In The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor related Maslow’s ideas about personal needs to management. McGregor contrasted two views of management-the traditional view, which he called Theory X, and a humanistic view, which he called Theory Z.
According to McGregor, managers adopting Theory X assume that workers generally dislike work ad must be forced to do their jobs. They believe that the following statements are true of workers:
1. The average person naturally dislikes work and will avoid it when possible.
2. Most workers must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment to get them to work toward the achievement of organizational objectives.
3. The average worker prefers to be directed and to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, and wants security. (18)
Managers who subscribe to the Theory X view maintain tight control over workers, provide almost constant supervision, try to motivate through fear, and make decisions in an autocratic fashion, eliciting little or no input from their subordinates. The Theory X style of management focuses on physiological and security needs and virtually ignores the higher needs discussed by Maslow.
The Theory X view of management does not take into account people’s needs for companionship, esteem, and personal growth, whereas Theory Y, the contrasting view of management, does. Managers subscribing to the Theory Y view assume that workers like to work and that under proper conditions employees will seek out responsibility in an attempt to satisfy their social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. McGregor describes the assumptions behind Theory Y in the following way:
1. The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest.
2. People will exercise self-direction and self-control to achieve objectives to which they are committed.
3. People will commit to objectives when they realize that the achievement of those goals will bring them personal reward.
4. The average person will accept and seek responsibility.
5. Imagination, ingenuity, and creativity can help solve organizational problems, but most organizations do not make adequate use of these characteristics in their employees.
6. Organizations today do not make full use of workers’ intellectual potential. (19)
Obviously, managers subscribing to the Theory Y philosophy have a management style very different from managers subscribing to the Theory X philosophy. Theory Y managers maintain less control and supervision, do not use fear as the primary motivator, and are more democratic in decision making, allowing subordinates to participate in the process. Theory Y managers address the high-level needs in Maslow’s hierarchy as well as physiological and security needs. Today, Theory Y enjoys widespread support and may have displaced Theory X.
Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise. (18)
McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise. (19)
