed to observe first improvement of the quality. The second experiences started with 1600 interviews with employees; they showed the importance...