Hawthorne Studies
Elton Mayo’s Study on Employee Motivation
and Work Productivity
What Will Be Covered
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Definition of the Hawthorne Studies
About Elton Mayo
Experiment that Mayo conducted
Results
Brainstorming: How this can be used in organizations
Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of topic
How it works in the field
Real World Example
Conclusions
George Elton Mayo (December 26, 1880 September 7, 1949) was an Australian
psychologist, sociologist and organization
theorist.
He lectured at the University of Queensland
from 1919 to 1923 before moving to the
University of Pennsylvania, but spent most of
his career at Harvard Business School (1926 1947), where he was professor of industrial
research.
Elton Mayo is known as the founder of the
Human Relations Movement, and is known for
his research including the Hawthorne Studies,
and his book The Social Problems of an
Industrialised Civilization (1933).
Definition of the Hawthorne Studies
“The Hawthorne Studies were conducted
from 1924-1932 at the Western Electric
Hawthorne Works in Chicago, where
Harvard Business School Professor Elton
Mayo examined productivity and work
conditions.”
“Mayo wanted to find out what effect
fatigue(weakness) and monotony
(variation) had on job productivity and
how to control them through such
variables as rest breaks, work hours,
temperatures, lighting and humidity.”
The Hawthorne Plant
Airplane View of Hawthorne Works, ca. 1925
Human Relations and Harvard Business School
Women in the Relay Assembly Test Room, ca.
1930
Cord Finishing Department, ca. 1925
The Hawthorne Studies can be conveniently
divided into five major parts. The five studies
are referred to as:
Experiment on Illumination (Lighting)
2. Relay Assembly Test Room
a)Second Relay Assembly Test Room
b)Mica Splitting Test Room
3. Mass Interviewing Program
4. Bank Wiring Observation Room
5. Personnel Counseling
1.
Illumination Studies
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1924-1927
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Funded by General Electric
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Conducted by The National Research Council (NRC) of the National
Academy of Sciences with engineers from MIT
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Measured Light Intensity vs. Worker Output
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Result :
◦ Higher worker productivity and satisfaction at all light levels
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Conclusions:
◦ Light intensity has no conclusive effect on output
◦ Productivity has a psychological component
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Concept of “Hawthorne Effect” was created
Relay Assembly Test Experiments 1927-1929
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Western Electric wanted more information
Harvard researchers brought in to analyze the results – Elton Mayo & Fritz
Roethlisberger
Group of 6 Women – (5) Assemblers and (1) Layout Operator
One Observer – Explained every incremental change and recorded results
Manipulated factors of production to measure effect on output:
◦ Pay Incentives
◦ Length of Work Day & Work Week
◦ Use of Rest Periods
◦ Company Sponsored Meals
Results:
◦ Higher output and greater employee satisfaction
Conclusions:
◦ Positive effects even with negative influences – workers’ output will
increase as a response to attention
◦ Strong social bonds were created within the test group. Workers are
influenced by need for recognition, security and sense of belonging
Relay assembly test room operators 1927
Relay Assembly Room #2
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1928-1929
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Measured effect on output with compensation rates
◦ Special observation room
◦ 1st Session- Relay Assemblers changed from departmental
incentive to small group incentive
◦ 2nd Session - Adjusted back to large group incentive
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Results:
◦ Small group incentives resulted in highest sustained level of production
– 112% over standard output base
◦ Output dropped to 96.2% of base in 2nd session
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Conclusion:
◦ Pay relevant to output but not the only factor
Mica Splitting Test Group
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1928-1931
Measured output with changes to work conditions only:
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Special Observation Room
Length of Work Day
Use of Rest Periods
Workers stayed on established Piece-rate compensation
Result:
◦ Productivity increased by 15% over standard output base
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Conclusions:
◦ Productivity is affected by non-pay considerations
◦ Social dynamics are a basis of worker performance
Plant Interview Program
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1925-1927 – Objective Questions
◦ Work Conditions
◦ Work Relationships
◦ Yes/No Answers
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1928-1932 – Conversational / Non-directive
◦ Attentive Sympathetic Listening
◦ Concern for personal needs
◦ Increased in time from 30-90 minutes
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Result:
◦ Remarkable positive employee perceptions
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Conclusions:
◦ New Supervisory Style improved worker morale
Bank Wiring Observation Group
1931-1932
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this study, a group of fourteen men were engaged in
'bank-wiring,' i.e. attaching wires to switches for certain
parts of telephone equipment.
 The fourteen participants in the experiment were asked
to assemble telephone wiring to produce terminal
banks.
 This time no changes were made in the physical
working conditions.
 The workers were paid on the basis of an incentive pay
plan, under which their pay increased as their output
increased
Bank Wiring Observation Group cont.
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Limited changes to work conditions
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Segregated work area
No Management Visits
Supervision would remain the same
Observer would record data only – no interaction with workers
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Small group pay incentive
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Result:
◦ No appreciable changes in output
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Conclusions:
◦ Preexisting performance norms
◦ Group dictated production standards - Systemic Soldiering
◦ Work Group protection from management changes.
Personnel Counseling
Sessions with a personnel counselor were
scheduled for the staff, where problems
with the job were discussed.
Results from Hawthorne Studies
Discovery that workplaces are social environments
 Within workplaces, people are motivated by much
more than economic self interest
 All aspects of industrial environment carry social value
 The group developed an increased sense of
responsibility and discipline no longer needed to come
from a higher authority, it came from within the group.
 Impact on Management Theory
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◦ Represent the beginning of the human relations movement in
the study of management
Results
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Researchers found that output rates weren’t directly
related to the physical conditions of the work.
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Output went up when:
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They were put on piece-work for eight weeks.
Two five minute rest pauses were introduced for five weeks.
Rest pauses were lengthened to ten minutes.
A hot meal was supplied during first pause.
They were dismissed at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5:00 p.m.
Results Cont.
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It remained the same when they were dismissed at 4:00 p.m.
instead of 4:30 p.m.
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Mayo believes “what actually happened was that six individuals
became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and
spontaneously to cooperation in the experiment. The consequence
was that they felt themselves to be participating freely and without
afterthought, and were happy in the knowledge that they were
working without coercion from above or limitations from below.”
http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417reshef/mayo.htm
Brainstorming: How this can be used in
organizations
Cooperation and communication with
coworkers.
 Rearrange/reorganize job functions.
 Create an atmosphere of working as a
team.
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Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic
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Interviewing
◦ Provide insight to workers moral, their likes
and dislikes and how they felt about their
bosses.
Explanation of Topic Cont.
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Role of Supervisor
◦ Retained the responsibility of making sure
that their workers reached production levels,
should lead their workers.
How it Works in the Field
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Aspects of Hawthorne Studies
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Workers
Management
Motivation
Productivity
How it Works in the Field Cont.
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Workers
◦ Insights, suggestions, likes and dislikes, moral,
training.
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Management
◦ Transfer of power to workers, knowing their
workers.
How it Works in the Field Cont.
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Motivation
◦ Incentives to increase productivity and quality.
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Productivity
◦ By increasing the output rate and keeping
costs down, the company will be able to
increase profits.
Real World Example
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Swedish Case
◦ Pay system didn’t fit the structure of jobs and
organization.
◦ Two years later an incentive system was
added, productivity went up 45%.
Real World Example Cont.
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Swedish Case
◦ New incentive system provided motivation
through tying cooperation and teamwork.
Exercise
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Brainstorm ideas that can motivate employees
to increase productivity and find ways to
implement them.
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Think of more efficient ways in which a process
can be completed and who you might go to in
order to find this out.
Summary
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Hawthorne Studies dealing with worker
motivation and work productivity.
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Increase communication and cooperation
among coworkers.
Summary Cont.
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Motivation can cause an increase in productivity
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Involve employees in decision making.
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Create a sense of belonging by creating teams.
Conclusions.
Work is a group activity.
• The social world for an adult is primarily patterned
about work.
• Need for recognition, security and sense of belonging
• Attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by social
demands – workers are influenced by other workers.
• Informal groups at work are strong social controls over
the work habits and attitudes of a worker
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Hawthorne Experiments
THANK YOU!
Are there any
questions?
by Elton Mayo