American psychologist and sociologist Mayo Elton: biography, contribution to science. The Hawthorne experiment

Modern foreign theories of management are based on the scientific ideas of one of the main schools - the psychological one, which takes into account the role of interpersonal relations and patterns of behavior. Elton Mayo made a big contribution to the development of the school of management. The School of Human Relations initiated new research in the field of sociology of management, organizational psychology and management psychology.

Elton Mayo: biography (1880 - 1949)

Mayo Elton was born in Australia (Adelaide) in 1880 in the family of a real estate broker. Planning to inherit the profession of grandfather, who was a well-known surgeon, Mayo Elton studied medicine four years in different educational institutions: Adelaide University, Edinburgh University, London Medical School. Interested in the humanities, in 1911 he graduated from the University with a degree in psychology.

Mayo Elton decided to devote himself to science and taught at Queensland University (Brisbane), then at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and since 1926 - at the Harvard Business School (USA). For five years, Mayo Elton, as a professor and project manager, was engaged in production research, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. After retiring, he moved to England, where in 1949 Mayo Elton passed away.

Hawthorne Experiments Mayo

Elton Mayo experiment was especially popular in scientific circles, which were held in Hawthorne at one of the leading enterprises - "Western Electric" in 1927-1932. The production process at the enterprise was organized taking into account the concepts of scientific management of Taylor and Ford.

The model of personnel management was paternalistic. At the same time, employees had a guaranteed pension, health and disability insurance. Attention was paid not only to the creation of industrial infrastructure, but also to the construction of sports grounds, schools, shops, clubs, etc. The number of employees is 30 thousand people of different nationalities.

Stages of research

The first studies within the framework of the experiment (1924-1927) were aimed at studying the influence of room illumination on labor productivity. The hypothesis about the positive influence of illumination was not confirmed. At the same time, researchers drew attention to the fact that labor productivity is changing under the influence of other side factors.

The second stage of the study (1927-1932) was called "Hawthorne experiments", in which several groups took part: a team of relay assemblers, a team of workers for stripping mica, a brigade of typists and a men's brigade, which provided verification of telephone lines, winding of coils, etc. The choice of groups was due to the similarity of working conditions - the monotony of operations that required high accuracy.

The essence of Hawthorne experiments

The participants of the experiment from the team of the relay assemblers originally measured their individual level of labor productivity. In the process of research, a group of women workers were given various additional opportunities, working conditions changed, etc. To obtain data about what factors affect performance. For example, the group incentive method was used, an additional rest break was introduced, the time of weekly and daytime employment was reduced, the health status of women workers was strengthened, more attention was paid to the participants of the experiment by the company management.

The enumerated means of influence contributed to raising the status of women workers, maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the team. Over time, a conflict arose between the two female workers and the leader of the experiment, labor productivity began to fall. After the dismissal of these women workers and the acceptance in their place of new productivity increased by almost 30%.

The organizers of the experiment assumed that the new workers, wishing to show themselves and give a good account, were careful about their professional duties, and the old workers, afraid of being fired, also began to work more productively.

The second team of pickers, the control group, were also paid bonuses for group work, while other additional conditions for them were not created.

The work of the brigade, which dealt with the delamination of mica, was paid according to the individual piece-rate wage system. A group of typists received a salary on a weekly basis based on the results of individually performed work.

The role of Mayo in experimental work

Mayo Elton received reports on conducting a series of studies in the experiment, described and interpreted the results, advised the researchers of the company, acquainted the public with the results of the Hawthorne experiments. The company "Western Electric" paid for the work of Mayo in the amount of $ 2500 per year (1929-1933). At the end of the experiments, in May 1933, Mayo published a scientific paper "Human Problems of Industrial Civilization", which revealed not only the results of research, but covered the issues of social stability of an industrial society.

Interpretation of the results by Elton Mayo

Analyzing the results of the Hawthorne experiments, Mayo Elton focuses on the psychology of work, the internal installation of the worker, his satisfaction with the tasks performed, and the psychological atmosphere in the team and leadership styles.

Critics noted that Mayo paid insufficient attention to the material incentives of labor. Arguing about social stability, Mayo notes that as a result of urbanization and industrialization, society is experiencing a cultural crisis (anomy).

Theories of Mayo

In general, the study of interpersonal interactions in the work collective and the individual needs of the worker, which laid the foundations of a new paradigm in management theory, began to be associated with the name of Elton Mayo.

The results of the research became the basis for the scientific substantiation of the concept of increasing labor productivity as a result of changes in intangible conditions. Unlike representatives of other theories that considered the interrelation between productivity and wages as fundamental, Mayo Elton suggested that the quality of the work performed is influenced by the employee's satisfaction with his position in the team, the relationship with the leader and colleagues.

Thus, improving the organizational culture, improving the interpersonal sphere are key to effective management, as Elton Mayo noted. Hawthorne experiments proved the priority of human influence over material stimulation in the management paradigm.

Concentration of social behavior

In contrast to the concept of an economic man (Taylor), the concept of human social behavior was put forward by Elton Mayo. Management aims at increasing the productivity of labor in the team. The labor collective, like any other social system, is distinguished by the property of non-committality, i.e. Irreducibility of the properties of the system to the sum of the properties of its elements. Members of the work collective, each of which is a person with their own interests, needs, goals, always form a unique social system.

Management techniques are aimed at making this system work effectively. In each team they will be adjusted. But speaking in general, a management system built on authoritarianism can be short-lived and effective only under certain conditions. Human activity can be successful only if it meets its interests.