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Spontaneity Is the Spice of Management: Elton Mayo’s Hunt for Cooperation

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Abstract

This chapter covers the career of Elton Mayo and the impact of the Hawthorne studies upon the field of management. The first section of the chapter discusses Mayo’s contribution to the management literature. This section argues that Mayo’s best elements – his empathy and charisma – have not survived, but he leads a great legacy, as a scholar, for his influence in the field. The second section of the chapter covers the role of the Great Depression and World War II on Mayo’s work. The third section compares Mayo’s work to his major competitors – Whiting Williams and Henry S. Dennison. The final section compares Taylor to Mayo, arguing that they were complements rather than competitors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, USA

    Jeffrey Muldoon

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  1. Jeffrey Muldoon
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Correspondence to Jeffrey Muldoon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emporia State University, Emporia, USA

    Jeffrey Muldoon

  2. Faculté des Sciences Sociales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    Anthony Gould

  3. College of Business, RMIT University, School of Management, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Adela McMurray

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Muldoon, J. (2020). Spontaneity Is the Spice of Management: Elton Mayo’s Hunt for Cooperation. In: Muldoon, J., Gould, A., McMurray, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Management History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_29-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_29-2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Spontaneity Is the Spice of Management: Elton Mayo’s Hunt for Cooperation
    Published:
    18 April 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_29-2

  2. Original

    Spontaneity Is the Spice of Management: Elton Mayo’s Hunt for Cooperation
    Published:
    04 August 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_29-1

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