From a critical viewpoint did Mayo's work help to give more freedom to workers? Please select all that apply.
A) Yes - the result of the Hawthorne Studies was that workers no longer had to work in Taylorist styles and therefore could always work in teams. This gave workers a lot more freedom.
B) Yes - Mayo's work gave workers considerably more freedom that Taylorism as instead of just telling workers what to do workers were listened to.
C) No - whilst Mayo took into account wider human factors his purpose was not to increase freedom for employees but to give more power for managers in order to control them better.
D) No - whilst Mayo took into account wider human factors he used this knowledge to increase the motivation of the workers through factors such as understanding levels of fatigue or commitment levels that Taylor did not take into account.

Question

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Whilst on the surface the findings of the Hawthorne Studies, and particularly Mayo's interpretation of them, have given more freedom to workers, it could also be said to be more controlling. Being aware of, and responding to people, listening to the workforce, and trying to understand the social and psychological factors, certainly offers the potential to be more emancipatory, but for many critical theorists this has also come at a cost. Firstly, Mayo's work is seen as a stronger form of control, as he sought to use the psychological factors he discovered to, as theorist Daniel Bell argues, fit men to machines. In other words what Mayo created was another, more subtle way of controlling workers. In fact, for some things, it could be seen as stronger as Mayo tried to control workers emotional experiences of work as well. Secondly, Mayo's work provided a way to seek to limit moves towards Industrial Democracy that writers such as Mary Parker Follett were pursuing.
If Mayo did want to make a true break from Taylorism, as some of his writings indicated he was attempting to, then critical theorists argue that he could have used his theory to examine ways that increased human flourishing and spontaneity rather than as a more subtle way of increasing control and productivity.

From a Critical Viewpoint Did Mayo's Work Help to Give