Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and Theory Y Today

Douglas Mac Gregor suggested that there are two different ways in which we can look al workers’ attitudes toward work. Each of these views, which Mac Gregor labeled Theory X and Theory Y, has implications for management.

Theory X

According to Theory X, people do not really like to work, so they must be “coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment” to get them to work. The average worker avoids responsibility, is unambitious and wants security more than anything else. Management based on Theory X is paternalistic at best and, at very least, authoritarian. Rewards and punishment are assumed in this theory to be the key to employee productivity.

These assumptions lie behind most organizational principles today, and give rise both ...