This essay will review the writings of “Hawthorne, the myth of the docile worker, and class bias in psychology” an article by D. Bramel and R. Friend. It will then go on to further critique academic articles that both support and disagree with the primary source and demonstrate how the Hawthorne studies have influenced contemporary organizations.

The Hawthorne experimental studies conducted at the Western Electric Company Works has attracted considerable amounts of sharp critical scrutiny; it has practically “become an intellectual battle” (Miner, J. 2006. p.68) as it has been interpreted in various ways. The studies basically concluded that social and psychological factors are responsible for workers productivity and job satisfaction. …show more content…

Overall his intention is to show how the studies contributed to the improvement in manager and employee relationships by providing the employees with respect, attention and recognition will then in turn increase their productivity and efficiency.

C. Hall (1984) further backs up the views of Reiger in his article “Hawthorne Effects- Still a Potent Supervisory Tool”. Although the experiments were conducted decades ago Hall still believes that they still have practical value today. (p.6). Hall concludes that employees respond with greater job efficiency when they sense that they are being observed or “regarded as important valued members of an organization” ( p.6) and that The behavioral approach can positively affect performance, group dynamics, encourage cooperation and overall increase work satisfaction.

The Hawthorne Studies and the behavioral approach has played a major role in shaping todays organizations, from the way manager interact with their employees, the way they use open communication and the way they design motivating jobs we are able to detect elements of the behavioral approach (Robbins, S. Bergman, R. Stagg, I. Coulter, M. 2012. p. 54)

Telstra’s call centers are a classic example of a contemporary organization that has been influenced by the Hawthorne effect and the