Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
CHAPTER 1
Human Relations: A Background
Learning Objective
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Define human relations.
2. Explain the importance of human relations in business.
3. Discuss the challenges of human relations as these factors affect success in
business.
4. Identify what the study of human relations does not include.
5. Describe the areas of emphasis for human relations in today’s workplace.
6. Discuss a short history of the study of human relations.
Key Terms
Bureaucracy: A formal organization in which each person has specific duties and
responsibilities and is assigned to only one supervisor.
Communication: The process of sending and receiving ideas, thoughts, and feelings
from one individual to another.
Group dynamics: The set of interpersonal relationships within a group that determine
how group members relate to one another and that influence task performance.
Hawthorne experiment: A five-year study conducted at the Western Electric plant in
Hawthorne, Illinois that showed—among other findings—that workers performed better
when someone was paying attention to them.
Human relations: The skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people.
Informal organization: The ever-changing set of relationships and interactions that are
not formally put together; they form naturally in the workplace.
Mutual respect: The positive consideration or regard that two people have for each
other.
Motivation: The force that gets people to do their tasks or activities, based on the needs
of an individual or group.
Scientific management: A management system based upon scientific and engineering
principles.
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Self-esteem: A person’s feeling of confidence and worth as a person.
Theories X and Y: Theory X managers see workers as lacking ambition, disliking work,
and wanting security above all else. Theory Y managers see workers as enjoying work,
being able to assume responsibility, and being creative.
Lecture Outline
I. What is Human Relations?
Human relations is the skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people.
Human relations includes a desire to understand others, their needs and weaknesses, and
their talents and abilities. Human relations also involves an understanding of how people
II. The Importance of Human Relations Skills
Reasons for studying human relations include the following:
• Human rights—this awareness calls for more skillful relations among employees,
using tact, trust, and diplomacy with greater skill.
• The global marketplace—improving interpersonal skills (the skills associated with
getting along with others) can be a factor in fighting the widespread anti-
Americanism that sometimes seems to be growing worldwide.
• Emphasis on people as human resources—the two sets of behaviors now considered
the most important for new job applicants are communication skills and human
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
A. Human Relations and You
Human relations skills can help one get a job, enjoy the work, be more productive at it,
and stay there longer with better chances for advancement. An understanding of
oneself and others can help one to be happier and more productive in all areas of his or
her life.
You, the Manager
For a manager, no skill area is more important than human relations abilities. A
manager with good human relations skills will retain employees longer, be more
productive, and provide employees with an enjoyable environment. The most
You, the Entrepreneur
When a person is the owner and operator of a business, his or her people skills—or
human relations—are the most important factors in his or her success. In an e-
commerce business, although there is less face-to-face contact with customers and
suppliers, the ability to work with people and to fulfill their needs remains
extremely crucial to success. In a larger sense, a person’s knowledge of human
You, the Employee
Underdeveloped interpersonal skills represent the single most important reason for
failure at a job. Making a good impression on one’s superiors, peers, and all other
co-workers will set him or her on a good track. Developing interpersonal skills is
III. Current Challenges in Human Relations
Today’s Generation Y, the generation now entering the job market, can tend to find that
good, sustainable-wage jobs are hard to come by, and advancement is very difficult. The
problems faced by this group and by Generation X are often blamed on the “Baby
Boomers,” the late-middle aged people who are mostly in management positions above
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
them. Although a “generation gap” is nothing new in our history, this one affects human
relations in the workplace directly and forcefully.
A. Increased Competition in the Workplace
Competitiveness reaches into all areas—urban, suburban, and rural—and affects all
businesses, large and small. Small businesses feel pressure to meet the high
international standards of the foreign market, and of the huge multinational companies
that dominate the economy.
Higher paying jobs for all age groups are more competitive than before. Having a
college degree is no longer a ticket to a meaningful career, as it was only a generation
ago. This new reality causes a great deal of frustration for many people in the
B. Dual-Career Families
Most families now need income from both adult members to survive comfortably.
This reality has placed a strain on the family and its members—a strain that is felt in
the workplace in several ways. First, additional financial pressures cause workplace
C. Single-Parent Families and Divorce
Two important factors have contributed to the existence of a higher number of single
parents than was prevalent among the baby boomer generation: a high divorce rate and
an increase in the number of never-married parents. The parent—often the mother—
must be the provider, taxi service, spiritual guide, and emotional support source. These
many roles often result in a spillover effect of frustration and stress in the workplace.
D. Two Generations of Dependents
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People are living longer now than ever before. This rise in life expectancy, along with
fewer high-income jobs for senior citizens, and cuts to pension funds and post-
retirement health insurance, means that many middle-age adults now find themselves
helping to support their own children along with their aging parents and parents-in–
law–all at the same time. These middle-aged adults who find themselves squeezed for
IV. What Human Relations is Not
Some characteristics that human relations does not have are:
• Human relations is not a study in understanding human behavior in order to
manipulate others. Good human relations means being real, positive, and honest.
V. Areas of Major Emphasis
Study of human relations has two goals: personal development and growth, and
achievement of an organization’s objectives.
Figure 1.1: Highlights the major goals and emphasis areas of human relations.
A. Self-esteem
Self-esteem is one’s feeling of confidence and worth as a person. Psychological
research has shown that lower self-esteem is related to a variety of mental health
problems, including alcoholism, anxiety, and depression—all of which cause problems
B. Mutual respect
Mutual respect, the positive consideration or regard that two people have for each
other, can exist only when one’s self-esteem is stable. If one’s self-esteem is too
fragile, he or she will have little energy left for cultivating mutual respect. Also,
without trust, mutual respect is meaningless. Many human relations specialists rate
trust as the single most important element in human relations.
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
C. Self-awareness and Self-Disclosure
Self-awareness is the knowledge of how one is being perceived by others. Self-
disclosure is the process of letting other people know what one is really thinking and
D. Communication skills
Communication is the process of sending ideas, thoughts, and feelings from one
individual or group to another, and having them received in the way you intended. The
communication process is at the heart of all managerial functions, and it is directly
related to success or failure at the managerial level. If one is to grow either as an
E. Group dynamics
Once a group is formed, it immediately requires understanding, planning, and
organizational tactics appropriate to groups. Thus, understanding group dynamics—
the ways in which groups operate—is a cornerstone in the study of human relations.
F. Motivation
People often use the term motivation to describe the force that gets them to do their
VI. A Brief History of Human Relations
The history of human relations is essential to a thorough understanding of its place in
today’s world. Human relations has been important ever since human beings began to
live together in groups. The history of human relations problems can be viewed in
different ways during different times.
A. The Early Years
Human relations began to be an issue as it is known today around the early- to mid–
1800s. Figure 1.2 presents a human relations timeline.
In early 19th century England, a man named Robert Owen came up with the amazing
idea that treating workers better would actually increase productivity and, thus, profits.
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Owen introduced many reforms in the industry of the time. Like Robert Owen,
Andrew Ure (also from Great Britain) was interested in human relations in
manufacturing companies. In 1835, Ure published a book called The Philosophy of
Manufacturers. This book suggested that workers should have medical help, hot tea on
a regular basis, good ventilation, and even sick leave—again, all ideas that were
advanced for their time.
In Germany, a sociologist named Max Weber saw human relations problems as being
caused by favoritism, nepotism (playing favorites with family members), and other
unfair practices. Weber came up with the bureaucratic organizations approach, a
system that was meant to be impersonal and rational. This approach reduced
B. Human Relations as a Science
Today the word bureaucracy often has a negative connotation. The word is often
associated with government inefficiency fired tape”) and paperwork. Bureaucracy
actually started out as a method of improving not only efficiency, but human relations
as well.
C. Scientific management
In the early years of the 20th century, Frederick Taylor and others began a movement
called scientific management. He is often criticized as someone who cared more
about production than about the needs of workers. However, Taylor is important to the
history of human relations because he showed how crucial the human element is in the
performance of any organization.
Like others in the scientific management movement, Taylor was concerned with
increasing efficiency while getting as much work as possible out of employees.
Taylor’s approach contained two major features:
One of Taylor’s best-known victories was the invention of the optimum shovel.
D. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Living around the same time period as Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were a
married couple who were both industrial engineers—and scientific managers. The
Gilbreths became especially well-known for their research study of bricklayers. Frank
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
Gilbreth identified 18 different motions that had been used by bricklayers, apparently
for as long as people had been laying bricks.
Lillian Gilbreth was especially interested in studying workers and their reactions to
working under stressful conditions. She taught the importance of standard work days,
relaxed and regular lunch breaks, and periodic rest periods. Her life’s work helped
influence Congress to pass child labor laws.
E. Mary Parker Follett
In the early years of the 20th century, Mary Parker Follett became known for her
lectures and writings on what, now, are called human relations issues. Follett taught
three concepts that were ahead of their time:
• She held that workers should be allowed to be involved in decisions affecting
them.
Happy workers with a sense of belonging, she said, would end up making more money
for the company and would remain at the same job for a longer time.
F. The Hawthorne Experiment
In the late 1920s, a group of scientific management scholars went to Hawthorne,
Illinois, to study the effects of physical factors on workers and their productivity. The
problem confronting these scientific management scholars attracted the attention of
Elton Mayo, a social psychologist from Harvard University, who traveled to
Hawthorne and stayed. For nearly five years, from 1927 to 1932, he and his Harvard
colleagues studied the Hawthorne Experiment. Two important discoveries came
from this five-year study:
• Mayo showed that the workers at Hawthorne performed better because someone
G. Human Relations and Management
Probably the most important improvement Elton Mayo brought about was to change
the way management looked at workers. Rather than seeing workers mostly as people
who need wages, managers now began to understand that the complex needs of
workers include a unique combination of values, attitudes, and desires.
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
Depression was showing some signs of lifting. Once the country began gearing up its
manufacturing sector for World War II, the workplace was affected drastically. With
hundreds of thousands of young workers going overseas to fight, employers were
forced to hire nearly anybody who would work. Managers knew their employees
would be very hard to replace, so treatment of workers temporarily improved.
Throughout the war, and in the years immediately following, many studies were done
on human relations factors. The noted psychologist Abraham Maslow devised a
“hierarchy of needs,” which teaches that people tend to satisfy their needs in a certain
H. Human Relations, History, and the Individual
In the early 1960s, Eric Berne had created his famous Transactional Analysis method
of understanding interpersonal communication. Carl Rogers published his findings on
the development of the personality, group dynamics, and conflict management. By
1980 Total Quality Management (TQM) had been introduced in the United States as
it had been three decades earlier in Japan. The man responsible for this new movement
was an American named W. Edwards Deming. This important school of thought held
that the process of whatever happens in an organization is more important than the
product. Doing away with targets, “zero defects” programs, and slogans, the TQM
people concentrated on the process—which inevitably includes people and
relationships.
By the late 1980s, Total Quality Management had changed industry both in America
and abroad. From the mid-1990s to the present, the label “TQM” has been heard less
frequently. However, the process of TQM survives under other names—sometimes
simply “quality”—and remains an important part of many successful organizations.
Review Questions
1. In your own words, write a one- or two-sentence definition of human relations as you
would have defined it before reading this chapter. Then, assuming your definition
has changed a bit, write a new one.
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
Answer: Human relations is the maintenance of proper relationships among other
people or employees within any organization. It is the skill or ability to work
2. Explain the importance of Elton Mayo and his work in the Hawthorne studies to the
history of human relations.
Answer: Two important discoveries came from Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne studies.
First, Mayo showed that the workers at Hawthorne performed better because
someone was paying attention to them. This attention was more than they had been
3. How can the development of human relations skills help you on the job as a
manager? As an entrepreneur? As an employee?
Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The development of human relations skill can
help a manager to retain employees longer, be more productive, and provide
employees with an enjoyable environment. Knowledge of human relations helps the
4. Explain the role of W. Edwards Deming in the further development of human
relations concepts during the past two decades.
Answer: W. Edwards Deming introduced Total Quality Management in the United
States. This important school of thought held that the process of whatever happens in
5. List three reasons why human relations issues are more important today than ever
before.
Answer: Students’ answers may vary. Human relations skills are especially
important today for several reasons:
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
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• Greater awareness of human rights
6. Why is self-esteem important to the development of human relation skills?
Answer: The study of human relations has two goals: personal development and
growth, and achievement of an organization’s objectives. Self-esteem, which is one’s
feeling of confidence and worth as a person, is one of the many areas of emphasis
7. List the six “areas of emphasis” in the study of human relations and explain each one
briefly.
Answer: The main areas of emphasis in the study of human relations are self-esteem,
mutual respect, self-awareness and self-disclosure, communication skills, group
dynamics, and motivation.
Self-esteem is one’s feeling of confidence and worth as a person. It is at the core of
most issues in human relations.
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Motivation can be described as the force that gets people to do their tasks. It derives
from the needs of an individual and of a group.
8. Why did the human relations movement not make much progress during the Great
Depression? Discuss the relevance that experience might have to today’s workplace.
Answer: During the Great Depression, though interest in human relations still
existed, the great job shortage made many employers feel that they could “fire the
Critical Thinking Questions
9. Explain the importance of the work of Frederick Taylor, and Frank and Lillian
Gilbreth and the scientific management movement to the development of modern
industry.
Answer: In the early years of the twentieth century, Frederick Taylor and others
began a movement called scientific management. Taylor is important to the history
of human relations because he showed how crucial the human element is in the
10. What are the problems of today’s society that cause greater stress on the job, thus
increasing the need for human relations skills? List and explain the importance of
each.
Answer: The problems of today’s society results in greater stress for employees on
the job. The problems arise due to increased competition in the workplace, dual–
career families, single-parent families and divorce, and supporting two generations of
dependents.
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
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McGraw-Hill Education.
having a college degree is no longer a ticket to a meaningful career, which causes a
great deal of frustration for many people in the workplace, resulting in human
relations problems.
Most families now need income from both adult members to survive comfortably.
This reality has placed a strain on the family and its members, which is felt in the
workplace in several ways:
A high divorce rate and an increase in the number of never-married parents have
resulted in the increase in the number of single parents than was prevalent among the
baby boomer generation. Besides the already-heavy burdens of single parenthood
11. With the widespread use of the Internet in conducting business worldwide, do you
think human relations skills are becoming more important, or less so? Explain your
answer.
Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Most of them may say that human relations
skills—the skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people—are
still important even with the widespread use of the Internet in conducting business
Case Studies
Case Study 1.1: Software Tug-of-War
Peter Hopkins, who works for a small software manufacturing firm, discusses with his
boss Howard Wilson, how the rivalry between the eleven members of his team is
affecting the company’s image and its business. They discuss how the productivity of this
team is mainly being affected due to this rivalry. Wilson also expresses his concern on
the increasing number of customer complaints the company is facing—that of being
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
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treated rudely. Hopkins along with Wilson decides to communicate with the members of
the teams on both sides before this mess turns into a huge disaster.
Questions
1. Which emphasis areas of human relations does this case mostly address?
Suggested Answer: People at all levels of an organization need trust and mutual
respect to perform at their best. This case addresses the issues of group dynamics,
2. Besides getting some communication lines in place, what can Peter do to improve the
situation?
Suggested Answer: Students’ opinions may vary. A strategy can be established in
order to develop or improve mutual respect among the employees as people at all
3. What could Peter and Howard have done to prevent things from getting this bad?
Suggested Answer: Students’ opinions may vary. For a manager, no skill area is
more important than human relations abilities. A manager with good human relations
Case Study 1.2: That “Stupid” team of Mine
When Joaquin Salcedo started to feel that he was the most knowledgeable in the IT
department of the company he works for, he voices his opinion to his supervisor, Rick
Jarwood. The supervisor explained to Joaquin that his job role requires him to clarify
technical queries. In the later weeks, Rick receives complaints about Joaquin being
arrogant and overbearing and the hostile and desultory remarks made by him.
Chapter 01 – Human Relations: A Background
Questions
1. How self-aware does Joaquin seem to be?
2. What advice would you give Rick Jarwood in dealing with Joaquin’s human
relations problems? Remember that his high level of expertise makes Joaquin
valuable in other ways.
Suggested Answer: Students’ responses may vary. Rick may discuss about self-
3. How could this situation have been prevented?