Thought 30JAN2008

THEORY 'X' and THEORY 'Y' - ASSUMPTIONS
Theory X
(1) The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it whenever possible.
(2) Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed or even threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of organization goals.
(3) The average human being is lazy, prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security above all.
Theory Y
(1) The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest.
(2) Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.
(3) Human beings will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which they are committed.
(4) The average individual learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility.
(5) The capacity of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely distributed in the population.
(6) Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized.
Source : Adapted from Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise (New York:McGrawhill, 1960), pp.33-34, 47-48 - Extracted from 'Management' James A F Stoner (Second Edition) Prentice Hall, 1984
A wise man who knows proverbs, reconciles difficulties - Ashanti of Ghana