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Article
Publication date: 7 December 2020

Yaron J. Zoller and Jeff Muldoon

This paper aims to conduct a historical study using both primary (archival data) and secondary sources to evaluate the social conditions of the community of employees at Hawthorne

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to conduct a historical study using both primary (archival data) and secondary sources to evaluate the social conditions of the community of employees at Hawthorne Works between 1907 and 1933.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper evaluates the historical and social context of the 1915 Eastland disaster, specifically, the effects of the Eastland disaster on the community and the company to improve understanding of the contextual background and conditions which influenced the Hawthorne studies. This will also serve as a case study of crisis management.

Findings

The findings of the paper argue that the Eastland disaster likely contributed to the expansion of welfare capitalism practices by Western Electric in the 1920s–1930s and established the social and communal conditions which made the Hawthorne studies (1924–1933) possible.

Originality/value

Rather than evaluating the Hawthorne studies themselves, this paper focuses on social factors which made the Hawthorne Works plant site and the community serving it an ideal locale to host the famous studies as part of Western Electric’s practice of welfare capitalism and a distraction from the traumatic event which scarred the community and urged the Western Electric company to react. This study also provides an early example of crisis management.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2021

Jeffrey Muldoon, Eric W. Liguori, Steve Lovett and Christopher Stone

This paper aims to analyze the political background of the Hawthorne criticisms, positing that the political atmosphere of the 1940s, influenced by the decline of the new deal…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the political background of the Hawthorne criticisms, positing that the political atmosphere of the 1940s, influenced by the decline of the new deal liberalism and the rise of the conservative coalition, stimulated scholars to challenge the Hawthorne studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary sources used in the guise of archival commentaries, journal articles and other published works (books and book chapters). Secondary sources are offered to provide additional insight and context.

Findings

The findings show that politics unnecessarily discredited Mayo. As a result, contemporary scholars failed to recognize Mayo’s work as an important part of the basis for modern management theory.

Research limitations/implications

The purpose of the research is to look into the political context of the Hawthorne studies to understand how management practice and research is impacted by ongoing political issues.

Originality/value

To date, no work has fully accounted for or understood the political climate of the time in considering the criticisms of the Hawthorne studies. By more fully understanding the political context, scholars can reevaluate the weight they place on the then criticisms of the Hawthorne studies.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 44 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2019

Jeff Muldoon, Joshua Bendickson, Antonina Bauman and Eric W. Liguori

Elton Mayo was a professor at a prestigious university, but not a researcher; a scholar, but more concerned with executives; a capitalist, but someone who downplayed monetary…

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Abstract

Purpose

Elton Mayo was a professor at a prestigious university, but not a researcher; a scholar, but more concerned with executives; a capitalist, but someone who downplayed monetary incentives; an insider, but someone whose own background was more of an outsider. These contradictions have resulted in scholars questioning Mayo’s impact on the field of management. Thus, this paper aims to critically review Mayo and his contributions to management through a lens calibrated to the context of his time, providing a more contextually accurate view of Mayo and his work and offering a clearer view of his meaningful impact on the field.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a combination of primary and secondary sources, the authors connect otherwise disparate information to critically review Mayo’s work within the context of its era.

Findings

The authors’ critical review of Mayo identified nine topical areas where Mayo and/or his work have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. For each area, the authors offer a more contextualized and appropriate interpretation of Mayo and his viewpoints, and thus more accurately informing the management literature.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to thoroughly revisit Mayo and his work through a contextualized lens, offering a more informed view of why Mayo’s seemingly controversial behaviors were actually quite standard behaviors given his context.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2018

Sanghun Kim, Taewoo Kim, Sujin Pae and Sangphill Kim

This paper aims to examine the merit of an indirect payment system for audit fees, a system where an intermediary collects fees from the auditee and then pays this audit fee to…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the merit of an indirect payment system for audit fees, a system where an intermediary collects fees from the auditee and then pays this audit fee to the auditor.

Design/methodology/approach

Big 4 auditors and professional analysts in South Korea participated in an experiment and survey to investigate whether the change in the payment channel (from direct to indirect) of audit fees positively impacts auditors’ decision-making.

Findings

The authors find evidence that the indirect payment of audit fees is positively associated with professional skepticism.

Research limitations/implications

This paper, by highlighting the potential for alternate auditor payment channels to improve the quality of auditor judgments, motivates future research in this area.

Practical implications

Qualified by the need for further research, the potential merit in an indirect payment system may have implications for audit regulators.

Social implications

An indirect payment channel has the potential to improve public perceptions of the audit function, thereby elevating society’s confidence in auditor opinions and improving the effectiveness and efficiency with which scarce resources are distributed within society.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first that looks into a systematic change in audit fee payment channel and how an indirect payment system of audit fees impacts professional skepticism.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1998

David R. Moore

The paper considers the development process for experimental work intended as a pilot study of the role of tolerance requirement general theory. This theory is proposed as a…

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Abstract

The paper considers the development process for experimental work intended as a pilot study of the role of tolerance requirement general theory. This theory is proposed as a factor in the automated assessment of task difficulty in construction industry activities. Task difficulty, structured within a generic task hierarchy, is taken as a possible indicator of the level of buildability inherent in the on‐site production of construction artefacts. The proposed nature of general tolerance requirement theory is introduced. This initial research proposes six individual tolerance requirements, each with a different function within the general theory, which an operative responds to either explicitly or implicitly in carrying out construction tasks. These tolerance requirements are not defined in terms of plus or minus values. The paper concentrates on a discussion of factors relevant to the design of a suitable experiment as a pilot study of the suggestion that tolerance requirements may allow quantitative analysis of task difficulty.

Details

Work Study, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0043-8022

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2017

Eziaku Onyeizu Rasheed and Hugh Byrd

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the reliability of self-evaluation as a method for measuring the effect(s) of indoor environment quality (IEQ) on the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the reliability of self-evaluation as a method for measuring the effect(s) of indoor environment quality (IEQ) on the productivity of office workers. The aim of this review is to identify the various constraints to its adequacy in measuring productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

Thirty studies were selected from peer-reviewed sources and reviewed on their method of measuring productivity. These studies used self-evaluation (questionnaires or interview) as the sole method of measuring the effect of IEQ on productivity/performance.

Findings

This review provides insight on the insufficiencies and biases prevalent in self-evaluation. Various issues that compromised the reliability of self-evaluation results in an office environment were discussed. It was concluded that self-evaluation is not reliable and does not accurately measure occupant productivity.

Research limitations/implications

This study has been a review of past studies and their findings. Further studies that will provide empirical evidence are required to solely test the reliability of self-evaluation in measuring productivity and the effect of factors such as IEQ on it.

Practical implications

The paper calls for further debate on occupant productivity measurement and how the various factors that affect it can be quantified into measurable entities.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to revisit the technique of self-evaluation as a method for measuring occupant productivity.

Details

Facilities, vol. 35 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 December 2021

Carmine Gibaldi and Ryan T. W. McCreedy

Since the dawn of modern technology, managers have long discussed the effectiveness of virtual work. While general trends have indicated increased acceptance of virtually working…

Abstract

Since the dawn of modern technology, managers have long discussed the effectiveness of virtual work. While general trends have indicated increased acceptance of virtually working in recent years, the onset of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced a majority of the world’s professional workforce to quickly embrace virtual work. Building upon previous research, this chapter suggests that virtual work is positively correlated with productivity. Using an online open survey, the study examined the extent to which sustained virtual work impacts perceived individual productivity, perceived organisational productivity, collaboration, job satisfaction, and connectedness over a 15-week period. Findings demonstrate that perceived productivity and connectedness were particularly high in the initial weeks, tapering downward as a function of time physically removed from co-workers. Job satisfaction remained largely unchanged and collaboration yielded no reportable trends. Managers reported more negatively than non-managers in all tested variables. Findings support more flexible working systems for employees in the future.

Details

Work from Home: Multi-level Perspectives on the New Normal
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-662-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2003

George Cairns

Promotes the notion that the emergent field of facility/facilities management (FM) requires a philosophical basis, where philosophy refers not to esoteric, academic abstraction…

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Abstract

Promotes the notion that the emergent field of facility/facilities management (FM) requires a philosophical basis, where philosophy refers not to esoteric, academic abstraction, but to the basic theory and general principles of knowledge that underpin everyday activity. Argues specifically for generation of a philosophy of “the workplace”; the separate but related social, physical, technological and organizational contexts of work; the centre stage of FM activity, in order to: first, provide a knowledge base that critically engages with the complexities and ambiguities of these diverse but interconnected contexts of work; second, engage with some of the failings of FM knowledge to date, where idealistic best practice is presented as if it were theory, and simplistic research presents universal solutions based upon limited engagement with a single context; and third, provide a knowledge base that can stand up to critical analysis from other fields of knowledge, some of which overlap with that of FM.

Details

Facilities, vol. 21 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 May 2018

Matteo M. Galizzi, Glenn W. Harrison and Marisa Miraldo

The use of behavioral insights and experimental methods has recently gained momentum among health policy-makers. There is a tendency, however, to reduce behavioral insights…

Abstract

The use of behavioral insights and experimental methods has recently gained momentum among health policy-makers. There is a tendency, however, to reduce behavioral insights applications in health to “nudges,” and to reduce experiments in health to “randomized controlled trials” (RCTs). We argue that there is much more to behavioral insights and experimental methods in health economics than just nudges and RCTs. First, there is a broad and rich array of complementary experimental methods spanning the lab to the field, and all of them could prove useful in health economics. Second, there are a host of challenges in health economics, policy, and management where the application of behavioral insights and experimental methods is timely and highly promising. We illustrate this point by describing applications of experimental methods and behavioral insights to one specific topic of fundamental relevance for health research and policy: the experimental elicitation and econometric estimation of risk and time preferences. We start by reviewing the main methods of measuring risk and time preferences in health. We then focus on the “behavioral econometrics” approach to jointly elicit and estimate risk and time preferences, and we illustrate its state-of-the-art applications to health.

Book part
Publication date: 14 November 2014

Johnmarshall Reeve and Sung Hyeon Cheon

Our ongoing program of research works with teachers to help them become more autonomy supportive during instruction and hence more able to promote students’ classroom motivation…

Abstract

Purpose

Our ongoing program of research works with teachers to help them become more autonomy supportive during instruction and hence more able to promote students’ classroom motivation and engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

We have published five experimentally based, longitudinally designed, teacher-focused intervention studies that have tested the effectiveness and educational benefits of an autonomy-supportive intervention program (ASIP).

Findings

Findings show that (1) teachers can learn how to become more autonomy supportive and less controlling toward students, (2) students of the teachers who participate in ASIP report greater psychological need satisfaction and lesser need frustration, (3) these same students report and behaviorally display a wide range of important educational benefits, such as greater classroom engagement, (4) teachers benefit as much from giving autonomy support as their students do from receiving it as teachers show large postintervention gains in outcomes such as teaching efficacy and job satisfaction, and (5) these ASIP-induced benefits are long lasting as teachers use the ASIP experience as a professional developmental opportunity to upgrade the quality of their motivating style.

Originality/value

Our ASIP helps teachers learn how to better support their students’ autonomy during instruction. The value of this teaching skill can be seen in teachers’ and students’ enhanced classroom experience and functioning.

Details

Motivational Interventions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-555-5

Keywords

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