THEORIES OF

ADMINISTRATION
Sem V- Paper III- Unit II
-Lecture by Sana Shaikh
 Scientific Management
Theory
◦ The first serious thought was made by Fredrick Winslow Taylor(1856-1915) to conduct studies in management
of industry in USA toward the end of the 19th century.
◦ The impact of his studies was so great, that management, which was hitherto considered an art, was given the
status of science.
◦ An engineer by profession and training with his varied work experience ranging from a labourer to that of a
chief engineer is regarded as the father of scientific management, for it was he who would first advocated the
systematic adoption of the methods of science to problems of management in the interest of higher industrial
efficiency.
◦ He believed that best management is a true science, resting upon clearly fixed laws, rules and principles, as
foundation and introduce 'scientism' modern management approaches and techniques.
◦ Throughout his life career, Taylor had observed that there was excessive inefficiency in the management and
functioning of industrial enterprises. In fact, the primary blame for the inefficient functioning of industrial
enterprises was put by Taylor on management; for it was management who did not know what constituted a fair
day’s task and also the ‘best way’ of doing the same.
◦ Therefore, he came out with his new concept of management, called scientific management.
◦ Scientific management involves the application of a scientific approach to
managerial decision­making (consisting of-collection of data, an analysis of data and
basing decisions on the outcome of such analyses); and discarding at the same time,
all unscientific approaches, like – rule of the thumb, a hit or miss approach and a
trial and error approach.
◦ F W. Taylor defined scientific management in the following words: “Scientific
Management consists in knowing what you (i.e. management) want men to do
exactly; and seeing to it that they do it in the best and the cheapest manner.”
Principles of Scientific Management by Taylor:

1. Science, not the Rule of Thumb-

◦This rule focuses on increasing the efficiency of an organisation through
scientific analysis of work and not with the ‘Rule of Thumb’ method.
◦Taylor believed that even a small activity like loading paper sheets into
boxcars can be planned scientifically.
◦This will save time and also human energy.
◦This decision should be based on scientific analysis and cause and effect
relationships rather than ‘Rule of Thumb’ where the decision is taken
according to the manager’s personal judgement.
2. Harmony, Not Discord-
◦ Harmony refers to the unity of action; while discord refers to differences in approach.
◦ Taylor indicated and believed that the relationship between the workers and management should be
cordial and complete harmony.
◦ Difference between the two will never be beneficial to either side.
◦ Management and workers should acknowledge and understand each other’s importance.
◦ Taylor also suggested the mental revolution for both management and workers to achieve total
harmony.

3. Mental Revolution-
◦ This technique involves a shift of attitude of management and workers towards each other.
◦ Both should understand the value of each other and work with full participation and cooperation.
◦ The aim of both should be to improve and boost the profits of the organisation.
◦ Mental Revolution demands a complete change in the outlook of both the workers and
management; both should have a sense of togetherness.
4. Cooperation, not Individualism-
◦ It is similar to ‘Harmony, not discord’ and believes in mutual collaboration between workers
and the management.
◦ Managers and workers should have mutual cooperation & confidence and a sense of goodwill.
◦ The main purpose is to substitute internal competition with cooperation.
5. Development of Every Person to his Greatest Efficiency-
◦ The effectiveness of a company also relies on the abilities and skills of its employees.
◦ Thus, implementing training, learning best practices and technology, is the scientific approach
to brush up the employee skill.
◦ To assure that the training is given to the right employee, the right steps should be taken at the
time of selection and recruiting candidates based on a scientific selection.
6. Maximum production, in place of restricted production:
◦ In Taylor’s view the most dangerous evil of the industrial system was a deliberate restriction of
output.
◦ As a means of promoting the prosperity of workers, management and society, this principle of
scientific management emphasizes on maximising production and not deliberately restricting it.
7. A more equal division of responsibility between management and workers:
◦ The principle of scientific management recommends a separation of planning from execution.
◦ According to this principle, management must be concerned with the planning of work; and
workers with the execution of plans.
8. Standardisation of work methods:
◦ A scientific method for each job/task of a worker via scientific observation and analysis of a
particular job to find out the one best way to do that task that would lead to reduced work for the
worker as he could do more with limited number of movements
◦ Taylor emphasised on the ' right man for the right job' by proper selection and training
Techniques used by Taylor:
Taylor broke up human activities into small parts and found out how it could be done effectively, in less time
and with increased productivity. His techniques are based on scientific approach. He developed these
techniques after proper analysis and experiments.
1. Method Study- This technique of scientific management is conducted to find out the ‘one best method or
way’ of performing a particular task. The objective of this study is to minimise the cost of production and
maximise the quality and satisfaction of the customer. For this, techniques such as process charts and
operations research are used.

2. Motion Study- Motion study refers to an in-depth study of movements of a worker while doing a task.
Taylor recognised three types of movements:

(a) Productive (b) Unproductive (c) Incidental. The objective of motion study is to eliminate unproductive
movements in doing a task to achieve efficiency and reduce the time required to do the task. For this, Taylor
used stopwatches and various colours and symbols to identify productive and unproductive movements of
the employees.
4. Time Study- It determines the standard time taken to perform a well-defined job.
Time measuring devices were used to conduct this study. This type of study is helpful
in deciding the time required to perform a job. It also helps in determining a fair day’s
work for the workman and determining incentive schemes and labour costs.

5. Fatigue Study- Fatigue study seeks to find out the amount and’ frequency of rest
intervals to be given to workers in completing a task. This would help the worker to
regain his stamina and work with the same efficiency again. It also aims to reduce
various causes of fatigue such as long working hours, doing unsuitable work, bad
working conditions, etc. The objective of this study is to find out how long a person
can perform the standard task without any adverse effects on his health and
productivity.
Functional Foremanship
◦The scheme of functional foremanship recommended by Taylor is, in fact, an
introduction of managerial specialisation-at the shop-level.
◦In Taylor’s view, instead of a single foreman performing all the aspects of the
foremanship task, there must be a number of foremen-each concerned with
only a particular aspect of foremanship.
◦Each foreman, being a specialist in performance of his role, is a functional
foreman. Hence, the nomenclature of the scheme as ‘functional foremanship’.
◦In the context of the scheme of functional foremanship, Taylor compares
workers with students in a school class-room; where a student is imparted
teaching in a particular subject by a specialized teacher of that subject –
instead of a single teacher teaching all the subject to students.
◦ In the scheme of functional foremanship recommended by Taylor, there is a provision for
eight foremen of the following types:
(i) Route Clerk:
◦ The route clerk is a foreman who would lay down the route (or journey) of raw materials from the
raw-material stage to the finished product stage as passing through different processes and
machines.
(ii) Instructions Card Clerk:
◦ The instructions card clerk is a foreman who would determine the detailed instructions for handling
a job; and prepare a card containing such instructions.
(iii) Time and Cost-Clerk:
◦ The time and cost clerk is a foreman who would record the time taken by a worker in completing a
job; and would also compile the cost of doing that job.
(iv) Shop Disciplinarian:
◦ The shop disciplinarian would look after the maintenance of discipline in the workshop and deal
with cases of absenteeism, misbehavior and other aspects of indiscipline.
(v) Gang Boss:
◦ The gang boss is the supervisor proper. He would see to it that all work-facilities are made
available to workers and they start their work as per the instructions imparted to them.
(vi) Speed Boss:
◦ The speed boss is a foreman who would determine the optimum speed at which machines are
to be operated; so that both-over speeding and under-speeding of machines are avoided. In this
way, less depreciation is caused to machines; industrial accidents are averted and quality of
production is also maintained.
(vii) Repair Boss:
◦ The repair boss is a foreman, who would look after and take care of the repairs and
maintenance of machines.
(viii) Inspector:
◦ The inspector is a foreman who would look after the quality of production.
Merits of Scientific Management Theory:
(i) More production and higher profits:
◦ Scientific management makes for a more systematized way of managing-enabling employers (of course,
through their managements) to have more production at the minimum cost; and ultimately reap higher
profits.
(ii) Job satisfaction:
◦ Under scientific management, a standardized work-environment (raw materials, tools, machines,
conditions of work etc.) is provided to workers which would enable them to derive what is known as ‘job
satisfaction’ – the biggest happiness for workers, according to the psychologist.
(iii) Personality development:
◦ As one of the basic principles of scientific management is the ‘development of each person to the
greatest of his capabilities’; workers get an opportunity, under scientific management, to develop
themselves fully according to their potential.
(iv) Higher standard of living:
◦ Scientific management is oriented towards maximum production; which would lead to more of
consumption of goods on the part of people, in the society. This naturally, would mean an increase in the
standard of living of people.
Criticism/Demerits of SMT:
(i) Unsuitable for the small employers:
◦ Scientific management is wholly unsuitable for the small employers. Techniques like
time, and motion studies, introduction of managerial specialization, etc. are too costly to
be afforded to by the small employers.
(ii) Unemployment:
◦ Scientific management leads to unemployment of workers; especially when mechanical
devices are introduced to replace manual labour.
(iii) Retarding human development:
◦ According to psychologist, scientific management aims efficiency at the cost of
initiative. It totally takes away initiative from workers. In fact, under scientific
management, workers are reduced to the status of machines; totally deprived of the
thinking function.
(iv) Viewed Humans as Machine
 BUREAUCRATIC
THEORY- MAX WEBER
Introduction
◦ Max Weber is known as a principal architect of modern social science along with Karl Marx
and Emil Durkheim. Weber’s wide-ranging contributions gave critical impetus to the birth of
new academic disciplines such as sociology as well as to the significant reorientation in law,
economics, political science, and religious studies.
◦ Max Weber was born on April 21, 1864 at Prussia, Germany.
◦ Max Weber’s influence was far-reaching across the vast array of disciplinary, methodological,
ideological and philosophical reflections that are still our own and increasingly more so.
◦ "Bureaucracy is an organizational structure characterized by many laws, standardized
procedures, procedures and requirements, number of desks, meticulous division of labor and
responsibility, clear hierarchies and professional interactions between employees that are
almost impersonal."- Max Weber
 Weber's Classification of Authority
◦ Authority means the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce
obedience.
◦ According to Weber, authority is power accepted as legitimate by those subjected to it.
He distinguished three types of legitimate political authority as: charismatic,
traditional and legal-rational.
◦ He wrote about these three types of domination in both his essay The Three Types of
Legitimate Rule which was published in his masterwork Economy and Society, and in
his classic speech "Politics as a Vocation".
◦ These three forms of authority are said to appear in a historical sequence.
◦ States progress from charismatic authority, to traditional authority, and finally reach
the state of rational-legal authority which is characteristic of a modern liberal
democracy.
 TYPE OF AUTHORITY ASSOCIATED TRIAT

Charismatic authority Character, heroism, leadership,

religious
Traditional authority Patriarchs, patrimonialism,
feudalism
Legal-rational Modern law and state,
bureaucracy
1. Charismatic Authority
◦ A person holds charismatic authority because those who follow him believe in his
personal charm or the strength of his personality.
◦ Charismatic authority people use their skills to turn their audience into followers
◦ Thus the actual power or capabilities of the leader are irrelevant, as long as the
followers believe that such power exists.
◦ Thus, according to Weber, it is particularly difficult for charismatic leaders to
maintain their authority because the followers must continue to legitimize the
authority of the leader.
◦ According to Weber, once the leader loses his charisma or dies, systems based on
charismatic authority tend to transform into traditional or legal-rational authority
2. Traditional Authority
◦ The source of this type of authority is tradition or custom.
◦ Weber described it as "the authority of the eternal yesterday" and identified it as the source of
authority for monarchies.
◦ In this type of authority, the traditional superiority of a powerful individual or group is
accepted by the subordinate, or at least not challenged.
◦ The dominant individual could be a clan leader, eldest, head of a family, a patriarchal figure or
dominant elite.
◦ Historically this has been the most common type of authority.
◦ According to 'Weber, traditional authority leads to inequalities in the social and political
sphere.. If not challenged, the dominant leader or group will stay in power.
◦ For Weber, traditional authority was a major hurdle in the development of legal-rational
authority.
3. Legal-Rational Authority
◦ The source of this authority is the legal office that an individual holds.
◦ It is the authority that demands obedience to the office rather than the officeholder. Hence, the
officeholder loses the authority once they leave office.
◦ Weber identified "rationally-created rules" as the central feature of this form of authority.
◦ Usually, such rules are made by a group of qualified persons, who use objective, scientific and rational
methods to finalise the rules.. A political system based on rational legal authority develops written
documents and well-defined systems of government.
◦ Only modern democracies are based on rational-legal authority. Constitutions, written documents,
established offices and regular elections are often associated with modern -rational-legal political
systems.
◦ These in the past have tended to develop in opposition to earlier traditional systems such as monarchies,
where the set of rules are not well developed.
◦ As these systems develop in a rational manner, authority takes on a legal-rational form.
◦ Those who govern have the legitimate legal right to do so and those subordinated accept the legality of
the rulers.
Weber on Bureaucracy
◦According to Weber, the rational-legal authority which established modern
democracies led to the emergence of modern bureaucratic systems.
◦He argued this in his 1922 essay titled Bureaucracy, published in his magnum
opus Economy and Society. It was Weber who began the studies of bureaucracy
and whose works led to the popularization of this term.
◦Preconditions for emergence of bureaucracy: According to Weber, there are
several preconditions for the emergence of bureaucracy. They are:
◦The growth in space and population being administered,
◦The growth in complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out
◦The existence of a monetary economy requiring a more efficient administrative
system. Development of communication and transportation technologies
◦Democratization and rationalization of culture
Bureaucracy and rationalization
◦As the most efficient and rational way of organizing, bureaucratisation for
Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority.
◦He saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalisation of the Western
society.
◦Weber says that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and (formally)
rational way in which human activity can be organized and that this is
indispensable to the modern world.
◦Rational means based on or in accordance with reason or logic
Weber’s Model of Bureaucracy
1. Administrative Class:
◦ Bureaucratic organisations generally have administrative class responsible for maintaining coordinative
activities of the members.
◦ Main features of his class are as follows:
1. People are paid and are whole time employees.
2. They receive salary and other perquisites normally based on their positions.
3. Their tenure in the organisation is determined regulations of the organization by the rules and
regulations.
4. They do not have any proprietary interest in the organization.
5. They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their competence.
6. Officials are imparted expert training.
7. Career advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by the organization, not individuals.
2. Hierarchy
◦The basic feature of bureaucratic organisation is that there is hierarchy of
positions in the organisation.
◦Hierarchy is a system of ranking various positions in descending scale from
top to bottom of the organisation.
◦In bureaucratic organisation, offices also follow the principle of hierarchy that
is each lower office is subject to control and supervision by higher office.
◦Thus, no office is left uncontrolled in the organisation.
◦This hierarchy provides a line of communication and makes delegation of
authority possible.
◦It implies that communication coming down or going up must pass through
each position.
3. Division of Work
◦ Work of the organisation is divided on the basis of specialisation to take the advantages of
division of labour.
◦ Each office in the bureaucratic organisation has specific sphere of competence. This involves :
1. Delineated lines of authority in a fixed area of activity.
2. A sphere of obligations to perform functions which has been marked off as part of a systematic
division of work.
3. The provision of the incumbent with necessary authority to carry out these functions; and
4. The necessary means of communication are clearly defined and their use is subject to definite
conditions.
◦ Thus, division of work try to ensure that each office has a clearly-defined area of competence
within the organisation and each official knows the areas in which he operates and the areas in
which he must abstain from action so that he does not overstep the boundary between his role and
those of others.
◦ Further, division of work also tries to ensure that no work is left uncovered.
◦4. Official Rules
◦ A basic and most emphasised feature of bureaucratic organisation is that
administrative process is governed by written, clearly stated official rules.
◦ A rational approach to organisation calls for a system of maintaining rules to ensure
twin requirements of uniformity and coordination of efforts by individual members in
the organisation.
◦ These rules are more or less stable and more or less exhaustive.
◦ When there is no rule on any aspect of organisational operation, the matter is referred
upward for decision which subsequently becomes precedent for future decision on the
similar matter.
◦ Rules provide the benefits of clarity, stability, continuity, and predictability and each
official knows precisely he outcome of his behaviour in a particular matter.
◦ Since rules are impersonal an objective in nature, they ensure neutrality of officials.
◦5. Impersonal Relationships

◦A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among individuals are

governed through the system of official authority and rules.
◦Official positions are free from personal involvement, emotions and
sentiments.
◦Thus, decisions are governed by rational factors rather than personal factors.
◦This impersonality concept is used in dealing with organisational relations as
well as relations between the organisation and outsiders.
6. Official Records
◦Bureaucratic organisation is characterised by maintenance of proper
official records.
◦The decisions and activities of the organisation are formally recorded
and preserved for future reference.
◦This is made possible by extensive use of filing system in the
organisation.
◦An official record is almost regarded as encyclopedia of various
activities performed by the people in the organisation.
Strengths of Weber's Model
Weber's bureaucracy model became popular and accepted widely all over the world. This is because
of its strengths, as mentioned below:
◦ It can improve the speed and precision in operation as everyone knowing his or her own duties.
◦ Conflicts and confusion between each other can be reduced to a great extent as effective
communication can be easily achieved.
◦ It can produce a reliable and well organized functional system, since the known and calculable
rules accumulated from similar cases will regulate future activities and achieve predictable results.
◦ Personal emotions which could have negative influence in the decision making can be much
reduced or even totally avoided.
◦ Since the job of an employee is very detailed and specialized, he/she could develop expertise in it
and greater benefits could be generated for the organisation.
Weaknesses of Weber's Model
◦ Though Weber's model is widely accepted. There are several criticisms against it:
◦ Rules are normally provided for guidelines but often they become source of
inefficiency because of too much emphasis on rules, their misuse, and people's
apathy from rules.
◦ Rigid organisational hierarchy works against efficiency. It overemphasizes
superior- subordinate relationships unnecessarily which is detrimental to congenial
organisational climate.
◦ In dealing with people, total impersonal approach cannot be adopted because
people have feelings, emotions and sentiments which affect decision. Thus, people
cannot work totally according to rules and prescriptions.
 HUMAN RELATIONS
THEORY- ELTON MAYO
Human Relations Approach
◦ The Human Relations approach explains the informal relations among employers and employees
and concerned with moral and psychological rather than legal aspects of an organization.
◦ Unlike Classical approach, which studies organization from structural point of view, it puts
emphasis upon human relations, self respect, informal social relations, individual motivation,
psychological feelings and tendencies of the workers.
◦ Thus, it believes in analyzing the multidimensional nature of human beings and their interactions
for understanding the working of organizations.
◦ The human relations approach is also known as New Classical approach. Elton Mayo termed it
Clinical approach.
◦ The approach considers worker not only one of the means of production system but as a
“human”.
◦ The credit for shaping this approach goes to Elton Mayo and his associates such as F. J.
Roethlisberger, William J. Dickson, T. North Whitehead, E Warne, W. Lloyd and L. J. Henderson
Emergence of Human Relations Approach
◦ It emerged as a reaction to the Taylor’s Scientific Management approach– an offshoot of broad
Classical approach--which became popular in the beginning of the 20th century.
◦ B. Venkateswarlu has rightly observed, “Given the state of dehumanization of the working
class and growing trade union movement—the results of Taylorism—new problems of
management and organization arose in the capitalist industry in the west especially in America,
in the first decade of the 20th century… Mayo and his colleagues, concentrating mainly on the
behavior of the workers and their productive capacity, keeping in view physiological,
psychological, physical and economic aspects, came out with the conclusion…that the whole
problem is one of human relations.”
Human Relations Theory
◦ Human Relations Theory focuses specifically on the individuals needs and resultant behaviors of
individuals and groups.
◦ It takes an interpersonal approach to managing human beings.
◦ It presents the organization is made up of formal and informal elements.
◦ The formal elements of an organization are its structure.
◦ The informal aspects of the organization include the interactions between individuals. In this way,
the organization is a type of social system.
◦ This system should be managed to create individual job satisfaction and the resultant motivation of
the individual.
◦ Notably, much emphasis is placed on how individuals interact within groups and the result group
behavior and performance.
Hawthorne Experiments
◦ Hawthorne Experiments of Elton Mayo are considered as the bedrock of human
relations movement in the management.
◦ These experiments were conducted in the Hawthorne plant of the Western
Electric Company from 1924 to 1932.
◦ It may be pointed out that these experiments were initiated by the National
Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences along with George
Pennock, supervisor of the company, and his associates.
◦ Thus, Mayo was involved in the experiments after some initial probing by the
research team especially when it failed to come to any definite conclusions.
◦ The main objective of these experiments was to know and understand the factors
affecting efficiency and productivity of workers.
The Test Room Studies—Great Illumination
Experiment
◦ The first in the series was ‘The Great Illumination’ experiment (1924-27) having its objective to
find out the impact of single variable i.e. illumination on the working capacity of workers.
◦ Under this experiment, two groups (control and experimental) of female workers, consisting of
six members each, were formed and located in two different rooms, each group performing the
same task.
◦ In the beginning, the rooms were equally illuminated but later on the experimental group was
subjected to changes in the level of illumination.
◦ The research team observed both the groups and kept accurate record of production. The result
was that regardless of the level of illumination, the production in both the groups increased.
◦ This made the researchers to conclude that certain other factors rather than illumination influence
the level of production.
◦ George Pennock met Mayo and requested him to unravel the problems confronted by the
research team.
◦ On the basis of the findings derived by the research team, Mayo felt that mental attitude of the
workers was perhaps responsible for this phenomenon.
◦ He further elaborated that the test room girls became a social unit and because of the increased
attention of research team in them they developed a sense of participation.
◦ This paved the way for further research into social man. The network of these experiments had
been hailed as the ―Great Illumination‖ because it had thrown light on new areas of industrial
relations.
Human Attitudes and Sentiment- Interviewing
Studies
◦ An interviewing study of psychological nature was conducted by the Harvard team from 1928 to 1931 in the
same plant with a view to know the attitudes and sentiments of workers towards management and supervision.
◦ Under this workers were asked to express their views freely on the programs and policies of the management,
working conditions and treatment by the supervisors. This provided an opportunity to as many as 21126 workers
who were interviewed with the help of interview schedule to ‘let off steam’.
◦ As a result of this exercise, a change was witnessed in the mental attitude of the workers as they felt better
though there was no material change in the environment as no reforms were introduced. The analysis of the data
revealed that there is no correlation between the nature of complaints and the facts.
◦ The study team concluded that there were two types of complaints—the manifest material and psychological
latent.
◦ The team realized that the complaints express the hidden grief of the workers rather than being symbolic of
actual facts. The preoccupation of workers with personal problems which Mayo called as ‘pessimistic reveries’,
many a time inhibited performance in the industry.
Social Organizations- Observational Studies
◦ It was the last stage of the Hawthorne experiments conducted by Elton Mayo and his team
during 1931-32 with the objective to observe a group behavior of workers performing a task in
the natural setting.
◦ Under this 14 employees consisting of three groups of workmen were selected whose work
was of interrelated nature i.e. to solder, to fix the terminals and to finish the wiring.
◦ Wages were paid on the group incentive plan and each member got his share on the basis of
the total output of the group.
◦ It was found that the workers had a clear-cut standard of output which was lower than the
management target.
◦ The group as per its standard plan did not allow its members to increase or decrease the
output. Although they were capable of producing more, the output was held down to maintain
uniformity.
◦ The group became highly integrated and it used social pressure to set right the erring members
by maintaining a code of conduct.
◦ The main findings of the study were that:
a) the behavior of the group has nothing to do with the management or the general conditions of
the plant;
b) the workers viewed the interference of the supervisors and technologists who were supposed
to increase efficiency as disturbance because to them the logic of efficiency followed by experts
puts constraints on their group activity;
c) the supervisors were considered as separate category with authority meant to discipline the
workers.
◦ In brief, the logic of efficiency did not go well with the logic of sentiments, which had become
the cornerstone of the ‘social system’.
◦ The study concluded that one should not ignore the human aspect of organization.
◦ Mayo suggested that besides, technical skills, management should also handle human
situations, motivate, lead and communicate with the workers. As regards concept of authority,
he suggested that instead of expertise it should be based on social skills.
Absenteeism in Industries
◦ The final experiment was conducted by Elton Mayo along with his research team in 1943 in three
industrial undertakings engaged in manufacturing important components for aircrafts with a view
to find out the causes responsible for high turnover of labor and chronic absenteeism.
◦ On the basis of Hawthorne experience, the study team found that it was due to the lack of informal
groups and natural leaders to knit the workers into a team.
◦ Therefore, Mayo suggested that to the extent possible, management should encourage formation of
informal groups to elicit cooperation of employees and treat the workers‘ problems with human
understanding.
◦ Workers should not be treated as cog in the machine but human beings.
◦ The labor should develop the feeling that they were not subject to exploitation by the management.
◦ In brief, the significance of Mayo studies lies in discovering the informal organizations to
encourage spontaneous cooperation and realization of human factor in work situations so as to
achieve the objectives of the undertaking without any difficulty.
Contributions
Emphasis on Human Element- The foremost characteristic of human relations approach is its emphasis
on human element in industry. It assumes man not as a machine rather a living and sensitive entity having
his own views.
Impact of Social and Human Factors in Productivity- Mayo‘s experiments showed that the impact of
human and social factors is more than the material and environmental ones. To him, human relations
include, among others, high morale, cordial relations, fulfillment of human needs and human management.
Man is not only an Economic Man- Human relations approach strives to know the non-economic
motivations instead of purely economic ones. According to this approach man is not only an ‘economic
man’ who works only for material benefits and rewards. Mayo realized that there are some social and
psychological needs of man such as social prestige, appreciation, sympathy, recognition of work etc. which
inspire him to work.
Satisfaction of Psychological Needs of Workers- This approach put emphasis on the satisfaction of
psychological needs of workers such as recognition, self actualization and morale as industries were
exploiting its workers and there was feeling of tension, disappointment, and worry among workers which
Mayo termed ‘anomic’ situation.
 Importance of Informal Groups- Workers as social beings give more importance to these groups than the
goals of an enterprise and material rewards. Mayo observed that since these groups greatly affect work
environment so managers should accord recognition to them and make their use in management system. He
further clarified that by becoming member of social informal groups, workers‘ attitude towards the
institution become better which helps in developing cordial relations with management.
 Liberal Supervisory Style- When workers have freedom of discussion, determining work procedure and
controlling work environment, they work more enthusiastically. Further, morale of employees is boosted
when supervisors behave friendly with workers, sympathetically consider their personal problems and
avoid strict control.
 Workers’ Participation or Group Endeavor- Mayo was of the view that management efforts will
succeed only when based on group endeavor. Further, to get constructive co-operation of workers, their
participation in planning, organization and control is must. So, he suggested that managers should build up
a new social order based on workers‘ co-operation.
 Organization as a Social System- It accepts factory or an administrative organization not merely a work-
place but a social organization in which all persons work collectively. In fact, it is an individual entity
closely associated with society.
It assumes that the relations between employer and employees are not always determined by laws or rules
but by moral and psychological factors
Criticism
◦ Unscientific Enquiry- He has pointed out that the research team selected in their first
experiment ‘cooperative’ girls who were willing to participate in the research program
rendering it ‘worthless’. Further, a sample of five or six could not be taken as reliable one to
make generalizations.
◦ Economic Dimension Ignored- Hawthorne experiments neglected the nature of work and
instead focused on interpersonal relations.
◦ Untenable Ideal of Conflict-free Society- In Human relations approach too much emphasis is
given to cooperation and coordination while there is no place for ‘conflicts’. Critics are of the
opinion that conflicts provide new life to the organization and open up the gateway for
competition and progress.