Page 43 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT

Unit 2: Evolution of Management Thought

Electric Company, Chicago. The experiment lasted upto 1932. Earlier, from 1924 to 1927, the Notes
National Research Council made a study in collaboration with the Western Electric Company to
determine the effect of illumination and other conditions upon workers and their productivity.
1. Illumination Experiment: This experiment was conducted to establish relationship between
output and illumination. The output tended to increase every time as the intensity of light
was improved. But the output again showed an upward trend when the illumination was
brought down gradually from the normal level. Thus, it was found that there is no consistent
relationship between output of workers and illumination in the factory. There were some
other factors which influenced the productivity of workers when the intensity of light was
increased or decreased.
2. Relay Assembly Room Experiment: In this experiment, a small homogeneous work-group
of girls was constituted. Several new elements were introduced in the work atmosphere of
this group. These included shorter working hours, rest pauses, improved physical
conditions, friendly and informal supervision, free social interaction among group
members, etc. Productivity and morale increased considerably during the period of the
experiment. Morale and productivity were maintained even if improvements in working
conditions were withdrawn. The researches concluded that socio-psychological factors
such as feeling of being important, recognition, attention, participation, cohesive work-
group, and non-directive supervision held the key for higher productivity.
3. Bank Wiring Observation Room Experiment: This experiment was conducted to study a
group of workers under conditions which were as close as possible to normal. This group
comprised of 14 workers. After the experiment, the production records of this group were
compared with their earlier production records. There were no significant changes in the
two because of the maintenance of ‘normal conditions’. However, existence of informal
cliques in the group and informal production norms were observed by the researchers.
The Bank Wiring Experiment led to the following observations:
(a) Each individual was restricting output.

(b) The group had its own “unofficial” standards of performance.
(c) Individual output remained fairly constant over a period of time.
(d) Departmental records were distorted due to differences between actual and reported
output or between standard and reported working time.
4. Mass Interview Programme: The researchers interviewed a large number of workers with
regard to their opinions on work, working conditions and supervision. Initially, a direct
approach was used whereby interviewers asked questions considered important by
managers and researchers. Later, this approach was replaced by an indirect technique
where the interviewer simply listed to what the employees had to say. The findings
confirmed the importance of social factors at work in the total work environment.

Contributions of Human Relations Approach or Hawthorne Studies

The human relationists proposed the following points as a result of their findings of the
Hawthorne experiments:
1. Social System: The organisation in general is a social system composed of numerous
interacting parts. The social system defines individual roles and establishes norms that
may differ from those of the formal organisation.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 35