Hawthorne Experiments Western

The Hawthorne Experiments at Western Electric, excellently explored in Gillespie, Manufacturing Knowledge, were famous and exemplary instances of this style of experimentation on the relationship between environment and laboring bodies. 

The Hawthorne Studies of 1924 came about as the results of experiments conducted at Western Electric that involved changes in the workplace conditions and produced unexpected results in employee performance. Two teams of employees took part in these experiments, in which the lighting conditions for only one team were improved. Production rose dramatically [3]. The interesting thing that happened was that production also improved in the group where the lighting remained unchanged. 

Between 1927 and 1932, at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago, a Harvard Business School professor named Elton Mayo conducted a series of experiments involving members of the workforce. 

Speaking of experiments. In 1927, the Western Electric Company at its Hawthorne plant in Illinois, attempted to discover the effect of incentives on workers production. At first, to their delight, as incentives were increased production went up. But, somewhat to their dismay, when incentives decreased production still climbed. This... 

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