Question

The Hawthorne Experiments, led by Elton Mayo, demonstrated that productivity is not solely dependent on physical working conditions. Which of the following findings from the experiments is most directly related to the concept of informal social groups influencing employee behavior?

• A. The Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment, where productivity increased even when improvements were withdrawn.
• B. The Illumination Experiment, which concluded that there must be other factors affecting productivity besides lighting.
• C. The Bank Wiring Test Room Experiment, where production records showed that group norms restricted individual output.
• D. The Mass Interview Programme, which aimed to make a systematic study of employees' attitudes towards their working situation.

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The Bank Wiring Test Room Experiment, where production records showed that group norms restricted individual output.

• The Bank Wiring Test Room Experiment directly demonstrated the power of informal social groups. In this study, a group of 14 workers was observed, and it was found that they developed their own "unofficial" standards of performance, restricting their individual output even when they had the capacity to produce more to earn incentive pay. This highlighted that group norms and peer influence were more significant motivators than economic incentives alone. The Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment also showed the influence of social factors but focused more on the novelty of being observed and the informal supervision. The Illumination Experiment simply concluded that factors other than lighting were at play, and the Mass Interview Programme was a method to study employee attitudes.