Theory X Theory Y (McGregor)
Theory Z (Ouchi)

Hard or Soft Management? Explanation of Theory X Theory Y of McGregor. ('60). Explanation of Theory Z by William Ouchi. ('81)

What is Theory X and Y? Description

Douglas McGregor, an American social psychologist, proposed his famous Theory X and Theory Y models in his book 'The Human Side Of Enterprise' (1960).

	Theory X	Theory Y
Assumptions	Humans inherently dislike working and will try to avoid it if they can.	People view work as being as natural as play and rest. Humans expend the same amount of physical and mental effort in their work as in their private lives.
	Because people dislike work they have to be coerced or controlled by management and threatened so they work hard enough.	Provided people are motivated, they will be self-directing to the aims of the organization. Control and punishment are not the only mechanisms to let people perform.
	Average employees want to be directed.	Job satisfaction is key to engaging employees and ensuring their commitment.
	People don't like responsibility.	People learn to accept responsibility and seek responsibility. Average humans, under the proper conditions, will not only accept, but even naturally seek responsibility.
	Average humans are clear and unambiguous and want to feel secure at work.	People are imaginative and creative. Their ingenuity should be used to solve problems at work.
Application	Shop Floor, Mass Manufacturing. Production workers.	Professional Services, Knowledge Workers. Managers and Professionals.
Conducive to	Large scale efficient operations.	Management of Professionals, Participative Complex Problem Solving.
Management Style	Authoritarian, Hard Management.	Participative, Soft Management.

McGregor sees Theory Y as the preferable model and management method, however he thought Theory Y was difficult to use in large-scale operations.

Theory Z - Ouchi

In 1981, William Ouchi came up with a variant that combined American and Japanese management practices together to form Theory Z, having the following characteristics: long-term employment - collective decision-making - individual responsibility - slow evaluation & promotion - implicit, informal control with explicit, formalized measures - moderately specialized career paths - and a holistic concern for the employee, including family.

Theory X Theory Y Theory Z Forum (28)

Theory X, Y and Z in Government Organizations
"HI. I'd like to know your thoughts on Theories X, Y and Z (McGregor and Ouchi) in governmental organizations.
To what extent are they applicable to management, administration and employee empowerment in such bureaucracies?"

Why Participative Management is Needed in Today's High Tech World
"Managing in today's organization is very complex due to the rapid change in technology. In order to remain competitive many organizations have to change management styles so they can effectively deliver to the consumer.
A key part of managing for results is producing good customer service. This is important to promote demand and maintain profitability. For change to be successful the input of top management is critical and requires effective interpersonal relationship between the key players, functional managers and the employees.
A participative management style is encouraged as the way to promote motivation amongst employees and creation of buy ins. Employees are more likely to support ventures that they have an input in and it they feel valuable to the organization. The participate role of the whole organization results in diversification of ideas which can assist management in making more efficient decisions.
In addition, alternative strategies can also be tabulated for future ventures. Having this kind of flexibility is a key to the success of change management policies today. Becoming innovative and achieving a willingness to share information with others helps to also bridge cultural gaps and can reduce potential conflict issues."

McGregor's XY Model is not a Model For Action
"The real Theory Z is that people don't understand that this XY model is not a model for action. It has been developed to analyze and provide a rationale for why there is conflict in organisations and to oversimplify the problems, not as a basis for planning and action.
To use it as a model for action is a mistake.
The other element of Theory Z is that workers and unions believe that all management operate and believe in theory X. Unionists tend to espouse Theory Y but practice Theory X anyway, while accusing others of the same behaviour. McGregor is pointing out that while people hold different world views (different theories) they will tend to see the confirming evidence from whatever data they are using (Confirmation Bias)."

Theory U: The origin of leadership is irrelevant
"Individuals at the top, middle, and bottom of the organization could informally personify leadership without a hierarchical role, as part of a process to create value despite changing conditions according to Cashman (1998) and Scharmer (2007).
The origin of leadership is irrelevant, whether it comes from senior or junior leadership, the creation of value, trust, and satisfaction is what counts. Value creation originates with the individual, and extends to others in various forms of generating demand, sustaining profitable and reciprocal exchanges to attain participants’ mutual satisfaction (Scharmer, 2007).
The “we” is the team leader’s noun, which identifies who receives credit and by default creates trust; no longer leading is the monopoly of one player (Drucker as cited in Ghani, 2006).
Value and satisfaction framed by trust are internally driven agents; agents influenced by changing conditions and sought in the persona of leaders and followers not for what they do but for whom they are (Cashman, 1998)."

In Practice you Need to Combine Theories
"It is not possible to put just one theory into practise without borrowing few elements from another. I am of the view that all the theories are interchangeable."

It's Time for Theory Z
"Long term employment may be seen as security of tenure. Several years ago, I carried out a study in Exeter and discovered that security of tenure topped the list of what motivated workers.
Another interesting part of Theory Z is concern for the family of the employer. In reality, do employers really care for the welfare of their staff? It would appear that most employers only want to use their employees maximally and dump them when they are old and tired.
It is hoped that the time will come when employers will value their workers as human beings with feelings and expectations and treat them as such."

Dress Code, Bold Voice, Self Confidence and Motivation Power
"Whenever you try to guide someone, following three leadership factors affect your mission to leadership. You should always:
- Maintain a professional dress code
- Speak with a bold sound of self realization, and
- Feel a high motivation power.
If you lack any of these factors you will not be percieved as a leader."

Applying Theory Z in Practice
"People with enough motivation and empowerment do not need to be coerced to work. The trick is to lay down parameters and clearly define the scope of work with accountability and responsibility. It is amazing to see the innovations and fun at work. The problem is managers who are not competent are insecure and try to protect their turf."

Growing from Theory X to Z to Y
"- Theory X naturally comes to play at the inception of almost every business undertaking.
- In the growing stage of a business, when management realises its strong hands (competent employees), the value of utilizing/ retaining them and the forces behind them, the application of Theory Z comes in.
- At the peak of achievement, management applies Theory Y. Theory Y doesn't just happen. Effectiveness (competency) breeds trust and trust breeds freedom. For a business to practise theory Y, it must have exceeded the primary stages of theory X and is operating at a high level of expertise and professionalism."

Theory Y is a Farce in Practice
"I personally do not have much faith that theory Y is real in practice. May be happening in highly professionalised industries. But as we all know human ingenuity is always there.
Theory X (autocratic style) still continues practically behind the screen of theory Y. How many disagree that a top manager in a Theory Y environment would try his best to suppress the sub-ordinate out of his personal dislike, ego etc."

Job Requirements Influence X or Y
"Theory X and Y are dependent on the job requirements also.
One can't be participative on all situations / jobs. The value of the individual, job requirement, and the culture of the orgigin influence the behavior of the employee."

Role of Perception and Turbulence
"Theory X, Theory Y and Theory Z bring to mind the role of perception and judgmental attributions of a person's action and behavior. Greatly influenced by organisational repositioning response to the ever changing pestle factors and likewise the workers reactionary stance to uncertainties to. Weather the turbulent times."

Contigency Management Principle
"Theory Y and theory X metamorphose into the Contingency Theory. There is no particular best style of management, but the situation and environment which necessitate the leadership style."

No Prototypical Behavior
"I personally do not believe in prototypical behavior. This means that people act the way they act based on circumstances. Thus in our social intercourse and discourses we shall always fall into either of these 3 theories. It is therefore prudent to apply the you theory which definitely encompasses the permutation and combination of these three theories."

Theory Z Explanation
"Explain the Theory Z in brief as by little explanation its difficult to judge. Moreover, it is a more practical approach and tends to todays professional requirements."

Threatening Workers does not Work
"Workers are suppose to be motivated and not be threatened like in theory X because if you threaten them the performance can not match the effort, need and organizational goals."

Contribution for Today?
"What is the relevance of theory X and Y theory Z to modern management for today?"

The Role of Favoritism in Recruitment
"Theory X and Theory Y are dependent too on recruitment and selection processes. When favoritism plays a part in these exercises, definitely the model of the theories will collapse."

The Role of Empowerment
"We will always have X & Y type of people. What can make an X turn into an Y and vice a versa is EMPOWERMENT. If I can empower X he will turn into Y and the opposite will work too."

Theory X and Theory Y: Administration vs. Management
"From what can be seen in the summary, in my opinion we can make a clear distinction between administration and management.
The way I see it, Theory X indicates characteristics of administration and Theory Y indicates characteristics of management."

Applying Theory XY in Practice
"These motivational theories are excellent. However, how can we motivate the practicing administrators / bureaucrats to apply the tenets of these theories in their work situations?"

Theory X and Theory Y
"In 9 out of 10 cases, the employer or leader determines the way workers behave. Workers who are treated as though they were incapable of responsibility are likely to become irresponsible even if they did not enter the organisation with such traits. Employees should be treated with a measure of respect and given good leadership."

Work Ethic: Most employees want to work
"I believe that most employees want to work. There will always be a small percentage that will go against the grain. The problem is we fail each other. This happens by taking a motivated employee and not meeting his needs to do his job successfully. Examples: no parts to fix machine, no stock to run machine, no training."

Theory Z is Rare but Growing
"Spiral Dynamics & Personal & Corporate Values Journey research indicates that Z would be a 'yellow' - a systems type person - who works for the 'big picture'. A rare ( < 5% ), but growing demographic, as the world's cultures advance in their thinking & behaviour."

Theory X will Always Prevail Cecause it is Innate in Man
"As long as an individual or group of individuals exists, Theory X will prevail because we cannot uproot the source of unpleasant behavior and attitude, which is innate, in man. The challenge is to accept and understand the condition/s of every human person here and now."

Individual Backgrounds
"Theory Y states an ideal way on how people should work and interact. In theory X, it is when their work or personal situations and experiences disrupt their rhythm and motivation to excel in their workplace. So being able to create a motivated and aggressive organizational culture, giving the right working conditions, resources, and incentives, and being able to assess the correct training needs of the employees, and of course getting the right people will definitely rule out Theory X."

Influence of Culture on Theory X & Y
"I think application of theory x and y also depends on the cultural backround of the enterprise. In fact, they are two ends of the same continuum...."

Decision-making Method in Complex / Conflict Situations
"Game theory is the decision making skills in conflict situations.I think that it is the best way of management and economy to analyze the rational thinking by mutual understanding and bilateral relations among partners ,owners and managers . Therefore, Game theory has a profound effect on Theory X and Y . Salient outcomes and payoffs can be attained by applying Theory X and Y as well as Game theory"

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