Business Philosophy - Motivational Theories Part 6

Douglas McGregor (1906-1964)

McGregor is mainly known for being a management professor at the Sloan business school, MIT. His X and Y theory is the most famous of his works, where he described 2 types of employees and the best way to motivate them. This post is part of both my Motivational Theories and by Business and Management Degree series of blogs.

McGregor argued that there were 2 types of workers, X and Y. Type X workers were lazy, avoided work and needed to be pushed in order to gain any output of work. Type Y workers were motivated by the standard of their work and would motivate themselves without any intervention by management.

My experience is in manufacturing, an industry that theory X managers are prominent. From my own work as a shop floor level employee, I did not believe in the theory X (reward and punishment) management style. I was motivated by my own workmanship, striving to produce the most components at a high quality. I am obviously a Type Y employee.

Since working in team leader and management team positions I have come to the conclusion that both Type X and Y employees exist. In the manufacturing industry there are certainly employees that will do as much as possible to get away with doing as little as is required in order to obtain a dependable living. The contrary is also true, there are also people that would be motivated regardless, so long as they had produced good work to their own high standards.

In conclusion, I believe that Theory X and Y is still well and truly alive today. Managers must adapt and adjust the way that they treat individuals depending on their motivations. This may result in a 'carrot and stick' leadership style or a Laissez-faire style. In reality, the management style will never be the extreme of one of the other but a fluid and ever changing leadership style that is decided by the intuition of the leader.