Elton Mayo And Roethlisberger's

In 1927, Elton Mayo, Fritz J. Roethlisberger along with other colleagues consulted on the Hawthorne Studies by conducting their own series of experiments known as the Relay-Assembly Experiments. Rather than just changing one variable such as lighting, they incorporated different variables to see how it would affect work productivity. They secretly monitored two women for two weeks to determine what their initial output. They then allowed the two women to pick three other people to join their work group. All five people were moved to a private room and were observed for five years. In the private room, they had a supervisor who openly discussed work changes and even utilized their feedback to make improvements. As part of the experiment,

The researchers “hypothesized that choosing one's own coworkers, working as a group, being treated as special (as evidenced by working in a separate room), and having a sympathetic supervisor were the real reasons for the productivity increase.” (Anteby). There was a second relay-assembly experiment, but their results were not as substantial as the first one. Mayo and Roethlisberger did not attribute the increased performance to the special privileges; rather, they concluded that the increased levels of productivity were a result of the supervisory arrangement. This is, because the experiment placed the observers in close proximity to the five women being observed, the interest in the workers on the part of the observers is what increased the five women’s motivation to modify performance. The five women wanted to be perceived as high performers by the

Elton Mayo and W. Lloyd Warner organized a study group focused on fourteen men who were responsible for assembling telephone switching equipment. The overall goal was to determine the effect pay incentives had on group productivity. The results of the experiment contradicted the Hawthorne Effect. A social hierarchy formed which resulted in cliques and members being ostracized. Although the workers received special attention, it did not affect their productivity levels or behavior which can be “attributed in part to an implicit understanding among the workers not to exceed what they considered a fair quota.” (Anteby). The men did not increase their production levels in fear that it would result in a lower base pay. This completely manipulated the experiment as “the cliques served to control group members and to manage bosses; when bosses asked questions, clique members gave the same responses, even if they were untrue.” (“Hawthorne Effect”). Despite conflicting with the Hawthorne Effect, the Bank-Wiring Room Experiment still provided valuable insight to organizational