Humanistic Theories of Organizations Essay

The relationship between the â€Å"boss† and the employee is an important one indeed. It is a relationship that can make or brake an organization. While classical theorist such as Fredrick Taylor (Scientific Management Theory), Henri Fayol (Administrative Theory) and Max Weber (Theory of Bureaucracy) (Modaff, Butler, Dewine 2012 p26.) emphasized the literal structure of an organization; i.e. worker productivity, chain of command and preserving organizational authority, they were not too concerned with an organizations social structure. However, â€Å"Human Relations Theory† (Modaff, Butler, Dewine 2012 p43.) builds more on an organizations social structure suggesting that an organization can benefit greatly from a positive social relationship between its supervisors and its employees. It is clear that there is a positive connection between â€Å"authentic leadership and employee voice behavior† (Hsin-Hua Hsiung 2012). Authentic Leadership, Employee Voice Behavior & the Hawthorne Studies Hsin-Hua Hsiung (2012) quoting Walumbwa et al. 2008, p. 94 writes that â€Å"Authentic Leadership† refers to ‘‘a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development’’. In the referred to article Authentic Leadership and Employee Voice Behavior: A Multi-Level Psychological Process (Hsin-Hua Hsiung 2012) the author discusses an investigative study of the â€Å"psychological process of how authentic leadership affects employee voice†. He suggests that the â€Å"theoretical model† of the study proposes that positive mood of the employees and, what he terms, the â€Å"leader–member exchange† or LMX quality mediate the relationship between authentic leadership and voice behavior, while the procedural justice climate moderates the mediation effects of positive mood and LMX quality (Hsin-Hua Hsiung 2012). This study ultimately revealed â€Å"the cross-level effects of authentic leadership†, and provided practical suggestions to assist employees expressing themselves and their opinions in the organization (Hsin-Hua Hsiung 2012). Ironically, the Hawthorne Studies (Mayo, Roethlisberger & Dickson 1939) in human relations had a similar conclusion. Among other implications these studies (Illumination, Relay Assembly Test Room, the Interviewing Program and Wiring Room Studies) collectively proposed that supervisors â€Å"pay attention to your workers to increase their satisfaction and productivity † (Modaff, Butler, Dewine 2012 p). Conclusion, Strengths and Weaknesses In conclusion, the article in my opinion was a fair explanation of a study that concluded that there are positive implications for social interaction between supervisors and employees. The strength and weakness of the article is the authors supporting research material. While he quotes several researchers and documents to validate his findings and his theory is supported by what the author terms â€Å"multi-level data from 70 workgroups of a real estate agent company in Taiwan†, he failed to research or mention the Human Relation Theory or the Hawthorne Studies (Mayo, Roethlisberger & Dickson 1939) which in my opinion would have further strengthened theory. References: Hsiung, H. H. (2012). Authentic leadership and employee voice behavior: A multi-level psychological process. . Journal of business ethics, 107 (3), 349-361. doi: 10.1007/s10551-011-1043-2 Modaff, D. P., Butler, J. A., & Dewine, S. (2012). Organizational communication: foundations, challenges, and misunderstandings. (3rd ed.). Glenview Illinois: Pearson