THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

The behavioural approach was made up of a group of management scholars trained in behavioural disciplines such as Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology and related fields who used their diverse knowledge to propose more effective ways to manage people in an organisation. It was developed to take care of the human element in organizations which was a major limitation of the classical approach. The major assumption that underlines the behavioural approach is that people are social and self-actualizing.

Dimensions of the Behavioural Approach

Human Relations

This approach deals with how managers interact with their workers. Proper “worker management” leads to organizational harmony and increases productivity. Many antagonisms, suspicions, acrimonies, wrangling, strikes, riots, demonstrations, etc. are often the result of how people in an organization are treated. In a wider perspective, the way the government manages the various ethnic factions can also affect the relations between the government and certain ethnic groups.

Human relations sub-approach was founded by Prof. Elton Mayo (1880-1949).

The approach is deeply rooted in the social environment and personality trait of the manager unlike the classical approach which emphasized the physical environment. Expert in this approach say that managers should be trained in both ‘technical skills’ and ‘people skill’.

The main underlying principle in this approach is that the achievement of organisational effectiveness depends on how people's needs and wants are satisfied. Under the human relations approach, managers must know why their subordinates behave in a certain way and the psychological and social factors that influence them. The human relations approach led to the famous Hawthorne Experiment conducted by Prof. Elton Mayo. 

Hawthorne Experiments  

The genesis of the experiments was the desire of the National Research Council [NRC] of the National Academy of Sciences to study how lighting in the workplace influenced individual efficiency. This led to what has become popularly known as the Hawthorne Studies

The experiments conducted by Mayo at Western Electric were;

• To determine the effects/impacts of changes in illumination on worker productivity.
• To  determine the effects of work-related periods, coffee breaks, shortened work days and other changes in working conditions on worker productivity. This was the relay assembly room experiments.
•  To interview workers to determine workers’ attitude.
• To analyse the various social factors at work.

Douglas Murray McGregor (1906-1964)

McGregor developed Theory X and Theory Y which are sets of assumptions about human behaviour. He wrote the book “The Human Side of Enterprise”

Theory X regards employees as being inherently lazy, requiring coercion and control, avoiding responsibility and only seeking security. Under this theory, work is distasteful and therefore workers must be directed and motivated through force, pecuniary consideration (financial incentives) and praise to achieve results.

Theory Y sees man in a more favourable position. It regards employees as liking work which is regarded as natural. That the worker should not be directed, controlled and coerced if he is committed to the directives of the organization. Under this theory, the worker will accept responsibility.

The above theories have become the basis for the extreme forms of management style that managers are using. A blend of the two theories may provide the best prescription for effective management.

Abraham H. Maslow

As a motivation theorist, his hierarchy of needs influenced the work habits of people at the workplace. He identified the levels of needs to be:

• Physiological needs
• Safety needs
• Love/Affection needs
• Esteem/Ego needs
• Self Actualization

According to Maslow, the manager should know the level of the hierarchy on which his subordinates are so that he can apply the appropriate motivational factors to move them up to the next level of hierarchy. The behaviour of workers will to some extend be influenced by the degree to which their needs are satisfied.