Summary Theory X&Y

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Theories X and Y According to The Economist (2008), Management styles can be describes by two theories X and Y, which was mentioned in the book “ The Human Side of Enterprise “ (1960). These theories were created and developed by Douglas McGregor, a professor from Harvard University and MIT, and then became the foundation for further writing in management (The Economist (a), 2008) As reported in the Economist ( (b), 2008), Theory X is “authoritarian” and blames people of laziness and not willing to working, they will avoid working if they can. The motivation of working under theory X is money and people work without creativity and responsibility. It assumes that people work for their own sake without incentives so they always have reasons for their mistakes. It was applied through business world in the beginning of 20th century, which is the period of scientific management. The management’s task in this system is to push employees working. Theory Y assumes that people work with self-awareness to complete their tasks and their responsibilities to their organizations. It assumes that working is human’s instinct since they are born and their motivation comes from the willing to make achievements as well as fulfill their duties. People in such a system enjoy their work, always look forward to creativeness and accomplishment. They will do the best if given the right conditions from management and commit themselves to their objectives (The Economist (b), 2008). Robert Townsend supported Theory Y in his comic classic ‘’Up the Organisation’’ :’’ But they’ll commit themselves … satisfying their ego and development needs’’. In practice, the two theories have obvious effects in the performance of business management. Augusta plant was an apparent example when their productivity was 30% more than other P&G plant after they applied Theory Y to their operation (The

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