Exam 17: Human Relations in Theory and Practice

After the passage of the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act in 1935:

Criticized the Hawthorne researchers for their rejection of economic incentives:

One of the challenges to the basic premises of Mayo and his colleagues was that they confused means and ends in assuming that the goal of contentment and happiness would lead to harmonious equilibrium and organizational success.

One of the criticisms of Mayo and his colleagues was that they assumed that contented workers would produce more work.

After further research, we can conclude that Mayo was correct by not including economic motives in his analysis.

The "Hawthorne effect" has been demonstrated in numerous studies to explain why workers in the relay-assembly test room increased their output.

Hawthorne researchers were labeled as_______, by their critics.

The Hawthorne researchers been criticized for using too much statistical data in their findings and thereby ignoring the human factors that made up the work groups they studied.

Are human relations practices incompatible with the goals of unionized employees? Would it make any difference if the employees belonged to a union or not?

Assume this situation: You are a first line supervisor responsible for ten employees and wish to be seen as a "human relations oriented" manager by your employees. Your supervisor, however, has stated the most important task is to get the work done promptly and correctly. Are these expectations reconcilable? Why or why not?