08) The lasting contributing of Human Relations theory to management has been

the discovery of “social man”. How far do you agree with this statement?

What is Social Man?

He searches for connections and supportive relationships in the workplace, and
thus effort was significantly influenced by the collective work rate.

Human Relations Theory

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow assumes that all individuals possess the same set of needs. He
suggests a hierarchy of needs and he argues that once we are satisfied a need
at one level in the hierarchy, its impact on our behavior diminishes. And what
then exerts a more powerful influence on our behavior is the need at the next
level up the hierarchy.

In a favourable environment, where deficiency needs (e.g. physiological needs

such as needs for food, clothing and shelter + security needs such as need for
safety and freedom from fear) are fulfilled, we can progress to higher-order
needs. These include social needs like giving and receiving connections,
belongings and love.

Esteem needs include satisfying needs for achievement, independence and

freedom. It also includes recognition, admiration and prestige.

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory

Unlike Maslow, Herzberg’s interest was focused on how need satisfaction occurs
in the workplace, and the practical impact of motivation on workplace attitudes
and behaviour.

His theory was based on interviews with 200 accountants and engineers using
what is known as critical incidents technique. This involves asking the
interviewees to talk about occasions when they felt extremely satisfied or
extremely dissatisfied with their jobs. Two sets of incidents emerge from these
interviews. One involved achievement, advancement, recognition. These are
called motivators. The second set, termed as hygiene factors, were working
conditions, salary job security etc. The presence of motivators in the workplace
caused motivation in employees. Their absence, however, did not lead to job
dissatisfaction.

Hygiene factors, on the other hand, produced an acceptable work environment

though not increased satisfaction; their absence (e.g. low pay) however, caused
job dissatisfaction.

Herzberg’s theory describes what motivates employees and how jobs can be
changed to achieve a well-motivated workforce.
To conclude, we can relate Maslow’s social needs and Herzberg;s motivators to
the concept of “Social Man”. Their notions of self actualization, growth needs and
motivators have had certain influence on management theory and to an extend
on management practice. In short, i do agree with the statement the lasting
contributing of Human Relations theory to management has been the discovery
of “social man”.