Organizational structure theories related to hawthorne studies Custom Essay

Pretend you are an organizational consultant. The Hawthorne Works are experiencing problems with worker productivity. They’ve already hired a group of researchers to conduct some experiments to figure out what is going wrong. But, the company would like a second opinion. Your firm has been hired to provide this second opinion because you are known for specializing in one of the three main theoretical traditions in organizational theory.

Your answer should demonstrate that you understand of the core elements in classical organizational theory. So make sure you use core course concepts in your answer.

1. Your firm specializes in Contingency Theory:

a) Analyze the Experiments
Were there any problems that arose in the Hawthorne Experiments that could be explained by contingency theory? As a contingency theorist, explain and analyze these problems.

b) Provide a Second Opinion
Using contingency theory, what organization changes should the Hawthorne Works implement to improve productivity? As a contingency theorist, explain and analyze why your proposed changes would improve productivity.

2. Your firm specializes in Institutional Theory:

a) Analyze the Experiments
Were there any problems that arose in the Hawthorne Experiments that could be explained by institutional theory? As an institutional theorist, explain and analyze these problems.

b) Provide a Second Opinion
Using institutional theory, what organization changes should the Hawthorne Works implement to improve productivity? As an institutional theorist, explain and analyze why your proposed changes would improve productivity.

Further breakdown of the questions

Your firm specializes in Contingency/Institution/Elite Theory (Pick 2 of 3):

a) Analyze the Experiments
Were there any problems that arose in the Hawthorne Experiments that could be explained by ________ theory? As a ________ theorist, explain and analyze these problems.

b) Provide a Second Opinion:
Using _______ theory, what organization changes should the Hawthorne Works implement to improve productivity? As a _____ theorist, explain and analyze why your proposed changes would improve productivity.

Steps to Preparing for the Test

Step One:

Read: Homans, George C. “The Hawthorne Experiments (1941)”, pp. 85-96.

This article clearly outlines the details of the Hawthorne Experiments.

Step Two:
Figure out what each of the three main organizational theories (institutional and contingency theory) are about.

Then, pretend you are an organization consultant. You’ve been employed by the Hawthorne Works to provide a second opinion on the experiments. Your firm uses one of the three theories to think about how organizations should be run.