HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Neo-Classical Theory :
People’s Behavioral Relations
Management
Learning Objectives
At the end of this presentation, you should be able to:

• Understand the Humanistic Perspective

• Describe major components of the

Human Relation Theory

• Describe the Behavioral Sciences

Approach to Management

• Discuss contributions of the

neoclassical theories to management
Neoclassic
- of, relating to, or constituting a revival or
adaptation of the classical 
(Merriam Webster online dictionary)

“The human relations theory and the

behavioral sciences approach has been
referred to as the neoclassical theories of
management because it was originally an
improvement of the classical approaches.”
Humanistic Perspective
A management perspective
that emerged around the late
nineteenth century that
emphasized understanding
human behavior, needs, and
attitudes in the workplace.
(Daft, 1997)

Categories:
Human Relation Theory and
the Human resource approach
Behavioral Sciences
Why did this emerge?
Due to the limitations of
classical theory to attain
production efficiency and
work harmony. 
Managers realized that
workers did not always
follow expected patterns of
behavior; these motivated
some individuals to
introduce better concepts
of management applying
both psychological and
social factors in managing
people.
The Human Relations
Movement
The early human relations school of thought
considers that truly effective control comes
from within the individual worker rather than
from a strict, authoritarian control.
Little attention was given on industrial
psychology and personnel selection because
of the prominence of the scientific
management at that time.

An interesting study was conducted that brought

about new insights into group norms and
behaviors. (Daft, 1997)
 HUMAN RELATIONS
MOVEMENT
an effort to make managers more sensitive
to their employees’ needs.
It came into being as a result of special
circumstances that occurred during the first
half of the twentieth century.
It is compared to the top of a pyramid. Just
as the top of a pyramid must be supported,
so too the human relations movement was
supported by three very different historic
influences: (1) the threat of unionization,
(2) the Hawthorne studies, and (3) the
philosophy of industrial humanism.
The Human Relations Movement
Pyramid
A.) Threat of Unionization
From the late 1800s to the
1920s, American industry
grew by leaps and bounds
as it attempted to satisfy
the many demands of a
rapidly growing population.
Cheap immigrant labor
was readily available, and
there was a seller’s market
for finished goods. Then
came the Great
Depression in the 1930s,
and millions stood in bread
lines instead of pay lines.
Many held business somehow responsible for the
depression, and public sympathy swung from
management to labor.
Congress consequently began to pass prolabor
legislation. When the Wagner Act of 1935 legalized
union-management collective bargaining,
management began searching for ways to stem the
tide of all-out unionization.
Early human relations theory proposed an enticing
answer: satisfied employees would be less
inclined to join unions. Business managers
subsequently began adopting morale-boosting human
relations techniques as a union-avoidance tactic.
B.) The Hawthorne Studies
It attempted to determine
why some groups of
worker did much poorer
work than others.
(Gellerman, 1963)
began in 1924 in a
Western Electric
plant near Chicago
as a small-scale
scientific
management study
of the relationship
between light
intensity and
productivity.
Curiously, the performance of a select group
of employees tended to improve no matter how
the physical surroundings were manipulated.
Even when the lights were dimmed to
moonlight intensity, productivity continued to
climb!
Scientific management doctrine could not
account for what was taking place, and so a
team of behavioral science researchers,
headed by Elton Mayo, was brought in from
Harvard to conduct a more rigorous study.
 more than 20,000 employees had participated in one way or
another.
After extensive interviewing of the subjects, it became clear
to researchers that productivity was much less affected by
changes in work conditions than by the attitudes of the
workers themselves.
Specifically, relationships between members of a work
group and between workers and their supervisors were
found to be more significant.
Though the experiments and the theories that evolved from
them are criticized today for flawed methodology and
statistical inaccuracies, the Hawthorne studies can be
credited with turning management theorists away from the
simplistic “economic man” model to a more humanistic and
realistic view, the “social man” model.(Amparano, 1996)
 Elton Mayo
Harvard professor specializing in psychology
and sociology when he took over the
Hawthorne studies
emotional factors were a more important
determinant of productive efficiency than were
physical and logical factors.
employees create their own unofficial yet
powerful workplace culture complete with
norms and sanctions,
He urged managers to provide work that
fostered personal and subjective satisfaction.
He called for a new social order designed to
stimulate individual cooperation (O’Connor, 1999)
Mayo’s suggestions
Instead of suppressing the instinct of
forming groups management should
encourage it and that it should court these
groups by showing a sympathetic, active,
firsthand interest in each individual and
member.
Management should give the group a
reasonable share of control over its own
work.
HOW? Managers should be trained in the
skills of listening, understanding and
eliciting cooperation.
C. The Philosophy of Industrial
Humanism
Although unionization
prompted a search for
new management
techniques and the
Hawthorne studies
demonstrated that
people were important
to productivity, a
philosophy of human
relations was needed
to provide a
convincing rationale
for treating employees
better.
Some Pros and Cons of Human
Relations Theory

While many companies operate based on the human relations

theory, this type of management has dangers.
Companies risk workers becoming too social or easily swayed
by personal emotions and opinions when making decisions,
rather than relying on hard data.
It may be more difficult to reprimand employees for poor
performance or dismiss them once they have become invested in
the company.
Despite these risks, human relations theory has the potential to
increase employee retention rates and productivity.
As employees feel more valued by a company, they invest in
that company and its greater good.
[Link]
Contributions to management
Despite the controversies, the Hawthorne studies
went a long way in changing the view of the time
people were no different than machines.
The legacy of this study is still with us today – current
organizational practices such as attitude surveys,
employee counselling and management training,
participative decision making, and team-based
compensation systems owe their roots to the
Hawthorne studies.
Members of the human relations movement uniformly
believed in the importance of employee satisfaction –
a satisfied worker was believed to be a productive
worker.
(Robbins & Decenzo, 2001)
CONTRIBUTIONS OF HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL OF THOUGHT:

1. Human Relations Approach laid greater emphasis on the work group and
need for better communication between managers and workers.

2. The neoclassical approach highlighted the social facets of informal work

groups that operate within a formal organization.

3. Neoclassical approach introduced the concept of Participative Management,

where workers are allowed to participate in the decision making process.
This was a new form of management to ensure increase in productivity.

4. The human relations school of thought still influences management theory and
practice, as contemporary management focuses much attention on human
resource management, organizational behavior, and applied psychology in
the workplace.
LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT:

1. Human Relations Movement is considered to be a swing in the opposite

direction of classical theory (they saw only human variables as critical
to work performance and ignored the other variables)

2. This approach overemphasizes the importance of symbolic rewards and

underplays the role of material rewards. ( overlooked that man is also a
rational and economic being as seen in the principle of classical theory)

3. The assumption that satisfied workers are more productive and improved
working conditions and human relations lead to increased output may not
always be true.
LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT:

5. This approach accepted scientific management’s central goal of efficiency, but

focused on individuals and on small group processes rather than large
organizations.

6. Human Relations focused on the lower level of organization rather than on the
middle and upper groups and hence, lacks comprehensive scope.

7. The humanistic approach is too soft and too people-oriented.

8. The human relations movement accepted many of the assumptions of the

scientific management theory, yet it did not achieve a major breakthrough
in management theory.
The Human Resources
Perspective
A management perspective that
suggests jobs should be designed
to meet higher –level needs by
allowing workers to use their full
potential. (Daft, 1997)
Best known contributors to
the Human Resources
Perspective:

Abraham Douglas
Maslow McGregor
 Abraham Maslow
(1908–1970)

Abraham Maslow was a Psychologist.

He is also known to be a Humanist.
Humanists focus upon potentials.
They believe that humans strive for an
upper level of capabilities. Humans
seek the frontiers of creativity, the
highest reaches of consciousness and
wisdom. Maslow calls this level, "self-
actualizing person”.
He developed his theory of humans’
“Hierarchy of Needs.” (from
Psychology - The Search for
Understanding 
by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin
and Beverly A. Drinnien West
Publishing Company, New York, 1987,
as cited in
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
(original five-stage model)
A classical representation of human motivation

Self-actualization
Personal growth and fulfillment

Esteem Needs
Achievement, status, responsibility, reputation

Belongingness and Love Needs

family, affection, relationships, work groups, etc.

Safety Needs
protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.

Biological and Physiological Needs

air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep, etc
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
how these needs are satisfied in work

General Organizational
Examples Examples
Self-
Self-fulfillment actualization Challenging Job

Status Esteem Job Title

Friendship Belonging Friends

Stability Safety Retirement Plan

Shelter Physiological Wages

Based on needs satisfaction
Douglas McGregor
(1906 – 1 October 1964)

Douglas McGregor was a social

psychologist who became the President of
Antioch College. Later in his career he was
a professor of management at MIT.
He became frustrated with the early
simplistic human relations notions while
president of Antioch College in Ohio. He
challenged both the classical perspective
and the early human relations assumptions
about human behavior. He formulated his
Theory X and Y.
<source: Western University (California
Library)
[Link]
iness/[Link]
Douglas McGregor
He viewed the typical employee as an energetic and
creative individual who could achieve great things if
given the opportunity.
He labeled the set of assumptions for this optimistic
perspective Theory Y Theory Y
These two sets of assumptions about human nature
enabled McGregor to contrast the modern or
enlightened view he recommended (Theory Y) with the
prevailing traditional view (Theory X), which he
criticized for being pessimistic, stifling, and outdated.
Because of its relative recency (compared with Mayo’s
and Follett’s work), its catchy labels, and its intuitive
appeal, McGregor’s Theory X/Y philosophy has left an
indelible mark on modern management thinking.
Theory X: Some traditional Theory Y: Some modern assumptions
assumptions about people about people

1. Most people dislike work, and they 1. Work is a natural activity, like play or rest.
will avoid it when they can
2. Most people must be coerced and 2. People are capable of self-direction and
threatened with punishment before self-control if they are committed to
they will work. They require close objectives.
direction.
3. Most people prefer to be directed. 3. People will become committed to
They avoid responsibility and have organizational objectives if they are
little ambition. They are interested only rewarded for doing so.
in security.
4. The average person can learn to both
accept and seek responsibility.
5. Many people in the general population
have imagination, ingenuity, and creativity.
Organizational Behavior
It is a modern approach to management that
attempts to determine the causes of human work
behavior and translate the results into effective
management techniques.
it has a strong research orientation.
It is an interdisciplinary field in which psychology
predominates.
In spite of its relatively new and developing state,
it has a significant impact on modern
management thought by helping to explain why
employees behave as they do.
Because human relations has evolved into a
practical, how-to-do-it discipline for supervisors,
organizational behavior amounts to a scientific
extension of human relations. (Kreitner, 2004)
Behavioral Sciences
Approach
The behavioural sciences approach develops theories about
human behavior based on scientific methods and study.
Behavioral science draws from sociology, psychology,
anthropology, economics and other disciplines to understand
human behavior
(Daft, 1997)
Unlike the theorists of the human relations movement, behavioural
science theorists engaged in objective research on human
behavior in organizations.
The list of behavioural science theorists and their contributions
would number into the hundreds.
They have created plenty of studies on issues such as leadership,
employee motivation, personality differences, design of jobs and
organizations, organizational cultures, high-performance teams,
performance appraisals, conflict management, and negotiation
techniques are largely due to the contributions of behavioral
scientists.
The Behavioral Approach
people deserve to be
the central focus of
organized activity.
successful
management depends
largely on a manager’s
ability to understand
and work with people
who have a variety of
backgrounds, needs,
perceptions, and
aspirations.
Lessons from the Behavioral
Approach
people are the key to productivity
technology, work rules, and standards do not
guarantee good job performance. Instead,
success depends on motivated and skilled
individuals who are committed to
organizational objectives.
Only a manager’s sensitivity to individual
concerns can foster the cooperation
necessary for high productivity.
critics
traditional human relations doctrine has been
criticized as vague and simplistic
relatively primitive on-the-job behavioral research
does not justify such broad conclusions. (do not
believe that supportive supervision and good
human relations will lead automatically to higher
morale and hence to better job performance. Also,
recent analyses of the Hawthorne studies, using
modern statistical techniques, have generated
debate about the validity of the original
conclusions)
(Jones, 1990)
However…
organizational behavior, as a scientific
extension of human relations, promises to
fill in some of the gaps left by human
relationists while at the same time retaining
an emphasis on people.
Today, organizational behaviorists are
trying to piece together the multiple
determinants of effective job performance
in various work situations and across
cultures. (Kreitner, 2004)
SOURCES:

1. Daft, R. (2003). Management. USA: South-Western

2. Luthans , F. (2009) International Management, Culture, Strategy

and Behavior.

3. Kreitner, R. (1995). Foundations of Management: USA:

Houghton Mifflin Company

Web Reference & Resources:

[Link]/doc/4541824/Schools-of-Management-Thought

[Link]/docrep/w7503e/[Link]#neoclassical theory
[Link]/management/Log-Mar/
[Link]
Gracias for lending
me your ears 

 teo 