Theories of Management - Behavioral approach of management - Chapter 1 - Part 7

C. Behavioral approach of management:

As explained earlier the classical management approaches, and in particular scientific management, were criticized for being mechanistic and dehumanizing in nature and none emphasized human behavior in organizations. The behavioral approaches to management demonstrate that job satisfaction through effective leadership and motivation influences organizational performance.

Behavioral approaches to management therefore attempted to understand the "human aspects" in organizations and the main contributions to this approach are:

1.      The Hawthorne studies

The Hawthorne studies were named so because they were conducted at the Western Electric's Hawthorne plant near Chicago. The management of the company hired a team of Harvard researchers led by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger to find the main physical working conditions (starting with lighting) which might be affecting workers' efficiency and productivity. Three sets of studies were carried out and the first two are discussed below.

 Hawthorne Studies - Experiment 1 'The Illumination Experiments" - The researchers changed the lighting in the factory to assess the effects of different lighting conditions on productivity. However one group of workers - the control group - was kept in constant lighting conditions. They observed that:

·         The control's group productivity increased;

·         Where lighting conditions were improved, productivity also increased;

·         Where lighting conditions were deteriorated, productivity still increased

As level of productivity was rising in an unpredictable manner, the researchers were baffled and decided to look for other physical working conditions that might affect productivity.

Hawthorne Studies - Experiment 2:  In this second set of experiments, five female workers were placed separately in a Relay Assembly Test Room and the researchers acted as supervisors. As a consequence the researchers were able to alter a number of work conditions whereby:

·         There were no formal supervisors present;

·         Wages were increased and workdays and workweeks were shortened;

·         The length of rest periods was altered and the group members were free to choose when to take them.

A control group, which did not benefit from any changes, was also tested in order to compare findings between both groups. Once again the researchers found that productivity, in both groups, peaked after which it began to fall erratically. At this stage in the Hawthorne Studies, Mayo and his associates made their first contribution to the behavioral approach - namely the Hawthorne Effect. The Hawthorne Effect It is obvious that the only common element between the control group and the "five female workers test group" was the presence of the researchers. The researchers argued that since both groups of workers were being monitored closely and received special attention, they became more motivated than usual. This phenomenon of increased motivation to work harder, due to special attention, is known as the Hawthorne effect. So the researchers suggested that employees' behavior and productivity are influenced by management's/supervisors' attitude towards them.

2.      The Human Relations Movement

The human relations approach tried to encourage managers to move away from the belief that employees were motivated only by material and economic incentives and instead proposed that managers recognize the necessity of interpersonal processes as an important motivational mechanism for employees. Two important contributors to the human relations movement are:

·         Abraham Maslow for his "hierarchy of needs theory" which suggests that people are motivated by the need to satisfy a sequence of human needs, including physiological (the most basic needs), safety, social, esteem and self-actualization.

·         Douglas McGregor for his "Theory X and Theory Y" which describe two opposing management views of employees. Theory X views employees as innately lazy and without ambitions, while Theory Y sees employees as motivated, hard-working and responsible beings. McGregor preferred the Theory Y management approach whereby he observed that job satisfaction increases employees' performance. This, he argued, is achieved by allowing employees to exercise responsibility and participate fully in the organization.

3.      The Behavioral science approach

Though the human relations movement has contributed to management approaches by highlighting the importance of motivating employees through job satisfaction, it has nevertheless been criticized for being based solely on theories rather than scientific evidence. Hence the behavioral science approach to management is based on scientifically developing and establishing theories about human behavior in organizations which can be used to provide practical guidelines for managers. Researchers from diverse disciplines such as economics, psychology, sociology and even mathematics have joined their efforts in order to gain scientific knowledge about human behavior. Many concepts pertaining to human behavior and the organization are tested in laboratory settings. Findings are then presented to management practitioners, who can apply them to their organizations.