THEORY X AND THEORY Y
Figure 1: Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X and Theory Y are two models of human motivation developed by Douglas McGregor while he was working as a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. McGregor presented and explained the two theories in what is considered a classic work of management science, his 1960 book The Human Side of Enterprise. As shown in the Figure 2, Theory X and Theory Y represent two basic assumptions about the human capacity for and relationship to work(Miller, 2013).
Figure 2:Theory X and Theory Y
(Source - Miller, 2013)
Employees who are highly-motivated tend to be more productive, dedicated and cooperative whilst non-motivated workers are less-productive, resistant to change and generally inflexible or lazy (Hiriyappa 2010). As mentioned by Lengnick et al. (2013), some of the major human resource theories and principles which organizations should follow are; motivational theories, decision making theories and others. McGregor (1960) famously argued that there are two types of managers: Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor seeks to come up with ideas that help understand human conduct and human nature (Lorsch & Morse, 2013). Organizations can use Theory X and Theory Y to motivate their employees. The two theories cater for two groups of employees; those that need to be pushed in order to motivate them to complete their work as well as those that require to be assigned more responsibilities in order to be motivated (Kopelman, 2008). Theory X on the other hand argues that every employee needs to be pushed, threatened and supervised in order to work hard (Ovidiu-Iliuta, 2013). While Theory Y states that people have a need to work and thus they do not require to be pushed in order to work effectively (Ovidiu-Iliuta, 2013). In relation to this, Quinn and Strategy (2013) commented, the managers can improve these employee’s perform after analyzing the situation properly. It has been assumed that employees automatically get motivated if they like the work and they get unmotivated if they do not like the work at all (Band et al., 2016). Bobic and Davis (2003) found that most of the population has the ability to be innovative and creative.
Theory of X
At this place workers or employees are very much who follows the leaders without asking a single question. As discussed by Jonassen and Grabowski (2012), ‘theory X’ is considered as the ‘authoritarian management style. ‘Theory X’ considers that average person dislike work. Here the management take decision and arte directive in nature without taking any feedback from the employees (Becker and Gerhart, 2009). Theory X assumes that people dislike work and must be coerced, controlled, and directed toward organizational goals. Furthermore, most people prefer to be treated this way, so they can avoid responsibility (Lorsch & Morse, 2013). According to this theory, the employees of a company named Hartley who perform poorly and dis-satisfied from job falls under theory X (Alfes et al., 2013). Theory X assumptions believe that workers must be controlled and threatened with punishment (Allio, 2009). Furthermore, Cherian and Jacob (2013) opined that such employees need direct supervision from their managers for achieving organizational success. Turan (2008) has identified that it can be better to motivate workers or students by rewards, points and high scores rather than the desire to do good job as they prefer to be directed under motivational theory X.
Theory of Y
In contrast to Theory X, or the conventional approach to management, McGregor proposed an alternative approach based on “more adequate assumptions about human nature“, which he called Theory Y(Gannon & Boguszak, 2013). This is the theory that assumes that working environment of the worker is very much friendly and delegation authority is passed to the lower management level while making . On the other hand, Nisbett et al. (2012) argued that ‘theory Y’ can be considered as participative management style. People often seek to apply self-direction and self-control without any external control of punishment or threat. Here the employees are very much self-motivated and take responsibility to fulfill the goals of the company (Bhatnagar and Sharma, 2013). Every employees are very much goal oriented and are loyal to the company because of the working condition of the employees are strong motivated. This finding supports the argument that Theory Y assumptions contribute positively toward more participative decision-making, ultimately benefitting the organization (Russ, 2011). As stated Chuang et al., (2013) by, theory Y employees are creative in nature and are having high level of intelligence.
As an example, I am working for a leading organization in the IT industry and they hire people to work as interns for 6 months before becoming permanent employees of the organization. During that 6 months they are given proper training relevant to the work and an understanding about the responsibilities and work patterns. The supervisors observe these interns closely and give marks according to the quality of work, attendance, attitudes, and management skills of responsibilities. They handover these marks to the HR department and using that HR department decides about the interns who become permanent employees (by using theory Y) while others get extended their internship period(by using theory X). Other than that in my organization, appraisals are done once a year and the salaries of the employees will increment based on the marks they get from the appraisal process. Employees who are well motivated, working hard with taking responsibilities with high attendance will get high salary increments (by following Theory Y) and who get less marks will get low salary increments (by following Theory X).
Figure 3:Comparison of Theory X and Theory Y
Figure 3 shows a comparison between Theory X and Theory Y managers. Being a good leader is not about being a Theory X or Theory Y manager, it is about knowing three things: firstly, what is your natural style; secondly, what combination of theory X and theory Y is needed at different phases of a project or program; finally, what combination of theory X and theory Y is appropriate to the team being led and the individuals within it(Dooley, 2015). According to Schein (2011, p. 157), “there is nothing in this theory that says a manager should behave in any particular matter, only that how he or she behaves is driven by deep cognitive assumptions“ which mean an organization should learn whether being more Theory X or Y has an impact on the effectiveness of the manager.
Reference
Alfes, K. Shantz, A.D. Truss, C. and Soane, E.C., (2013), The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behavior: a moderated mediation model, The international journal of human resource management, 24(2), pp. 330-51.
Allio, R.J., (2009), Leadership- The five big ideas, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 4-12.
Band, G. Shah, N.V. Sriram, R. & Appliances, E., (2016), Herzberg Two Factor Theory among the Management Faculty in Nagpur City, In International Conference on Management and Information Systems September, Vol. 23, p. 24.
Becker, B. and Gerhart, B., (2009), The Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Progress and Prospect, Academy of Management Journal, 39, 4, pp. 779–801.
Bhatnagar, J. and Sharma, A., (2013), ‘The Indian Perspective of Strategic HR Roles and Organizational Learning Capability,’ International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16, 9, pp. 1711– 39.
Bobic, M.P. & Davis, W.E., (2003), A kind word for theory x: or why so many Newfangled Management Technics Quickly Fail, Journal of public admistration and theory, 13(3), pp. 239-64.
Cherian, J. and Jacob, J., (2013), Impact of self-efficacy on motivation and performance of employees, International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), p.80.
Chuang, C.H. Chen, S.J. and Chuang, C.W., (2013), Human resource management practices and organizational social capital: The role of industrial characteristics, Journal of Business Research, 66(5), pp. 678-87.
Dooley, A., (2015), McGregor: Praxis Framework, Viewed on 5 May 2021, <https://www.praxisframework.org/en/library/mcgregor>
Gannon, D. & Boguszak, A., (2013), DOUGLAS MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y.
Hiriyappa, B., (2010), Management of motivation and its theories, York: Dr. B. Hiriyppa..
Hyrons, R., (n.d.),Theory X and Theory Y, Viewed on 4 May 2021, <https://www.communicationtheory.org/theory-x-and-theory-y/>
Jonassen, D.H., & Grabowski, B.L., (2012), Handbook of individual differences, learning, and instruction, Routledge.
Kopelman, R., (2008), Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Y: Toward a construct valid measure, Journal of Managerial Issues, 20(2), pp. 255-271.
Lengnick-Hall, M.L. Lengnick-Hall, C.A. & Rigsbee, C.M., (2013), Strategic human resource management and supply chain orientation, Human resource management review, 23(4), pp. 366-377.
Lorsch, J. & Morse, J., (2013), Beyond Theory Y, Harvard Business Review, Viewed on 5 May 2021, <https://hbr.org/1970/05/beyond-theory-y#:~:text=Douglas%20McGregor%2C%20through%20his%20well,and%20directed%20toward%20organizational%20goals.>
McGregor, D., (1960), The human side of enterprise, McGraw Hill, New York.
Miller, S., (2013) , Theory X and Theory Y, Viewed on 5 May 2021, <https://science.jrank.org/programming/Theory_X_and_Theory_Y.html>
Nisbett, R.E. Aronson, J. Blair, C. Dickens, W. Flynn, J. Halpern, D.F. and Turkheimer, E., (2012), Intelligence: new findings and theoretical developments, American psychologist, 67(2), p. 130.
Ovidiu-Iliuta, Dobre, (2013), Employee motivation and organizational performance, Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, 5(1), pp. 53-60.
Quinn, J.B. & Strategy, E.S., (2013), Strategic outsourcing: leveraging knowledge capabilities, Image, 34.
Russ, T.L., (2011), Theory X/Y assumptions as predictor of manager’s propensity of participative decision making, Management Decision, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 823-83.
Schein, E., (2011), 'Douglas McGregor: theoretician, moral philosopher or behaviorist? An analysis of the interconnections between assumptions, values and behavior', Journal of Management History, 17 (2), pp. 156-64
Turan, A., (2008), A Discussion on the Application of Two Factor, X and Y Theories in Classroom Management, American- European Journal of Scientific Research, 3(1), pp. 111-116.
Agree with you Indeevari, in addition, It is very important that organizations provide an enabling environment in which employee can explore their capabilities and enhance their skills set for the benefit of not only individuals but also the organization, in that organizations do greatly benefit from employees being confident in their ability to perform and how they perceive themselves (Aykut, 2019).
ReplyDeleteIndeed, In contrast, there is a body of literature, such as Thomas and Bostrom (2008), Rodrigues (2007), and Sager (2008), that takes the position that Theory X still remains a necessary approach to management, contributes to positive influences in organizations, and may still dominate in certain industries or geographical areas.
DeleteAgreed Indeevari, Under theory X, believed that employees do not like work and must be closely guided, even coerced into performing the work, while those under theory Y, believed employees considered work as essentially something natural like rest or play, thus the average employee would accept and seek more responsibilities (Robbins et al., 2012).
ReplyDeleteOf course, Based on Lawter, Kopelman, & Prottas (2015) theorizing, managers possessing Y-type managerial X/Y attitudes will enact more Y-type managerial behaviors. More specifically, managers with a positive view of human nature will act in accordance with these beliefs, and will show higher levels of Y-type behaviors, providing higher levels of encouragement, delegation, autonomy, responsibility, and more general rather than close supervision. Cosmology, managers with more Y-type attitudes would enact behaviors which reflect these fundamental assumptions.
DeleteAgreed with you. McGregor's ideas designed to start scientific enquiry into management practice are still of great relevance today, yet to say the investigation is over is far from the truth. Over the past 50 years his ideas have had great relevance in transforming the view of managing people, yet their application is not done and new avenues of research offer the potential for fruitful insights. His ideas underpin our modern view of management (Gannon and Boguszak, 2013)
ReplyDeleteOfcourse Indeevari, Mcgregor's Theory X and Theory Y is being used by many organizations around the world to manage its workforce. Most managers prefer to use a mixture of Theory X and Theory Y which focus on micromanagement and Hand-off approach. However, this theory of Mcgregor has being criticised by many (Gannon and Boguszak, 2013). One of the criticisms is that the theory does not consider different cultural environments (Sorensen and Minihan, 2011). According to The Economist (2008), people have criticised Mcgregor' s ideas as "being tough on the weaker members of society".
ReplyDeleteYes, even though this theory is criticized as you mentioned, In the real world, employees differ enormously in what motivates between mostly money on one end spectrum through to the pleasure of work on the other end. By identifying where your employees sit on this spectrum, organizations can develop their style of management and rewarding system to match those different factors (Birkinshaw and Mark, 2015).
DeleteAgreed with you, by using this theory we can identified what type of manager being involved with organization . McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y commonly using in the field of management, leadership and motivation (Islam and Eva, 2017). McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y explain that two type of management style is influenced by the perceptions that managers hold of employees (Byorum, 2015).
ReplyDeleteYes. I agree with you. Adding further to your comment motivation plays a vital role in driving engagement. Motivation by virtue of its nature is energizing, directive, and consequence oriented and Motivation is said to be a non-unitary phenomenon, which means the type of motivation as well as the level of motivation varies (Ryan and Deci, 2000).
DeleteYes Indeevari, organizations can't chose specifically between theory X and theory Y as they consists of attitudes towards people and in some instances organizations should display controlling behavior for some employees to develop until they become self directed (Dobre, 2013).
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Saiyadain (2003) and Robbins et al., (2007) assert that satisfied or happy employees are more motivated and productive than dissatisfied employees. It appears that satisfaction results in devoting more effort by workers and consequently contributes to higher levels of work performance.
DeleteAgreed with you. Employee retention is used to encourage employees to stay in the organization to continue to function and ultimately achieve its stated goals. Human resources are the lifeline of any company and must maintain and maintain a healthy human resources pool to continue to operate. Das and Baruah (2013).
ReplyDeleteYes. I agree with your comment. Further, Theory X management style requires close, firm supervision with clearly specified tasks and the threat of punishment or the promise of greater pay as motivating factors. A manager working under these assumptions will employ autocratic controls which can lead to mistrust and resentment from those they Manage. In other hand, Theory Y management style seeks to establish a working environment in which the personal needs and objectives of individuals can relate to, and harmonize with, the objectives of the organization(CMI,2015).
DeleteAgreed. Theory X is the traditional view that people must be coerced into performing; theory Y is
ReplyDeletethe view that people will exercise selfdirection and self-direction in the service of objectives to which they are committed (Armstrong,M., 2009).
Yes, In addition, theory X generally proves to be most effective in terms of consistency of work. Although managers and supervisors are in almost complete control of the work, this produces a more systematic and uniform product or work flow. Theory Y is almost in complete contrast to that of Theory X which employees are considered to be one of the most valuable assets to the company, and truly drive the internal workings of the corporation(Zendage, 2016).
Delete