Interdisciplinary Study of Social Relations in the Workplace - Essay Example

Introduction
Human Relations has been regarded as "an interdisciplinary study of social relations in the workplace that embraces sociology, social anthropology, and social psychology" (Zahirul, 2006). The movement-related to human relations is the presentation of the countermeasures to prevent escalation of the scientific management, which has previously focused upon the maximization of the productivity and income of the "individual manual workers and on the separation of mental and physical work between management and workers".

Human Relations & Accounting: Discussion
The theories have conceptualized reality as a physical structure, and people have been regarded as "adapters, responders, and information processors to achieve efficiency and the goal of an organization" (Zahirul, 2006). The Accounting Control System is aimed at achieving minimum cost and efficient operations, for this purpose, the researchers have relied upon "an arms-length research method – statistically categorizes key variables and then attempts to retrieve meaning by ex post facto interpretations of tests of significance" (Kaplan, 1998).

The Accounting researchers have adopted principles of rational choice theory and have expressed certain behavioral responses through incentives supported by the implication of the decisions. In this context, the human relations factor has played a crucial role in the assessment of the organizational process. The implications of the human relation theories have deterred the management accounting practices (Burchell, 2003). The human relation is regarded as multidimensional "as this approach placed emphasis on the individual and the organization, motivation, supervisory and management leadership, group dynamics, and organizational development" (Carpenter, 2001). Douglas McGregor proposed Theory X and Theory Y, as per which the human relations is not applicable at organizations "with management’s autocratic approach with supporting ideas for leading people" (Merchant, 2007).

According to Hawthorn, an organization shall be regarded as a social system, where the worker is the most significant element. The motivation of the employees is not solely based upon the economic perks, rather the employees have motivation towards social needs. The human relations factors are attainable through the restoration of the "basic sense of identity" (Colville, 2000). The performance of the employees is expected to improve under the systems of management, "which met their social as well as economic needs", therefore the focus of human relations is concentrated on people and "their associated behavior in an organization" (Colville, 2000).

Conclusion
The human aspects are expected to influence the "operation of accounting and control systems in organizations", which includes the decision-making process, remuneration system, leadership effects, the effect of interpersonal relations among organizational members, and organizational slack practices. The application of the scientific" methodology is not encouraged particularly because the interpretation of the variables is "stable and situation-independent" (Chua, 2003).