[Solution] The Behavioral Management Perspective
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Author: Sarah Bennett
The classical management perspective viewed workers as cogs and organizations as machines. Around 1930, management theorists began to believe that workers are human beings with needs and motivations best understood through psychology. These researchers developed new management theories and practices that are still relevant today.
The Behavioral Management Perspective
Mid‒twentieth-century management theorists were influenced by new research and schools of thought:
- In the Hawthorne studies, researchers discovered that workers respond positively to sympathetic managers and behave in accordance with group norms that they create themselves.
- Industrial psychology seeks to understand how human behavior in the workplace influences a company's productivity.
From these areas of research, management theorists developed the behavioral management perspective, which focuses on the importance of individual attitudes and group processes in the workplace.
The Human Relations Movement
This movement emphasized the importance of social factors in the workplace and suggested that managers should focus on workers' interpersonal needs and satisfaction to improve productivity.
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor introduced these contrasting views of worker motivation:
- Theory X assumes that workers dislike work, need to be controlled, and avoid responsibility.
- Theory Y assumes that workers enjoy work, are self-motivated, and seek responsibility.
Contributions and Limitations of Behavioral Management
While the behavioral perspective brought attention to human factors in the workplace, it has certain limitations in practical application.
Select the words that best complete the sentence.
The Hawthorne studies were the first to show that workers .
View Explanation
The Hawthorne studies discovered that workers decide among themselves what an acceptable rate of production is. In addition, workers will socially sanction those who underperform or overperform.
Select the correct response(s) to the following question.
Which of the following are research findings that led to the rise of the human relations movement? Check all that apply.
- Workers become more productive if they receive special attention and sympathetic supervision from managers.
- Workers compete with each other to produce more and earn higher wages.
- Workers become more productive if there is better lighting in the workplace.
- Workers create group norms that dictate acceptable workplace behavior, including acceptable levels of productivity.
View Explanation
Early behavioral management researchers discovered that worker productivity is affected by whether or not management takes a sympathetic interest in them and by the behavioral norms that workers create among themselves.
Select the correct response to the following question.
Which term refers to the idea that people in an organization will be productive only if managers control and coerce them?
- Theory Y
- Theory X
- Organizational behavior
View Explanation
Theory X is Douglas McGregor's name for the idea that people in an organization will be productive only if managers control and coerce them.
Select the correct response(s) to the following question.
Which of the following are examples of the limitations of behavioral management? Check all that apply.
- It does not show how group norms created by workers affect productivity.
- It does not predict individual behavior.
- It has not met with universal acceptance among managers.
- It is viewed skeptically by researchers.
View Explanation
Some managers are reluctant to implement behavioral management, in part because it has had little success in predicting how individuals will act.
