Human Relations

Question 1

Who was George Elton Mayo and what was he credited with?

Answer 1

Was credited with the research that pioneered the human relations school of management

Question 2

What did Mayo believe in?

Answer 2

Like Taylor, Mayo believed in “one best way” of managing but thought that this was achieved through work groups and teams

Question 3

What is the definition of Human relations theory?

Answer 3

Human Relations Theory suggests that “work should be a source of social relationships for individuals, a way of meeting their need for belonging and for group membership, and could even be a focus for personal identity

Question 4

What are Mayo’s 6 key principles?

Answer 4

1. Work is a group activity and not just an individual activity.

2. The social world of the adult is primarily patterned around work activities. 

3. At work, within their social group, people fulfill their needs for belonging and recognition which enhances their productivity. 

4. A worker’s complaint is a manifestation of a more basic, often psychological problem.
   

5. Informal groups at work exercise strong controls over the work habits and attitudes of individual workers. 

6. Management need to collaborate with these informal groups to increase cohesion for the company’s benefit

Question 5

What did Mayo argue?

Answer 5

Mayo argued that such collaboration and co-operation can only be created through the emergence of elite managers trained in techniques of social organization and control

Question 6

What did Mayo see the role of a manager as?

Answer 6

Mayo saw the role of the manager as a councillor who would help maladjusted employees respond to organizational norms

Question 7

What does team working form as?

Answer 7

Forms an essential part of organizational life, to the point where we as lecturers are obliged to prepare you for it