Behavioral Science School in the Early Research of Organizational Communication _ Behavioral Science School

In the development of organizational communication school, although interpersonal school put forward the view that "people are the key to the success of organizational communication", the limitations of its theory have also been strongly criticized. Critics believe that the interpersonal school only pays attention to the humanities field in organizational communication, but rarely pays attention to other major issues, such as organizational structure, trade union goals and environmental pressure. Too much emphasis on interpersonal relationship types will inevitably repeat the mistake that there is only one best analysis method for organizational communication management. In addition, it is inappropriate to regard interpersonal relationship as the center and the most important issue. Critics complain that there is a tendency of interpersonal theory, that is, these theories always serve the management, as if their real purpose is only to make workers accept the tasks imposed on them by the management. Critics also point out that although sometimes these theories are not inspired in this way, the way they consider problems is always too simple. As a result, many communicators, social psychologists and organizational behaviorists made new explorations, and formed a behavioral science school of organizational communication represented by herzberg, Maslow, McGregor and argyris.

1. Herzberg's Incentive-Health Care Theory

Frederick? Herzberg is a famous scholar who studies motivation. After receiving his doctor of science degree from the University of Pittsburgh, he became the head and professor of psychology at case western reserve university in Cleveland, USA. 1959, he and his colleagues investigated the incentive factors of more than 200 engineers and accountants of Pittsburgh Industrial Section Representative 1 1 institution. The topic of the survey is: "When do you feel comfortable at work?" . Herzberg first asked the respondents to tell the events that led to satisfaction, and then asked them to answer the events that led to dissatisfaction. The main results of the study show that the events leading to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are completely different. The main reason for dissatisfaction with work is that people strongly demand that their material and social needs not be deprived. Herzberg compared this view with biblical stories and found that it was related to Adam's view of human nature. When Adam was expelled from the Garden of Eden, he immediately faced the need to satisfy his animal instinct desires: food, warmth, pain relief, safety, stability, sense of belonging and so on. Since then, people have always associated their satisfaction with the demands imposed on them by social conditions.

People with the essence of Adam and Abraham all seek satisfaction in their work. However, the practices of these two people in this respect are quite different. Herzberg confirmed that the factors leading to negative attitude and job dissatisfaction include: 1. Company policies and management; 2. supervision; 3. salary; 4. interpersonal relationship: 5. Working conditions. These five factors are all related to the environment around the workplace. Herzberg called these factors health care factors. These factors are external to the work itself, and the lack of some "health factors" will lead to dissatisfaction, but it will not bring satisfaction. Being satisfied at work is determined by the nature of Abraham, and its key point is: 1. Work performance; 2.5 1 is recognized; 3.32 as its own factor; 4. Job responsibilities; 5. Work development. Compared with other factors, these five factors are closely related, because they focus on the work itself. These are "motivation" factors or growth factors, and their existence will bring satisfaction. Similarly, their absence will not lead to dissatisfaction, but will lead to the lack of active satisfaction. This is the basic part of herzberg's view.

Needless to say, Herzberg's research emphasized the importance of employee motivation and laid a theoretical foundation for the study of employee morale and organizational climate. Although the feasibility of herzberg's theory is controversial, it has not shaken the enthusiasm of managers for it. After a long time, there was not a book about motivation that didn't quote herzberg's argument.

Second, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory

Psychologist Abraham? Abraham harold maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents are Jews who immigrated from the Soviet Union. He is the eldest of seven children. My father is an alcoholic, and my mother is extremely superstitious and cruel. So Maslow's childhood was painful, and he never got the care of his mother. It is said that he brought two kittens home when he was a child and was killed by his mother. When I was a teenager, I felt extremely inferior because my nose was too big, weak and ugly, and I hoped to get compensation through exercise. After entering the university, I read the concepts of inferiority and transcendence in Adler's works and got inspiration, which changed his life from now on. 195 1 year, Maslow was hired as a professor by the newly established brandeis University in Massachusetts. The book Motivation and Personality published by 1954 puts forward the motivation hierarchy model of five basic needs, namely, physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, respect needs and self-realization needs. The first three are usually called lower-level requirements, and the latter two are called higher-level requirements. Maslow believes that the hierarchy of needs theory is directly based on human basic needs and the importance of these needs to human behavior. Need is a potential motivation until it is realized or satisfied. When the need is satisfied, it becomes an invalid motivation, and the next higher need becomes an individual motivation. Maslow believes that all human behaviors are motivated by the motive force of pursuing five basic needs. However, before the high-level needs (respect and self-realization) can play the role of behavior initiator, the low-level needs (physiology, safety and belonging) must be met.

The follow-up research of scholars only provided a small amount of evidence for Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. These studies have neither confirmed the existence of the five needs classified by Maslow nor proved that these needs are arranged in order of priority. Part of the reason for the lack of evidence may be the vague definition of several requirements. Take the concept of self-realization as an example. For different people and different stages of life, the need to give full play to their potential may be different. Therefore, evaluating "self-realization" is a very difficult task. Therefore, Maslow later admitted that his needs theory was flawed: "Because there are few people who are basically satisfied in our society, we don't know much about self-realization in experiments and clinics". He admits that the intensity of grades will vary with different personal environments, and also finds that cultural differences in different societies also have an impact on the degree and order of demand. However, he does believe that his theory is applicable.

Although Maslow's hierarchy of needs lacks research evidence, it is very important because it provides a clear example of human behavior and its application in organizational communication environment. Maslow's concern about meeting the needs of human communication behavior in the organization, especially the two higher-level needs of self-esteem and self-realization, reflects the change of organizational communication theory, which began when Hawthorne experimental researchers "discovered" the importance of workplace socialization and paid attention to managers. Some people have commented that Maslow's theory of human needs can be applied to almost every field of personal and social life.

Third, McGregor's X Theory and Y Theory

Douglas? Douglas M. McGregor is a professor at MIT and one of the most active advocates of organizing and spreading the behavioral science movement. 1935 received a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, stayed there to teach, and then taught at MIT. 1948 was the president of Antioch College in the United States. The actual administrative experience had a great influence on his later academic thought about the behavioral function of organizational communication. Mcgregor's main contribution is that he published "The Human Dimension of Enterprises" in 1957+0 1 June, and put forward the famous "X Theory" and "Y Theory".

MacGregor's research is based on the early theoretical achievements of Follette and Mayo. He questioned the classical school's assumption that "workers have no rights except to get paid, and their duty is to work hard and obey orders", which is unfair. People also believe that people's technology, attitude, ability and commitment are important reasons for establishing or bringing down an enterprise. Therefore, theory X and theory Y represent managers' operation of the organization.