The original intent of the managers at the Hawthorne plant was to see if they could make their factory workers more productive by changing light levels in the factory. To do this, they increased the lighting for one group of workers in a special test room and kept the lights the same in the control room. They found that

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The Hawthorne studies found that both groups of workers showed an increase in productivity, not just the group with the changed lighting conditions. This led to the realization that it was not the physical changes in the workplace that increased productivity, but rather the fact that the workers knew they were being observed, which is known as the Hawthorne effect.

The Original Intent of the Managers at the Hawthorne Plant