Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human motivation created and developed by  Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School Of Management in the 1960s that have been used in human resource management and organizational development. They describe two contrasting models of workforce motivation.

Theory X and Theory Y have to do with the perceptions managers hold on their employees, not the way they generally behave. It is attitude not attributes.

According to Theory X assumptions employees do not like their work, they lack ambition and responsibility and employees prefer to be led rather than leading others.

Theory X assumes average human being to dislike the work and avoid it whenever possible. The following statements relate to Theory X assumptions:

• Most people must be controlled and threatened so that they can produce an adequate level of output
• Responsibility is avoided by an average human who desires security above all
• An average human being has a little ambition and has to be closely supervised at all times

 Theory Y set of assumptions, on the other hand, is based upon the idea that employees are generally enthusiastic about their work, they are creative and self-directive, and also employees readily accept responsibility.

Theory Y is based on the following alternative assumptions:

• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest
• Methods of making people work are not limited to control and punishment, high level of commitment in organisational aims and objectives can result in self-direction
• Commitment to organisation can be achieved by designing satisfying jobs
• If proper conditions are created, an average human can not only learn how to take responsibility, but he can also learn to seek responsibility.

In the end, I would like to say with these two theories combined can help the individual and the organization at the same time. In addition, workers (subordinates) develop feelings of effective commitment if they receive the importance from supervisors not just by overlooking them all the time but by also giving them importance.

DIVIDE AND RULE !!!!

India was ruled by Britishers for many years. Ruling a country is always a difficult task but doing it effectively needs an effective management. How can one do an effective management? And the answer provided by Dr. Mandi gave an awesome understanding for the same.

He started the class with the comparison of craftsmanship and modern management.

He explained that only worker has the dexterity of his own work. He has optimized the whole work process by doing the work again and again. He mentioned that the whole work from a craftsman point of view is a black box as outside person cannot segregate the whole process. But when a modern management is used in the same place, a single skill is deskilled. No. of processes are increased so that even a common man can do the same work.

He also gave the concept of 3Es - Effectiveness, Excellence, and Efficiency. He gave the formula which connect them all.

                                             Excellence = Effectiveness * Efficiency

The concept of deskilling is very well used in intel chips as well for RISC architecture. By making the process parallel intel is able to do parallel processing and thus the time taken for doing different activities reduces.

So, as a manager we need to understand that company should not be driven by individuals. It should be driven by process. These examples and a workex of 36 months made me believe this concept is the essence of the management.

Back to the Studies !!!

Trying for MBA for last 3 years never thought of the situation where I will be forced to sit on a chair for 2 hours without any break. Nitie got cleared and the situation arrived. I had nowhere to go but to sit in that chair for 2 hours. As all students wish that Professor should be on leave, I was also wishing the same. Dish TV ad came true and the Professor was absent.

Stories never end without twists. Professor came whom I recognize from MTv Campus Diaries as Dr. Mandi. Though I was bit sad as class had not gotten cancelled but the next 2 hours were something different from usual. I have never experienced such start to a session. Dr. Mandi just made the 2 hours fly away with so much involvement of the whole class. He brought toys with him and asked us to play with them. There were 2 balls of Globe flying here and there and people got out of the groove of rustiness so easily. 

He started the lecture by explaining the concept of MANDI and how he got the name for the same. He explained the students the concept of opportunity cost. He realized the students that the amount they have spent is just not the fees but it is much bigger than that. The highest figure was calculated after my salary and made me realized that how much money I am spending. He made a simplistic figure of Rs. 2500 which I should earn everyday with the motto of " Aaj ki Roti..…Aaj hi Kamana !!!". He also asked us to inculcate the concept of  “Socho becho, becho seekho, seekho socho”. He explained it by saying think to sell and if you sell you will learn and when you learn you will start thinking again.

He also made us all sing a Pink Floyd song- "Another brick in the wall". He chose some representatives they took the centre stage and the rest of the class recited in the background. 

In all, I can say that coming back to studies was made easy by Dr. Mandi. Though the body was not supporting, mind was asking to take rest but the heart was still asking for more .... "Yeh Dil Maange More !!!"