Criticism of Human Relations Approach, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Communication

Download Criticism of Human Relations Approach and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Dr. Aftab Alam Ansari Faculty of Commerce Karim City College, Jsr. Class : B.Com Sem - III & M.Com Sem – I Topic : Neoclassical Theory of Management-3- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Criticism of Human Relations Approach: The human relations approach has been criticized on the following grounds: 1. Lack of Scientific Validity: The human relation drew conclusions from Hawthorne studies. These conclusions are based on clinical insight rather than on scientific evidence. The groups chosen for study were not representative in character. The findings based upon temporary groups do not apply to groups that have continuing relationship with one another. Moreover, the experiments focused on operative employees only. 2. Over-Emphasis on Group: The human relations approach over-emphasizes the group and group decision-making. But, in practice, groups may create problems for the management and collective decision-making may not be possible. 3. Over-Stretching of Human Relations: It is assumed that all organizational problems are amenable to solutions through human relations. This assumption does not hold good in practice. The satisfied workers may not be more productive workers. 4. Limited Focus on Work: The human relations approach lacks adequate focus on work. It puts all the emphasis on interpersonal relations and on the informal group. It tends to overemphasize the psychological aspects at the cost of the structural and technical aspects. 5. Over-Stress on Socio-Psychological Factors: The human relations approach undermines the role of economic incentives in motivation and gives excessive stress on social and psychological factors. If the wages are too low, the employees will feel dissatisfied despite good interpersonal relations at the work place. Thus, it may be said that the human relations approach seeks to exploit the sentiments of employees for the benefit of the organisation. 6. Negative View of Conflict between Organizational and Individual Goals: It views conflict between the goals of the organisation and those of individuals as destructive. The positive aspects of conflicts such as overcoming weaknesses and generation of innovative ideas are ignored. Managers began thinking in terms of group processes and group rewards to supplement their former concentration on the individual worker. The study of human behaviour and human It is broad based and consisted of multiple concepts such as motivation, leadership, communication, group Dynamics, job redesign, organizational change and development, impact of technology on jobs, etc. It highlights the group and group relationships broadly which is the focus point of this theory to judge the group behaviour in the organisation. The main propositions of this approach are as follows: 1. Behavioural Science Approach is an inter-disciplinary approach and integrates the knowledge drawn from different disciplines for the study of human behaviour. 2. This approach advocates that an organisation is a socio- technical system which consists of individuals and their interpersonal and social relationship with each other, and another side it consists of various techniques, methods and procedures used by them for performing jobs. 3. Behavioural Approach recognizes individual differences in terms of their personality, goals, beliefs, values and perception. Therefore, these matters are important for the organisation in case of motivation. 4. Behavioural Approach recognizes goal conflicts in the organisation and suggests reconciliation of the goals of the individuals and the organisation for the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation. 5. This approach emphasized on informal group which exercise a significant influence on the attitudes, behaviour and performance of employees. 6. Behavioural Science approach stressed upon groups, group behaviour and group dynamics. Workers have their own informal groups and they have their own norms, cultures and communication system. This is broad based and consists of multiple concepts such as motivation, leadership, communication, change and development, group dynamics, jobs redesign, etc. Behavioural approach provided a new insight to human behaviour. It integrates the different knowledge of different fields for the scientific study of human behaviour for the benefits of both the individual and the organisation. These scholars and others have shown how human beings bring to their task aspects of behaviour which the effective manager should profitably understand. After all, it is individuals and groups with which a manager is concerned and while organizational roles are designed to accomplish group purposes, these roles must be filled by people. The behavioural school has drawn heavily on the work of Maslow. His development of a need hierarchy to explain human behaviour and the dynamics of motivation process is an important contribution. Douglas McGregor built on Maslow’s work in explaining his ‘Theory X’ and ‘Theory Y’. Frederick Herzberg developed a two- factor theory of motivation. He made a distinction between the factors which either cause or prevent job dissatisfaction (hygiene factors), and those factors which actually lead to motivation (motivational factors). In the area of leadership, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed and popularized the ‘Managerial Grid’, Rensis Likert has identified and extensively researched four Management Systems which include – System 1 – Authoritative System 2 – Benevolent Authoritative System 3 – Consultative; System 4 – Group Participative. Each system characterizes an organizational climate by employing several key dimensions of effectiveness such as communication, motivation, leadership and others. To sum up, the behavioural sciences approach gives emphasis on increasing productivity through motivation and leadership. The central core of this approach lies in the following aspects of human behaviour, motivation, leadership, communication, participative management and group dynamics. The behavioural sciences have provided managers with a