Management Viewpoints
Behavioral viewpoint is one of the historical perspectives of management. The behavioral viewpoint emphasizes the importance of comprehending human behavior and also the significance of having a motivated workforce working towards achieving the objectives of the organization (Bagad, 2009). The theorists who advocated for this management viewpoint had the belief that understanding human behavior at their places of work and responding to them effectively enhanced their productivity. This viewpoint emphasizes motivation, conflict management, expectations management, and group dynamics. Those who contributed to the development of the viewpoint perceived employees as individuals, resources and assets that need to be developed and worked alongside. The viewpoint does not view employees as machines.
One of the key figures that significantly contributed to the development of this viewpoint is Elton Mayo (Bagad, 2009). The Harvard professor together with his team of researchers conducted an experiment at the Hawthorne plant where they interviewed more than twenty thousand. From the interviews, Mayo learnt that the employees viewed the experiments as an increased concern by the management for their working conditions. As a result, the workers at the plant increased their productivity in response to the perceived increased attention from the management. Mayo, therefore, named the concept that increased attention from management leads to higher productivity by the workers the Hawthorne effect (Bagad, 2009). The Hawthorne’s studies major contribution to management is the realization that the management’s impact is not restricted to planning and designing of tasks or management principles, but it is potent in human influence as well.
The viewpoint, therefore, stresses the importance of human relations through theories that have been put forward by different scholars including Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor, Hugo Munsterberg, and Mary Parker Follett. The scholars named above developed the viewpoint in three different phases namely; early behaviorism, human relations movement and behavioral science approach (Bagad, 2009).
References
Bagad, V. (2009). Principles Of Management (p. 28). Maharashtra: Technical Publications.
