Conclusion
The breadth of the Hawthorne Studies makes them a difficult topic to
review and summarize in introductory textbooks. We learned a great deal
about the Hawthorne Studies as we conducted this review and are grateful for
the hard work that went into writing each of these introductory I-O and OB
textbooks. Some authors provided especially thorough and informative
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 37
material about the Hawthorne Studies (e.g., Luthans, 2002). It is through
these books that many people are inspired to join our professional discipline,
and we simply hope to contribute useful information toward this end with the
current project.
What we teach about the Hawthorne Studies matters. When students are
exposed to information about the Hawthorne research they begin forming
beliefs about the complex causes of work performance and start to develop
important critical thinking skills about experimental design and scientific
methodology applied to organizational problems. What we teach about
Hawthorne can also foster good scholarship and accurate shared knowledge
among future members of our professional culture. We hope that the results
of our review will be useful to those who write and teach about this important
historical influence of our professional discipline.
The breadth of the Hawthorne Studies makes them a difficult topic to
review and summarize in introductory textbooks. We learned a great deal
about the Hawthorne Studies as we conducted this review and are grateful for
the hard work that went into writing each of these introductory I-O and OB
textbooks. Some authors provided especially thorough and informative
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 37
material about the Hawthorne Studies (e.g., Luthans, 2002). It is through
these books that many people are inspired to join our professional discipline,
and we simply hope to contribute useful information toward this end with the
current project.
What we teach about the Hawthorne Studies matters. When students are
exposed to information about the Hawthorne research they begin forming
beliefs about the complex causes of work performance and start to develop
important critical thinking skills about experimental design and scientific
methodology applied to organizational problems. What we teach about
Hawthorne can also foster good scholarship and accurate shared knowledge
among future members of our professional culture. We hope that the results
of our review will be useful to those who write and teach about this important
historical influence of our professional discipline.