Theory X and Theory Y Model

The behavior of managers is often influenced by their assumptions and beliefs about
followers and what motivates their followers. Thus, differences in the behaviors of managers
can be understood by looking at the different assumptions they make. One of the most widely
cited and recognized models for describing differences in these assumptions was developed
by Douglas McGregor in 1957. He coined the labels “Theory X” and “Theory Y” as a way to
contrast two sets of assumptions and beliefs held by managers. Theory X and Theory Y
managers both understand that they are responsible for the resources in their units—money,
materials, equipment, and people—in the interest of achieving organizational goals. What sets
them apart are their propositions about what motivates their subordinates and what are the
best ways to carry out leadership responsibilities.
Theory X
When McGregor developed his model, he knew many managers with the Theory X
point of view. Theory X is based on a set of beliefs that managers should take a command-
and-control approach to management. Theory X beliefs embrace the following negative
views of human nature:
 People are inherently lazy and must therefore be motivated by incentives.
 People’s natural goals run counter to those of the organization; hence, individuals must be
controlled by formal rules and management to ensure that they’re working toward
organizational goals.
 Because of irrational feelings, people are basically incapable of self-discipline and self-
control.
 The average person prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, and wants
security above all.
Theory X managers view leadership as a process that involves directing, controlling, and
modifying their subordinates’ behaviors to fit the needs of the organization. This perspective
assumes that, without the strong intervention of managers, most employees would be passive
—even resistant—to organizational needs. Therefore, employees must be persuaded,
rewarded, punished, and their activities tightly controlled. Doing so is management’s primary
task. McGregor found that Theory X managers were everywhere in U.S. organizations and
perhaps more common today than recognized. According to him, Theory X management was
largely ineffective because it ignored the social, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs of
most employees.
Theory Y
McGregor concluded that a different view of leading employees was needed—one
based on more adequate assumptions about human nature and human motivation. Theory Y
is based on a set of beliefs that managers should take an empowering approach to
management.
Theory Y beliefs embrace the following positive views of human nature:
 The average human does not inherently dislike work. Depending on controllable
conditions, work may be a source of satisfaction.
  Rules, top-down managerial control, and the threat of punishment are not the only
means for achieving organizational goals. Employees will exercise self-direction and
control in the service of goals to which they are committed.
 The average person learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek
responsibility.
 The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and
creativity in the solution to organizational problems is widely, not narrowly,
distributed in the population.
According to the Theory Y view, employees are not by nature passive or resistant to
organizational goals. They have become so as a result of their experiences in organizations.
The motivation, the potential for development, the capacity for assuming responsibility, and
the readiness to direct behavior toward organizational goals are all present in these
employees. Management does not put them there. Leaders recognize that their responsibility
is to make it possible for employees to recognize and develop these human characteristics for
themselves.
Whereas Theory X managers attempt to gain control over their subordinates, Theory Y
leaders rely more on the self-control and self-direction of their subordinates.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y model spawned many new leadership models,
concepts, and approaches. Compared to about 50 years ago, the assumptions of Theory Y and
its concern for employees are much more widely accepted in the United States nowadays
among leaders. Nevertheless, there are managers who find it difficult to give up some or all of
the assumptions that make up the Theory X perspective and its emphasis on management’s
top-down approach to accomplishing goals. McGregor’s model of more than 50 years ago has
been very influential in contemporary leadership thinking. An increasing number of leaders
realize that skilled and knowledgeable employees, who have been identified as the key
contributors to future wealth, thrive primarily under Theory Y.
 TEST: Theory X/Theory Y Propositions Instrument – fiind your tendency to
manage other
Indicate your degree of agreement or disagreement with each of the eight propositions
by recording the point value next to each numbered proposition. Determine the appropriate
score by noting the points for the response you made to each proposition. For example, if your
response to proposition 1 was strongly agree you would give yourself five points; disagree is
worth two points; and so on. Add the eight scores together. Use the following scale:
(5) STRONGLY DISAGREE
(4) AGREE
(3) UNDECIDED
(2) DISAGREE
(1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
_____ 1. The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, and
has relatively little ambition.
_____ 2. Most people can acquire leadership skills regardless of their particular inborn traits
and abilities.
_____ 3. The use of rewards (for example, pay and promotion) and punishment (for example,
failure to promote) is the best way to get subordinates to do their work.
_____ 4. In a work situation, if the subordinates can influence you, you lose some influence
over them.
_____ 5. A good leader gives detailed and complete instructions to subordinates rather than
giving them merely general directions and depending on their initiative to work out the
details.
_____ 6. Individual goal setting offers advantages that cannot be obtained by group goal
setting, because groups do not set high goals.
_____ 7. A superior should give subordinates only the information necessary for them to do
their immediate tasks.
_____ 8. The superior’s influence over subordinates in an organization is primarily economic.
_____ Total Score
Scoring Key:
 A score of more than 32 points may indicate a tendency to manage others according to
the propositions in Theory X.
 A score of 16 or less may indicate a tendency to manage others according to the
propositions in Theory Y.
 A score somewhere between 16 and 32 may indicate flexibility in the management of
others.