BETWEEN CRITIQUE AND CONSERVATISM: ELTON MAYO’S METHOD, POLITICAL THOUGHT AND APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

Although often regarded as an innovative administrative thinker, Mayo’s books and research reveal a distinctly conservative stance. This conservatism has become so embedded in contemporary social sciences that it often goes unnoticed. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how Mayo could be both conservative and, at the same time, innovative and critical. A qualitative–interpretive research design is employed. The analysis draws primarily on Mayo’s major works alongside key secondary literature. To complement the interpretive thematic analysis, a content analysis based on the frequency of words in Democracy and Freedom (1919) and The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization (1945) was conducted. The study reveals Mayo’s conservative outlook, which prioritized spontaneous social developments and regarded abstract, intentionally designed concepts with skepticism. It also shows that, despite his resistance to abstract formulations, Mayo consistently relied on certain ideal concepts that shaped his intellectual journey.