Theory Y managers will make different choices about how to arrange team members and workflows, how to talk to people, how to reward and incentivize, etc. Theory X managers believe employees must be controlled to meet organizational goals. Implementing a Theory Y-focused leadership approach requires modern tools that can complement the collaborative workplace. Many consider such actions necessary for self-managing work teams to succeed. B.most employees know more about their job than the boss. The employees could find their work fulfilling as well as challenging. The Japanese had discovered something that was givingthem the competitive edge. c. employees are motivated mainly by the chance for advancement and recognition. As a consequence, they exert a highly controlling leadership style. This ensures work stays efficient, productive, and in-line with company standards.[9]. A manager's behavior and expectations are as contagious as the plague. The modern manager knows how to distribute responsibility, instill trust in their employees, and motivate team members to deliver their best work and ideas. In sum, one key to effective leadership, especially as it pertains to the exercise of social and interpersonal influence, relates to the type of power employed by the leader. Just like formal leaders, informal leaders can benefit or harm an organization depending on whether their influence encourages group members to behave consistently with organizational goals. Most people have little aptitude for creativity in solving organizational problems. This could additionally lead to a bad reputation. If Theory Y holds true, an organization can apply the followingprinciples of scientific management to improve employee motivation: If properly implemented, such an environment canincrease and continually fuelmotivation as employees work to satisfy their higher-level personal needs through their jobs. Increasingly, leaders in organizations will be those who best sell their ideas on how to complete a projectpersuasiveness and inspiration are important ingredients in the leadership equation, especially in high-involvement organizations.22. Sherri has taught college business and communication courses. People need more than monetary rewards or the threat of punishment to do their jobs. The managers influenced by Theory X believe that everything must end in blaming someone. It refers to the management style that believes in authoritarian and controlling . Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. You may, however, find that you naturally favor one over the other. As we have noted, the terms leader and manager are not synonymous. Often, the formal leader is appointed by the organization to serve in a formal capacity as an agent of the organization. Question: QUESTION 17 Theory X managers are likely to believe that: a. the average employee dislikes work and will seek to avoid it when possible. She also holds three degrees including communications, business, educational leadership/technology. The informal leader is that individual whom members of the group acknowledge as their leader. Pacesetting Leadership: What It Is and When to Use It, 3 Leadership Principles to Foster Team Success, The 4 phases of the project management life cycle, The go-to toolkit for effortless documentation. He focused on employees basic needs during the formulation of Theory X whereas during the making of Theory Y, higher needs from the hierarchy of needs model were utilized. While these contrasting management styles might be easily recognizable in todays technology-driven world, they were novel thoughts at one point, developed through research and observation by a workplace thought leader. Most people are gullible and unintelligent. Both sides seek to satisfy some personal pleasures and needs. Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered above. It refers to the management style that follows a more participative, interactive and optimistic approach. Coercive power can result in favorable performance, yet follower and resistance dissatisfaction are not uncommon. They are inherently lazy, lack ambition and prefer to be directed on what to do rather than assume responsibility on their own. Several assumptions form the basis for this theory. Enlightened managers use Theory Y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people to grow and develop. They tend to blame employees in most situations, without questioning the systems, policy, or lack of training which could be the real cause of failures. The Theory X leader assumes that the average individual dislikes work and is incapable of exercising adequate self-direction and self-control. As a result, the only way that employees can attempt to meethigher-level needs at work is to seek more compensation, so, predictably, they focus on monetary rewards. Think about a conveyor belt of automotive parts with workers and machines lined side by side, each tasked with applying a specific skill to the production processtightening a bolt, applying a hinge, taping up a box to be shipped, etc. The role of the Theory X manager is to coerce and control employees to work towards organizational goals. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Most managers generally use the mixture of the two theories. Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be directed. The rationale for the drawn-out time frame is that it helps develop a more dedicated, loyal, and permanent workforce, which benefits the company; the employees, meanwhile, have the opportunity to fully develop their careers at one company. This theory states that managers evaluate the workplace and choose their leadership style based upon both internal and external conditions presented. As such, McGregor acknowledged both types of managers as being a legitimate means of motivating employees, but he felt that you would get much better results through the use of Theory Y rather than Theory X. Douglas McGregor believed that there were two types of managers: Theory X and Theory Y. workers must be controlled in order to achieve a company's goalsb. Market Segmentation Types & Examples | What is Market Segmentation? However, high-involvement organizations frequently encourage their formal and informal leaders to exercise the full set of management roles. [3] Maslow's hierarchy of needs consists of physiological needs (lowest level), safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization (highest level). However, McGregor asserts that neither approach is appropriate, since the basic assumptionsof Theory X are incorrect. McGregor called this Theory X. The worker is assumed to be immature and viewed as being very gullible. In the 1950s, Tannenbaum and Schmidt created a continuum (see Exhibit 13.6) along which leadership styles range from authoritarian to extremely high levels of worker freedom.34 Subsequent to Tannenbaum and Schmidts work, researchers adapted the continuum by categorizing leader power styles as autocratic (boss-centered), participative (workers are consulted and involved), or free-rein (members are assigned the work and decide on their own how to do it; the leader relinquishes the active assumption of the role of leadership).35. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Project Management. The permissive democratic approach to leadership is characteristic of leadership in high-involvement organizations. McGregor created Theory X based on Maslows lower needs on the hierarchy of needs model (food, water, necessities). then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, Hence, both theories used in moderation are key to good organization. This is a participative management style that gives rise to a more collaborative work environment, whereas theory X leads to micromanaging. The company usesmonetary rewards and benefits to satisfy employees lower-level needs. Theory X managers are likely to believe that: most employees know more about their job than the boss. While there is a more personal and individualistic feel, this leaves room for error in terms of consistency and uniformity. However, because there is no optimal way for a manager to choose between adopting either Theory X or Theory Y, it is likely that a manager will need to adopt both approaches depending on the evolving circumstances and levels of internal and external locus of control throughout the workplace. Yoko must also try to harness the motivational energy of her employees through things such as giving them more autonomy, responsibility, power, trust and feedback and involving them in the decision-making process. d. job satisfaction is primarily related to higher-order needs. A manager who believes in Theory Y could have assumptions that: Too much freedom could lead to no accountability and people could lose direction and focus. Our mission is to improve educational access and learning for everyone. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [6] Theory X is a "we versus they" approach, meaning it is the management versus the employees. This is a negative view of the nature of workers. He would hierarchically arrange the job roles with several supervisors for different departments, looking over employees. Theory X management, defined by Douglas McGregor in 1960, is a behavioral style for workplace management. The worker here is considered to be mature. This is a positive view of the nature of workers. [6] This is much more likely to happen when the leaders influence flows out of intrinsic such as rationality, expertise, moralistic appeal, and/or referent power. According to Theory Z, people want tomaintain a work-life balance, and they value a working environment in which things like family, culture, and traditions are considered to be just as important as the work itself. Learn about motivation in the workplace . Evidence suggests that managers from different parts of the global community commonly hold the same view. As a result, they think that team members need to be prompted, rewarded or punished constantly to make sure that they complete their tasks. Another colleague, Joseph, sees him as a worker who performs just for the sake of money. The use of rationality, expert power, and/or moralistic appeal generally elicits commitment and the internalization of the leaders goals.29, Leaders who use referent and expert power commonly experience a favorable response in terms of follower satisfaction and performance. It views job rotations and continual training as a means of increasing employees knowledge of the company and its processes while buildinga variety of skills and abilities. People are motivated when they find value in their contributions and see an opportunity to realize their own potential. This generally involves a more 'hands-on' approach and inevitably micromanaging your team's workload to ensure it is done to . Managers tend to micromanage and control employees performance and efforts. 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