Theory X and
Theory Y by Douglas McGregor are theories in scope of management and
motivation. It explains the two different approaches used by the managers to
get the desired results from their sub-ordinates.
The Assumptions
of management of their employees in both the theories is as follows:
Theory X
('authoritarian management' style)
·
The average person dislikes work and will avoid it
if he/she can.
·
Therefore most people must be forced with the
threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives.
·
The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid
responsibility; is relatively unambitious, and wants security above all else.
Theory Y
('participative management' style)
·
Effort in work is as natural as work and play.
·
People will apply self-control and self-direction
in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without external control or the
threat of punishment.
· Commitment to
objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement.
· People usually accept
and often seek responsibility.
· The capacity to use a
high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organisational
problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.
· In industry the
intellectual potential of the average person is only partly utilised.
In an organisation, there is either one
of these two types of managers and also two type of workers, namely LAZY and
NOT LAZY
LAZY workers are the one who are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can
and that they inherently dislike work.
NOT LAZY workers
are the one who are ambitious and self-motivated
and exercise self-control.
This give rise to 4 different scenarios of Manager and Subordinate
1) Theory X Manager assumes LAZY Worker as LAZY and makes him work.
In
this case the manager will assume that the worker is not serious about his/her
work and will be stringent towards him/her, hence increasing the productivity
and output which will be beneficial for the company.
2) Theory X Manager assumes NOT LAZY worker as LAZY and makes him work.
In
this case the manager assumes a hard working employee to be insincere and act
strictly with him. This can cause demotivation in the employees and could
decrease their satisfaction level which can adversely affect the performance of
the company.
3) Theory Y Manager assumes LAZY worker as NOT LAZY and makes him work.
This is a very dangerous scenario; in this
the manager assumes that the employee is focused on his work and will let him
work in his own way. But the employee is in fact very casual about his/her
duties in the organization. This will create a situation in which both the
manager and the worker are not performing according to their duties and hence
can affect the performance of the company.
4) Theory Y Manager assumes NOT LAZY worker as NOT LAZY and makes him work
This is an ideal work condition for an
organization. Here the worker is already motivated to work better and then the
added support from the positive manager will encourage him to perform even better.
This will lead to increased performance and productivity of the organization as
a whole.
Which is the most found scenario in the real world
among these four?
The most common scenario which I have seen in
the real world is the 2nd quadrant in which the manager assumes that
the worker is lazy and is running away from his duties, hence treating him very
strictly. But this is not true as the worker is very motivated and hard
working.
E.g.: when I was working in JPVL, my manager
dealt with every worker very strictly. He believed that if he doesn’t
intervene, then the workers are going to very insincere in the work and will
miss the deadlines.
If I have to work in any of they given four quadrants, I will prefer to work in the 4th Quadrant because I consider myself as a very positive manager and if he subordinated I am working with are also hard working and efficient, then we will make a very effective team within an organization.
