ELTON MAYO

1. ELTON MAYO Presented by: Ankurmehrotra Gunjanbansal Naved shah

2. Introduction • Elton Mayo was born in Australia in 1880 • He lectured at the university of Queensland 1911-1923 • 1926 move to United state of America • His first book was Democracy and Freedom (Melbourne, 1919) • Spent most of his Career at Harvard business school 1928-1947 • Died on 7 September 1949

3. Statement by Fortune Magazine 1946 • Scientist and practical clinician, Mayo speaks with a rare authority that has commanded attention in factories as well as Universities. His erudition extends through psychology, sociology, physiology, medicine and economics, and his experience comes from a lifelong first –hand study of industry.

4. Elton mayo theory on motivation • Known as Humanistic theories or human relation theory • workers are not just concerned with money • motivated by having their social needs met at work • Within workplaces, people are motivated by much more than economic self interest • All aspects of industrial environment carry social value

5. Hawthorne Effect • A form of reactivity whereby subjects improve an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation   • The mere act of showing people you are concerned about them spurs them to better performance • Widely used even today

6. Conducted study in Hawthorne plant • Known as a Hawthorne experiment • experiments involving six female workers • They were then put on piecework for eight weeks. • They were given two five-minute breaks, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon, for a period of five weeks. • The breaks were each lengthened to ten minutes.

7. Cont… • Six five-minute breaks were introduced. • The original two breaks were reinstated, this time, with a complimentary hot meal provided during the morning break. • The workday was shortened to end at 4.30 p.m. instead of 5.00 p.m. • The workday was shortened to end at 4.00 p.m. • Finally, all the improvements were taken away, and the original conditions before the experiment were reinstated. They were monitored in this state for 12 more weeks.

8. Conclusion • The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance • Informal organization affects productivity. The researchers discovered a group life among the workers • Work-group norms affect productivity • The workplace is a social system • The need for recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important

9. Criticisms of Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies  • Dispute about Mayo’s role in the Hawthorne Studies • Rejected as outmoded and simplistic • Argued that Mayo simply put together and applied existing Sociological theories and applied them to research

10. Criticisms, Cont… • Borrowed concepts from Emile Durkheim • Founder of the French school of sociology • Mayo’s grasp of Durkheim’s work was poor • Only read one of hundreds of works by Durkheim • Read the original one work in French with a poor grasp of French