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S03b - Reassessing Human Relations

The document discusses reassessing the field of human relations. It summarizes the phases of Elton Mayo's Western Electric studies, moving from studying the human factor and lighting experiments to adopting depth interview techniques and recognizing the influence of informal work groups. While human relations focused on management ideology and worker irrationality, the field is complex and evolving, recognizing emerging social problems and sociological approaches at both the work group and societal levels.

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73 views14 pages

S03b - Reassessing Human Relations

The document discusses reassessing the field of human relations. It summarizes the phases of Elton Mayo's Western Electric studies, moving from studying the human factor and lighting experiments to adopting depth interview techniques and recognizing the influence of informal work groups. While human relations focused on management ideology and worker irrationality, the field is complex and evolving, recognizing emerging social problems and sociological approaches at both the work group and societal levels.

Uploaded by

api-3695734
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Reassessing Human Relations

Human Relations
• Rejection of money as central motivator of
work behaviour
• Denial of individualism
• Assertions of worker’s irrationalism and
moral dependence on management
• Unworkable manipulatory techniques
• Methodological, theoretical and ideological
lapses
Reassessing Human Relations
• Is prevailing understanding of human
relations definitive?
Probably not.
• But Human relations is still often equated
with the work and thought of Elton Mayo
- Recognize these emerging social problems
and to popularize attractive explanations
and solutions for them
Disadvantage
• Theoretical ideas come to diversify and
change in social investigation

• Will not leave much space to discuss


human relations as a practical movement
amongst managers (manager ideology)
Reassessing Human Relation
• ‘Human relations’ and ‘industrial sociology’
were virtually interchangeable terms

• Sociology approach into two main levels


- Work group in an organization
- Second level is society as a whole
Mayo and the Western Electric
studies
Four phases
• The human factor phase
• The Clinical phase
• The authropological phase
• The manipulatory phase
The human factor phase
• Approach comparable to British human
factor industrial psychology
• On relation between output and
illumination
• Lighting experiments
(i) First Relay Assembly Group
(ii) Second Relay Assembly Group
(iii) The Mica Splitting Group
The Clinical Phase
• Programme of interviews as a plan for improving
supervision
• At first, interviews were rather formal, relatively
structured, and excessively to the point
• Gradually, a more open-ended approach to
interviewing emerged.
• Finally, an interviewing technique close to
therapeutic counselling was derived to explore
these (social sentiments in depth)
The anthropological phase
• A new research strategy, based on
observation
• Study the on-going social relations of a
group of male workers
The manipulatory phase
• Aim to increase the company control over
neurotics and trouble-makers by giving
depth interviews
Technique
• Personnel counselling
• Democracy and Freedom – social
harmony
• Work-groups
• Reducing racism

• Any additional ideas from the floor?


Conclusion
• Mayo did not conduct the Hawthorne studies
• Adopt non-directive depth interviewing
techniques as crude directive methods will not
work
• Formal organizations develop informal groups
within them
• The informal social structure has as much to do
with the way the organization runs as does the
formal structure.
Conclusion
• Supervisor can be harsh or dictatorial in
the company.
• Many supervisor are autocratic (evidence
by Roethlisberger and Dickson)
• Learn the art of leadership and counselling
• Skilful communications.
Reassessing Human Relations

The End

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