4PhasesofHawthorneExperimentsDiscussed!

BySmritiChandManagement
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SomeofthemajorphasesofHawthorneexperimentsareasfollows:1.IlluminationExperiments2.Relay
AssemblyTestRoomExperiments3.MassInterviewingProgramme4.BankWiringObservationRoom
Experiment.
1.Experimentstodeterminetheeffectsofchangesinilluminationonproductivity,illuminationexperiments,
192427.
2.Experimentstodeterminetheeffectsofchangesinhoursandotherworkingconditionsonproductivity,relay
assemblytestroomexperiments,192728
3.Conductingplantwideinterviewstodetermineworkerattitudesandsentiments,massinterviewing
programme,192830and
4.Determinationandanalysisofsocialorganisationatwork,bankwiringobservationroomexperiments,1931
32.
1.IlluminationExperiments:
Illuminationexperimentswereundertakentofindouthowvaryinglevelsofillumination(amountoflightatthe
workplace,aphysicalfactor)affectedtheproductivity.Thehypothesiswasthatwithhigherillumination,
productivitywillincrease.Inthefirstseriesofexperiments,agroupofworkerswaschosenandplacedintwo
separategroups.Onegroupwasexposedtovaryingintensitiesofillumination.
Sincethisgroupwassubjectedtoexperimentalchanges,itwastermedasexperimentalgroup.Anothergroup,
calledascontrolgroup,continuedtoworkunderconstantintensitiesofillumination.Theresearchersfoundthat
astheyincreasedtheilluminationintheexperimentalgroup,bothgroupsincreasedproduction.Whenthe
intensityofilluminationdecreased,theproductioncontinuedtoincreaseinboththegroups.
Theproductionintheexperimentalgroupdecreasedonlywhentheilluminationwasdecreasedtothelevelof
moonlight.Thedecreasewasduetolightfallingmuchbelowthenormallevel.
Thus,itwasconcludedthatilluminationdidnothaveanyeffectonproductivitybutsomethingelsewas
interferingwiththeproductivity.Atthattime,itwasconcludedthathumanfactorwasimportantindetermining
productivitybutwhichaspectwasaffecting,itwasnotsure.Therefore,anotherphaseofexperimentswas
undertaken.
2.RelayAssemblyTestRoomExperiments:
Relayassemblytestroomexperimentsweredesignedtodeterminetheeffectofchangesinvariousjob
conditionsongroupproductivityastheilluminationexperimentscouldnotestablishrelationshipbetween
intensityofilluminationandproduction.Forthispurpose,theresearcherssetuparelayassemblytestroomtwo
girlswerechosen.

Thesegirlswereaskedtochooseformoregirlsascoworkers.Theworkrelatedtotheassemblyoftelephone
relays.Eachrelayconsistedofanumberofpartswhichgirlsassembledintofinishedproducts.Output
dependedonthespeedandcontinuitywithwhichgirlsworked.Theexperimentsstartedwithintroducing
numerouschangesinsequencewithdurationofeachchangerangingfromfourtotwelveweeks.
Anobserverwasassociatedwithgirlstosupervisetheirwork.Beforeeachchangewasintroduced,thegirls
wereconsulted.Theyweregivenopportunitytoexpresstheirviewpointsandconcernstothesupervisor.In
somecases,theywereallowedtotakedecisionsonmattersconcerningthem.
Followingwerethechangesandresultantoutcomes:
1.Theincentivesystemwaschangedsothateachgirlsextrapaywasbasedontheotherfiveratherthan
outputoflargergroup,say,100workersorso.Theproductivityincreaseascomparedtobefore.
2.Twofiveminuterestsoneinthemorningsessionandotherineveningsessionwereintroducedwhichwere
increasedtotenminutes.Theproductivityincreased.
3.Therestperiodwasreducedtofiveminutesbutfrequencywasincreased.Theproductivitydecreasedslightly
andthegirlscomplainedthatfrequentrestintervalsaffectedtherhythmofthework.
4.Thenumberofrestwasreducedtotwooftenminutesofeach,butinthemorning,coffeeorsoupwasserved
alongwiththesandwichandintheevening,snackwasprovided.Theproductivityincreased.
5.Changesinworkinghoursandworkdaywereintroduced,suchascuttinganhourofftheendofthedayand
eliminatingSaturdaywork.Thegirlswereallowedtoleaveat4.30p.m.insteadofusual5.00p.m.andlaterat
4.00p.m.productivityincreased.
Aseachchangewasintroduced,absenteeismdecreased,moraleincreased,andlesssupervisionwasrequired.
Itwasassumedthatthesepositivefactorsweretherebecauseofthevariousfactorsbeingadjustedandmaking
themmorepositive.Atthistime,theresearchersdecidedtorevertbacktooriginalposition,thatis,norestand
otherbenefits.Surprisingly,productivityincreasedfurtherinsteadofgoingdown.
Thisdevelopmentcausedaconsiderableamountofredirectioninthinkingandtheresultimpliedthat
productivityincreasednotbecauseofpositivechangesinphysicalfactorsbutbecauseofthechangeingirls
attitudestowardsworkandtheirworkgroup.
Theydevelopedafeelingofstabilityandasenseofbelongings.Sincetherewasmorefreedomofwork,they
developedasenseofresponsibilityandselfdiscipline.Therelationshipbetweensupervisorandworkers
becamecloseandfriendly.
3.MassInterviewingProgramme:
Duringthecourseofexperiments,about20,000interviewswereconductedbetween1928and1930to
determineemployeesattitudestowardscompany,supervision,insuranceplans,promotionandwages.Initially,
theseinterviewswereconductedbymeansofdirectquestioningsuchasdoyoulikeyoursupervisor?orishe
inyouropinionfairordoeshehavefavorites?etc.

thismethodhasdisadvantageofstimulatingantagonismortheoversimplifiedyesornoresponseswhichcould
notgettotherootoftheproblem,themethodwaschangedtonondirectiveinterviewingwhereinterviewerwas
askedtolistentoinsteadoftalking,arguingoradvising.Theinterviewprogrammegavevaluableinsightsabout
thehumanbehaviourinthecompany.
Someofthemajorfindingsoftheprogrammewereasfollows:
1.Acomplaintisnotnecessarilyanobjectiverecitaloffactsitisasymptomofpersonaldisturbancethecause
ofwhichmaybedeepseated.
2.Objects,personsoreventsarecarriersofsocialmeanings.Theybecomerelatedtoemployeesatisfactionor
dissatisfactiononlyastheemployeecomestoviewthemfromhispersonalsituation.
3.Thepersonalsituationoftheworkerisaconfiguration,composedofapersonalpreferenceinvolving
sentiments,desiresandinterestsofthepersonandthesocialreferenceconstitutingthepersonssocialpast
andhispresentinterpersonalrelations.
4.Thepositionorstatusofworkerinthecompanyisareferencefromwhichtheworkerassignsmeaningand
valuetotheevents,objectsandfeaturesofhisenvironmentsuchashoursofwork,wages,etc.
5.Thesocialorganisationofthecompanyrepresentsasystemofvaluesfromwhichtheworkerderives
satisfactionordissatisfactionaccordingtotheperceptionofhissocialstatusandtheexpectedsocialrewards.
6.Thesocialdemandsoftheworkerareinfluencedbysocialexperienceingroupsbothinsideandoutsidethe
workplant.
Duringthecourseofinterviews,itwasdiscoveredthatworkersbehaviourwasbeinginfluencedbygroup
behaviour.However,thisconclusionwasnotverysatisfactoryand,therefore,researchesdecidedtoconduct
anotherseriesofexperiments.Assuch,thedetailedstudyofashopsituationwasstartedtofindoutthe
behaviourofworkersinsmallgroups.
4.BankWiringObservationRoomExperiment:
Theseexperimentswereconductedtofindouttheimpactofsmallgroupsontheindividuals.Inthisexperiment,
agroupof14maleworkerswereformedintoasmallworkgroup.Themenwereengagedintheassemblyof
terminalbanksfortheuseintelephoneexchanges.
Theworkinvolvedattachingwirewithswitchesforcertainequipmentusedintelephoneexchanges.Hourlywage
foreachworkerwasfixedonthebasisofaverageoutputofeachworker.Bonusasalsopayableonthebasisof
groupeffort.
Itwasexpectedthathighlyefficientworkerswouldbringpressureonlessefficientworkerstoincreaseoutput
andtakeadvantageofgroupincentiveplan.However,thestrategydidnotworkandworkersestablishedtheir
ownstandardofoutputandthiswasenforcedvigorouslybyvariousmethodsofsocialpressure.Theworkers
citedvariousreasonsforthisbehaviourviz.fearofunemployment,fearofincreaseinoutput,desiretoprotect
slowworkersetc.
TheHawthorneexperimentsclearlyshowedthatamanatworkismotivatedbymorethanthesatisfactionof

economicneeds.Managementshouldrecognisethatpeopleareessentiallysocialbeingsandnotmerely
economicbeings.Asasocialbeing,theyaremembersofagroupandthemanagementshouldtryto
understandgroupattitudesandgrouppsychology.
ThefollowingwerethemainconclusionsdrawnbyProf.MayoonthebasisofHawthornestudies:1.
SocialUnit:
Afactoryisnotonlyatechnoeconomicunit,butalsoasocialunit.Menaresocialbeings.Thissocial
characteristicatworkplaysanimportantroleinmotivatingpeople.TheoutputincreasedinRelayRoomdueto
effectivelyfunctioningofasocialgroupwithawarmrelationshipwithitssupervisors.
2.GroupInfluence:
Theworkersinagroupdevelopacommonpsychologicalbondunitingthemasgroupintheformofinformal
organisation.Theirbehaviourisinfluencedbythesegroups.Pressureofagroup,ratherthanmanagement
demands,frequentlyhasthestrongestinfluenceonhowproductiveworkerswouldbe.
3.GroupBehaviour:
Managementmustunderstandthatatypicalgroupbehaviourcandominateorevensupersedeindividual
propensities.
4.Motivation:
Humanandsocialmotivationcanplayevenagreaterrolethanmeremonitoryincentivesinmovingor
motivatingandmanagingemployeegroup.
5.Supervision:
Thestyleofsupervisionaffectsworkersattitudetoworkandhisproductivity.Asupervisorwhoisfriendlywithhis
workersandtakesinterestintheirsocialproblemscangetcooperationandbetterresultsfromthe
subordinates.
6.WorkingConditions:
Productivityincreasesasaresultofimprovedworkingconditionsintheorganisation.
7.EmployeeMorale:
Mayopointedoutthatworkerswerenotsimplycogs,inthemachinery,insteadtheemployeemorale(both
individualandingroups)canhaveprofoundeffectsonproductivity.
8.Communication:
Experimentshaveshownthattheoutputincreaseswhenworkersareexplainedthelogicbehindvarious
decisionsandtheirparticipationindecisionmakingbringsbetterresults.
9.BalancedApproach:
Theproblemsofworkerscouldnotbesolvedbytakingonefactori.e.managementcouldnotachievetheresults
byemphasizingoneaspect.Allthethingsshouldbediscussedanddecisionbetakenforimprovingthewhole
situation.Abalancedapproachtothewholesituationcanshowbetterresults.
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