MicroLink Information Technology College and Business College

Department OF MBA

partment Of Accounting

INDIVIDUL ASAYMENT LEADERSHIP AND

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Prepared By: ASMELASH GIDEY WELDU

Id No: 3872 /19

Submitted To: KAHSU ARAYA

JUNE. 2020 G.C

MEKELLE, ETHIOPIA

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 QOUTIONS
1.Take colleagues from your organization and evaluate their individual behaviour in terms of
their ability, personality, motivation, emotions and mood.
1. Compare and contrast the behavioural and contingency theories of leadership
2. Explain the managerial implications of the theories of motivation, learning, values and
personality.
3. What are some contemporary theories of motivation and how do they compare to one
another? What are their managerial implications?
4. Explain in detail transformational and charismatic leadership?
5. Explain in detail the various forms of individual behaviour such as emotions, mood,
perception, personality, learning and their managerial implications
6. What is attribution theory? What are the three determinants of attribution? What are its
implications for explaining organizational behaviour?
7. Explain the Big Five and other personality traits relevant to OB?
8. What are the major job attitudes? In what ways are these attitudes alike? What is unique
about each? What outcome does job satisfaction influence? What implications does this
have for management?
9. Compare and contrast transactional and transformational leadership.
10. Explain the stages of group development and factors affecting group performance.
11. Consider your organization or an organization of your interest and do the following :
A. Explain in detail the culture of the organization.
B. Explain in detail the structure of the organization. Discuss the elements of
the organization structure and the nature of the organizational design.
C. Explain the change processes of your organization’s structure.
12. What is attribution theory? What are the three determinants of attribution? What are its
implications for explaining organizational behaviour?
13. Explain the mechanisms to manage stress .

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Instruction II: Analyze The Following Three Cases Using The Case Analysis Guideline

1. Case study:
Mr. Simon had just graduated from a B-school, Chennai, and joined his father’s
small business, which employed 38 semi-skilled workers. After a week his father, a
retired Military officer called him and said. “Simon”, I have had a chance to observe
your working with the employees for a few days. Although I hate to, I must say
something. You are just too nice to people. I know they taught you human relations
stuff at the institution but it just does not work here. I remember, when the Hawthorne
studies were first reported, everyone at the academic field felt excited about them. But
believe me, there is more to managing people than just being nice to them”.
Carefully examine the above case and answer the following questions.
Question:

1. Do you think, Mr. Simon’s father understood and interpreted the Hawthorne studies
correctly?
2. If you were Mr. Simon, what would be your reaction to his father’s comment.

2. Case study

Mr. Maran has been production manager of modern products Ltd. for two years. He has
a big problem his boss Mr. Jothi who has been divisional manager for about 15 years.
Mr. Jothi loves his job and his people. He knows all the 100 employees in the division
by name. He spends a great deal of time wandering about listening to people’s
problems and helping supervisors out of trouble.

All that is fine for two things. He spends so much time talking to individual employees
and supervisors that he is seldom in his office. Mr. Maran never knows what Mr. Jothi
has told the employees. So in a way Mr. Jothi is more on the Mr. Maran’s Job than
himself.
Questions:
i. What organizational problems involved?
ii. Which theory of organization should be applied to solve these problems?
iii. What is Neo-classical theory of management? In what way it is an
improvement over the classical theory?

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 3. Case study:

The director of the part-time course hired the services of three fresh and new teachers
to handle different subjects. One among them was Mr. Bharat, who had rural back
ground and sound academic record. He was very strict in attendance and evaluation.
Within a few days, he became popular among the students. But the late comers found
difficulty to manage Mr. Bharath. Soon they began oral complaints about Mr. Bharat.
When it brought nil result, the late comers gave a written complaint. But because of
the popularity of the teacher, the director did not take any action. One day the
latecomers and their friends boycotted the classes and pressed for immediate solution.
Questions:
i. What is wrong with Mr. Bharat?
ii. What motivational theory is to be applied?
iii. What remedies do you suggest to director to correct the situation?

ANSWERS

1) my organathetion is police commutions ther for when I evalot interms of prsnality

,ablity,emotions,mods,values
Emotions are intense feelings directed at
someone or something.
In this my organathetion is good
Moods are less intense feelings than emotions and often (though not always) arise
without a specific event acting as a stimulus
In this my organathetion is good
personality is as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts
with others
In this my organathetion is good
motivation is as the processes that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
In this my organathetion is good
Ablity is an individual capacity to perform the variyos task in a job
In this my organathetion is good

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 2) contrast
behavioral theories of leadership
Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders

Contanjency theors

A contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness

production-oriented leader
A leader who emphasizes technical or task aspects of the job.

Fiedler contingency model

The theory that effective groups depend on a proper match between a leader’s style of
interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and
influence to the leader
situational leadership theory (SLT)
path–goal theory

A theory that states that it is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals
and to provide the necessary direction and/or support to ensure that their goals are
compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization.
leader-participation model
A leadership theory that provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of
participative decision making in different situations.

leader–member exchange (LMX) theory

A theory that supports leaders’ creation of in-groups and out-groups; subordinates with
in-group status will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job
satisfaction
Comaier
 both theoris are interiletd

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 3) Personality What value, if any, does the Big Five model provide to managers?
From the early 1900s through the mid-1980s, researchers sought a link between
personality and job performance. “The outcome of those 80-plus years of research was
that personality and job performance were not meaningfully related across traits or
situations.”
However, the past 20 years have been more promising, largely due to the findings about
the Big Five. ●
Scre ening job candidates for high conscientiousness—as well as the other Big Five traits,
depending on the criteria an organization finds most
important—should pay dividends. Of course, managers still need to take situational
factors into consideration.
Factors such as job demands, the degree of required interaction with
others, and the organization’s culture are examples of situational variables that moderate
the personality–job performance relationship.
You need to evaluate the job, the work group, and the organization to determine the
optimal personality fit.
● Other traits, such as core self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain
situations, too.
● Although the MBTI has been widely criticized, it may have a place in

organizations. In training and development, it can help employees better understand

themselves, help team members better understand each other, and open up
communication in work groups and possibly reduce conflicts.

Values
Why is it important to know an individual’s values? Values often underlie and explain
attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. So knowledge of an individual’s value system can
provide insight into what makes the person “tick.” ●
Employees’ performance and satisfaction are likely to be higher if their values fit well
with the organization. The person who places great importance on imagination,

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 independence, and freedom is likely to be poorly matched with an organization that seeks
conformity from its employees.

The motivation theories in this chapter differ in their predictive strength. Here, we (1)
review the most established to determine their relevance in explaining turnover,
productivity, and other outcomes and (2) assess the predictive power of each.
105
● Need theories.
Maslow’s hierarchy, McClelland’s needs, and the two- factor theory focus on needs.
None has found widespread support, although McClelland’s is the strongest, particularly
regarding the
relationship between achievement and productivity. In general, need
theories are not very valid explanations of motivation.
● Self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory.
As research on the motivational effects of rewards has accumulated, it increasingly
appears extrinsic rewards can undermine motivation if they are seen as coercive. They
can increase motivation if they provide information about competence and relatedness.
● Goal-setting theory.
Clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of
employee productivity, supporting goal-setting theory’s explanation of this dependent
variable. The theory does not address absenteeism,
turnover, or satisfaction, however.
● Reinforcement theory.
This theory has an impressive record for
predicting quality and quantity of work, persistence of effort, absenteeism, tardiness, and
accident rates. It does not offer much insight into
employee satisfaction or the decision to quit.
● Equity theory/organizational justice.
Equity theory deals with productivity, satisfaction, absence, and turnover variables.
However, its strongest legacy is that it provided the spark for research on organizational
justice, which has more support in the literature.

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 ● Expectancy theory.
Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance variables such as
employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. But it assumes employees have few
constraints on
decision making, such as bias or incomplete information, and this limits its applicability.
Expectancy theory has some validity because, for many
behaviors, people consider expected outcom
4) contemporary theoriys of motivation
Self-Determination Theory
A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic
motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation.
Goal-Setting Theory
A theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher
performance
self-efficacy
An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.
reinforcement theory
A theory that says that behavior is a function of its consequences.
equity theory
A theory that says that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of
others and then respond to eliminate any inequities.
expectancy theory
A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the
strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual
5) charismatic leadership theory
A leadership theory that states that followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary
leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors
transactional leaders
Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements.

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 transformational leaders
Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests and who are capable
of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers
6) Emotions are intense feelings directed at
someone or something.
In this my organathetion is good
Moods are less intense feelings than emotions and often (though not always) arise
without a specific event acting as a stimulus
In this my organathetion is good
personality is as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts
with others
perception
A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order
to give meaning to their environment
managral implicetions
Personality What value, if any, does the Big Five model provide to managers? From the
early 1900s through the mid-1980s, researchers sought a link between personality and job
performance. “The outcome of those 80-plus years of research was that personality and
job performance were not meaningfully related across traits or situations.”
However, the past 20 years have been more promising, largely due to the findings about
the Big Five. ●
Screening job candidates for high conscientiousness—as well as the other Big Five traits,
depending on the criteria an organization finds most
important—should pay dividends. Of course, managers still need to take situational
factors into consideration.
Factors such as job demands, the degree of required interaction with
others, and the organization’s culture are examples of situational variables that moderate
the personality–job performance relationship.
You need to evaluate the job, the work group, and the organization to determine the
optimal personality fit.

9|Page
 ● Other traits, such as core self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain
situations, too.
● Although the MBTI has been widely criticized, it may have a place in

organizations. In training and development, it can help employees better understand

themselves, help team members better understand each other, and open up
communication in work groups and possibly reduce conflicts.

Values
Why is it important to know an individual’s values? Values often underlie and explain
attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. So knowledge of an individual’s value system can
provide insight into what makes the person “tick.” ●
Employees’ performance and satisfaction are likely to be higher if their values fit well
with the organization. The person who places great importance on imagination,
independence, and freedom is likely to be poorly matched with an organization that seeks
conformity from its employees.

The motivation theories in this chapter differ in their predictive strength. Here, we (1)
review the most established to determine their relevance in explaining turnover,
productivity, and other outcomes and (2) assess the predictive power of each.
● Need theories.
Maslow’s hierarchy, McClelland’s needs, and the two- factor theory focus on needs.
None has found widespread support, although McClelland’s is the strongest, particularly
regarding the
relationship between achievement and productivity. In general, need
theories are not very valid explanations of motivation.
● Self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory.
As research on the motivational effects of rewards has accumulated, it increasingly
appears extrinsic rewards can undermine motivation if they are seen as coercive. They
can increase motivation if they provide information about competence and relatedness.

10 | P a g e
 ● Goal-setting theory.
Clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of
employee productivity, supporting goal-setting theory’s explanation of this dependent
variable. The theory does not address absenteeism,
turnover, or satisfaction, however.
● Reinforcement theory.
This theory has an impressive record for
predicting quality and quantity of work, persistence of effort, absenteeism, tardiness, and
accident rates. It does not offer much insight into
employee satisfaction or the decision to quit.
● Equity theory/organizational justice.
Equity theory deals with productivity, satisfaction, absence, and turnover variables.
However, its strongest legacy is that it provided the spark for research on organizational
justice, which has more support in the literature.
● Expectancy theory.
Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance variables such as
employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. But it assumes employees have few
constraints on
decision making, such as bias or incomplete information, and this limits its applicability.
Expectancy theory has some validity because, for many
behaviors, people consider expected outcome

Perception

Individuals base their behavior not on the way their external

environment actually is but rather on what they see or believe it to be.
● Whether a manager successfully plans and organizes the work of
employees and actually helps them to structure their work more efficiently and
effectively is far less important than how employees perceive the manager’s efforts.
● Employees judge issues such as fair pay, performance appraisals, and working
conditions in very individual ways. To influence productivity, we need to assess how
workers perceive their jobs

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 7) Attribution theory
 A perceptual process whereby we interpret the causes of behavior in terms of the
person (internal attribution) or the situation(external attributions).
 Basically, the theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we
attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused
Determinants:
1. Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations.
2. Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.
3. Consistency: responds in the same way over time

8) Big Five Model

A personality assessment model that taps five basic dimensions.

 agreeableness

A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting.

 conscientiousness

A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and
organized.

 emotional stability

A personality dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, secure (positive)

versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).

 openness to experience

A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and

curiosity

 extraversion

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive

core self-evaluation

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Bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a
person

Machiavellianism

The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that
ends can justify means.

self-monitoring

A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external,
situational factors.

narcissism

The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive

admiration, and have a sense of entitlement

9) attitudes

Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.

affective component

The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.

behavioral component

An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

cognitive component

The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.

job satisfaction

A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics

job involvement

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The degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and considers
performance important to self-worth.

psychological empowerment

Employees’ belief in the degree to which they affect their work environment, their competence,
the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy in their work.

organizational commitment

The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and
wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

10) contrast

transactional leaders
Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements.
transformational leaders
Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests and who are capable
of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers
copaier
 both are tayps of lidears

11) Stages of Team Development

This process of learning to work together effectively is known as team development. Research
has shown that teams go through definitive stages during development. Bruce Tuckman, an
educational psychologist, identified a five-stage development process that most teams follow to
become high performing. He called the stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and
adjourning. Team progress through the stages is shown in the following diagram.

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Forming stage

The forming stage involves a period of orientation and getting acquainted. Uncertainty is high
during this stage, and people are looking for leadership and authority. A member who asserts
authority or is knowledgeable may be looked to take control. Team members are asking such
questions as “What does the team offer me?” “What is expected of me?” “Will I fit in?” Most
interactions are social as members get to know each other.

Storming stage

The storming stage is the most difficult and critical stage to pass through. It is a period marked
by conflict and competition as individual personalities emerge. Team performance may actually
decrease in this stage because energy is put into unproductive activities. Members may disagree
on team goals, and subgroups and cliques may form around strong personalities or areas of
agreement. To get through this stage, members must work to overcome obstacles, to accept
individual differences, and to work through conflicting ideas on team tasks and goals. Teams can
get bogged down in this stage. Failure to address conflicts may result in long-term problems.

Norming stage

If teams get through the storming stage, conflict is resolved and some degree of unity emerges.
In the norming stage, consensus develops around who the leader or leaders are, and individual
member’s roles. Interpersonal differences begin to be resolved, and a sense of cohesion and unity
emerges. Team performance increases during this stage as members learn to cooperate and begin

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to focus on team goals. However, the harmony is precarious, and if disagreements re-emerge the
team can slide back into storming.

Performing stage

In the performing stage, consensus and cooperation have been well-established and the team is
mature, organized, and well-functioning. There is a clear and stable structure, and members are
committed to the team’s mission. Problems and conflicts still emerge, but they are dealt with
constructively. (We will discuss the role of conflict and conflict resolution in the next section).
The team is focused on problem solving and meeting team goals.

Adjourning stage

In the adjourning stage, most of the team’s goals have been accomplished. The emphasis is on
wrapping up final tasks and documenting the effort and results. As the work load is diminished,
individual members may be reassigned to other teams, and the team disbands. There may be
regret as the team ends, so a ceremonial acknowledgement of the work and success of the team
can be helpful. If the team is a standing committee with ongoing responsibility, members may be
replaced by new people and the team can go back to a forming or storming stage and repeat the
development process.

Team Norms and Cohesiveness

When you have been on a team, how did you know how to act? How did you know what
behaviors were acceptable or what level of performance was required? Teams usually
develop norms that guide the activities of team members. Team norms set a standard for
behavior, attitude, and performance that all team members are expected to follow. Norms are like
rules but they are not written down. Instead, all the team members implicitly understand them.
Norms are effective because team members want to support the team and preserve relationships
in the team, and when norms are violated, there is peer pressure or sanctions to enforce
compliance.

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Norms result from the interaction of team members during the development process. Initially,
during the forming and storming stages, norms focus on expectations for attendance and
commitment. Later, during the norming and performing stages, norms focus on relationships and
levels of performance. Performance norms are very important because they define the level of
work effort and standards that determine the success of the team. As you might expect, leaders
play an important part in establishing productive norms by acting as role models and by
rewarding desired behaviors.

Norms are only effective in controlling behaviors when they are accepted by team members. The
level of cohesiveness on the team primarily determines whether team members accept and
conform to norms. Team cohesiveness is the extent that members are attracted to the team and
are motivated to remain in the team. Members of highly cohesive teams value their membership,
are committed to team activities, and gain satisfaction from team success. They try to conform to
norms because they want to maintain their relationships in the team and they want to meet team
expectations. Teams with strong performance norms and high cohesiveness are high performing.
For example, the seven-member executive team at Whole Foods spends time together outside of
work. Its members frequently socialize and even take group vacations. According to co-CEO
John Mackey, they have developed a high degree of trust that results in better communication
and a willingness to work out problems and disagreements when they occur.[1]

Factors Affecting Group Development

 Group Norms Acceptable standards of behaviour considered appropriate

Vary from group to groupLeader:Strives to understand normsEnsures that group exerts
pressure on members to comply with normsDeviation from normsLeader interprets and
makes recommendations for positive changeOther members punish or correct

 Group Size Effect of size varies depending on the purpose and goals
Smaller groups make decisions quicklyLess discussionLarger groups bring forth more
opinionsTakes longer for decision making

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  LeadershipDimensions
Low Relationship/Low taskLow Relationship/High taskHigh Relationship/Low taskHigh
Relationship/ High Task

 HighRelationship/LowTask
Works Best in forming stage when faced with strict deadlineLeader ensures that group
is:Working on the task andMoving quickly through the forming, storming and norming
stagesRelationships important to ensure cohesion and complete task on time

 HighRelationship/HighTask
Almost through the storming stageLeader is working with the group on the task as well as
building relationships within the group

 LowRelationship/HighTask
Moving out of the storming stageLeader works diligently on the task while the group
works through the norming stage of developmentThe task has a timeline that must be
metRelationship at a point where members have established their roles and can focus on
the tasks

 LowRelationship/Lowtask
In the performing stageLeader now offers advice when neededGroup essentially
functions on its ownGroup members work well together and understand the implications
of the task deadlineMay need leader to steo

 Leader’s Behaviours Task Behaviours Relationship Behaviours

Not only exhibited by the leader, but by the group members if the leader relinquishes
control

Task BehavioursHelp keep the group on track and moving towards completing the task at
handInclude the following:Initiator- generates new ideas and suggests solutionsElaborator-
expands on existing ideas and may restate ideasSummarizer-pulls ideas together and ensures
consensusRecorder- records details for current and future progressTime keeper- makes sure the
group observes the time limits and deadlines

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  Relationshipbehaviours
Keep individuals within the group feeling wanted and valuableFollowing roles and
behaviours:Encourager-makes everyone feel importantGate keeper- ensures everyone’s
opportunity to contributeMediator – helps keep harmony by suggesting
compromisesCustodian – checks to ensure that the group doesn’t violate valuesBlocker –
opposes others’ ideas and gets off topicJoker – is centre of attention and makes fun of
others’ ideasDominator – imposes his own ideas at the expense of othersHidden agenda –
fulfills her own personal gainsDependent – depends on others for ideas and opinions

Group CohesivenessThe degree to which individual members are attracted to a group and each
otherVaries between groupsLinked to the group’s overall productivityRecommendations for
developing cohesiveness:Smaller sizeMore time spent together“Buying into” the group’s
goalsPhysical isolationHighlight valued statusReward the group members equallyEncourage
competition with other work groups

 GroupcompositionHeterogeneousgroups:
Composed of dissimilar individualsPromotes group conflictMore likely to have diverse
information and abilitiesImproved decision making and task completionFor team
building each personality colour should be representedDepending on the reason for the
group’s existence more or less members of a particular colour can be included

Preselected GroupsGroups existing prior to the appointment of the leaderLeader needs to make
this workDetermine which group members possess which strengths and then promote
theseAssign tasks to suit each person

12) Organizational culture

 refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the

organization from other organizations. In
 Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization’s
culture:

1. Innovation and risk taking.

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  The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks.

2. Attention to detail.

 The degree to which employees are expected to

exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail

3.Outcome orientation.

 The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on

the techniques and processes used to achieve them.

4. People orientation.

 The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of
outcomes on people within the organization.

5. Team orientation.

 The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than
individuals.

6. Aggressiveness.

 The degree to which people are aggressive and  competitive rather than
easygoing.

7. Stability. The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status
quo in contrast to growth

13) Attribution theory

 A perceptual process whereby we interpret the causes of behavior in terms of the

person (internal attribution) or the situation(external attributions).
 Basically, the theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we
attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused
Determinants:
1. Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations.

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 2. Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.
3. Consistency: responds in the same way over time

14) mechanisms managing stress

Individual Approaches

– Implementing time management

– Increasing physical exercise

– Relaxation training

– Expanding social support network

 Organizational Approaches

– Improved personnel selection and job placement

– Training

– Use of realistic goal setting

– Redesigning of jobs

– Increased employee involvement

– Improved organizational communication

– Offering employee sabbaticals

Establishment of corporate wellness programs

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Case study answers

Case study one:

SUMMARY

The Hawthorne Studies on social influences in the workplace have weathered decades of
scholarly attack. Hawthorne critics have generally misunderstood or misrepresented the modest
ideological and methodological presumptions of this pioneering research, which was intended to
generate, not verify, hypotheses. This article reviews the decades of controversy within the
historical context of the discipline of organizational behavior

INTRODUCTION

The ideological and methodological debates that often rage over the major field studies in social
science and especially demonstrate how easily the gunsmoke of academic snipers can obscure
the conceptual contribution of these pioneering efforts. Landmark studies such as the 'Polish
Peasant' studies on immigrant behaviour (Thomas and Znaniecki, 1918); the 'Authoritarian
Personality' study on the sources of social bigotry (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson and
Sanford, 1950); the Kinsey Report on sexual behaviour (Kinsey and Pomeroy, 1948); the Coch
and French (1948) study of resistance to change, the Milgram obedience study (Milgram, 1963,
1974) and especially the Hawthorne Research on human relations in industry have been victims
of professional gainsaying. Over the past several decades reviews have referred to 'the myths of
Hawthorne' (Parsons, 1974), presumably based on the writings of 'cow sociologists' (Bell, 1947)
whose conclusions were both 'injudicious' (Franke and Kaul, 1978) and 'scientifically worthless'
(Carey, 1967). The fuller context of these criticisms, however, suggests a fundamental
misunderstanding of the ideological and methodological presumptions of the Hawthorne
research. A return to the original observer's logs and research records, a visit to the research sites,
lengthy interviews with some of the surviving participants, and modest historical reflection can
rejuvenate one's appreciation of the Hawthorne research. This review will summarize the
research projects, examine the decades of criticism and controversy, and present valuable new
insights from the participants, the forgotten voices of the debates.

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Statement of the problem

 The main propes of this study is to understood and interpret the Hawthorne studies

Case analaysiss and answering qoutions

ANSWERS

A. Do you think john’s father understood and interpreted the Hawthorne studies
correctly?Ans. John’s father interpreted the Hawthorne studies correctly, according to
his father’s experience
he tells that his first priority is to manage people properly and second is treated them nicely

B)How would you react with your father comments if you were john?
Ans. If I would john then I never follow my father’s comment because according to me
managing people
is not much important because in present trend we need to motivate our employees first so
we have tointeract with them politely. If we will be polite to them then they will not hesitate to
give their viewsregarding the benefit of the organization.
RESEARCH PHASES

Beginning in 1924, Hawthorne researchers along with the National Research Council of the
National Academy of Sciences, attempted to investigate the relatiopship between the light
intensity in the shop floor of manual work sites and employee productivity. The Hawthorne
research is so named because the studies were conducted by Western Electric at the company's
Hawthorne Works, a large plant outside Chicago. There were six studies which ran for the
duration of several months to several years between the years of 1924 and 1933. The research
findings are reported in Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) and Whitehead (1938). In one early
phase of the project the test group showed no increase or decrease in the proportion of the
increase or decrease in illumination while the control group with unchanged illumination
increased productivity by the same amount overall, as the test group. Next, a group of workers
was kept at a constant level of illumination, and in a parallel test group lighting was reduced at
regular intervals. In this group, productivity increases occurred until the equipment was barely
visible. Even at moonlight intensity, workers suggested that they became less tired than when

23 | P a g e
under bright lights. Finally, when the experimenters only pretended to increase and decrease the
light intensity, the workers commented that the supposedly brighter light was much more
pleasant. The researchers concluded that lighting was only a minor factor in the study of output
and the other, stronger factors had not been controlled. At this point, the National Research
Council withdrew from the projects. Western Electric, with the later collaboration of Harvard
University researchers like Fritz Rothlisberger, W. Lloyd Warner, and most notably Elton Mayo
redefined the research purpose from a study of illumination to a study of the physical factors
causing fatigue and monotony. Primary research attention was focused on the impact of varied
work conditions on five young women who assembled magnetic relays, a part of the old
switching mechanisms. These women were isolated from the main shop floor to better control
and more deeply investigate other explanations of productivity. A great deal of data on the
workers' family backgrounds, in the work setting, and physiological fatigue and well-being was
collected and analysed. This included mechanical records of output per worker, observers' log of
the work activities, a daily record of comments made by researchers and study members, and
interviews transcripts. This research phase, which came to be called the Relay Assembly Test
Room, lasted for five years, although experimental conditions were maintained only for the first
two and a half years. During this time thirteen experimental treatments which involved variations
in the number and duration of rest breaks, and the length of the work day and work week were
made. The last ten experimental periods reflected retrenchment measures to survive the
depression and not part of the research design. As the conditions of work were progressively
relaxed, production steadily rose, and when the original, more demanding work conditions were
reintroduced, the workers' productivity dropped only slightly (representing a 30 per cent increase
over their original output). Absenteeism also dropped to a third of the prior record for these
workers and a third of the average absenteeism of the workers on the main shop floor. Evidence
to support hypotheses about the relief from fatigue or from monotony was inconclusive. In the
midst of the Relay Assembly Test Room research, two other derivative studies were launched to
check for other possible explanations of improvements in productivity. The investigators realized
that they had inadvertently given these workers different incentive systems since, as a smaller
group, they could more directly affect their group output-based compensation than the 200 other
assemblers in similar work in the main shop. A second relay group with a small group output
incentive plan was arranged on the shop floor. Production quickly increased by 12 per cent for

24 | P a g e
this group, but levelled off at the level for the duration of the study. This second group was
disbanded after nine weeks due to the complaints of inequity by the other women in the
department. The levelling off and the increase of only 12 per cent indicated to the investigators
that the incentive plan was important, but not the single factor contributing to the increase in
productivity by the first relay assembly test group. A third group of workers was gathered but
rather than given the small group incentive plan, they were only segregated in a separate room,
like the first relay assembly test group. This third group, the Mica Splitting Test Room was
placed on an individual piece rate incentive. Still group output increased in the early phase of
this project by 15 per cent. At the time when rumours about the possible transfer of this job away
from Hawthorne broke out, productivity began to fall off in the original group. The conclusions
from these derivative studies was that the wage incentive certainly did not explain the complete
increase in productivity in the original Relay Assembly Test Room and further that a change in
wage incentives was so intertwined with other variables that it was not possible to identify its
independent influence. Although management did promptly institute rest breaks more widely in
the company, these other sites still did not show any significant signs of increased productivity.
In fact, it was concluded that the chief result had been to demonstrate the importance of
employee attitudes and pre-occupations (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939, pp. 9, 22). The
friendlier, more participative style of supervision and the freedom from tight quotas and harsh
discipline, seemed to correspond with increases in both morale and in productivity. The
investigators were impressed with the great worker potential which could be trapped given
proper conditions. However, they were sufficiently uncertain about what these conditions might
be that they turned to ask the workers directly in an extensive employee interview programme.
From 1928 to 1930, 21 000 employees were interviewed. The interviews were analysed and
classified by the complaints articulated. Although management acted on many of the complaints
that recurred in the analyses, interview analysts discovered that the complaints were misleading
out of context: understanding the personal family and economic background of the workers
allowed for a much richer appreciation of the significance of a given complaint. The interviews
themselves became far less directive and less 'psychological'. Emphathetic listening and the
recognition of the spillover between work and non-work sectors of one's life appeared to be
important managerial skills. Furthermore the interview programme suggested a great
motivational value to directly soliciting the opinions and perceptions of workers. Hawthorne

25 | P a g e
investigators also observed social stratification between different job holders, which prompted a
closer look at the status distinctions and the social relations in the workplace. Researchers then
looked at a group of 14 workers in three different jobs who worked together to produce banks of
wired equipment for use in switches. An unanticipated worker culture was revealed through
group norms and activities such as the restriction of output, informal leadership patterns,

CONCEPTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS

The general conclusions which the researchers distilled from these six phases of investigation
were:

1) Individual work behaviour is rarely a pure consequence of simple cause and effect
relationships, but rather is determined by a complex set of factors.

(2) The informal or primary work group develops its own set of norms which mediates between
the needs of the individuals and the work setting.

(3) The social structure of these informal groups is maintained through job-related symbols of
prestige and power.

(4) Supervisors need to listen to the personal context of employee complaints to understand the
unique needs and satisfactions of each individual.

(5) Awareness of employee sentiments and employee participation can reduce resistance to
change

These findings have been credited with contributing to the later development and reception of
such far-ranging social science topics as client-centred therapy (Rogers, 1942), small group
behaviour (Homans, 1941, 1950; Whyte, 1943; Coch and French, 1948; Bales, 1950; Trist and
Bamforth, 1951; Blau, 1955; Cartwright and Zander, 1968), organization theory (Barnard, 1938;
Simon, 1945; Parsons, 1960), and research methodology (Selltiz, 1959; Landsberger, 1958;
Perrow, 1972). The greatest contribution of these writings, however, has been to expand
concepts of organizational behaviour beyond the notions of 'scientific management' (Taylor,
1911; Gulick and Urwick, 1937). The prevailing notions of the time of the Hawthorne studies

26 | P a g e
were that individual human behaviour was to be corrected for and controlled. The study of purely
formal static social structures all but disappeared with the publication of the Hawthorne research.
Porter, Lawler, and Hackman (1975) noted that the Hawthorne researchers were the first to
emphasize the social complexities of organization life and what came to be called a systems
approach. They commented, 'From the time of the publication of the results of the Hawthorne
Studies onward, no one interested in the behaviour of employees could consider them as isolated
individuals. Rather, such factors and concepts as group influences, social status, informal
communication, roles, norms, and the like were drawn upon to explain and interpret the
voluminous data from these studies and other field investigations that followed them' (p. 22).
The wide range of managerial topics which owe some gratitude to these studies was
demonstrated at a 50th anniversary commemorative volume on this project (Cass and Zimmer,
1975). Prominent researchers highlighted the role of the Hawthorne research in stimulating
thought on individual differences and job matching (Lawrence, 1975), employee participation
(Kahn, 1975), incentive plans (Lawler, 1975), work design (Hackman, 1975 and Walton, 1975),
small work groups (Leavitt, 1975), leadership (Vroom, 1975) and the social systematic nature of
organizational activities (Lorsch, 1975). Despite differing conclusions on the major contribution
of the studies, as a consequence of these studies, both the content and conduct of management
teaching and practice were drastically altered (Duncan, 1978). The Hawthorne studies have
accordingly become a firmly established classic social science contribution. Nevertheless, they
have been heavily criticized from the beginning (Lynd, 1937; Gilson, 1940). The four decades of
subsequent Hawthorne dissension can be roughly sorted into two categories: ideological
disagreements and methodological challenges. The first group, the ideological dissenters
includes such prominent writers on economics and sociology as Bendix and Fisher (1949), Kerr
(1953), Mills (1948), Moore (1947), Blumer (1947), Dunlop (1950), and Bell (1947). The second
group of critics are better known for their Hawthorne commentaries than any other social science
ruminations. This group includes Argyle (1953), Cary (1967), Parsons (1974, 1978), Franke and
Kaul (1978), Pethia (1979), Pitcher (1981), and Bramel and Friend (1981).

IDEOLOGICAL CRITICS

The first group of critics has continually stressed that the studies present an inadequate view of
society, which smooths over inherent conflict of interest and assumes a pro-management bias to

27 | P a g e
manipulate the work force. For example, Bell (1947) commented, 'There is no view of the larger
institutional framework of our system within which these relationships arise and have their
meaning' (p. 56). Kerr (1953) added, 'We cannot accept the view that rationality and initiative are
vouchsafed only to the elite and that to the common man is left only the virtues of faith and
obedience. . .' (p. 134). Dunlop (1950) complained, 'Analytical frameworks oriented towards the
individual workers in his relationships to a single community of interests cannot provide a basis
for a full explanation of the facts of collective bargaining' (p. 393). More specifically, Mills
(1948) charged, 'There is little or no explicit mention of the class function of the unions nor its
power function, but only of its status use' (p. 212). More recently, the identical criticisms of 'pro-
management bias' were echoed by two, avowed Marxist psychologists, Bramel and Friend
(1981).

IDEOLOGICAL DEFENDERS

Landsberger (1958) offered a strong defence of the Hawthorne studies against these ideological
attacks. He showed, in detail, how most of this theoretical criticism is more properly directed
toward the later writings of Elton Mayo, the senior consultant to the Hawthorne studies, and not
towards the main description of the studies by Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939). Mayo's
(1933) The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization and his (1946) The Social Problems of
Industrial Civilization, reflect a deep concern for the Durkeim-inspired alertness to social
dislocation with the breakdown of the integrating institutions of the past. He looked for a new
way to submerge the individual in collective activity through a strong occupational identity.
Landsberger wrote, 'The very titles of Mayo's works suggest that a complete diagnosis of the ills
of our society is now available... In contrast, Management and the Worker (Roethlisberger and
Dickson) is neither written in a dogmatic style nor does it, until the end, generalize much beyond
the immediate findings' (pp. 48-49).

Further, Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) were willing to acknowledge non-supportive data in
several places. In reviewing the data on group output and fatigue, they admitted a great deal of
ambivalence (p. 109, 117). The physiological data indicated that 'the operators were working
well within their physical capacities' (p. 120), and the amount of accumulated fatigue registered
in vascular skin tests was 'small if not negligible' (p. 124). Similarly, the discussion of the
'sentiments' and 'nonrationality' of the worker are not intended to be the pejorative labels that

28 | P a g e
Kerr has inferred; rather they are intended to be merely references to the underlying set of logic
and values which we all possess. For example the authors state that many worker complaints are
often 'not based on physical circumstances ... no inference can be drawn about the illogicality or
irrationality of employees in particular' (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939, p. 216). Landsberger
explains, .... the authors were intent chiefly on weaning management away from the idea that the
manipulation of easily measurable physical conditions alone could dissipate worker's complaints.
They seem quite genuinely concerned to broaden the perspectives of management by impressing
on them that workers' hopes and fears and the ideas which they had about fair play were as
important as their physical well-being' (p. 56). The ideological critics of the studies tended to
focus on the sources of conflict outside the plant while the Hawthorne researchers examined the
sources of conflict inside the plant. Their studies, however, did not ignore conflict, instead they
looked at 'the employee's existing social relations within the plant: the social organization of the
group with which he worked and his position in that group' (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939,
p. 375). Landsberger suggested that 'one might say that the book contains the psychological
underpinnings of an institutional analysis, whether sociological or economic' (p. 89). He further
suggested that the hostility to the work was motivated by a fear that 'in absence of an existing
and sufficiently recent socio-economic analysis at the institutional level itself' many sociologists
feared that this psychological approach might overtake the emerging interest in industrial
relations. Regardless of the motives of the ideological critics, an informal review must prompt
some questioning of the relevance of their comments to the purpose and inferences of the
Hawthorne investigations.

METHODOLOGICAL CRITICS

Methodological criticisms do not cover the entire Hawthorne research efforts but rather take aim
most directly at the Relay Assembly Test Room, either ignoring or disparaging the other five
component studies. The common theme these criticisms address are:

(1) The small sample size of the Relay Assembly Test Room.

(2) The lack of adequate controls.

(3) Changes in the incentive plan.

29 | P a g e
(4) Changes in the number of participants during the study

For example, Argyle (1953) complained that the Relay Assembly Test Room dealt with a single
group, in a single unique setting, with only a single type of change introduced. Parsons (1974)
argued that experimenters must either wait until the rate levels off, or they must find and remove
whatever is causing the rate to rise. Carey (1967) also complained about the design and sample
size, stating that even if the research stages were better designed, '. . . the experiments would still
have been of only minor scientific value since a group of five subjects is too small to yield
statistically reliable results' (p. 1). Parsons (1974) supported these assertions by suggesting that
the financial incentive served to stimulate faster learning of the assembly tasks for the different
relay models. He argued that by switching from a large group to a small group incentive plan, an
individual piecework compensation plan was approximated. This more direct reward, coupled
with the improved information feedback from a new output recording device, are thought to have
motivated the faster learning of 'the complex relay assembly task' (p. 298). In addition to these
criticisms of the research design, there have been challenges to the data themselves. For
example, Pethia (1979) implied that deceptive presentation of the number of operators, the
number of relays, the length of the study, and the implied smoothness of the production increases
was in need of clarification. Another data challenge (Franke and Kaul, 1978) applied regression
analysis to the original production records and inferred that the impact of 'the depression' and the
imposition of 'managerial discipline' account for most of the variance in output. We will return to
this analysis in the next section

METHODOLOGICAL DEFENDERS

Methodological critics complaints about the problems in generalizing from the experimental
design to other settings are well founded. This is, however, in perfect agreement with the various
caveats the researchers themselves stated in their study reports. For example Roethlisberger and
Dickson (1939) state: 'There is no evidence to suggest that it could be transplanted and be made
to work effectively in some other plants where conditions are radically different ... it is doubtful
if it could be applied equally successfully anywhere or everywhere in that specific form' (p. 604)
Whitehead's (1938) previous description of the test room similarly acknowledged that the
researchers demonstrated a preference for depth over breadth in their investigation. 'A small
sample yields little knowledge of the characteristics amongst the members of the larger

30 | P a g e
population' (p. 3); however, 'a method is appropriate to a small sample when each member is
studied as an enduring organization and its events are studies in the natural time sequence and in
their functional relationships' (p. 6). In addition, the authors of the Hawthorne research reports
wrote as interpreters rather than as designers of the early research phases. The original
experiments, designed by several Western Electric executives (Clarence G. Stoll, and George A.
Pennock) and two outside engineering experts (Charles E. Snow of the National Research
Council and D. C. Jackson of MIT), were planned for the investigation of illumination. Only in
the later phases did the research address the social factors associated with work performance.
The Harvard social scientists (Elton Mayo, W. Lloyd Warner, Fritz Roethlisberger, T. North
Whitehead, and others) did not become active in the research until both the illumination studies
and most of the 'experimental' stages of the test room had ended. The reports of Hawthorne
studies are presented in a fashion which is intended to generate hypotheses rather than to test and
refute theory. A classic text on social science methodology (Selltiz, Deutsch and Cook, 1959)
suggested the Hawthorne studies were a good example of research which reformulates existing
theory by highlighting previously neglected facts. The presentation of the research itself-a
chronological narrative which highlighted imperfections and shifts in direction-illustrated both
the theory-building strengths of the study, and the candor of the researchers. Perrow (1972)
commented that'. . . in general the researchers were confused and admitted it. Their book is a
model of frank reporting on the step by step stages of research' (pp. 99-100). Roethlisberger and
Dickson (1939) selected this approach because 'it would picture the trails and tribulations of a
research investigator at his work and thus allow future investigators to see and profit from the
mistakes which were made' (p. 4). Other criticism has suggested that Roethlisberger and Dickson
were guilty of a misleading omission in recounting the actual length of the relay assembly test
room. Parsons (1974), Franke and Kaul (1978), Franke (1979) and Pethia (1979) have placed a
great emphasis on the Relay Assembly Test Activities beyond 13 experimental periods described
in Roethlesberger and Dickson (1939). Franke (1979) for example, accused the investigators of
'ignoring the first 3 years and 10 months . .. of the experiments' (p. 863). However,
Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) quite plainly stated, 'It is well to keep in mind that fact that
the Relay Assembly Test Room actually continued for five years (1927-1932) although only the
first 13 periods will be reported in this book . . . The first tentative conclusions from the test
room were reached in June 1929, after the completion of 13 periods. In as much as the first rough

31 | P a g e
approximations reached in 1929 were the basis of later more detailed studies, these first 13
periods, in the authors' opinions, are of sufficient importance to warrant separate treatment' (p.
29). Whitehead's (1938) companion volume, which did analyse the data from all 23 periods,
explained that 'the first 13 periods are genuinely experimental in the sense that the changes were
deliberately introduced for research purposes . .. while most of the changes subsequent to the 13
periods affecting the hours of work and the number of working days in the week were
occasioned by the industrial depression' (p. 28). Other methodological criticisms of the original
study address the learning curve effect induced by the special recording device in the test room,
the learning curve effects of the assembly of different relays, and the number of operators
(Parsons, 1974; Pethia, 1979; Pitcher, 1981). Such learning curve performance improvements
imply a looseness in the projected piece rates, something acknowledged by Roethlisberger and
Dickson, but discarded as an unlikely interference since the piecework rates used to convert all
the relays to a standard relay were older, well tested conversions. Also, Whitehead (1938)
devoted an entire chapter to the discussion of the effects of changing types of relays and found
no relationship between weekly type changes and weekly output rate. This lack of potential skills
increases questions of the logic of Parsons' (1974, 1978) information feedback explanation.
Parsons' interpretation, failed to consider the speed of information feedback already in the main
shop floor. An instructor rather than a machine, provided the same information. Finally, Wrege
(1980) has presented many research reports and company records from the prior illumination
studies which indicated increased productivity without the benefit of any special recording
devices. The Hawthorne critics have also, on occasion, misunderstood the position of the
investigators on the impact of financial incentives. While critics have implied that the Hawthorne
investigators rejected the notion of financial rewards in favour of social rewards, Roethlisberger
and Dickson (1939) only claim that financial rewards, physical factors, and social factors must
all be considered as part of a total mix for their impact to be understood, '... such factors as hours
of work and wage incentives were not things in themselves having an independent effect upon
employee efficiency, rather these factors were no more than part of a total situation and their
effects could not be predicted apart from the total situation' (p. 185). However in quoting from
such passages, Carey (1967) has edited the original text in such a way as to mean that 'wage
incentives were relatively unimportant and incapable of independent effect' (p. 409). Shepard
(1971) commented on Carey's less than candid style, stating that if the original phrasing 'had not

32 | P a g e
be edited, it would have shown the multiple causation approach of the Hawthorne researchers.
But instead Carey chose to make his central point without qualification' (p. 25). The last major
methodological criticisms of the Hawthorne studies appeared in a recent article which its authors
called 'the first statistical interpretation' of the test room data (Franke and Kaul, 1978). The piece
asserts that most of the variation in output data can be explained on the basis of two dummy
variables, 'managerial discipline' and the 'economic depression'. However, the passage of time, is
the only measured variable which inspired the Hawthorne investigators to begin to examine the
social factors of the workplace. When Schlaifer (1980) introduced time as an explanatory
variable and regressed productivity on this variable as well as the Franke and Kaul variables
'disc' and 'dep', he found that 'discipline' (which was not activated until period 7) and the
'economic depression' (which was not activated until period 15) to be substantially less powerful
than time as a determinant of increased productivity. The impact of time was even more
pronounced when the regressions were run on only the operators who participated in most of the
test room study. Schlaifer closed by reminding us that his results '... are of course, nothing but
restatements in statistical jargon of conclusions reached by the original Hawthorne Researchers
more than 40 years ago' (p. 17). These findings are not surprising considering Franke and Kaul's
(1978) primary explanatqry variables, 'managerial discretion' and the 'economic depression'.
Wardwell (1979) pointed out that 'the label managerial discipline which Franke and Kaul use to
describe replacement of the two operators, reveals their biased interpretation of the event' (p.
859). Carey (1967) on several occasions erroneously referred to 'the dismissal' of two
uncooperative operators in the study. Franke and Kaul (1978) perpetuate this error by claiming
that productivity 'improvement resulted from the positive examples of the two new workers as
well as from the aversive (sic) affects of management's disposal of two of the original workers'
(p. 636). However, the two workers were, at their coworker's initiative, returned to their former
department. No one was dismissed. Looking more closely at this issue it appears that the
behaviour of operators la and 2a was not only problematic in the much lower output of these two
workers, but most importantly, in the personal animosity they were encouraging in the work
group. Whitehead (1938) quoted from the supervisor's report on their transfer on January 25,
1928 that these two operators were removed, in part, '... for their talk in the Polish language of,
and about the others in the Test Room, their ridiculing operators 3 and 4, "working like a fool",
these, and then seeing themselves as superior to the rest of the first, copying and mimicking them

33 | P a g e
when at work, all served to create an antagonistic feeling between the . . . girls' (Quoted in
Whitehead, 1938, p. 118). Franke (1979) has responded to this evidence with quotations from the
original study records suggesting that the two replaced operators were happy in the test room.
However, these remarks are drawn from the midst of text which has one operator crying, 'I don't
know what's wrong with me, everything is going wrong ... I don't feel like working today ... I
would like to be in bed today ... When the whistle blows I won't have anything done. Everything
seems to slip out of my fingers ... I'm going nuts on this job. I don't know what I'm doing. If I get
any more repairs I'm going on strike'. A close reading of the records shows that the context of the
operator's comments does suggest that the two transferred employees had ambivalent feelings
about participation in the study and had problems with coworker relations for reasons outside of
the test room. Franke (1979) attempted to justify his statistical manipulations by claiming that
regardless of the qualitative support, the quantitative data demonstrate a sharp increase in group
output after the addition of two replacement workers for the two who were transferred. On the
other hand Wardwell (1979) had already previously acknowledged that the group output was
naturally higher but this was because two higher performing individuals were added to the group.
Thus the relevant compari- son to test for a possible implied threat is to examine the performance
of operators 3 and 4, the retained group members before and after the transfer. Such an exam-
ination reveals that, these two individuals did not increase their output, but in fact, showed a
levelling off of their previous steep productivity increase. Schalifer (1980) further showed that
when the regression of managerial discipline from the Franke and Kzul model is run on output of
only the two stable test room workers, 'mana- gerial discipline' is completely negligible as an
explanation. Franke and Kaul's second major explanatory variable, the 'economic depression' has
also been challenged. Schlaifer pointed out that Franke and Kaul grouped together the log
interval between three different events: the stock market crash, the cutback in hours in the test
room, and layoffs within the company. Franke (1979) responded by simply claiming that John
Kenneth Galbraith described the depres- sion as beginning on October 24, 1929. Once again, we
must put such a reference in the proper context. Galbraith (1954) never suggested that such an
interpretation was obvious to economists, managers, or the average workers at the time. 'In
November, 1929, a few weeks after the crash, the Havard Economic Soci- ety gave as a principal
reason why a depression need not be feared, its reasoned judgement that "business in most lines
has been conducted with prudence and conservatism"' (p. 89). Of particular relevance to the

34 | P a g e
Hawthorne research, company records (such as the 1929 issues of Western Electric News (1925-
1932) and annual reports) show that 1929 was a year of unprecedented market strength: a major
company expansion programme continued into 1930 at the company's Kearny and Point Breese
plants and Western Electric had increased their personnel from 44 000 to 77 000 that year, a 72
per cent jump. By January 1930, there were 82 000 Western Electric employees and planned
plant expenditures for the upcoming year of $50 million for additional plant and equipment.
Thus it seems extremely unlikely that the test room operators should be anxious about job loss in
October 1929

PARTICIPANTS' REFLECTIONS

the Hawthorne message about the value of listening to the workers' perspective, none of the
previous discusson reflects any effort to consider the workers' view of their participation in the
study. The decades of scholarly debate have been based on, at best, secondary and tertiary
awareness of the workers' feelings about the study. Even Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939)
reported on the studies without talking with the operators or their immediate supervisor. To
correct for this oversight, the healthy and surviving test room participants Nos 1, 3, and 4 (Mary
Volango, Theresa Zajac, and Wanda Beilfuss) and their immediate supervisor (Donald Chipman)
were interviewed in the spring of 1979. The interviews with the test room participants were held
at the Hawthorne Works in a room not far from their old relay assembly bench. The women were
rehired after the depression and continued as relay assemblers until their retirement forty years
later. The interviews with the women well testify to the valued status of a job at Hawthorne.

Op. 1: 'All the relatives worked here ... the lady that lived upstairs, she used to know their
personnel lady, so she came with me . .. they didn't have any opening . . . then six months later I
got a call from personnel that they had an opening . . . I'm glad I took the job'.

Op. 4: 'There was a man next door who worked at Western Electric. Their daughter was my
friend and she used to say, "I'm going to work there when I grow up", and thought, "Gee, I'd like
to work there, but I don't have a father working there". I thought I wouldn't be able to get in, but I
was lucky'.

Op. 3: 'It was the place to work in town'.

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Op. 4: 'We all had big families, . . . and we'd all run home, the bigger the pay was, the happier we
were. We just turned it in to help the family. You were glad you had a job'. (See Sonnenfeld
1982 or 1983 for more discussion of this material.) Operator 4 explained how she came to
participate in test room study. 'I remember when the supervisor called me and says they were
thinking of having a test room and asked if I knew about five girls I could ask. .. . They had me
go to the sortroom and I was always afraid, you just cooperated . . (pp. 11, 13). This fear of one's
immediate supervisors was frequently mentioned and sharply contrasted with the very positive
feelings about the company more generally. Here are some other unattributed examples, 'We had
supervisors that were real nasty . . . We had one that was real mean. He used to come up to me
and say, who can I bawl out today, and I'd be shaking myself . .. He used to have girls crying
every day'. 'Yeah, I think that's why we were afraid. We were afraid of our bosses'. 'Yeah, Mr X.
I'll never forget him. If you looked up he'd ask if you're on a picnic. You couldn't look up or
smile. Just keep your head down and work all day. You just walk in, sit down and work until it
was time to quit. No coffee breaks'. 'His supervisor, Mr Y. always had a habit of watching my
work. I'd have my head down, but he'd keep watching. He was always kind of working against us
... He'd accuse us of not paying attention. I wouldn't fight with him, I just left it the way it was'.
'Mr X. would holler, "what's all them parts on the floor". You had to get off your chair and pick
them up . .. even if it were just one or two parts. Now they just sweep them all up'. 'The only
cafeteria we could use was on the second floor and we were on the fifth. We had to use the
freight elevators, we weren't allowed to use the office elevators'. 'Mr Z. was a mean thing too. I
don't know why these guys were all so mean. They were the bosses and wanted to have people
working. I guess they just wanted to do their job'. Mr Donald Chipman, one of their new
observer/supervisors in the test room and their supervisor throughout most of the test room
phase, commented on the difference between his style and the one on the main shop floor.

'We as supervisors of the organization did not criticize in any way what they did, how they did it,
and so forth and so on ... Now this was a different sort of supervision than they were subjected to
in the regular line, because their supervisiors held a lettle tighter hand on them.... These other
supervisors were running a department, a large number of people, and had a responsibility for
overall output for a given type of product, and they saw it differently.... It was much more severe
than it was in the test room. In the test room we let the girls set up their own social organization
and go. ... There was a very definite change in supervisory attitudes after the war years. Unions

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had something to do with it. We like to believe that the test room studies and supervisor training
programme had a lot to do with tempering supervision too. In my opinion, this had something to
do with the tempering of supervision from the old style of "I'm the boss, and you'd better know
it", to the idea of "Let's get along. Let's work together"'. Thus the workers and their test room
supervisor agreed that there was a dramatic difference between the contact with management on
the shop floor and the contact with management in the test room. The atmosphere which then
emerged in the more freely supervised test room was friendly and cooperative. As the workers
reported: 'We had a lot of fun there in that test room . . . We all became close. You know, we'd
go out together ... meet at each other's houses and have dinner'. 'We were a group, like Wanda
said. We were associated with each other, you know, going over and visiting with each other,
staying at each other's house'. 'We'd go dancing together, you know, we're still good friends. The
friendliness was a very important factor, it got to be a joy to go to work. We were compatible'.
'We've been the best friends since the day we were in the test room. We had other friends but we
were a congenial bunch. We like to be together with each other. Twice a month we'd get together
at each other's house'. It was these social factors the women workers stressed as important during
the study. Other issues raised by recent critics such as the 'threat of managerial discipline'
following the impact of the transfer of two uncooperative workers (Carey, 1967; Franke and
Kaul, 1978) and the presumed improvement in information feedback (Parsons, 1974, 1978) were
discarded by the workers. They agreed with the Hawthorne researchers and insisted that the
uncooperative workers were content to go back to the regular department by the time of their
transfer. The next issue, the information feedback argument, hinged on the presumption that
performance followed a learning curve effect, in part due to the test room's special recording
device (Parsons, 1974, 1978). Donald Chipman, the old supervisor, explained, however, that
even back in the main department the operators had a good deal of performance feedback. 'Each
girl knew at the end of the day or the following morning, first thing the next morning, what her
output had been for the day before . .. and they knew what the norm was and they knew what the
top output was, and what poor performance was ... everybody knew what the day's output was'.
Similarly, the women commented that they always had performance feedback even in the main
department. 'The instructress always took care of your output . .. you also knew by the number of
blocks you started and ended with ... but the supervisor would let you know'. They denied getting
any more information in the test room. 'I think we always kept track of our work. We knew, of

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course, if we had small lots. You see, they'd go by piece parts, how many piece parts in each
relay had a different amount of piece parts. You could time yourself by the box of parts'. Finally,
the women stated that they enjoyed playing games with the recording machine. In particular they
tried to match up the punched out dots tracing the output of each operator. 'Theresa and I were
kind of young, always goofing. So Theresa would drop her relay and say, let's wait for another,
so until they got wise to us, those little dots were just even'. Discussions with their early and with
their most recent supervisors indicated that these women were good, but not extraordinarily
productive workers outside of the test room. And while these workers had never read any of the
published manuscripts of the studies, in their opinions, the important conditions which
contributed to their improved performance were the test room characteristics which encouraged a
cooperative group culture.

CONCLUSIONS

Throughout this review of the criticisms of the Hawthorne studies, we have found substantial
evidence in the published reports, observers' records, secondary statistical analysis, and recent
first-hand interviews with some of the actual study participants to strongly endorse the findings
of the original study. These findings, stated most simply, suggested that the influences of various
physical and structural characteristics of the work setting cannot be properly understood as
independent influences, but rather must be considered components of a larger social system.
Instead of treating the workers as an appendage to 'the machine' and fearfully construing
variation in human attitudes and behaviours as something to be designed out, the Hawthorne
researchers raised questions about (1) the means of appealing to motivating influences for
untapping potential; (2) the qualities of effective leadership and supervision; (3) worker
participation and involvement in company decision-making; (4) job satisfaction; (5) resistance to
change; and (6) group norms

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Case 2

. Abstract

This study represents an incursion into the history of classical economic thought, aiming at
capturing, from a personal perspective, the concatenation of the vision expressed by the partisans
of the issued theories, outlining, on one hand, the existing similarities, reflected by common
reference points such as the dichotomy between the nominal and the real factors of the economy
or the self-adjustment of markets, as result of the absence of any rigidity at the level of price,
wage and interest rate, and, on the other hand, the divergences manifested in compliance with the
new realities of the time, like the microeconomic fundamentals-based macroeconomic analysis
or the rationality of economic agents. The specific macroeconomic modelling is also briefly
approached, focussing on the novelty elements launched and implemented during each stage of
the studied period: the classical model of Smith, analysing the labour demand and supply, as
fundamental equilibrium, the general equilibrium model of Walras, describing the economy by
the aggregation of the individuals’ behaviours, in the context of several interacting markets, or
the real business cycle model, taking the attention away from the nominal interest rates, while
orienting towards the real production factors of the basic classical model, and revealing the
fluctuations caused by the real shocks to the business cycle

1. Introduction

In the humanity history, the economic thought has passed through various stages, marked by
miscellaneous controversies. After a period of supremacy of the ancient and medieval
conceptions, we assist to the emerging of modern theories: classical, neoclassical, Keynesian,
neo-Keynesian, new classical and new Keynesian, to mention the most relevant.

This paper is meant to follow the long way of classical thought, starting from the basic variant
and going all along the new approaches, developed under the influence of the Keynesian
thinking and of the real economy of the time, the economic classicism progressively acquiring
new characteristics specific to certain theories totally unaccepted at its beginnings. Classicism,

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unquestionably excluding the state intervention in economy and staking on the self-adjustment of
markets, as result of the price, wage and interest rate flexibility, is followed by neoclassicism that
generates a new vision regarding the perceived value of goods, launching the marginal utility
concept, element with final impact on the decision of consumption or production of economic
agents, respectively the new classical theory which, although having taken over the classical
tradition regarding the equilibration of markets, contradictorily debates on the dichotomy
between the real and nominal economic factors. Such theories have left traces in the
macroeconomic modelling area, so that, in 1776, we find the classical model of Smith, which,
based on the results obtained at microeconomic level, analyses the labour demand and supply, as
fundamental equilibrium, then, in 1870, the classical general equilibrium model of Walras,
describing the economy by the aggregation of the individuals’ behaviours. In 1970, we assist to
the outlining of the new classical model, the real business cycle, which takes the attention away
from the nominal interest rates, focussing on the real production factors of the basic classical
model. Starting from the price flexibility hypothesis, it tries to reveal how the real shocks can
cause fluctuations of the business cycle, the paper of Kydland and Prescott (1982) being deemed
as a reference element of such theory.

2. Pure Classicism

The beginnings of economic classicism are marked by the conceptions of Adam Smith, who
reorients the economy focus from the protection of one’s own interest to the support of the entire
nation’s interest, starting from the premises that price, wage and interest rate flexibility creates
the conditions necessary for equilibrating the markets, at full employment. The market self-
adjusts providing economic stability, the state intervention being necessary only to ensure the
free operation of markets and a balanced budget. We assist to the progressive development of a
thinking system in a context dominated by perfect competition, without protectionist restrictions
and in the absence of any form of monopole or unfair competition. The economy succeeds in
continuously reaching the natural level of GDP, its selfadjusting mechanisms laying the grounds
for quick rebalance in case of steady state deviations. Full employment, key element of pure
classicism, is deemed to be characteristic to any freely functioning economy. Even in
disequilibrium standings, with some unemployment level, the equilibrium is re-established by
lowering the wages, naturally resulting in an increase of the labour demand and, therefore, in the

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reset of the initial equilibrium. Equilibrium is also obtained in case of inequalities between the
level of savings and investments. The lowering of the investments weight in total available
incomes diminishes the demand for money and leads, indirectly, given the intention to stimulate
it, to a decrease of the interest rate, thus becoming attractive for any potential investors who
would re-establish the market equilibrium. Save for the free market theory, two other issues
reflect the basic classical economic thinking, namely the law of Say and the Fisher’s quantitative
theory of money. The Say’s law suggests that, while reaching a certain level of real GDP, any
economy tends to generate also the necessary incomes to procure it, therefore creating the
premises of a demand high enough to equal the obtained production, covering in this way the
natural level of it. Even if a part of the income is oriented towards other destinations than the
acquisition of goods and services, therefore lowering the demand in relation to the supply level,
followed by the supply adjustment and, as a consequence, by underemployment, the economy
will be subsequently directed either to consumption or to investments, which, as components of
gross domestic product, would help the market in regaining its equilibrium. According to the
classical economists, money does not exert influences on the real economy, it being neutral.
Thus, the real factors of the economy, such as the production level, employment and
consumption, are not concatenated with the nominal ones, like the level of price, wage or
exchange rate, reflecting the well-known classical dichotomy in the matter. In this regard any
increase of money supply, as reflected by Fisher, would be transposed into a generalised increase
of prices, not into production surplus (Snowdon & Vane, 2005, pp.69-70).

3. Transition to Neoclassical Economy

The classical theory has progressively turned into a distinct theory, the neoclassicism, which,
despite of having taken over the basic elements of the classics, was also subject to the influences
of the Keynesian theory and of the changes occurred in the economic field. Thus, we find aspects
specific to the neoclassical conception, such as a new vision regarding the value of goods,
analysed as depending on the utility generated by it and perceived at consumers’ level, but also
the popularisation of the marginal unit concept, with a particular impact on the economic agents’
decision to consume or produce one product or another. Demand and supply are now
approached considering the rationality of individuals, who try to maximise their benefits based
on available relevant information (Campus, 1987). The aggregation of the market demand and

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supply is grounded on the results provided by the microeconomic analysis, the interaction
between the two allowing reaching equilibrium under the conditions of price, wage and interest
rate flexibility. Such conception has laid the basis of the classical general equilibrium model,
describing the economy via the aggregation of the behaviours manifested by households and
firms. Individuals, seen from a double perspective, as employees and employers, make choices
depending on their goals, considering their decreasing marginal utility and the surpassing of their
wishes by the related fulfilling possibilities. Albeit in agreement with pure classics as for the
self-adjustment of markets in the long run, at full employment, neoclassical economists
disagreed as for the short run status. On long term, any economy tends to full employment, while
maintaining the equilibrium on the market of goods and services, so that any subsequent increase
in demand will result just in an increment of prices, the aggregate supply taking the form of a
vertical line. However, on short term, any increase of the aggregated demand, due to an increase
of money supply or of government expenses or to a decrease of taxes, will stimulate producers to
produce more and also to raise prices so as to annihilate the effect of the decreasing returns.

4. Business Cycle Theory

An important step in the new classical macroeconomic analysis is represented by the

introduction, by Lucas, of the concept of rational expectations, replacing the former adaptive
expectations. Based on such rational expectations, and on the classical conception regarding the
equilibration of markets, despite the abandon of the dichotomy between the real and the nominal
factors sustained by the latter, Lucas initiates, in 1973, the theory of the real business cycle
(RBC) including both the idea of compromise between the inflation and the real GDP level,
while maintaining the short-run non-neutrality of money (Snowdon & Vane, 2005), and the one
relating to the surprise element of the monetary policies, which influence the supply of goods
and services if their effect on prices is incorrectly surprised, given the incomplete information
held. Considering the vision of Lucas, a new class of models emerged, which, by accepting the
classical dichotomy, have abandoned the conception of Keynesians and of the early new classical
economists (Mankiw, 1989). Based on the microeconomic fundamentals of the neoclassical
models, the RBC model captured the impact of technological changes on the economic activity
evolution and on the unemployment rate, therefore minimising the influence exercised by the
modifications occurred on the goods and services or money market. According to this theory’s

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partisans, productivity is pro-cyclical, being indissolubly related to technological fluctuations.
Labour supply is stimulated only in productive times, in economic critical conditions, generating
drops in the real wage, it being lowered (Mankiw, 1990). In case of unsatisfactory technological
level, we assist to the drop down of production, consumption and investments and, therefore, to
the capital diminish, the re-establishment of the technological level not having the power to
restore the level of GDP to its equilibrium value, the capital accumulation becoming a
propagation mechanism transforming apparently non-persistent shocks on the supply of goods
and services into persistent ones. The dynamics of the employment, production and real interest
rate equilibrium is independent of the monetary policy, the real variables varying only in
response to technological changes. By synthesising, three essential elements are at the basis of
the new classical model: the negligible importance of money in influencing the business cycles,
the rationality of the economic agents who respond in an optimum way to the real shocks, mainly
related to the fluctuations occurred at the level of productivity, governmental acquisitions

preferences, and the orientation towards the dynamic analysis of the economy, based on rational
expectations, starting from the Walrasian general equilibrium theory which implies that economy
has a unique equilibrium at full employment, as result of price, wage and interest rate
adjustment.

5. Conclusions

Although correlated at various levels, both from the perspective of the theoretical research and in
the modelling area, the classical, neoclassical and new classical theories have differentiated from
one another by clearly outlined elements. The ideas of pure classicism, based on state non-
intervention, and therefore on markets self-adjustment, as result of the absence of price, wage
and interest rate rigidity, are taken over by neoclassicism, however with a new vision on the
value of goods, seen by the latter as depending on the provided utility. Neoclassicism also
distinguished by promoting the idea of rationality of economic agents, issue supported and
improved thereafter, while considering the economic agents’ expectations, by the new classical
theory, which aimed at surprising the dynamic evolution of economies

Answer for the case study qoutions

a) ther is no clasficetion among the eimploys

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b) Neo-classical theory of management

c) Neoclassical theorists recognized the importance of individual or group behaviour and

emphasized human relations. Based on the Hawthorne experiments, the neoclassical approach
emphasized social or human relationships among the operators, researchers and supervisors
(Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1943). It was argued that these considerations were more
consequential in determining productivity than mere changes in working conditions. Productivity
increases were achieved as a result of high morale, which was influenced by the amount of
individual, personal and intimate attention workers received.

Principles of the neoclassical approach

The classical approach stressed the formal organization. It was mechanistic and ignored major
aspects of human nature. In contrast, the neoclassical approach introduced an informal
organization structure and emphasized the following principles:

 The individual An individual is not a mechanical tool but a distinct social being, with
aspirations beyond mere fulfilment of a few economic and security works. Individuals differ
from each other in pursuing these desires. Thus, an individual should be recognized as
interacting with social and economic factors.

 The work group The neoclassical approach highlighted the social facets of work groups or
informal organizations that operate within a formal organization. The concept of 'group' and its
synergistic benefits were considered important.

 Participative management Participative management or decision making permits workers to

participate in the decision making process. This was a new form of management to ensure
increases in productivit

References

Blanchard, O. (2011). Macroeconomics (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Campus
A. (1987).

Marginal economics. The New Palgrave:

A Dictionary of Economics. Hudea (Caraman), O.S. (2012). Classical and Keynesian Thinking
in Terms of Modelling. Management and Administration International Journal 92 (19), 91-108.
Kydland, F. E., & Prescott, E. C. (1982). Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations.
Econometrica 50(6), 1345-1370. Lucas, R. E. (1973).

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Some International Evidence on Output-Inflation Tradeoffs. The American Economic Review 63
(3), 326-334.

Mankiw N.G. (1989). Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective. Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 3 (3), 79-90. Mankiw,

N. G. (1990). A Quick Referesher Course in Macroeconomics. Journal of Economic Literature

28 (4), 1645-1660. Say, J.-B. (1971).

A Treatise on Political Economy: or the Production, Distribution and Consumption of Wealth.

New York, NY: Augustus M. Kelley (Work written in 1803).

Snowdon, B., & Vane, H. (2005). Modern Macroeconomics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar

Case 3

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the theories of motivation and how they are
used to inspire employees to develop the drive to achieve. The importance of motivation in
organizations and job satisfaction is vital for the achievement of organizational goals and
objectives. The consequences of organizations operating without any purpose of motivation
towards its employees are far catastrophic, such as depression, turnover, burnout which can
derail the success of organizations. For organizations to make employees their biggest asset and
retention purposes, motivation should be a priority. The study tries to help organizations with
suggestions to cultivate conducive atmospheres and relationships for employees to work under,
to foster positive attitudes towards their work. A qualitative approach and theory based
application were considered for this study.

. Introduction

In all enterprises whether private or state owned, motivation plays a key role in driving
employees towards achieving their goals, organizational goals and to a certain extent the dreams
of their nations. There are many theories of motivation, and they mostly give a relation or
influence the outcomes of employee job satisfaction. There are three main theory categories,

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namely content theories, process theories and contemporary theories (Saif, Nawaz, Jan & Khan,
2012). Generally speaking, these theories include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s
motivator-hygiene (or two-factor) theory, Alderfer’s Existence, Relatedness and Growth theory,
and McClelland’s needs theory. How motivation comes about and how it leads to satisfaction is
explained by process theories; theories that fall into this category include Porter-Lawler’s model
and expectancy theory by Vroom. Contemporary theories of motivation incorporate equity,
control and agency theory, as well as goal setting, reinforcement, and job design theory. The
theories of motivation maybe categorized according to their definitions and purpose but critical
analysis reveal that they are all linked, they lead to serving satisfaction in employees. The use of
both content and process theories must be put into practice to motivate employees effectively. In
extrinsic motivation, the factors (hygiene’s) that satisfy lower-level needs are different from
those (motivators) that satisfy or partially satisfy higher–level needs. If hygiene factors (factors
outside the job itself, such as working conditions, salary and incentive pay) are inadequate,
employees become dissatisfied. Instead of relying on hygiene’s, the manager interested in
creating a self-motivated workforce should emphasize job content or motivation factors.
Managers do this by enriching worker’s jobs so that the jobs are more challenging and by
providing feedback and recognition (Dessler, Barkhuizen, Bezuidenhout, Braine and Plessis,
2011, p433). Rewards as the main factor of motivation can also encourage retention within the
organization, and the broader employment relationship and social exchange are significant.
Motivation’s whole idea is to provide employees with sureties of job security,

Motivation

Locke (as cited by Saari and Judge, 2004, p396) defined motivation as "a pleasurable or positive
emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job experiences". This definition draws
attention to two aspects, in particular, namely the emotional attachment an employee has to their
job, and the deliberate review of an employee's work by the employer. According to David and
Anderzej (2010), motivation can be understood as cognitive decision making in which the
intension is to make the behavior that is aimed at achieving a certain goal through initiation and
monitoring. At work places, reviews are done using appraisals and appraisals at work have
predetermined standards, and their outcome may provoke an emotional reaction in the employee,
and this reaction will determine how satisfied or dissatisfied an employee is. Good marks in

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reviews may reflect that an employee is satisfied and bad marks may reflect the opposite. In
every employee, motivation maybe because outside factors (extrinsic) such as rewards or within
an individual (intrinsic), desire to do better.

2.1 Job Satisfaction

For us to help understand underpinnings to motivation, we must first explore what job
satisfaction means because motivated employees will have a job satisfaction. According to
Kumar and Singh (2011, p.12), job satisfaction (or the lack thereof) depended on the employee’s
perception of the degree to which his work delivers those things that he desires – how well
outcomes are met or expectations perhaps even exceeded. Regardless of the actual circumstances
and situation, job satisfaction is an emotional response that cannot be seen, only inferred.
Jehanzeb, Rasheed, Rasheed and Aamir (2012, p.274) held a similar view, defined job
satisfaction as "a sensation employees have about their work environment and their expectations
toward work". Depending on the rewards and incentives employees receive and management's
motives for giving them, employees will respond to their work environment by being productive.
Organisations must be seen to support employees in their daily work in order to bring about
loyalty and improve retention by removing elements that may create dissatisfaction, while
bearing in mind that in a heterogeneous environment, with male and female employees from
different age groups, generations, and (to a certain extent) backgrounds, and with varying
qualifications or experience, no single element will produce either universal approbation or
collective disapproval.

3. Theories of Motivation

3.1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs According to Smith & Cronje (1992), the way Maslow’s
theory is explained relies on the fact that people want to increase what they want to achieve in
life and their needs are prioritized according to their importance. Deriving from the hierarchy of
needs by Maslow, content theories of job satisfaction revolve around employees’ needs and the
factors that bring them a reasonable degree of satisfaction (Saif et al., 2012). Based on the basic
physical, biological, social and psychological needs of human beings, Maslow came up with a
five-stage theory that places the needs of the individual in different categories and prioritizes
their attainment. These categories, in order of decreasing priority, are:

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• physiological needs (food, shelter, clothing);

• safety and security needs (physical protection);

• social needs (association with others); • esteem needs (receiving acknowledgement from
others); and

• self-actualisation needs (the desire for accomplishment or to leave behind a legacy).

Maslow's hierarchy of needs forms the basis of theories that try to explain job satisfaction.
Teachers, like all people, have needs that have to be satisfied. Besides the basic needs for food,
shelter and clothing, safety from physical, harm, and social interaction, they also need the
recognition and appreciation of students, colleagues, and parents.

3.2. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory/Motivator

-Hygiene Herzberg’s Two-factor theory, also known as Motivator-Hygiene, emanated from a

study conducted among accounts and engineers to determine what makes an individual feel good
or bad about their job (Saif et al., 2012). Regarding ‘satisfiers', Herzberg noted that there were
five features of work that bring about satisfaction, namely achievement, recognition, the job
itself, responsibility and advancement. At the other end of the spectrum, Herzberg identified
institutional politics, the management approach, supervision, pay, relationships at work and
working conditions as factors that may demoralize employees. Golshan, Kaswuri, Agashahi and
Ismail (2011:12) assert that organizations are increasingly applying Herzberg's theory to create
opportunities for "personal growth, enrichment and recognition" among their employees.
Employees should be promoted after completing certain stages of their career and should receive
recognition for special achievements – for example, when they produce exceptional results in
their subject areas; on a more basic level, they should also be given responsibility to determine
how to handle tasks that relate to their jobs. The Two-factor theory has however drawn its share
of criticism. Golshan et al. (2011) point out that it fails to distinguish between physical and
psychological aspects and to precisely explain what motivators are and how they differ from
hygiene factors; it also fails to express the degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction as a
measure instead of using numbers. Another criticism leveled against it is that it makes
assumptions that every individual will react in the same way in the similar situation.

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3.3. McGregor’s X and Y Theories McGregor's (1960) Theory

X and Y models categorize employees as belonging to one of two groups based on two sets of
assumptions. Theory X assumptions take a negative perspective of people: People can have “an
inherent dislike for work and avoid it if possible; because of this, they must be coerced,
controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to make them work. They prefer to be
directed, avoid responsibility, have little ambition, and want security" (Saif et al. 2012, p.138).
Theory Y assumptions take the opposite view: the mental and physical inputs expended at the
workplace are equated and par with those rest or play. External factors or any threats from
outside may not be the sole influence for exerting effort. Workers or people can exercise caution
and discipline to have objectives achieved, but the hunger in their desire to commit to objectives
is dependent on how big are the rewards as assigned to that kind of achievement. Under normal
circumstances, people can adapt to seek responsibility and not only accept it (Saif et al., 2012,
p.1357). Applying these assumptions to a school environment, one could argue that two of the
main causes of dissatisfaction among teachers are having to deal with problem students and a
strict and inconsiderate management, for example a principal who is coercive and does not
appreciate the efforts of teachers, or an overly directive principal who never delegates or allows
teachers to make independent decisions. Conversely, a supportive principal may be a source of
job satisfaction to teachers (Alavi & Askaripur, 2003, p.312).

3.4. McClelland’s Need Achievement Theory

McClelland’s need achievement theory postulates that some people are driven to success through
seeking “personal achievement rather than rewards themselves” (Saif et al., 2012, p.1387). This
theory is readily applicable to academic environments and explains why some teachers are high
achievers, despite the difficulties they face: they set themselves high goals and achieving these
goals is what drives them. Alderfer's ERG theory is related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs but
reduces Maslow's five categories of a need to three; namely, relatedness being (esteem/social
needs), then growth being (self-actualization) and existence which is (security/physiological
needs).

3.5. The equity theory

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Process theories explain ‘how’ satisfaction comes about, as opposed to ‘what’ causes motivation.
The equity theory postulates that employees will weigh their input into a job against the output
they receive from it – the more the rewards, the greater their satisfaction. This resonates with
Naveed et al. (2011, p.302) definition of job satisfaction as the difference between employee
input and job output. Regarding this theory, employees who perceive that they receive more
output from their jobs than what they put into them will experience job satisfaction. Certain
aspects of the job itself also shape how an employee perceives it. Tasks that are clarified bring a
better job satisfaction since a clear role breeds a work force that is happy, committed and shows
much involvement in work that is done. Authors identified five major job characteristics that
impact on the psychological state of an employee and influence their motivation and job
satisfaction, as well as their levels of absenteeism, namely the variety of skills involved in a task,
the identity and significance of the task, autonomy, and feedback. Employees compare their
input-outcome ratio with that of other employees and if they perceive it to be fair, employees
will experience satisfaction (Robbins, 2007). If employees perceive an inequity in their input-
outcome ratio compared to other employees, they become dissatisfied and less motivated.

3.6. Value – Percept Theory

Individual’s values determine their satisfaction on their job because employees in organizations
hold different value systems, therefore based on this theory, their satisfaction levels will also
differ. Having a look at Value - Percept theory, the assumption is that the difference between
expectations and what is received can bring dissatisfaction depending on how important the job
is to the individual (Anderson, Ones, Sinangil & Viswesvaran, 2001, p.32). The potential
problem with this theory is that there is a possibility of a relationship between what people desire
and what they consider important. These concepts can be separable 3.7. Vroom’s Expectancy
Theory Vrooms’s expectancy theory stipulates that behavior is a product of choices that are
available for to be prioritized. The idea is to derive satisfaction and minimize dissatisfaction in
employees. Individual factors such as personality and skills determine performance (Wagner and
Hollenburg, 2007). This theory also explains that performance, motivation, and effort are within
an individual’s motivation and variables such as valence, instrumentality, and expectancy
verifies this. The higher the effort in work relates to the higher the performance.

3.8. Porter-Lawler Model

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This is a comprehensive and more complete theory of motivation which is inclusive of diverse
aspects. This model can give details of the fiber relation that exists between job performance and
attitudes which perfectly defines managers. The model also touches on the assumptions of
human behavior. The deductions of the model assume that individual behavior is influenced by
both internal and external factors, rational and make own choices about their behavior, have
different goals, desires and needs. Finally, individuals decide between alternative behaviors
(Wagner and Hollenburg, 2007). theoretically but practically hard to differentiate.

4. Risk Analysis of De-Motivated Employees in Organizations

Employees who lack motivation in the work places are a risk factor when it comes to executing
day to day operations of the business. Some employees are engaged in company equipment and
tools on a daily basis, some of which need maximum attention and safety when using. So it is the
responsibility of the organization to have a well-balanced workforce of employees and their
emotions as far as work issues are concerned.

4.1. Operational Risks

• Absenteeism: Van der Merwe and Miller (1988,) cite a definition used by the United States
Department of Labour which defines absenteeism as the failure of workers to report on the job
when they are scheduled to work. Regarding this definition, non-attendance such as vacation
leave, military service, block release leave and suspension do not qualify as absenteeism and
should be completely excluded from the ensuing absenteeism analysis process. Levy (2006,
p.412) provides a more comprehensive definition in describing absenteeism as the chronic or
continued failure of the employees to attend for duty, especially when the pattern of absenteeism
suggests that either the absence is avoidable, or that the employees failed in their duty to the
employer in accordance with their contract of employment or common law duty to attend the
place of work regularly and reliably. • Poor quality work: In terms of quality outputs and results,
disgruntled employees will not perform at their best hence produce shoddy products or services
that will not be competitive in the market thereby costing an organization. • Toxic Work
environment: Cordial and mutual relationship among employees will be disrupted. Employee’s
behaviour and attitudes will be affected since their moral is down. 4.2. Personnel Risks It is the
desire of organization to keep their staff for longer periods of time. Organisations spend a lot of

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money and time in training their employees. High staff turnover due to unhappy employees will
cost the organization of all the spent resources. This will result in disruptions of organization’s
operations as replacement of staff will be needed as well as more costs of another training for
new employees. Strategic leadership is the critical point in achieving companies objectives. The
negative side of leaders can jeopardize the firm's operations (Hogan and Hogan 2001).

4.3. Reputational Risks Dissatisfaction

: The morale of the entire office can be brought down when one employee lacks motivation.
Employees who are not satisfied with their job might resort to quitting; therefore, this scenario
should be avoided. The employees are to perform to their abilities in order to satisfy their
customers and to retain them all the time. It is very easy for customers to spread word of mouth
about a company that they are not satisfied with its performance, and the information can be
spread very rapidly which can ruin the company’s reputation. Leadership is very vital because
according to Stankiewicz-Mroz (2015), change in human resources will be expected, as well as
re-evaluating the paradigms. A managerial skill will be needed to pull people together for the
reputation of the company.

4.4. Environmental Risks

Employees who are not happy with the organization will manifest their dissatisfaction to the
outside world. Customers are bound to experience unwelcoming acts of aggression and bitterness
emanating from unhappy employees. Poor customer service will be the order of the day among
employees which will end up tarnishing the name of the business. A company is bound to even
follow international regulations not only it domestic laws (Darroux & Xixiang, 2013), even those
that impact on the environment

4.5. Health Risks

Employees who are not entirely happy at work can have health problems including stress. Stress
related illnesses will jeopardize wellness efforts in the work place of keeping healthy employees.
Stressed and de-motivated employees may cause accidents at work when using machineries and
other dangerous tools. Work stress and other psychosocial factors are recognized worldwide as a
major challenge to workers’ health and the health of organizations. All levels in the organization

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are be responsible for the safety of risks in the company and help with avoidance of such risks
(Tasmin and Salehudin, 2016).

4.6. Financial Risks

Employees who are highly motivated will always put their best efforts in their work and help the
company to be productive. Production at work will bear more output in which it will be able to
generate much needed income. If employees are happy absenteeism’s will be reduced thereby
saving costs for their organisations. Taylor (2009 & 2012) agree that financial crisis can be
because of economic circumstances, making it extremely difficult for business to operate. This
then will extend to difficulties in acquisitions. Again according to Peter and Daniel (2013),
Political influence, outside the context of deficit accommodation, can also provide
accommodation for specific fiscal policy initiatives.

5. Importance of Motivation in the Workplace

Motivation can emanate from with an employee with a passion and desire to work and produce
results. This kind of motivation is self-driven by an employee in order to elevate his feelings to
accomplish. However, in extrinsic motivation, an external factor such as a reward is used to
boost the employee’s moral and desire to work. As is a normal case, employees work in
exchange for compensation for their hard labour but how far they go depends on how motivated
they are. According to Perry and Hondeghem (1999), the individuals desire to perform, and
provide services to customers, with the mandate to do good is enough factor to motivate.
Performance at work is related to the employees pay of which the employee may not have
control of that reward as it is external. Apart from rewards, there are other factors that are
external such as promotion at work, security of the job, salary increment that may give meaning
to employees motivation. Therefore, for organizations to continue existing and retaining its
workforce, they must keep on working on strategies that can help in motivating its employees.
Motivated employees have a sense of belonging and loyalty to the organization and always work
hard to be associated with the results of their labour. Motivation have effect on employees as
individuals to achieve and as well as ability to be innovative because they believe in themselves
which will benefit the organization to succeed (Yang Jie, 2010). A motivated worker is easy to
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be retained hence saving the organization finances of replacing workers, also it encourages
workers to always achieve more on daily productions as they are having a sense of security of
their work. Management will have time to attend to other important issues because their
motivated workforce can build teams that can help with the supervision and production of work.

6. Conclusion

Motivation is very much needed for employees in an organisation to be productive, and

management or leadership style has an important role to play. Motivation is not always based on
financial rewards, but non-financial rewards methods can also be used to derive the best out of
employees. Although individuals have their expectations, it is the leadership’s responsibility to
develop and align with theories that are suitable to bring job satisfaction to their employees.
However, there is no single reliable theory to be used, a mixture of them can be utilized. In terms
of empowering workforce, employees should be encouraged and given a platform to voice out
their concerns on how they can be motivated. Rewards and promotions following performance
appraisals maybe used to boost

employee’s moral as well as feedback. All employees should understand the company’s vision
and goals and work together towards those. In some organizations, workers perform their duties
in an assembly whereby if a certain section of employees is affected it will affect the whole
plant. Employees perform their duties diligently if they are inspired and motivated as the results
will always be positive with efficient production. Organizations which are results oriented will
go all the way to motivate their employees for them to reach their goals. A further qualitative
research on motivation strategies and theories is recommended.

References

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• Anderson, H., Singale, M. & Svana, V. 2001. Psychology in the work context. Oxford: Oxford
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• David, A. and Anderzej, A. Organisational Behaviour. 7th ed. London: Pearson, 2010.

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• Darroux, C. & Xixiang Sun. Factors Impacting International Marketing: Configuring Strategies
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