Worker Interdependence and Output: the Hawthorne Studies

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Worker Interdependence and
Output: the Hawthorne
Studies Reevaluated
Stephen R. G. Jones
American Sociological Review,
Vol. 55 No. 2 (Apr., 1990), 176190
The Hawthorne experiment
♦ Hawthorne studies: late 1920s and early
1930s
♦ “Naïve attempt to relate worker productivity to
the intensity of illumination in the Hawthorn
plant of Western Electric”
♦ Hawthorne: argues that external factors
suffice to explain the variation of workers
output
Purpose of the Study
• “Human relations” interpretation of the
Hawthorne experiment
• Attempts to synthesize external factors
with workers’ interdependence, the role of
social interactions and small group
dynamics at the plant
Purpose of the Study
• “To study interdependence among worker
output levels as recorded in the Relay
Assembly Test Room during the 19271932 period.”
Method and Sample
• Data from the “Relay Assembly Test
Room” 1927 – 1932
• Weekly records (270 weeks)
• Statistical analysis of these records
• Experimental Group: 5 women
“The process of selecting workers for
the study does not seem to have been
systematic”
Experimental Group
• The five women who worked in the relay
room were quite young:
– 4 of them were between 20 and 22 years old
– 4 were born in the US, one has immigrated
from Norway
– “The docile submission of Operator 1, the
restless impatience of Operator 2, the
moodiness of Operator 3, the sturdy
independence of Operator 4, and the
aloofness of Operator 5”
Method and Data
• External Factors studied:
Unemployment rate, weather conditions (such
as heat or cold waves), Economic conditions
(coming depression), absence from work,
reported sickness etc.
Method and Data
• Internal Factors studied
– Workers’ Interdependence: Does the output
of worker 1 affect the output of worker 2? How
are these interrelated? Can this be statistically
measured? Can causality be identified?
Available Data
1) Statistical Inputs
• A wide range of indicators: weekly and daily
outputs, heat waves, cold waves, time spent
repairing machinery, voluntary rest, seating
change, unemployment rate, small group pay,
health, Raw materials problems, days worked
per week etc.
Available Data
2) Qualitative:
Verbal accounts of early Hawthorne researchers
regarding the group dynamics.
Researchers provided detailed descriptions of
daily interactions in the Assembly Room.
Hypothesis
• H0: No other worker affects worker i.
• H0: No other worker is affected by worker i.
In addition, following research findings were
tested: (1) the relative independence of worker
5; (2) the significantly positive mutual
interdependence between several pairs of
workers and (3) the two pairs of workers with a
significantly negative mutual interdependence
Method
• Controlling the external factors
– In order to study interdependence, external
factors and their impact on output had to be
isolated
– These factors included 1) factors that
impacted the whole group (economic
conditions, group benefits, temperature etc)
and 2) factors impacting particular workers
(sickness, situation at home, rest time, repair
time etc.)
Method
• Interdependence was understood as a
correlation between outputs of particular
workers in relation to others.
• Various data were observed, including
proximity at the site (for example, has
there been a change when worker 1 was
placed next to worker 2) and correlations
between changes of outputs.
Findings (examples)
• External factors:
• worker 2 of Italian extraction was
negatively affected by extremely cold
weather, while workers of polish origin as
well as Norwegian worker were unaffected
Findings
• Workers Interdependence:
– Worker 5: Independence (due to age, marital
status and the fact that worker 5 wasn’t born
in the US)
– Various levels of correlations between other
workers:
• Positive effects were seen between workers 1 and
2, 2 and 4, and 3 and 4, while workers 2 and 3
have negative effects on one another
Findings and Conclusions
• The statistical results were compared with
researchers’ descriptions of interactions at the Relay
Assembly Test Room.
• Overall, there is a surprisingly high degree of
correspondence between the present statistical
analysis of worker interdependence and those verbal
accounts given by the early Hawthorne researchers.
The independence of worker 5, the sympathies and
friendships between several pairs of the women, and
the antipathies between some others are all reflected
both in statistical results and in the detailed
descriptions of daily interaction.
Conclusions
• The null hypothesis of independence was
clearly rejected
• The role of external control variables is
much weaker once the presence of
interdependence is recognized
• The human relations approach to industrial
sociology is not controverted by the
original Hawthorne data from which it
began
Discussion
• This study complemented statistical
analysis with qualitative data
• The causality was better established when
qualitative and psychological
characteristics were employed and
complemented
THANK YOU
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