Hawthorne's Study and Human relations.
In 1924, the Western Electric Company commissioned a research program to study individual productivity at the Hawthorne Works of the firm's Chicago plant. The initial "Hawthorne Studies" had a scientific management perspective and sought to determine how economic incentives and the physical conditions of the workplace affected the output of workers. An initial focus was on the level of illumination in the manufacturing facilities; it seemed reasonable to expect that better lighting would improve performance. After failing to find this relationship, however the researchers concluded that unforeseen "psychological factors" somehow interfered with their illumination experiments.
Maslow's Theory of Human Needs.
Among the insights of the human relations movement, the work of Abraham Maslow in the area of human "needs" is a key foundation. A need is a physiological or psychological deficiency a person feels to compulsion to satisfy. This is significant a concepts for managers because needs create tensions that can influence a person's work attitude or behaviors. Maslow identifies the five levels of human needs. From lowest to highest they are: Physiological- Most basic of all human needs: need for biological maintenance; food, water and physical well being. Safety- Need fore security, protection and stability in the events of day-to-day life. Social- Need for loeve, affection, sense of belongingness in one's relationships with other people. Esteem- Need for esteem in eyes of others; need for respect, prestige, recognition and self-esteem, personal sense of competence, mastery. Self-actualization needs- Highest level: need for self-fulfillment; to grow and use abilities to fullest and most creative extent.
McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y.
Douglas McGregor was heavily influenced by both the Hawthorne and Maslow studies. His classic book The Human Side of Enterprise advance the thesis that managers should hive more attention to the social and self actualize needs of people at work.
