Management is the situation where different persons join in an organization with the aim of working towards achieving the set goals of that institution. The hospitality industry just like any other industry uses key elements of traditional management theories and practices based on an experiment to perform its roles in management. People may work in the same organization but perform differently to achieve the management goals. Despite the manager’s role in planning, decision-making, and staffing, most managers concentrate on how to earn surpluses in their organizations (Cole, 2004). Therefore, managers manage their employees in a way that seeks to increase productivity both effectively and efficiently.
Philosophies or management theories have been deduced based on the nature of how such managerial works function. Most of the theoretical concepts applied date back from the 1920s where theorists and scholars like Elton Mayo and Abraham Maslow did experiments in the corporate industry concluding on the core theory philosophies. Professor Elton Mayo developed the Hawthorne studies in his bid to prove the importance of productivity by people as compared to machines (Cole, 2004). On the other hand, Abraham Maslow conducted a study on the hierarchy of needs suggesting five goals that qualify as basic needs. This article will examine the two theories, comparing and contrasting them and their effect on the hospitality industry.
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Human Relations, the Hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow conducted research into the behaviour of human between the years 1939 and 1943 suggesting five sets of goals qualify as basic needs. The five goals are the physiological, safety, love, self-actualization, fulfilment, and esteem. According to Abraham, these five goals take up an order depending on the importance of physiological being the most important of them.
Abraham insists that the physiological needs are man’s basic needs. Such needs include hunger, sleep, and thirst. Physiological needs are replaced by safety needs when they are satisfied where a person begins to seek protection for his or her well-being. Esteem needs to arise as soon as the security requirements are satisfied (Human Relations Contributors, 2014). Finally, people desire to have the fulfilment of their esteem needs that include respect and self-esteem. The esteem needs to ensure that a person feels complete in their standing positions as well as gain recognition and job satisfaction.
Hawthorne Studies by Elton Mayo
Elton Mayo in the 1920s pioneered studies that undertook to understand what makes workers more productive in an organization. Hawthorne studies placed a lot of attention on the socio-psychological sides of the human behaviour in institutions and agencies. The studies were conducted on workers of the Hawthorne plant where managerial strategies were the focus of research (Grant, 2010). Hawthorne insists that employees have both social and psychological needs together with financial and economic needs. The studies suggest that these requirements must be met in order if the employees are to be motivated. The Hawthorne theory of management came because of the arising issues from the traditional and scientific perspectives on management commonly called Taylorism.
According to (Grant, 2010), the investigation conducted by Hawthorne is intuitive that insists inclusion, interest, autonomy, constructive feedback and a variety of soft factors are the things that motivate workers apart from monetary rewards. Hawthorne hypothesizes that the selection of co-workers by one as well as working as a group and being treated as special improve the productivity of a worker (Human Relations Contributors, 2014). Moreover, the deduction is that monetary incentives and proper conditions of working are less efficient in increasing productivity as compared to the needs above.
Comparison
Both theories agree that motivation and satisfaction of personal needs are the primary reasons for the increase in productivity. According to Price (2007), the hospitality industry uses the essential elements from these traditional theories as well as the practices to improve its worker’s productivity. Most hotels focus on making their employees happy by balancing their shifts to ensure they enjoy a social life. Moreover, these organizations hold regular meetings with the employees to ensure that workers have a say and thus feel included in the management and running of the business.
According to both theories, the employee should come first, and thus the core needs need to be met first (Human Relations Contributors, 2014). Abraham Maslow remains adamant about the satisfaction of the primary goals, which have an order. Similar to the Elton Mayo Hawthorne studies, psychological aspects of the human being prove crucial if a worker is to perform effectively and efficiently. It is also evident that both theories understand and appreciate the fact that material rewards are secondary to a worker. Such is the case in many hospitality organizations nowadays.
The Harvard business reports that most appreciative methods in hospitality include team building activities, vacations, and communication (Human Relations Contributors, 2014). Increments in allowances and salaries usually come as a secondary way of rewarding employees. The trend is in appreciation of the studies of Hawthorne and the theory of Abraham. Also, managers understand that strict but moderate and interactive supervision makes good relation with employees. As such, many tour guide companies, hotels, and other hospitality institutions have interactive and social supervisors that do not boss around the workers (Robinson, 2012).
Contrast
Despite the similarities in managerial approach or conclusions on worker productivity, the two theories differ on certain aspects. Abraham Maslow’s theory makes a significant contribution to the behavioural science approach. In his theory of needs, Abraham suggests that an organization needs to increase the salaries of employees for them to fulfil their basic needs like hunger and thirst. Secondly, the organization is tasked with the obligation of securing the income of the workers and security to facilitate the safety needs of the employees (Griffin, 2011). In an unexpected twist to the basic description of what is most important to employees, the theory of requirements demands that money is the necessity from fulfilment and employee satisfaction hence productivity. Moreover, the theory of needs leaves the responsibility of determining what is right for the employee to the management.
On the contrary to Abraham Maslow’s theory, the Hawthorne studies seclude monetary rewards ultimately stating that the feeling of appreciation and teamwork is vital to employee productivity. According to the studies, employees can work well even in unconducive conditions as long as they feel included and treated as special persons (Robinson, 2012). It is well to state that the management works together with the staff to proceed in ensuring employee performance is effective and efficient. The culture of an organization fits well with the Hawthorne theory because the theory must have a different type of environment for it to hold ground (Price, 2007). Therefore, organizations with a different culture from the usual status disparity between managers and workers will thrive with the theory of Hawthorne studies.
Conclusion
The theories in management bear fundamental principles and concepts that help institutions run proficiently and improve the productivity of workers. The theories of Hawthorne studies by Elton Mayo and that of Abraham Maslow on basic needs both serve well to investigate human relations. They both give an understanding go the human relations at the workplace and suggest what improves the productivity of employees. Many hospitality organizations in the modern days employ the concepts of these two theories in various ways to achieve their goals (Griffin, 2011). However, the Hawthorne studies theory proves to be more convenient for such institutions than the theory of needs.
References
Cole, G. A. (2004). Management theory and practice : Cengage Learning EMEA.
Grant, S. (2010). Discover human relations management theories by exploring key terms. Business.Com, 4
Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational behaviour: Nelson Education
Human Relations Contributors. (2014). ACCEL Advancing Human Employee Productivity, 4
Price, A. (2007). Human resource management in a business context : Cengage Learning EMEA.
Robinson, P. (Ed.). (2012). Tourism : The key concepts. Routledge
