Introduction
The Hawthorne Effect has been described as “the rewards you reap when you pay attention to people” (Maslow, 2005). George Elton Mayo conducted the Hawthorne Studies with the intention of bringing about a greater understanding of the effects of working conditions on worker productivity. The results of these studies turned out to be contrary to the management theories of the times but were important in creating an understanding of motivation factors in workers. “The studies have had a profound effect on the field of Organizational development” (Richard, 2004). Due to the research efforts of past management theorists, we have many more insightful management trends and educated managers today.
Biography of Theorist
George Elton Mayo was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on December 26, 1880. He was the second child of a respected colonial family, whose father was a civil engineer. After failing to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps studying medicine, he was sent to Britain. He then began to write about Australian politics for the Pall Mall Gazette and taught at the Working Men’s College in London. Afterwards, he returned to the university and became the most brilliant student of the philosopher, Sir William Mitchell, although his views on management cause him to be unpopular. George Mayo married Dorothea McConnel, and then had two daughters, Patricia Elton Mayo, who would follow her father’s management...
Poverty continues to grow in America. The average minimum wage in the United States is $7.35 an hour- far too low in today’s society. Key expenses, for example, gas and housing prices, have gone up significantly since the minimum wage was last changed in 2007 (Wagner 52). The laws creating the minimum wage were intended to improve the standard of living and decrease poverty. Raising minimum wage is a vital step in decreasing poverty and giving every family the opportunity to survive and succeed. Millions of hard-working Americans are below the poverty line and need an increase in pay. Minimum wage must be raised because it will diminish poverty and assist the working class to support their families.
Not having food, clothes, a roof over your head, money, or a job. It means living a lower quality of life than the average person. Poverty can be someone’s choice of lifestyle. They may spend all their money on fancy materialistic items rather than on basic human needs. Tressie McMillan Cottom’s article, “The Logic of Stupid Poor People”, states how there are two types of poor people. One that tries to be acceptable, and one tries to be presentable. “...‘Acceptable’ is about gaining access to a limited set of rewards granted upon group membership (Cottom 4).” Cottom believes that people living in poverty should strive to appear acceptable rather than presentable. Being acceptable is the logical way of going about being in poverty. It’s actually trying to make yourself be better rather than just trying to be the bare minimum that society wants. People living in poverty are usually perceived as not knowing how to manage money because most people living in poverty spend their money on expensive cars and accessories. They purchase these expensive items in order to seem like they are not
Many people against raising the minimum wage create arguments such as, “it will cause inflation”, or, “ it will result in job loss.” Not only are these arguments terribly untrue, they also cause a sense of panic towards the majority working-class. Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has consistently increased, even when the wage has been
In this article, James Dorn and David Cooper argue whether raising the federal minimum wage will help or hurt low-wage workers. James Dorn, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Cato Institute, argues that raising the federal minimum wage would hurt low-wage workers by reducing job opportunities and raising prices. Dorn also states that the federal minimum wage is responsible for high unemployment among teenagers and minorities and lower productivity among low-wage workers. David Cooper, an analyst from the Economic Policy Institute, argues that the federal minimum wage is not a living wage and that raising the minimum wage doesn’t have a significant effect on employment. Cooper also states that eighty percent of low-wage workers are at least twenty years old and that eighty-five percent of small businesses already pay their employees more than the minimum
Poverty is a prevalent issue that many Americans face and it has been a serious problem over centuries. Every year there are people at risk of hunger. Combating poverty is not an easy task; there are many underlying issues that need to be addressed. Fortunately there are policies in place to assist with in decreasing the negative effects of poverty; however, some of the policies may cause people to become more dependent on government assistance. As a result it may cause a rise in taxes to support these policies and programs. Poverty is very common and widespread around the world. Unanswered questions that arise in regards to poverty are what can be done to resolve it, what are the causes of poverty, and is it possible to eliminate poverty entirely. Based on research and my personal experiences, government aid and housing are some resolutions to decrease poverty.
Raising the pay for minimum wage workers will be the proper way to create effective results, yet there exists those who oppose an increase. Neal Asbury, an American entrepreneur, writes “Raising the Minimum Wage Brings Minimum Benefits” to express how a hike in wages will increase unemployment levels. The author introduces a survey done in 1992 regarding economists’ beliefs towards an increase in minimum wage, where 72 percent claim it would hurt unemployment levels (Asbury). According to this claim, more than half of economists argue that if a rise in minimum wage is to occur, unemployment will soar among the country. Businesses will be prone to lay off employees or hire fewer workers because of higher costs and will lead low-skilled workers to be jobless. An increase in pay will lea...
If more people were aware of the dangers of heroin use, such as using while pregnant, while on prescribed medications, with dirty needles, or even possible death, more people would be likely to not partake in the use of the drug.
Several citizens in America may not empathize with many social conflicts which transpire in America. Unfortunately, when poverty is mentioned people of diverse gender, race/ethnic, and age can relate to poverty in America. Although several societies have not experienced the undesirable measures of relative or absolute poverty; several people know poverty exist through many channels, such as the media, social networking, history and charities.
Many reforms in the UnitedStates have been passed to help fight against the “War on Poverty”; but it has not been effective in eradicating poverty in the U.S. There are about 46 million people who are living in impoverished conditions and poverty continues to be a social issue in this country (Heritage Foundation, 2011) In the beginning, our country was formed under the belief that “this land is the land of opportunity and if we worked hard enough the American Dream can be gained” (Schwarz, 1997). People immigrate to this country today in hopes of becoming rich so they could gain a better life. In spite of coming to this country for a better life, many are faced with the lack of skills and money to succeed. In the end, most will end up in unskilled labor jobs that can barely support their families. Poverty continues to be a growing social issue because people have the “ inability to provide necessities like clothes, healthcare, and shelter” (Heritage Foundation, 2011) to help themselves and their family; therefore, many sacrifices have to be made to insure their survival. Yet many reforms made to help people living in poverty are based “off of outdated statistics” (Henslin, 2014, p.276) and are not enough to help the lower class maintain a sufficient standard of living. Poverty relates to conflict theory since the poor are struggling just to get by. Government programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing assistance, and food stamps provided by the government are not enough to help the poor gain social mobility.
America is currently working on the issue of whether the minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 to $10.10 and economists are studying the effects of the possible increase. Minimum wage workers deal with struggles such as affording health care, paying for education, providing food for their families, putting many hours of work in while making little income and paying their bills. America’s decision to raise the minimum wage would help low wage workers to make higher incomes and would overall strengthen the economy, pulling Americans out of poverty. Americans may hold a minimum wage job if they do not have money to attend a college or university to obtain a degree in order to find a career.
Maslow’s theory cultivated as a “general theory of human motivation,” but this theory is “extensively” applied to organizational behavior (Miller, 2012: 40). In this theory, Maslow proposes that five types of basic needs motivate people: physiological, safety, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization. These needs are arranged in a “hierarchy of prepotency,” where lower-level needs must be satisfied before achieving higher-level needs (Miller, 2012; 42). The lower-level needs are the first three basic needs in the hierarchy: physiological, safety, and affiliation. The first need is physiological. It refers to the needs of the human body, such as food, water, sleep and sensory pleasure. An organization fulfills these needs by providing a “living wage” that allows individuals to acquire these necessities and creating “physical work conditions that do not violate the physical requirements of the human body” (Miller, 2012: 41). From the physiological needs, humans move to the second basic need—safety. These needs include “the desire to be free from danger and environmental threats” (Miller, 2012: 41). Once again, an organization fulfills these needs by providing wages which allow employees the ability to acquire the necessary tools to ensure safety. In addition, the provision of physically adequate work conditions within an organization fulfills these safety needs. After physiological and safety needs are attained, humans aspire for belonging and love. This third basic need is affiliation. Affiliation needs refer to “the necessity of giving and receiving human affection and regard” (Miller, 2012: 41). This need highlights one of the key findings of the Hawthorne studies-the importance of social factors within an organization. The social relationships between coworkers and managers within an organization satisfies this need for
they can sell to get quick money to solve their hunger and or thirst. There are also many causes
Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments Biography of Elton Mayo George Elton Mayo was born on 26th December 1880 in Adelaide, South Australia. He was brought up by his respected colonial family. His father was a civil engineer who was married to Henrietta Mary nee Donaldson. They wanted their son, Elton Mayo to do well in his education and to succeed something in life. Mayo was looking forward to follow his grandfather’s path in medicine but, he failed his studies at university in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Motivation within any organization enhances the ability for employees to work together efficiently. This form of performance is essential to efficient management. Thus, health care managers are motivated to maximize
The period between the 1920 and 1930 saw the introduction of the Hawthorne Studies and brought about radical changes in organisational behaviour. The once popular belief that increasing output of an organisation was directly related to increasing workers' wages was disproved. Experiments conducted by Elton Mayo proved that there were more than economic factors that improved efficiency. During the tests, behavioural science which is also known as human relations was a key component to improve organisational output.