Fritz Roethlisberger and Elton Mayo are considered the fathers of "Human Relations" (and put the Harvard Business School on the map). Plagued with similar insecurities, they were opposites who had the same ideals concerning scientific management philosophy. This paper will briefly describe what studies these men used based on their philosophy, the responsibility of management, what criticisms their philosophy has endured over the years and modern practices based on Roethlisberger and Elton Mayo's "Human Relations School".
Roth. and Mayo; specifically Mayo, wanted to find out what effect fatigue and monotony had on job productivity and hoe to control these through variables such as breaks, work hours, temperature and humidity. In the process, he stumbled upon a principal of human motivation that revolutionized the theory and practice of management. As managers played a bigger role, informal norms were created where social factors such as cooperation, Mgt. supervision, working conditions and informal groups became important. Every one of these factors had a new concern for "Human Element".
As a concern for the "Human Element" became especially important, the roles of managers grew to be more widely ranged with greater responsibility. Prior to Roethlisberger and Mayo's findings, entrepreneurs took a "Tayloristic" approach to meet maximum output. Managers were told what was expected of the workforce and without any concern for the workers well being, managers were expected to achieve results with only an increase in pay for toughs who met the labor quotas. The problem was that many of these quotas were so outrageous, that even the men who could meet them did not because of the toll it took on there bodies and moral. Roth. and Mayo concluded that the working class is more productive not only when their tangible surroundings improved, but when their lives outside of the work place were sound.