Chapter Seventeen
Human Relations in Concept and
Practice
Impact of Human Relations on
Teaching and Practice

Extensions of Human Relations Teachings::




The Committee on Human Relations in Industry
(the Chicago group) with Burleigh Gardner,
William Whyte, Lloyd Warner, and David Moore.
The Tavistock Institute (London) influenced by
Lewin.
The Harvard group: they influenced Chester
Barnard and vice versa.
Center for Group Dynamics of Kurt Lewin, later
moved to the University of Michigan as Likert’s
Institute for Social Research.
Impact of Human Relations on
Teaching and Practice

Organized Labor and Human Relations:




Critics, such as Mary B. Gilson, suggested human
relations had an anti-labor bias.
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was
followed by a spurt in union membership.
Compare the data regarding causes of work
stoppages in the 1920s with the causes following
passage of the National Labor Relations Act.
Feelings, sentiments, and collaboration became
the theme in contrast to scientific investigation.
This, for Wren, is the major difference between
the human relations era and OB.
Hawthorne Studies Revisited

Landsberger
identified four
separate areas of
criticism:

The Relay Assembly Test Room
The Mayoists’ view
of society as one
characterized by
anomie, social
disorganization, and
conflict.
Hawthorne Studies Revisited

Landsberger’s criticism continued:



Their acceptance of management’s views of the
worker and management’s “willingness to
manipulate workers for management’s ends”
Their failure to recognize other alternatives for
accommodating industrial conflict, such as
collective bargaining
Their specific failure to take unions into account as
a method of building social solidarity. (See Wren
text for further discussion.)
Premises of an
Industrial Civilization



Daniel Bell’s criticisms that the Mayorists saw
themselves as “social engineers” and
assumed that happy workers were productive
ones (“cow sociology”).
Further, the counseling program, according to
Bell, did not address the underlying problems
in industry but only intended to make people
“feel better” about their situation.
Bell foresaw human relations supervision
replacing efforts to improve work itself.
Premises of an Industrial
Civilization


William Fox’s expressed criticism that human
relations would become the goal rather than
the means for furthering attainment of
organizational objectives.
In summary – those who challenged human
relations assumptions did so on these bases:



That workers could be manipulated.
That cooperation and collaboration overlooked
other, more complex, issues.
That means were confused with ends.
Research Methods and Results

Alex Carey noted that the
measurement had changed
in reporting the results of
comparing the Mica Splitters
with the second Relay
Assembly group. In so
doing, the researchers
concluded that supervision,
not incentives, led to the
increases and Carey says
this is an erroneous
conclusion.
Mica Splitting Test at Hawthorne
Research Methods and Results


Carey also criticized the claim of “friendly
supervision.” Output did not increase until
two operatives were replaced with more
“cooperative” ones.
Franke and Kaul concluded that it was neither
supervision nor incentives but discipline, the
economic hard times, and relief from fatigue
that led to increased productivity. Recall that
Clair Turner rejected this latter point as a
cause.
Research Methods and Results


Toelle noted that Franke and Kaul treated the Relay
Assemblers as one group when in fact there was the
original group and the change of operatives that
created a second group. He agreed with Schlaifer
that the “passage of time” explained most of the
increased output.
The passage of time argument, that is, that it took a
while for the group to coalesce and for trust to be
built with the observer-supervisor, is also supported
by the recollections of the participants.
Research Methods and Results


Elton Mayo
A final criticism rests
with the “Science
versus Advocacy”
problem.
The “advocacy” issue
is that Mayo
selectively perceived
the data to fit his
social philosophy.
Research Methods and Results


This weighs heavily against Mayo and is one
of the reasons the Hawthorne Studies have
created so much fuss.
Richard Trahair, in The Humanist Temper, an
excellent biography of Mayo, and Richard
Gillespie, in a thorough study, also stress
Mayo’s errors as an advocate and not a
scientist. Gillespie claims that Mayo
“manufactured” the Hawthorne findings.
Research Methods and Results


Hawthorne Study participants decades later: Left to right:
Theresa Layman, Don Chipman, Mary Volango, and
Wanda Blazejak.
Finally, economic
incentives were played
down as a contributing
factor as the Hawthorne
Study proceeded and as
the years passed.
Yet the data and the
recollections of the
participants suggest
that money was indeed
a contributing factor.
Summary


The Hawthorne Studies advanced the idea of
improving human relations in organizations.
Accepted findings of Hawthorne:




Human relations is a toll for understanding
organization behavior, not an end in itself.
Trust is crucial in building interpersonal
relationships to bind the needs of people and
organizations.
Financial incentives are important but not the only
incentives.
Selecting facts to fit preconceived ideas should be
avoided.
Chapter Eighteen
The Social Person Era in
Retrospect
The Social Person Era




The
The
The
The
Economic Environment
New Technologies
Social Environment
Political Environment
The Economic Environment




The 1920s were a period of prosperity, rising real
wages, and low unemployment.
The unemployment rate in 1929 was 3 percent.
Although the stock market crashed in 1929, the
impact on employment came more slowly and the
peak was not reached in 1933.
Note: The use of “Darby corrected” data to gauge
how federal and state unemployment relief programs
reduced the reported number of unemployed by
about 5 percent.
Stock Market Crash – 1929


Herbert Hoover
Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-
0086850. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society
President Hoover
proposed work sharing
rather than lay-offs,
and this seemed to
work for awhile.
Employee stock
ownership plans were
double-edged swords;
prosperity for the
1920s, but tragedy in
the 1930s.
Stock Market Crash



Attitudes toward women
working outside the home
changed as two wage
earner families became
more important
Will Rogers’ made an
observation that the
automobiles bought during
the prosperous 1920s were
used to look for work in
the 1930s.
Keynesian economics ran
counter to the Protestant
ethic notion of thrift.
Model T 1927
Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN0083387. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical
Society
The New Technologies

Joseph Schumpeter’s
(1883-1950) ideas
about innovation and
economic development
are noteworthy.



Economic development
came from innovation.
“Creative Destruction”
He favored supply side
economics, not the
Keynesian approach.
Joseph Schumpeter
The New Technologies


Spirit of St. Louis
Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN0084846. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical
Society

Transportation,
communication, and
entertainment progress
was apparent in
automobiles, aircraft,
radio, television, etc.
Developments in main
frame computers, dry
copying, polio vaccine,
antibiotics, DNA, etc.
Public sector projects led
to atomic energy; dam,
road, and bridge building;
the Tennessee Valley
Authority, etc.
The Social Environment

The Lynds’ study of
“Middletown” found
workers of the 1920s
were guided by
economic motives. This
supports, on a limited
basis, the pros and cons
of incentives during the
Hawthorne studies.
The Social Environment


Social values were in transition, shifting from
the Protestant work ethic to a social ethic.
More collective action and turning to groups
for security – consistent with an emphasis in
management thought during this time on
social needs
David C. McClelland (1917-1998)

David C. McClelland
Found a decline in the
need for achievement
and the rise of a need
for affiliation.
David Riesman




Noted the shift from the inner-directed to the otherdirected person.
Inner-directed – represented the era of laissez-faire
capitalism, the Protestant Ethic, and emphasized selfdirection and control.
Other-directed – characterized by high social mobility
and by emphasis on consumption rater than
production and on getting along and being accepted
by others as the key to accomplishment.
Shift from the “invisible hand to glad hand” – shift
from individualism to collectivism.
The Social Environment

Dale Carnegie – “getting along” solution of
How to Win Friends and Influence People.

William G. Scott’s use of fictional literature to
show the shift in social values toward more
emphasis on the group and the social person.
The Political Environment


Franklin D. Roosevelt
Courtesy of the Constitution Society
The New Deal of F. D.
Roosevelt promised
to reshuffle society’s
cards to benefit the
“little people.”
This brought an
abundance of
legislation.
Legislation



Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established a
minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and a
maximum 44 hour work week, with time and
a half pay for hours over that, for covered
workers.
The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
(1938)
Federal Anti-Injunction Act, known more
commonly as the Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932,
pre FDR)
The National Labor Relations
Act (1935)

The most important piece of legislation for
labor in U.S. History




Guaranteed the right to bargain collectively
Guaranteed the right of self-organization. This
would lead to the downfall of employee
representation plans
Specified unfair practices of management
Established the National Labor Relations Board.
The Wagner Act

Also a critical turning point for unions…


A new union, the CIO, was formed for industrial
workers and enjoyed instant success.
Work stoppages increased from 1935-1939 and
were caused primarily by the desire to organize a
union.
Summary of Part Three



Figure 18-1 depicts the Social Person Era.
Mary Parker Follett bridged the Scientific
Management era with the emerging group.
The Hawthorne Studies brought the human
relations movement to the forefront.





Increased concern for people
Calls for less rigid organizational structures
View that financial motives are only one part
Concern for emotion as well as efficiency
The human relations movement reflected the
cultural environment.
Summary of Part Three cont.

Two approaches to post-Hawthorne research:




Micro researchers studied people in groups.
Macro researchers viewed leadership as a group
interactive-situational phenomenon, leading to
organizational behavior and organization theory.
Descendants of Scientific Management, like
Mooney, Reiley, Davis, and Barnard, addressed
new organizational issues.
The culture of the period, shaped by economic
stress, led to a decline in the Protestant ethic and
more focus on people, not production.
Internet Resources









Academy of Management – Management History Division Website
http://www.aomhistory.baker.edu/departments/leadership/mgthistory/links.html
List of Internet Resources compiled by Charles Booth
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/MANAGEMENT-HISTORY/links.htm
Western Libraries Business Library – Biographies of Gurus
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/gurus.html
People whose Ideas Influence Organisational Work
http://www.onepine.info/people.htm
Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Experiences
http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_01.html
Bell System Memorial – Western Electric History
http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/westernelectric_history.html
What we Teach Students about the Hawthorne Studies
http://siop.org/tip/backissues/Jan%2004/05olson.htm
Mary Parker Follett
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-foll.htm
Mary Parker Follett Foundation
http://www.follettfoundation.org/
Internet Resources








Chester Barnard - Brownlow Commission Excerpts
http://www.albany.edu/~dkw42/barnard.html
Eduard Lindeman
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-lind.htm
Jacob Moreno
http://www.psybernet.co.nz/moreno.htm
Kurt Lewin - Force Field Analysis
http://www.accel-team.com/techniques/force_field_analysis.html
Kurt Lewin
http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/lewin.asp
National Labor Relations Act
http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/legal/manuals/rules/act.asp
National Labor Relations Act – Document Images
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=67
Abraham Maslow
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhmasl.html
Internet Resources








James Worthy Biography and Papers
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/findingaids/james_worthy.pdf
McCormick and Company, Inc. History
http://www2.mccormick.com/mchr.nsf/moret/McCormick's+History+Of+Valuing
+People?OpenDocument
T. W. Adorno – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/adorno/
Rensis Likert
http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_04_likert.html
Colleagues Salute William Foote Whyte
http://www.asanet.org/governance/Whyte%20Footnotes%20Sept%202000.pdf
The Tavistock Institute
http://www.tavinstitute.org/index.php
Herbert A. Simon
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/psy/faculty/hsimon/hsimon.html
George C. Homans
http://www.asanet.org/governance/homans.html
Internet Resources





Past Presidents of the Academy of Management (photos)
http://www.aomonline.org/aom.asp?ID=195
Joseph Schumpeter – 50th Anniversary of his Death
http://www.geocities.com/bcschipper/schumpeter.html
The New Deal Network
http://newdeal.feri.org/
Links Related to the New Deal
http://www.roosevelt.edu/newdeal/links.htm
Fair Labor Standards Act
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/
End of Part Three