The human relations movement brought the human aspects of management back into focus for industrialized organizations striving mightily for efficiency and productivity.
However, critics charged that the movement was based on intangibles rather than on scientific evidence, and they complained that the ideas were more theoretical than practical. Researchers investigating human relations issues found that higher employee satisfaction did not always lead to increased productivity, and they also learned that the nature of the work itself was an important element in productivity. These findings put a new face on human relations theories and showed that interpersonal relationships in organizations were infinitely more complex than originally thought. Researchers from a variety of disciplines joined the search, and the behavioral science movement was born, seeking scientific knowledge about human behavior in organizations to help managers become more effective.
The behavioral science movement has attracted a melting pot of researchers from disciplines as varied as cultural anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, social psychology, and even mathematics. But it's important to note that the study of behavioral science is not the same as the study of physics or chemistry. Because people in organizations often act in unpredictable ways, managers have no ironclad theories that they can universally apply in the way that the established laws of chemistry can be applied, for example. By continuing to study organizational behavior, the effect that organizations have on employees, and the effect that employees and groups have on their organizations, behavioral scientists will be able to develop better theories, which managers can adapt to real-life situations.
However, critics charged that the movement was based on intangibles rather than on scientific evidence, and they complained that the ideas were more theoretical than practical. Researchers investigating human relations issues found that higher employee satisfaction did not always lead to increased productivity, and they also learned that the nature of the work itself was an important element in productivity. These findings put a new face on human relations theories and showed that interpersonal relationships in organizations were infinitely more complex than originally thought. Researchers from a variety of disciplines joined the search, and the behavioral science movement was born, seeking scientific knowledge about human behavior in organizations to help managers become more effective.
The behavioral science movement has attracted a melting pot of researchers from disciplines as varied as cultural anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, social psychology, and even mathematics. But it's important to note that the study of behavioral science is not the same as the study of physics or chemistry. Because people in organizations often act in unpredictable ways, managers have no ironclad theories that they can universally apply in the way that the established laws of chemistry can be applied, for example. By continuing to study organizational behavior, the effect that organizations have on employees, and the effect that employees and groups have on their organizations, behavioral scientists will be able to develop better theories, which managers can adapt to real-life situations.