George Elton Mayo (born Adelaide, December 26, 1880; died September 7, 1949) was a psychologist and sociologist. Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 361st in leap years. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... A psychologist is a scientist and/or clinician who studies psychology, the systematic investigation of the human mind, including behavior and cognition. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ...

He lectured at the University of Queensland from 1919 to 1923 then moved to the University of Pennsylvania, but spent most of his career at Harvard Business School (1926 to 1947) where he was professor of industrial research. The University of Queensland (UQ) is the longest-established university in the state of Queensland, Australia, and a member of Australias Group of Eight. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about the private Ivy League university in Philadelphia. ... Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

The Mayo Refectory[1], a Union-operated walk-through cafe on the ground floor of Union House on the University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus, is named in his honour. The Adelaide University Union (AUU) was founded in 1895. ... The University of Adelaide (colloquially Adelaide University or Adelaide Uni) is a public university located in Adelaide. ... The University of Adelaide (colloquially Adelaide University or Adelaide Uni) is a public university located in Adelaide. ...

Research

Mayo is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement, and is known for his research including the Hawthorne Studies, and his book The Social Problems of an Industrialised Civilization (1933). The research he conducted under the Hawthorne Studies of the 1930s showed the importance of groups in affecting the behaviour of individuals at work. However it was not Mayo who conducted the practical experiments but his employees Roethlisberger and Dickinson. This enabled him to make certain deductions about how managers should behave. He carried out a number of investigations to look at ways of improving productivity, for example changing lighting conditions in the workplace. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the workgroup. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions, or financial incentives, to motivate workers had little impact. People will form workgroups and this can be used by management to benefit the organisation. He concluded that people's work performance is dependent on both social issues and job content. He suggested a tension between workers' 'logic of sentiment' and managers' 'logic of cost and efficiency' which could lead to conflict within organisations. In the history of the field of organizational development, the Human Relations Movement is the name given to the period following the Hawthorne Studies, where the OD movement found its focus on topics such as social relations, motivation, and employee satisfaction. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hawthorne effect. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hawthorne effect. ...

Criticism regarding his employees' procedure while conducting the studies:

• The members of the groups whose behaviour has been studied were allowed to choose themselves.
• Two women have been replaced since they were chatting during their work. They were later identified as members of a leftist movement.
• One Italian member was working above average since she had to care for her family alone. Thus she affected the group's performance in an above average way.

Summary of Mayo's Beliefs:

• Individual workers cannot be treated in isolation, but must be seen as members of a group.
• Monetary incentives and good working condition are less important to the individual than the need to belong to a group.
• Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have a strong influence on the behaviour of those workers in a group.
• Managers must be aware of these 'social needs' and cater for them to ensure that employees collaborate with the official organisation rather than work against it.

Mayo's work in the Hawthorne Experiments was later modified by Douglas McGregor as they did not originally show how work practices and organisational structure should be modified in order to improve worker satisfaction and productivity. McGregor suggested that the links between organisational design, motivation and productivity were more complex than first thought by Mayo. Douglas McGregor (1906 - 1964) was a Management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management whose 1960 book The Human Side of Enterprise had a profound influence on management practices. ...

References

Further reading

• Kyle Bruce, "Henry S. Dennison, Elton Mayo, and Human Relations historiography" in: Management & Organizational History, 2006, 1: 177-199
• Richard C. S. Trahair, Elton Mayo: The Humanist Temper, Transaction Publishers, U.S. 2005 ISBN 1412805244