Development of Organizational Behaviour

The field of O.B. has developed from the studies conducted by behavioural scientists such as industrial psychologists, psychologists and sociologists. The focus of these studies lies in the understanding of the human behaviour in the organizations. The levels at which these studies have been carried out relate to individuals, the small group, the inter-group and the total organization as a socio – economic – technical system. Some studies have also examined the interaction of the organization with its environment. The discipline of OB is based on empirical studies of human behaviour at the work settings. On the other hand human relations is the study of behavioural knowledge in working to develop human motivation towards the attainment of organizational goals. Human relations is action oriented and goal directed approach.

According to Keith Davis the difference between the two is that of between a pathologist and the physician. While the pathologist attempts to understand human illness, the physician tends to employ that knowledge to gain results. Thus O.B. and human relations are complimentary to each other.

Behavioural scientists are focusing their attention on organizational theory, especially organizational adaptability, the relationship of organization structure to human behaviour and decision making. The study of managerial behaviour includes not only the tasks of getting things done through others but also why and how an individual behaves as he does. The specific questions which form the subject matter of O.B. are related to individual, interpersonal, small group and intergroup behaviour, interaction of formal organization and the informal groups and organization as a system, etc.

The predecessors of O.B. are:

• Industrial psychology
• Scientific management movement
• Human relations movement

1. Industrial psychology

Psychology is the “science of human (and also animal) behaviour because it collects facts about behaviour by utilizing methods of science”. Industrial psychology is simply the application or extension of psychological facts and principles concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry. Industrial psychology draws upon the facts, generalizations and principles of psychology. It uses the methods from the parent discipline. Because it applies the techniques of psychology to the industrial scene and the problems confronting it, industrial psychology formulates and modifies procedures to meet the conditions found in the industry rather than in the laboratory.

Among the early names is that of Walter Dill Scot who opened up the beginning of industrial psychology in America by showing how psychology could be applied to advertising and selling. Edward K Strong Jr. branched industrial psychology into guidance on vocational interests. Hugo Munsteberg with this his researches into industrial accidents and his book “psychology and Industrial Efficiency”, published in 1913, put industrial psychology in to the study of the worker.

During World War I psychologists were quite active in the war effort, developing group tests for army recruits and aiding in the development of procedures for the selection of officer personnel. In fact, many of the post-war developmental areas of industrial psychology such as group testing, trade testing, rating scales, and the personality inventory had their roots in the activities of psychologists in the World War I efforts. During the post world war I era industry first began to show an interest in the discipline of industrial psychology. Certain firms such as Proctor & Gamble, the Philadelphia Company and the Hawthorn plant of Western Electric Co. formed their own personnel research programs. In fact, it was at the Hawthorne Western Electric Plant that the famous Hawthorne studies were begun in 1924. These studies provided the foundation and impetus for the expansion of Industrial Psychology beyond the realm of selection, placement and working conditions into the study of motivation and morale and human relations. The depression itself had considerable effect on the development of industrial psychology.

While it may have slowed growth in some directions, it nevertheless opened many additional areas for study. After the depression the importance of employee attitudes began to be recognized; consequently much development since that time has been in this area. World War II was also a major factor in the growth of psychology in industry. Although American Association for Applied Psychology was formed in 1937 as the official organization of industrial psychology, it was the huge psychological contribution to the war effort that proved to industry and others alike that applied psychology had important contributions to offer. Alongside also developed were various training programs of specialized types, and job analysis and performance appraisal techniques.

2. Scientific management movement

Frederick W Taylor with his ideas, he called “scientific management”, created the interest in the worker and the supervisor. It was he who advocated parity of wages the internal as well as external parity. It was he who developed various wage payment plans. It was he who insisted on supervisory training in order to make supervisor a strong link between nonmanagement and the management group. F. W. Taylor also recognized the need for giving financial incentives to the workers and therefore developed incentive payments plans too. The changes he brought to the management thought paved the way for later development of O.B.

3. Human relations movement

According to Fred Luthans three events cumulatively ushered in the era of human relations movement.

They are

• The great depression
• Rise of trade unionism.
• The Hawthorne experiments

(a) The great depression

The economy was operating in the high gear just before the thundering financial crash occurred in 1929. The production and organizational specialists had achieved great results prior to the crash. After the crash the management began to realize that production could no longer be the only major responsibility of management. Marketing, finance and more importantly personnel were also required in order for a business to survive and grow. The depression’s after math of unemployment, discontent and insecurity brought to the surface the human problems that managers were now forced to recognize and cope with. Personnel departments were either created or given more importance and most managers now began to develop a new awakened view of the human aspects of their jobs. Thus human relations took an added significance, as an indirect, and in some cases direct.

(b) The rise of trade unionism

Another important factor contributing to the rise of human relation’s role of management was the organized labour movement. Although labour unions were in existence in America as early as 1792, it was not until the passage of Wagner Act in 1935 that the organized labour movement made an impact on management. In India, though workers’ unions existed since the later half of the 19th century, they operated under terrible legal constraints. It was only in 1926 with the passage of Trade Union Act 1926 that the managers began realizing that the trade unions had come to stay in spite of the wishes of the managers or for that matter management. The only go to avoid any probable friction with the trade union was to understand the human relations role of the management.

(c) Hawthorne experiments (From 1924 to 1933)

 Western Electric Co. conducted at its Hawthorne Works a research program or a series of experiments on the factors in the work situations which affect the morale and productive efficiency of workers. The first of these, the “Illumination Experiments”, was studied in cooperation with the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. In the remainder of the studies, the company was aided and guided by the suggestions of Prof. Elton Mayo and his associates from Harvard University. Because of the large part that Harvard played in the project it is often referred to as the Hawthorne-Harvard Experiments or studies.

As Blum and Naylor in their treatise “Industrial Psychology” observed, “the Hawthorne studies are of utmost significance as they form an honest and concerted attempt to understand the human factor rarely understood in industry, recognizing the employee attitudes, his social situation on the job and his personal history and background”. The Hawthorne studies represent the pioneer attempts to make a systematic and intensive study of the human factor and to demonstrate the utmost complexity in work setting where people interact in small groups under varied organizational conditions. The studies point out that the needs for recognition, security and sense of belonging exert greater impact on workers’ productivity than the physical working conditions; that the attitudes and effectiveness of workers are determined by the social requirements obtained inside and outside the factory environment.

The Hawthorne works of the Western Electric Co., Chicago, manufactured equipment for the Bell Telephone system and employed 30,000 workers at the time of experiments. Although, in all material aspects, this was the most progressive company with pension and sickness schemes and numerous recreational and other facilities, there had been a great deal of employee discontent and dissatisfaction among its employees. After a failure of investigation conducted by efficiency experts of the company, in 1924, the company asked for the assistance of the National Academy of Sciences, which initiated its experiments with a view to examining the relationship between the workers efficiency and illumination in the workshop. Like any experimental design the researchers manipulated the independent variable (illumination) to observe its effects on the dependent variable (productivity) and attempted to hold other factors under control. The following are the broad segments of the study:

Illumination Experiments: 1924 to 1927

To study the effects of changed illuminations on work, two groups of employees were formed. In one group (control group) the illumination remained unchanged throughout the experiments whereas in other group (experimental group) the illumination was enhanced in intensity. As anticipated, the productivity in experimental group showed an improvement. But, strangely enough the output of the control group also went up. The researchers then proceeded to decrease the illumination for the experimental group. The output went up once more. This showed that some factor was operating which increased productivity (dependent variable) regardless of higher or lower intensity of light. Obviously, there was something much more important than wages, hours of work, working conditions, etc. which influenced productivity. Despite their negative results the illumination experiments did not end up in the waste paper basket but provided a momentum to the relay room phase of the studies.

Relay Room Experiments: 1927 to 1932

The relay room experiments that were initiated in 1927 represent the actual beginning of the Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton Mayo and his Harvard colleagues. Taking a cue from the preceding illumination experiments the researchers attempted to set up the test room and selected two girls for the experiments. These girls were asked to choose other four girls, thus making a small group of six. The group was employed in assembling telephone relays. Throughout the series of experiments that lasted over a period of five years, an active observer was sitting with the girls in the workshop. He recorded all that went on in the room, kept the girls informed about the experiments, asked for advice and listened to their complaints. The experiment started by introducing numerous changes each of which continued for a test period ranging from four to twelve weeks. Under normal working conditions with a forty-eight hour week and no rest pauses, each girl produced 2400 relays a week. These girls were then placed on piecework basis for eight weeks and productivity increased.

Next, two five minutes rest pauses were introduced and afterwards increased to ten minutes; productivity increased sharply. After this six five-minute breaks were introduced, there was a slight fall in the productivity as the girls complained that their work rhythm was broken because of these breaks. Therefore, again two five-minute pauses were introduced. The company provided a hot meal free of charge, the productivity increased.

The girls dispersed at four thirty instead of five p.m. and productivity increased. Subsequently, they were allowed to disperse at four p.m. and productivity still remained the same. After that all the amenities were withdrawn and the girls returned to their normal working conditions with a forty eight-week, including Saturdays, no rest breaks, no piecework and no free meals. This remained for a period of twelve weeks and the productivity was the highest ever achieved.

These results imply that productivity increased basically because of a change in the girls’ attitudes towards their work and their work groups. They were made to feel important by soliciting assistance and cooperation. They were no longer cogs in a machine but formed congenial group attempting to assist the company to solve a problem. A feeling of stability and a sense of belonging grew. Therefore, they worked faster and better than before. Medical examination conducted regularly revealed no symptoms of cumulative fatigue. Absenteeism also decreased by eighty percent. It was also observed that girls employed their own techniques of assembling the parts of relays together to avoid monotony. The girls were also given freedom of movement. Under the circumstances the group developed a sense of responsibility and self-discipline. It was concluded that the independent variables i.e. rest etc. were not by themselves causing the variations in the dependent variable i.e. productivity.

Second Relay Room and Mica Splitting test room experiments

These studies were conducted as a follow up measure. The researchers set up the second relay assembly group to assess the effects of wage incentives on productivity. A group of five workers with adequate experience were shifted to similar positions in the regular department, the nature of supervision, general working conditions and the work setting were similar to those of other workers in the regular department. The difference was that the assemblers in the second relay group were engaged on a different, small group piece rate scheme. This arrangement led to a twelve percent rise in productivity of the experimental group.

In the Mica Splitting study, although the isolated test room conditions of the original relay study were reproduced, the workers were engaged under their normal individual piece rate plan rather than small group incentive schemes employed with the lay room experimental subjects. The results revealed an average increase of fifteen percent of productivity during a period of fourteen months. The outcome of these two studies was quite vague. As Rothlisberger & Dickson in their concluding remarks observed, “there was no evidence to support the hypothesis that the constant rise in the productivity in the relay assembly test room could be attributed to the wage incentives variable alone.” It was concluded that the efficacy of a wage incentive scheme was so dependent on other variables as well that it could not be considered as the sole factor to affect the worker.

Mass Interviewing Program: 1928-1930

Another major aspect of the Hawthorne studies consisted of 21,000 interviews carried out during 1928 to 1930. The original objective was to explore information, which could be used to improve supervisory training. Initially, these interviews were conducted by means of direct questioning. However, this method had the disadvantages of either stimulating antagonism or the over simplified yes or no responses, which could not get to the root of the problems. Therefore, the method was changed to “non-directive” interviewing where the interviewer was to listen instead of talk, argue or advice, and take on the role of confidant. On the basis this interviewing program, the following inferences were drawn.

• Only giving a person an opportunity to talk and air his grievances had a positive impact on his morale.
• Complaints were no longer necessarily objective statements job facts. Rather, they were frequently symptoms of more deep-rooted disturbances.
• Workers were governed by the experiences obtained, both inside and outside the company in respect of their demands
• The worker is satisfied or dissatisfied depending upon how he regarded his social status in the company and what he felt he was entitled to rather than in terms of any objective reference.

Bank wiring room study: Nov 1931 to May 1932

The chief objective was to conduct an observational analysis of the work group.

There were fourteen men employed on “bank wiring”. This was the process where two lose wire ends were soldered. This group of fourteen employees included nine wiremen, three soldermen and two inspectors. The job involved attaching wires to switches for certain parts of telephone equipment. Because of some practical difficulties the study was conducted in a separate test room. However, the study involved no experimental changes once it had started, it was carried out by two persons – an observer and an interviewer. The observer sat in the wiring room being friendly but appeared non-committal. Thus, he won the confidence of the group and was accepted as a regular member.

The interviewer, however, remained an outsider and his task was to explore as much as possible by interviewing the individual worker about his thought and feeling, his values and attitudes etc. He carried out his work under strict confidence, privately and in a different part of the factory. Although he never entered the wiring room, he kept in constant touch with observer. Besides these arrangements, other conditions were identical with the Bank wiring department itself in-so-far as that even the department’s regular supervisors were used the Bank wiring room to maintain order and control.

The results of the Bank wiring room which are markedly opposite to those obtained Relay Room, revealed that this small group of workers emerged as a team with informal leaders who had come up spontaneously.

The group was indifferent towards the financial incentives of the factory because despite the incentive scheme, the output was neither more nor less than 6000 units although optimum capacity was 7000 units per day. It may be noted that whenever any worker attempted to produce more than this group determined quota, he was soon compelled to return to his original output. To do this, the group invented a game known as “binging”. The group norms were more important to the group members than any financial incentive. There prevailed an unwritten code of conduct, which determined a fair day’s work and had influence over the group members. Thus, there existed a highly integrated group in the Bank wiring room, which possessed its own social system contradictory to the objectives of the factory. This implied that it would be irrational to break up these groups. Rather, attempts should be made to see that the interests of the management and workers are identical to such an extent that these informal groups facilitate the achievement of the organization’s objectives rather than obstructing them.

Implications of the Hawthorne Studies

Why were such contradictory results obtained in the Relay room and the Bank wiring room?

As pointed out earlier, in the relay room production constantly increased throughout the test periods and relay assemblers were greatly motivated and equipped with positive attitudes whereas, in the Bank wiring room there prevailed a restriction of production among dissatisfied workers who displayed negative attitudes towards the objective of the factory. Why? The answer to this question can be found in the reactions of the girls to the Relay test room. They unanimously showed marked preference for working in the test room rather than in the regular department, because of small group, nature of supervision, earnings, novelty of situation, interest in the experiment and attention received in the test room. It may be noted that the last three reasons are related to the well-known “Hawthorn effect”. Numerous behavioural scientists tend to overlook the significance of the first three reasons and are of the opinion that the phenomenal increase in the productivity in the relay room can be attributed primarily to this effect.

It may be noted that the Relay room and the Bank wiring room studies differed in the supervisory aspects. Although in the Relay room there were no regular supervisors engaged, the girls assigned the second priority to nature of supervision which prompted them to increase production and made them feel happier. They regarded the friendly, attentive and genuinely interested.