In his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise, McGregor proposed two theories by which managers perceive and address employee motivation. He referred to these opposing motivational methods as Theory X and Theory Y management. Each assumes that the manager's role is to organize resources, including people, to best benefit the company.
Douglas McGregor Proposed theory "x" and theory "y" to be recognized as motivational theories in developing managerial leadership. Theory X All employees do not want to work other than to maintain a standard of living.
Under Theory Z management, not only do workers have a sense of cohesion with their fellow workers, they also develop a sense of order, discipline, and a moral obligation to work hard.
Essentially, Theory X assumes that the primary source of employee motivation is monetary, with security as a strong second. Under Theory X, one can take a hard or soft approach to getting results.
Theory X – people dislike work, have little ambition, and are unwilling to take responsibility. Managers with this assumption motivate their people using a rigid "carrot and stick" approach, which rewards good performance and punishes poor performance.
Managers in high-pressure, high-output organisations will tend towards Theory X in order to achieve company goals as efficiently as possible. For example, a manager - let's call them 'X' - needs to reach a certain level of output for their department per month. Anything above this base level output will gain X a bonus.
Douglas McGregorDouglas McGregor, through his well-known “Theory X and Theory Y,” drew a distinction between the assumptions about human motivation which underlie these two approaches, to this effect: Theory X assumes that people dislike work and must be coerced, controlled, and directed toward organizational goals.
Which of the following is Theory X consistent with? Explanation of Answer : Theory Y is consistent with participative management and Theory X with the more traditional autocratic style of managing people.
Douglas Murray McGregor (September 1906 – 1 October 1964) was an American management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president of Antioch College from 1948 to 1954. He also taught at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.