Hawthorne Studies

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The Hawthorne studies are called as such, as they were conducted at the Hawthorne works, a factory in Illinois owned by General Electric. The Hawthorne factory employing 40,000 workers was considered a “progressive” company advocating many “human relations style philosophies, although not for the reasons ascribed by mainstream management theory” (Hassard, 2012). This was due to the social organisation of the plant boasting a large migrant population. Employees received a company paid pension. They had vacations one week after five years and they had sickness disability pay. The Hawthorne plant was proven to be ahead of its time “providing many of the classic ingredients of a human relations approach to workforce management” (Hassard, 2012). This was supported through the establishment of social clubs, sports teams as well as evening schools for recent migrants. “The Hawthorne plant developed a reputation as a champion of welfare capitalism” (Jacoby, 1997). This is illustrated in the employee relations policy “As the company grows it must be more human-not less so”. Hence when Elton Mayo was invited by George Pennock to assist with the studies undertaken at the Hawthorne plant in 1927, he was able to “not so much turn the sociological tide at Hawthorne as swim briskly with it” (Hassard, 2012). Hassard argues that Elton Mayo was only involved in the studies as the Western Electric executives were impressed with his skills as a “communicator”. However the results of the Hawthorne studies were considered inconclusive as “it was at Harvard that the mass of inconclusive data and conflicting interpretations were reconciled” (Gillespie, 1991). It was ultimately left up to Elton Mayo to interpret the results in any way that he deemed fit.

Subsequently the ideas echoed by Elton Mayo have been furthermore developed by other prominent researchers such as the widely used theory “hierarchy of needs” by Maslow. Maslow explains that “motivation starts when an individual experiences a need, the individual then formulates a goal which upon achievement will satisfy the need” (Maslow, 1943). Furthermore Douglas McGregor studied worker attitudes resulting in his theory X and Y. The results of both these theories can be linked back to the interpretations of Elton Mayo at the Hawthorne works and the studies from the Philadelphia mill.

Ultimately “the point of view which gradually emerged from the studies was to regard a business organisation as a social system” (George Lampard, AT&T Archives). Elton Mayo used the “red scare” of the 1920’s to prove to the upper management hierarchy that workers are not machines and that their social needs must also be addressed. Elton Mayo interpreted the finding of the Hawthorne studies in such a way that it proved to be the catalyst in revolutionising management thought, consequently inspiring the likes of Maslow and Douglas McGregor to found and refine the human resource movement which forms the core of management thought to this very day.

Total word count: 1508

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