Human Relations Perspective In Management The human relations perspective is a way to manage a corporation where the employees are viewed as social beings with complex needs and desires as opposed to just units of production. It is based on the works of Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor in the mid twentieth century. This perspective places an emphasis on the social networks found in a corporation and uses gratification, not depravation, to provide motivation in the workplace. The human relations perspective developed in the mid twentieth century and was an extension of the behavioral viewpoint. Prior to the behavioral, almost all management was looked upon through the classical viewpoint. This viewpoint specifically focused on how …show more content…
In Management: A practical Introduction (pp. 46-49). NYC: McGraw Hill.) Maslow and McGregor further developed this idea into the human relations perspective, the idea that better human relations could increase productivity. The human relations perspective views the workplace as an intricate social network which a manager must control though increased participation from employees and open communication. Within this perspective employees are viewed as responsible, social, and self-motivated. These views support Douglas McGregor’s theory Y. Managers who follow theory Y believe employees generally enjoy work, are often self-motivated to complete tasks efficiently and to the best of their ability, and will actively seek responsibility. They also believe that people in general are smarter than previously realized and can exercise high levels of creativity and ingenuity. (Heyel, C. (Ed.). (1982). The Encycolpedia of Management . NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.) McGregor compares this to managers who follow the X theory, who believe employees avoid responsibility, have little ambition, and are inherently lazy. They feel that people must be controlled and threatened in order to work to their best ability and are primarily motivated by monetary rewards. This is the view that managers held in previous perspectives. McGregor believed that a belief in a certain theory could end up being a self – fulfilling prophecy, meaning that if a manager believes their employees will
McGregor first published his ideas in his book, The Human Side of Enterprise. One of the experiences he had that influenced his thoughts was from work that he did at his grandfather’s establishment for temporary workers in Detroit. Because he was a close acquaintance of Abraham Maslow, who developed “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” McGregor wished to counter the scientific approach on management (“Douglas McGregor,” 2008) and named Theories X & Y.
1. Ch 1, page 60-61, question 4: What is “evidence based HR”? Why might an HR department resist becoming evidenced based?
Human Relations is defined as “the skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people” by Lamberton, L. H., & Minor, L. (2014) . However, there are external and internal influencing forces regarding human behavior that impact how we interact with others or behave in the workplace. It is vital for all employees in a company (regardless if they work in the Human Relations Department or) to be aware of influencing factors so they can not only be successful with their performance, but be successful as a team and help bolster the company’s successes. Some of the most important influencing factors are organizational climate/culture, work/life balance, Supervisor/Management, conflict/resolution, job performance/responsibility, and personal characteristics.
Elton Mayo, Chester Barnard, Abraham Maslow, and Douglas McGregor were four theorists that helped establish the foundation of the neoclassic theoretical perspective; which deals with the human factor. These theorists created a human relations movement to deals with the factors, that benefit the worker and encourage higher performance, such as, improved working conditions, lowering of hours of work, and improved social relations.
Theory X and Theory Y, developed by Douglas McGregor, grew out of opposition towards classical management methods. Classical management theorists, such as Fredrick Taylor, focused on scientific training and efficiency and did not account for personal and behavioral issues, such as management styles or job satisfaction. McGregor saw these deficiencies in the classical school of management which lead him to develop a theory of management that would factor the importance of the individual worker. If a manager could tap into the feelings and attitudes of their workers, then the manager would be able increase their employee’s motivation which would then increase production. McGregor’s theory viewed the employee as a person and not as a machine
Compare and contrast of the classical school of management and the human relations school of management
According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2013) McGregor contrasted two views on human nature by insisting that Theory Y assumes that people are more positive at work, and believed managers could accomplish more by viewing employees as such (p.9). The other outdated theory, is Theory X, which is a more negative and pessimistic assumption about workers.
Douglas McGregor was a management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He introduced a new motivational theory in his book ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’, stating that all workers were divided into two groups: Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X workers were lazy, irrational and unreliable, and were only motivated by money and threatened by punishment. Theory Y workers were able to seek and accept responsibilities and fulfil any goals given.
People are the key to business success. However nowadays of business this is often neglected and people are seen to be a necessary expense. A successful business does not just rely on a person’s power instead it involves continuous effective teamwork and communication. Storey (1995) defines that human resource management is an individual approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques.
Human Resources constitute as one of the most imperative components of any organization, be it small scale business or a large conglomerate. Some of the key functions of the Human
There are a number of management theories that have changed the management business environment in the twentieth century. The theories have assisted managers to come up with better ways of management and organization of people. Managers have been able to increase profits, reduce costs and maximize efficiency. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the contributions of scientific management and the human relations movement to the modern management. This essay will use Frederick Winslow Taylor’s theory on scientific management and Elton Mayo’s human relations theory. These two movements have been proven to increase productivity in the workplace (Mullins, 2005).
2007). Kermally (2005, p.36) explain that McGregor believed ‘how managers manage people in practice depends on what assumptions they make about workers’. It means that which kind of leadership managers choose, according to how managers perceive workers’ attitudes toward their job. Managers believe their workers related to Theory X and Y normally use strict supervision approaches to reduce workers’ control on their job, in contrary, managers allow workers to be innovative and willing to authorise more responsibility to Theory Y workers (Waddell et al. 2007).
Human Resource Management involves a wide array of functions that encompasses the time from when an employee enters an organization to the time the employee leaves the organization. The specific activities that are involved in HRM include job design and analysis, recruitment, orientation and placement, development and training of the personnel, employee remuneration, and performance appraisal (Aswathappa, 2007: 5). This paper shall focus on three main activities which are recruitment, training, and personnel development. When it comes to recruitment, it is incumbent upon the Human Resource Manager to bring into the workforce, employees that are both wiling and competent to accomplish specific tasks. The work of recruitment goes hand in
In the early 1900’s, some of the first ideas were thrown together to allow an organization to flourish in the upcoming modern era. The first theories were known as scientific and classical management, which focused on three separate theories from Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, and Max Weber. The three theories have similar ideology in the fact that organization is driven by management authority, employees only source of motivation is money, and organizations are machinelike with employees making up the parts of the machine (Papa, Daniels, & Spiker, 2008). In the Prophecy Fulfilled case study, Mary Ann (senior auditor) takes on a management role with subordinates similar to that of Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory (Daniels 1987, pp. 77-78).
McGregor 's revolutionary assumption, Theory Y contends that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed while his other assumption, Theory X insists that employees must be commanded and controlled. Every day managers that utilize McGregor’s assumptions have the choice to either believe Theory X and control their