Chronicling the Development of the Human Relations Perspective in Organizational Management

Abstract

Launched from an organizational communication perspective, this article chronicles the four Hawthorne studies that led to the development of the human relations theory. The article shows how the Hawthorne studies led to the birth of the human relations management approach. The main tenets of human relations theory are discussed, as are its limitations. The article looks at both empirical and ideological limitations to the theory. The article ends by looking into the efforts to address these limitations, namely the evolution of human relations theory into a human resource approach.