Hawthorne Studies
Background
During the early part of the century, American businesses were swept by Scientific
Management, a school of thought largely developed by Frederick Taylor. He pioneered
the use of time and motion studies, in which management would carefully break down
tasks into simple chunks, then work out the best way for a worker to execute the chunks
(all the way down to how long a step to take, how often to break, how much water to
drink, etc.). The worker then executed their jobs exactly as they were told, like
automatons.
As part of the Scientific Management regime, companies routinely studied the effects of
the physical environment on their workers. For example, they varied the lighting to find
the optimum level of light for maximum productivity. They piped in music, varied the
temperature, tried different compensation schemes, adjusted the number of working hours
in a day, etc.
The Hawthorne studies were carried out by the Western Electric company at their
Hawthorne plant in the 1920's. Initially, the study focused on lighting.
Two things emerged from the initial studies: (1) the experimenter effect, and (2) a social
effect. The experimenter effect was that making changes was interpreted by workers as a
sign that management cared, and more generally, it was just provided some mental
stimulation that was good for morale and productivity. The social effect was that it
seemed that by being separated from the rest and being given special treatment, the
experimentees developed a certain bond and camaraderie that also increased productivity.
The second phase of the study, the Bank Wiring Room, was designed to study the social
effects.
Bank Wiring Room
They called in some anthropologists from Harvard (Mayo, Warner) to help design a
study. Basically they put some workers in a special room, and placed an observer full
time in the room to record everything that happened. The kind of work done was
assembling telephone switching equipment. The process was broken down into three
tasks: wiring, soldering and inspection.
The first few days, the workers would not talk openly in front of the observer. It took
three weeks for normal behavior to resume. This included talking, fighting, playing
games, binging, teasing, job trading, helping, etc.
Physical Layout of the Bank Wiring
Room
Observed Social Relations
‘
Observed Social Relations
Observed Social Relations
Inferred Clique Structure
Besides looking at the social organization of the group, they kept track of performance
variables, like quality of work and amount of work.
Even though they were paid by the amount they did each day, they did not raise outputs.
If somebody tried, he was given a lot of flak by others. They were afraid that if some
started producing more, the company would change the base rate.
The back 3 wiremen worked on selectors rather than connectors, which were easier. This
was lower status. Inspectors were more educated and slightly higher status, but were
considered outsiders and were not allowed to mess with the windows.
Job trading revealed status among groups (group1 has more status that group 2: use their
solderman). Clique A worked on connectors only, whiule clique B also had selectors.
Clique A also engaged in games of chance while clique B did binging. They purchased
candy separately. Clique A bought small amounts of expensive candy while Clique B did
the opposite.
Functions of the Group’s Internal Organization
1. Protect the group from internal indiscretions
2. Protect it from outside interference.
Using sarcasm, binging, ridicule to bring pressure to bear on people who deviate from
norms. They could also arrange their work in such a way as to overwhelm an inspector,
and then be “forced” to do nothing while waiting for him.
They also adjusted their reports of how much was done so as to appear that the output
was uniform. They were afraid of inviting any changes. This was not based on any
experience they had had.
Just as management tries to control worker behavior by adjusting piece rates, hours of
work, etc., the workers try to adjust management toward goals that are not necessarily
economically rational.
Individual behaviors may be altered because they know they are being studied
was demonstrated in a research project (1927 - 1932) of the Hawthorne Plant of
the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. This series of research, first led
by Harvard Business School professor Elton Mayo along with associates F.J.
Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson started out by examining the physical and
environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights, humidity)
and later, moved into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group pressure,
working hours, managerial leadership). The ideas that this team developed about
the social dynamics of groups in the work setting had lasting influence - the
collection of data, labor-management relations, and informal interaction among
factory employees.
The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experimental
manipulation employed, the production of the workers seemed to improve. One
reasonable conclusion is that the workers were pleased to receive attention from
the researchers who expressed an interest in them. The study was only expected
to last one year, but because the researchers were set back each time they tried
to relate the manipulated physical conditions to the worker's efficiency, the
project extended out to five years.
Four general conclusions were drawn from the Hawthorne studies:
o The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance.
Although they give some indication of the physical and mental potential of the
individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social factors.
o Informal organization affects productivity. The Hawthorne researchers
discovered a group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the
relations that supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in
which the workers carry out directives.
o Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were
not the first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair
day's work," however, they provided the best systematic description and
interpretation of this phenomenon.
o The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to
view the workplace as a social system made up of interdependent parts.
For decades, the Hawthorne studies provided the rationale for human relations
within the organization. Then two researchers used a new procedure called
"time-series analyses." Using the original variables and including in the Great
Depression and the instance of a managerial discipline in which two
insubordinate and mediocre workers were replaced by two different productive
workers (one who took the role of straw boss - see below). They discovered that
production was most affected by the replacement of the two workers due to their
greater productivity and the affect of the disciplinary action on the other workers.
The occurrence of the Depression also encouraged job productivity, perhaps
through the increased importance of jobs and the fear of losing them. Rest
periods and a group incentive plan also had a somewhat positive smaller effect
on productivity. These variables accounted for almost all the variation in
productivity during the experimental period. Social science may have been to
readily to embrace the original Hawthorne interpretations since it was looking for
theories or work motivation that were more humane and democratic. – Franke,
R.H. & Kaul, J.D. "The Hawthorne experiments: First statistical interpretation."
A m e r i c a n S o c i o l o g i c a l R e v i e w , 1978, 43, 623-643.
Note: Hay is dried grass, sometimes with a little alfalfa thrown in, used as feed for horses and
cattle. Straw, on the other hand, is the stalks of wheat or other grains left over after harvesting the
good parts, and is used primarily for livestock bedding. Since straw is a by-product of the real
business of a farm, "straw boss" is not the "big boss" of any job, but rather an assistant or
subordinate boss, usually on the level of the foreman of a work crew. It is now a metaphor for
any low-level supervisor. And since straw bosses rarely wield any real power aside from the
ability to make those under them miserable, "straw boss" today is often a synonym for a petty and
vindictive superior.
Jonathan L. Thiesmeyer (Western Electric), Donald W. Thomas (Western
Electric), Fritz J. Roethlisberger, William J. Dickson (Western Electric), and
Harvard Business School Dean George P. Baker at the completion of
Counseling in an Organization, December 6, 1966
HBS Archives Photograph Collection
