Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the primary distinctions between transformational versus servant styles of leadership. It discusses the article by B. M. Bass, entitled "The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations." The paper then briefly reviews a classical laboratory type experiment in which the workplace of the Western Electric Company was effectively converted into a working laboratory by several researchers intent on identifying various workplace related environmental factors.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Article Summary: The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations
The Hawthorne Experiments

From the Paper:

"The Hawthorne Effect (HE) has been used to justify countless workplace policies and initiatives over the years since it was first identified during the 1920s and 1930s. The conclusions drawn from the studies that spawned HE resulted in many factors such as social dynamics among group members in the work environment that implied that employees would improve their performance simply for the reason that they knew they were being observed (Hawthorne, 2004, paras.1-3). The experiments that led to this conclusion were undertaken by Roethlisberger and Dickson who first examined environmental factors in the workplace such as lighting, humidity, and other physically oriented factors but later shifted into psychological factors such as breaks, scheduling, leadership issues, and training issues (Miner, 2002, p.27). These researchers concluded, falsely it seems, that regardless of the type or form of experiment, that the employees involved in the experiment responded positively to any stimulant factor. The original study under these researchers was only intended to last for a period of one year but quickly extended into five years as the researchers could not seem to validate any other conclusion than the one they finally left with."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bass, B. M. (2000). The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 18.
• Bowman, R. J. (2000). Examining Six Different Leadership Styles in Relation to Constrained Change at Winona State University. Education, 120(3), 455.
• The Hawthorne Effect. (2004). Perio Reports Newsletter, 16/3, p. 5.
• Miner, J. (2002). Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

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