The human relations movement refers to the body of organizational development research studying the behavior of people in groups, particularly in workplace settings, drawing on fields such as industrial and organizational psychology. It originated in the 1930s Hawthorne studies, which examined how social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction affected factory productivity, with Elton Mayo as its central figure. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearSources date the movement to 'the 1930s' broadly rather than a single year; the underlying Hawthorne studies it grew from ran from 1924 to 1932. Core ClaimEmployee productivity and behavior in organizations are shaped more by social relations, motivation and group dynamics than by physical working conditions or extrinsic factors alone. 1 Classification
Topic (Functional Area)Organizational Behavior 1 Connections
Addresses Topic
Entity-backed identity for the topic enum value this management theory already carries, resolved to a business practice discipline by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The topic fact itself stays on the theory unchanged.
Associated With
The Hawthorne studies and the effect named for them are the founding evidence cited for the rise of the Human Relations Movement in management theory.
Source Wikipedia, Hawthorne Effect
Source Wikipedia, Human resource management
Kurt Lewin's work in group dynamics and social psychology, the same body of work behind this change model, fed directly into the Human Relations tradition in management theory.
Source Wikipedia, Kurt Lewin
Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory built on the Human Relations Movement's focus on employee satisfaction and morale.
Source Wikipedia, Two-Factor Theory
Developed By
Mayo is credited with helping to lay the foundation for the human relations movement through the Hawthorne Studies.
Source Wikipedia, Elton Mayo
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Human Relations Movement
WikipediaLead section
It originated in the 1930s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity.
Overview section
human relations "school" of management
Introduction, functional area topic classification
Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational development who study the behaviour of people in groups, particularly in workplace groups and other related concepts in fields such as industrial and organizational psychology.
View the Source Wikipedia, Elton Mayo
WikipediaDeveloped By: Elton Mayo, Research sectionQuote, Developed By: Elton Mayo, Research section
Mayo helped to lay the foundation for the human relations movement, and was known for his industrial research including the Hawthorne Studies and his book The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilization (1933).
Wikipedia, Two-Factor Theory
Wikipedia, Hawthorne Effect
Wikipedia, Kurt Lewin
Wikipedia, Human resource management
Associated With: Human Resources, Classified by subject-matter domain within management theory (w-bbfill-business-other-0926); cites the discipline definition.View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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