Elton Mayo (1880-1949)
“Man’s desire to be continuously associated in
work with his fellows is a strong, if not the
strongest, human characteristic. Any disregard of
it by management or any ill-advised attempt to
defeat this human impulse leads instantly to some
form of defeat for management itself.”
ELTON MAYO
Elton Mayo, an Australian, was a professor of Industrial Research at
the Harvard Graduate school of Business Administration.
He became famous for the Hawthorne studies which he conducted
with his associates during the period of 1924 to 1932 at the Western
Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago.
He wrote his first book in 1933 called ‘The Human Problems of an
Industrial Civilisation’. In 1945 he published another book called The
Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation.
Researches Findings relating to
managing people:
• Organisations have a ‘human’ element. People like to feel important and have their work recognized.
• There is a strong relationship between worker morale and the quality of supervision.
• There are factors other than the work environment which affect worker motivation.
• Workers develop ‘informal groups’ within the organisation.
• These ‘informal groups’ play significant roles in influencing group members’ behaviour.
• ‘Informal groups’ are more powerful than formal groups.
• Attitudes and feelings of workers influence productivity.
• People’s behaviour may differ, depending on whether they are acting as a group or as individuals.
• There is a reflect the changing behaviour of workers when someone takes an interest in
them.
• Mayo’s experiments prompted many other subsequent studies on workers’ morale, productivity and group dynamics.
• These experiments also have a bearing on subsequent studies on the types of leadership.
• It prompted the beginning of the Human Relations School of Management.
“Man’s desire to be continuously associated in
work with his fellows is a strong, if not the
strongest, human characteristic. Any disregard of
it by management or any ill-advised attempt to
defeat this human impulse leads instantly to some
form of defeat for management itself.”
ELTON MAYO
Elton Mayo, an Australian, was a professor of Industrial Research at
the Harvard Graduate school of Business Administration.
He became famous for the Hawthorne studies which he conducted
with his associates during the period of 1924 to 1932 at the Western
Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago.
He wrote his first book in 1933 called ‘The Human Problems of an
Industrial Civilisation’. In 1945 he published another book called The
Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation.
Researches Findings relating to
managing people:
• Organisations have a ‘human’ element. People like to feel important and have their work recognized.
• There is a strong relationship between worker morale and the quality of supervision.
• There are factors other than the work environment which affect worker motivation.
• Workers develop ‘informal groups’ within the organisation.
• These ‘informal groups’ play significant roles in influencing group members’ behaviour.
• ‘Informal groups’ are more powerful than formal groups.
• Attitudes and feelings of workers influence productivity.
• People’s behaviour may differ, depending on whether they are acting as a group or as individuals.
• There is a reflect the changing behaviour of workers when someone takes an interest in
them.
• Mayo’s experiments prompted many other subsequent studies on workers’ morale, productivity and group dynamics.
• These experiments also have a bearing on subsequent studies on the types of leadership.
• It prompted the beginning of the Human Relations School of Management.