Management Philosophy

Management Philosophy

Introduction

The paper will present a discussion on one of the most important management philosophies present in today's world, i.e., the Theory X and Theory Y. We have chosen five articles on the topic to be analyzed in the paper.

The management philosophy helps the organization in creating the plans and strategies that are tested in theory and are manageable, applicable and relevant to the situations of real life. The management philosophy is built with time and draws from practitioners and theorists of the history. Theories X and Y are management theories and Leadership philosophies that represent two completely different pictures. Douglas McGregor coined the theory X first time in 1960 during his professorship at MIT, in his book 'The Human Side of Enterprise' and saw in it an implicit basis of the traditional hierarchical management.

Theory X assumes that man is inherently lazy and tries to work as best he can out of the way to go. In principle, he is externally motivated by extrinsically oriented measures to reward. In contrast, the theory Y assumes that man is quite ambitious and to achieve meaningful goals, he willingly imposed strict self-discipline and self-control in himself. He sees labor as a source of satisfaction and enjoys his performance. Also, a sense of responsibility and creativity characterize this man.

Discussion

According to the theory X, the man is unwilling to do anything without any extrinsic motivation. Human beings have an innate aversion to work and try to get out of the way wherever it is possible. He is usually forced and threatened with punishment to carry out the work so that he makes a productive contribution to the achievement of organizational objectives. He wants to be 'taken in hand' because he has too little ambition, and prefers routine tasks and strives for safety. He generally shrinks from any kind of responsibility. Therefore, the manager in this case, has to specify in detail each and every action step, by giving instructions and strictly control. Only in this way, an efficient working execution is possible by the individual. Wages alone cannot bring people to work efficiently. That is, in contravention of the rules, they also require external controls, sanctions and coercion (Stewart, 2010).

According to the theory Y, the man is engaged in his work due to his intrinsic motivation and ambitious nature to achieve something in life. For these kinds of people, work has a high priority and is an important source of satisfaction because they are by nature hard working and motivated from within (Daft, 2012). The most important incentives for these people are the satisfaction of ego needs and the pursuit of self-realization. Therefore, the conditions that motivate these people are the more responsibilities, greater self determination, more flexible organizational structure, group and project work, etc (Boone and Kurtz, 2005).

If the man identifies himself with the objectives of the organization, the external controls are not necessary, because he is responsible and take initiatives to develop. Also, creativity is encouraged and ...