Organizational BehaviorHuman Relations & Human
Resources Management
Dr. Len Elovitz
Chapter 1 & 3 in Owens & Valesky
WESTERN ELECTRIC’S
HAWTHORN PLANT
• IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
LEVEL OF LIGHTING AND THE
PRODUCTIVITY OF WORKERS?
Illumination Experiments
1. Illumination was increased then decreased
in stated intervals in 3 departments
Results: No change in productivity
2. Illumination was Increased for test group
and remained the same for control group
Results: Substantial and nearly equal production
increase for both groups
3.
Illumination was decreased for test group
and remained the same for control group
Results: Substantial production increase for
the test group
Conclusions: Employee output was not
substantially related to lighting conditions, and
too many variables were not controlled
Elton Mayo &
Fritz Roethlisberger
 Harvard psychologists retained to study the
relationship between physical conditions
and productivity
• Other similar experiments
• Conclusions –
– Human variability is an important determinant of
productivity
– Workers behavior did not conform to official job
specifications. Informal organizations formed that
effected job performance
 WESTERN ELECTRIC VIDEO
HUMAN RELATIONS SUPERVISION
 By paying attention to workers and their
needs, management could expect increases
in performance and productivity
HUMAN RELATIONS SUPERVISION
 EMPHASIS - HUMAN AND
INTERPERSONAL FACTORS IN
ADMINISTRATION
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Morale
Group Dynamics
Democratic Supervision
Personnel Relations
Behavioral Concepts of Motivation
Sociometry
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Jacob Moreno—developed sociometric analysis.
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Using data gathered from organizational members,
sociograms showed the informal social structures.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Classroom Sociogram
Behavior Patterns of Groups
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Robert Bales developed techniques for analyzing patterns of
interaction.
First to document that successful groups have people who play
two key roles:
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Someone to focus the group on accomplishing its task (Task
orientation/Initiating structure).
Someone who focuses on maintaining productive human relations in the
group (Relationship orientation/Concern for people).
Led to T Groups and Group Dynamics
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership as a Group Function &
the Paradox of Organizational
Structure
Prior to 1980s, Human Relations Movement had little affect
on superintendents as opposed to supervisors.
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Different focus on literature from AASA and ASCD.
Superintendents Remained Scientific – prime concerns- budgets,
politics, control
Supervisors – prime concerns- participation & communication
The paradox is that organizations are not real tangible,
concrete objects. They are what we and others think they are,
nothing more.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Criticism of HR
 It oversimplifies the complexities of
organizational life – Etzioni
 Organizations share conflicting values that may be
alienating as well as sources of satisfaction
 Will never be one big happy family
 Concern for workers is not authentic – managers
use HR approach to manipulate workers
 BOB
HUMAN RELATIONS SUPERVISION
 Problems
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Misunderstanding of intent
Belief that happy teachers would increase productivity
Led to laissez-faire supervision in schools
Supervisors afraid to supervise - public nature of personnel
actions in schools
 Led to dissatisfaction with schools
 Reported success were anecdotal from successful
administrators. Very little real research
NEOSCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
 Accountability
 Control
 Efficiency
 Impersonal - Standardized tests as a
measure of teacher competence
Bureaucratic Views
 Five mechanisms for dealing with controlling and
coordinating the behavior of people in an organization.
– Maintain firm hierarchical control of authority and close
supervision of those in the lower ranks.
– Establish and maintain adequate vertical communication.
– Develop clear written rules and procedures to set standards
and guide actions.
– Promulgate clear plans and schedules for participants to
follow.
– Add supervisory and administrative positions to the
hierarchy of the organization as necessary to meet
problems that arise from changing conditions confronted by
the organization.
Bureaucratic Views (continued)
 In 1983, A Nation At Risk, and other reports brought
recommendations that resulted in:
– Longer school days, focus on time on task, more
homework, career ladders, calls for stronger school
leadership of the principal, “tougher” curriculum, longer
school calendar and others.
 In essence, the bureaucratic model was at work:
management decided what was to be done, they
directed the workers to do it, and supervised them
closely.
 Although this model was not effective, it still persists
and is growing today.
NCLB
 The Federal Government knows how best to
improve classroom outcomes
 They have the knowledge about classroom
circumstances to draw up legal mandates
 Top-down management is the best way to
bring about desired changes.
RECAP HOW ARE TEACHERS TREATED?
 SCIENTIFIC
– Heavily Supervised
 HUMAN RELATIONS
– laissez-faire
 NEOSCIENTIFIC
– Impersonal & Technical
HUMAN RESOURCES
DEVELOPMENT
 Grew out of dissatisfaction with other
concepts and practices.
 Represents a high regard for human needs,
potential and satisfaction.
 Leadership is neither patronizing or
directive but supportive in meeting the
goals of the organization.
Human Resources Development
Views
 Human Resources Development (HRD) views the
teacher as foremost in creating instructional
change.
 HRD uses newer concepts such as loose coupling
(allowing subunits autonomy) and the power of
organization culture to influence behavior.
 HRD exercises coordination and control through
socialization of participants to the values and goals
of the organization, rather then through written
rules and close supervision.
The Human Relations Supervisor
Adopts shared decision-making practices
To increase teacher satisfaction
Which in turn
Increases school effectiveness
The Human Resources Supervisor
Adopts shared decision-making practices
To increase school effectiveness
Which in turn
Increases teacher satisfaction
Generally Teachers
– dislike work
or
– view work as satisfying
Generally Teachers
– must be supervised closely
or
– exercise initiative and self direction
Generally Teachers
– will shirk responsibility and seek formal direction
or
– accept responsibility and seek it
Douglas McGregor - Theory X
1. Average people are by nature indolent-they
work as little as possible.
2. They lack ambition, dislike responsibility,
prefer to be led.
3. They are inherently self-centered,
indifferent to organizational needs.
4. They are by nature resistant to change.
5. They are gullible, not very bright, ready
dupes of the charlatan and demagogue.
Douglas McGregor - Theory Y
1. If it is acceptable to them, employees will view
work as natural and as acceptable as play.
2. People at work will exercise initiative, selfdirection, and self-control on the job if they are
committed to the objectives of the organization.
3. The average person, under proper conditions,
learns not only to accept responsibility on the job
but to seek it.
4. The average employee values creativity - that is,
the ability to make good decisions - and seeks
opportunities to be creative at work
Theory X and Theory Y
 Theory X rests on four assumptions that an administrator holds about
people in the organization.
– They dislike work, must be supervised closely, will shirk
responsibility and seek formal direction, and have little ambition.
 Theory Y embraces four very different assumptions administrators
hold about the nature of people at work.
– They view work as satisfying, exercise initiative and self direction
if committed to the organization, learn to accept responsibility and
seek it, and have the ability to make good decisions.
Do Theory X Teachers result from Theory X
Supervisors?
Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy?
 PLEASE READ:
 The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas
McGregor
Pattern A & Pattern B Behavior
 Chris Argyris explains how Theory X views
give rise to Behavior Pattern A in leaders:
– Pattern A, Hard: characterized by no-nonsense,
strongly directive leadership, tight controls, and
close supervision.
– Pattern A, Soft: involves a good deal of
persuading, “buying” compliance from
subordinates, benevolent paternalism, or socalled good (that is, manipulative) human
relations.
Pattern A & Pattern B Behavior
(continued)
 Theory Y views lead to Behavior Pattern B:
– Characterized by a commitment to mutually
shared objectives, high levels of trust, respect,
satisfaction from work, and authentic, open
relationships.
– Pattern A, Soft, is often mistaken for Behavior
Pattern B.
Argyris’s Pattern A Soft Vs Pattern B
T. Sergiovanni
Rensis Likert Systems 1, 2, 3, and 4
 Based on studies of schools and other organizations,
Likert identified four systems describing management
styles.
– System 1 --Management is seen as having no trust in
subordinates. X
– System 2 –Management has condescending confidence and
trust in subordinates. X
– System 3 –Management seen as having substantial but not
complete trust in subordinates. X
– System 4 --Subordinates make specific decisions at lower
levels. Y
Likert’s Management Systems Theory