The Hawthorn experiment and the creation of the concept of "human relations" E. Mayo

A well-known American sociologist, E. Mayo, introduced into sociology and management theory an important concept such as "human relations". This term became the basis not only for the formation of a management model for a specific enterprise, but also for the creation of a management concept for the state and society as a whole.

The concept of human relations of E. Mayo, which is an organic continuation of the previous theories (first of all, the concept of F. Taylor), was largely a consequence of those serious studies conducted by scientists who are known as the Hawthorne experiment.

In 1927 E. Mayo received an invitation from the company "Western Electric" to adjust the labor and production discipline in the enterprise. Thus began the famous Hawthorne experiment, stretching in time for five years.

Hawthorne experiments of E. Mayo included 4 main stages.

The first stage was an experiment to identify the influence of lighting on the effectiveness of work. During the research, female workers were divided into two groups: one gradually increased the workplace illumination, and in the other everything was left as it was. First, the "Taylor principle" acted: improving working conditions led to increased productivity. However, with time and in the second group there were improvements, in addition, and after the return of illumination to the original characteristics, productivity continued to increase.

E. Mayo concluded that in such a positive result, an important role was played by both the effect of the participation of female workers in the experiment, and the fact that they felt their attention to themselves from the direction of the authorities.

At the second stage E. Mayo tested the impact of various economic and socio-psychological factors in production. To do this, he selected six female workers, isolated them from the rest of the team, and through his assistant, who began to play the role of an informal leader, conducted a series of experiments. At the beginning, working conditions were dramatically improved: wages increased, additional breaks introduced, and the number of days off increased. Productivity after this, naturally, increased. But even after returning to previous conditions, the efficiency of labor among selected workers was higher than that of the rest. From the results obtained, E. Mayo concluded that it is important for workers to participate in a process with those with whom they are comfortable. Thus, the Hawthorne experiment made it clear that the informal groups that exist in the collective play a more important role for workers than the formal ones. In addition, any informal group has a leader through which it is possible to influence this small collective as a whole.

The third stage was of purely scientific and theoretical nature. Several thousand workers were questioned about their attitude towards small groups, but in the end these surveys did not help develop any theory.

At the fourth stage E. Mayo decided to return to the experiment again and singled out a special group of 14 male workers, inside of which was his assistant psychologist. The main conclusion that the scientist made at the end of the experiment was that any small informal group eventually forms its own morality. This morality is aimed at preventing conflicts within the group due to the fact that each participant is offered a certain average model of behavior. Consequently, the administration of an enterprise that deals with a large collective must also strive to form a certain morale at the level of the entire plant.

In general, the Hawthorne experiment and the conclusions made by E. Mayo on the basis of his results found wide response both in the scientific and industrial environment and served as the basis for creating a whole trend in the sociology of enterprises connected with attentive, above all, attitude towards the worker , To his interests and needs.