HAWTHORNE STUDIES

Daniel, Fiona, Kasey & Ryan

Elton Mayo• born George Elton Mayo on

December 26, 1880, in Australia• in 1926, Mayo became the professor

of industrial research at Harvard University where he met Fritz Roethlisberger

• got a scholarship to do research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton school

• during his time in Pennsylvania, he conducted the experiment which made him famous, the Hawthorne Experiment

Kasey

• born in New York City, in 1898• was Mayo's assistant turned

collaborator in the Hawthorne Experiment, at the Western Electric Company Hawthorne Plant

• Roethlisberger, along with another writer, W.J. Dickson, published the first findings on the Hawthorne Experiment

Fritz Roethlisberger Kasey

The Hawthorne Effect

Illumination Experiment

Performed to determine a correlation between the brightness of the lighting in a room and a worker’s productivity

Designed to evaluate how efficiency would be affected by work hours and rest

periods

Relay Assembly Experiment

Fiona

The Hawthorne Experiments (cont'd)

Mass Interviewing Programme

21 000 employees were interviewed to discover reasons for an increase in

productivity

Men working in the bank-wiring department were placed under

observation to study social groups

Bank-wiring test

Fiona

The Hawthorne Effect

Slight changes could potentially accumulate to huge increases in productivity

Manipulation of independent variables showed varying results

Ryan

The Hawthorne Effects Contd.

Workers tended to work better while they knew they were being watched

Results were at times inconsistent and showed no clear trend

Ryan

http://youtube.com/v/D3pDWt7GntI

Limitations of the Theory• Difficult to identify the specific

work environment attributes thatcontributed to the increased productivity.

• Work environments differ therefore,theory may require modifications depending on the environment.

• There are many variables that need to be considered for this experiment to produce positive results therefore the theory has flaws and does not always work.

Daniel

• Currently used in factory environments, design/creative industries, as well as the education and services sector.

Current Results

• Managers constantly monitoring and modifyingworking environments toincrease productivity.

Daniel

• http://www.12manage.com/methods_mayo_hawthorne_effect.htmlhttp://classof1.com/homework_answers/psychology/hawthorne_effect/• http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/Harrison/hawthorne.html• http://psychology.about.com/od/hindex/g/def_hawthorn.htm• http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~bak00040• http://www.economist.com/node/13562099• http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_gurus/elton_mayo.htm• http://www.mbaknol.com/management-principles/elton-mayos-hawthorne-experiment-and-its-contributions-to-management/

Sources