Theory X & Y

Essay by Charlie_liCollege, Undergraduate December 2014

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Ron's want to join the AP computers (AP) can offer:

better career prospects

big company

handled international projects

he would excel in his position at AP

McGregor related employee motivation to the style of management. He categorized employee behavior into two types - Theory X and Theory Y. Theory Y employees seemed to like work, were eager to please and worked hard on their own initiative. McGregor suggested that employee behavior was the result of the management style.

In this theory management assumes employees are ambitious, self-motivated, anxious to accept greater responsibility, and exercise self-control and self-direction. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work activities. It is also believed that employees have the desire to be imaginative and creative in their jobs if they are given a chance. There is an opportunity for greater productivity by giving employees the freedom to be their best.

A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work and that there is a pool of unused creativity in the workforce.

They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation in and of itself. A Theory Y manager will try to remove the barriers that prevent workers from fully actualizing themselves.

McGregor and Maslow's hierarchy

McGregor's work was based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. He grouped Maslow's hierarchy into "lower order" (Theory X) needs and "higher order" (Theory Y) needs. He suggested that management could use either set of needs to motivate employees.

Theory Y

In contrast to theory X, theory Y assumes that working can be made as natural to people as play and rest. As such, people will motivate themselves to fulfil their work objectives, provided they commit to them, and they...