Findings of hawthorne studies

Hawthorne Experiments on Human Behavior:

Originally designed as illumination studies to determine the relationship between lighting and productivity, the initial tests were sponsored by the National Research Council NRC of the National Academy of Sciences. In a research team from the Harvard Business School was invited to join the studies after the illumination tests drew unanticipated results.

Two additional series of tests, the Findings of hawthorne studies tests and the bank-wiring tests, followed the illumination tests. The Findings of hawthorne studies assumed the label Hawthorne experiments or studies from the location of the Western Electric plant.

Concluded bythe Hawthorne studies, with emphasis on a new interpretation of group behavior, were the basis for the school of human relations. The plant was a primary manufacturer of telephones, and in the company provided a site to cooperate with the NRC on a series of test room studies to determine the relationship between illumination and worker efficiency.

The basic idea was to vary and record levels of illumination in a test room with the expectation that as lighting was increased, productivity would too.

In another test room, illumination was decreased, with the correlating expectation that efficiency would decrease.

The electric power industry provided an additional impetus for these tests, hoping to encourage industries to use artificial lighting in place of natural light.

From the fall of to the spring ofthree series of tests were conducted and carefully monitored. Three departments at the Hawthorne plant were involved—relay assembling, coil winding, and inspection.

Workers were notified of the tests in order to attempt to control interference from human factors. When production increased in each test period, researchers looked to other factors such as increased supervision and a sense of competition that developed between the test and control groups.

But the one conclusion the impressive team of industrial specialists and academics discovered was the lack of a consistent correlation between lighting levels and product output. No further tests were planned originally, but researchers were surprised at the unanticipated results.

NRC representatives and the engineers involved drew several conclusions. First, illumination was one factor in output but not the most important.

More important to the tests was the realization there was not a simple answer to the issue of illumination and worker productivity and that other factors that were not controlled presented a problem with the test results—the issue of human factors.

In retrospect, researchers from the NRC and the Illuminating Engineering Society which together formed the Committee on Industrial Lighting stated they were not surprised by the test results.

They even predicted that other factors would affect the results, but their mandate was to isolate other variables, and the Hawthorne studies continued. The relay-assembly tests were designed to evaluate the effect rest periods and hours of work would have on efficiency. Researchers hoped to answer a series of questions concerning why output declined in the afternoon: Did the operators tire out?

Did they need brief rest periods? What was the impact of changes in equipment? What were the effects of a shorter work day?

What role did worker attitudes play? Hawthorne engineers led by George Pennock were the primary researchers for the relay-assembly tests, originally intended to take place for only a few months.

Six women operators volunteered for the study and two more joined the test group in January They were administered physical examinations before the studies began and then every six weeks in order to evaluate the effects of changes in working conditions on their health. The women were isolated in a separate room to assure accuracy in measuring output and quality, as temperature, humidity, and other factors were adjusted.

The test subjects constituted a piece-work payment group and efforts were made to maintain steady work patterns. A male observer was introduced into the test room to keep accurate records, maintain cordial working conditions, and provide some degree of supervision.

The women were employed in assembling relays or electromagnetic switches used in switching telephone calls automatically.

The women assembled the more than 35 parts of the relay by hand. The relays were then carefully inspected. The entire process was highly labor intensive and the speed of assembly had an obvious effect on productivity.

Initially the women were monitored for productivity, then they were isolated in a test room. Finally, the workers began to participate in a group payment rate, where extra pay for increased productivity was shared by the group.

User Contributions:

The other relay assemblers did not share in any bonus pay, but researchers concluded this added incentive was necessary for full cooperation. This single difference has been historically criticized as the one variable having the greatest significance on test results.

These initial steps in the relay-assembly studies lasted only three months.Hawthorne Studies have been subjected to many criticisms. Yet, the evolvement of many of the management theories today would not have come about without the experiments done by Elton Mayo.

This essay will cover the various aspects of management that has been refined through the findings of . Does your behavior change when you think people are watching?

This lesson describes the purpose and findings of the Hawthorne studies and their.

Hawthorne Studies The Hawthorne Studies, conducted at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant outside Chicago, starting in and running through , were intended to bring about a greater understanding of the effects of working conditions on worker productivity.

the findings of the hawthorne studies led researchers to look more closely at how __ could lead to better productivity human side of motivation; managerial styles while the four P's help us remember the basic components of the ___ they don't have significant relevance in the marketing process.

While these were the direct findings from the Hawthorne study, none of them were groundbreaking. But the researchers made another observation - one that led to an idea taught in nearly every business textbook used in the last 70 years.

Key findings of the Hawthorne Studies Role of the Hawthorne Studies and Hawthorne Effect in shaping the history and trajectory of industrial/ organizational (I/O) psychology and related disciplines Genesis and Growth of the Hawthorne Studies.