What Does Gregor's Theory Y Play At Patagonia

Charles M. Carson, (2005),"A historical view of Douglas McGregor's Theory Y", Management Decision, Vol. 43 Iss 3 pp. 450 - 460

When I was reading the book, one of the main questions that I always asked myself was what companies’ duties are. Patagonia is the best example that the book gives us. It tries to take all responsibility for their activities that relate to their stakeholders.

McGregor first published his ideas in his book, The Human Side of Enterprise. One of the experiences he had that influenced his thoughts was from work that he did at his grandfather’s establishment for temporary workers in Detroit. Because he was a close acquaintance of Abraham Maslow, who developed “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” McGregor wished to counter the scientific approach on management (“Douglas McGregor,” 2008) and named Theories X & Y.

He has had the company set an online library in which documents are posted. An example being “ the footprint chronicles,” a guideline in which employees are shown how to make rational decisions. Even after Yvon is gone employees should continue to do this so that when someone new is hired they understand exactly what the company is about and how to handle different situations they may encounter in this business. Yvon is also very big on giving back to the environment. The company will donate 10 percent of pre- tax profits to environmental causes. This is something the company should keep doing down the road to keep their mission statement alive about being environmentally friendly. By adapting to Yvon Chouinard's ideals, they will become a permanent part of Patagiona.

Company Q is a small local grocery store chain that has a poor attitude toward social responsibility. After reviewing the given, I feel the chain is more committed to profit than social responsibility. Most companies are in a business to make a profit, however, the difference in what is considered reasonable and what is considered ridiculous comes into play. Most people start companies because it something they are interested in and to make a living. In today’s society the line between outright social responsibility

When managing people, McGregor’s model, indicated below, shows to styles of management. Theory X is directive, whereas Theory Y is enabling, and looks at employee engagement/ teamwork in order to achieve the

The action of the environment was ethical because even though the ecological activists did not mean for anyone to get hurt. The ecological activists were being reckless and did not care or think about consequences of their action. Ethical teach people different between right and wrong. Ethical also teach people the of freedom, choice and think about the choice we make The ecological activist should have been more careful. The ecological should take responsibility for their action. Also, the ecological activist should learn and try to be better so people and living things do get hurt.

McGregor developed a theory on human behavior called, the X and Y theory. He looked at possible human behavior in people. The theory X is an authoritarian management style. The authoritarian believe that people do not want to work and operate with strict supervision. McGregor found out that the X personality trait is, they dislike any types of work and avoid it when it’s possible. Meaning they must be forced to do their task with threats or punishment in order to reach their organizational objectives in the business. However, the theory Y believe in participative style of management. Meaning they consider effort at work is the same as play. The Y personality trait is accepting or seeking responsibility. They don’t dislike working and do not operate in

Theory Y was created by McGregor because he believed that its assumptions would lead to a more effective style of management. McGregor stated that peoples work effort was as

Steve Hansen was an instructor who informed many students in Wisconsin about the importance of renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and earth stewardship. His creativity, energy, and compassion inspired many to become better people. The Steve Hansen Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to honor his spirit and memory, and to help the next generation carry on his important work. He lived the “Earth Steward” philosophy of making ways of global change from a local-to-global scales to improve ecosystem strength and individual well being. His belief in this global reasoning inspired other students and adults around him to strive to live by this philosophy and make the world a better place. He endured to teach others about the

The responsible company, a firsthand account of Patagonia’s rise to become a leader in sustainable business and environmental practices. This book goes over the ethical and sustainable business practices that Patagonia has been using for the past 40 years. They started off as a small company called Chouinard Equipment, they sold rugby shirts, ice axes, and much more basic mountain climbing equipment. Throughout the course of this paper I will be discussing, Patagonia’s values, ethical framework, and the different elements that made them a highly sustainable business.

Some business leaders are taking good moral decisions and the reason behind that idea is that the core part of their business strategy is to create mutual benefit for both wider society and business as well. The growing desire of top management is to find out ways to create mutual benefit for both the organizations and the stake holders but the public still believes that companies are greedy entities which make decisions only in their self-interest, even at the cost of greater public welfare. It is the utmost obligation of the companies to discern the social issues while making the decisions (Yashiro, Yoshida and Suzuki, no date; Godwin, 2006; Schwab, 1996; Godwin, 2008; Werhane, 1998; Werhane, 2002; Heath, 2008; Mehalik and Gorman, 2006).

2007). Kermally (2005, p.36) explain that McGregor believed ‘how managers manage people in practice depends on what assumptions they make about workers’. It means that which kind of leadership managers choose, according to how managers perceive workers’ attitudes toward their job. Managers believe their workers related to Theory X and Y normally use strict supervision approaches to reduce workers’ control on their job, in contrary, managers allow workers to be innovative and willing to authorise more responsibility to Theory Y workers (Waddell et al. 2007).

10. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y • Taught psychology at MIT. • At Antioch College, McGregor found that his classroom teaching of human relations did not always work in practice. • From these experiences, his ideas evolve and lead him to recognize the influence of assumptions we make about people and our managerial style. Content Theories of Motivation McGregor‟s Theory X and Theory Y – Theory X • Assumes that workers have little ambition, dislike work, avoid responsibility, and require close supervision. – Theory Y • Assumes that workers can exercise self- direction, desire responsibility, and like to work. – Motivation is maximized by participative decision making, interesting jobs, and good group relations.

McGregor 's revolutionary assumption, Theory Y contends that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed while his other assumption, Theory X insists that employees must be commanded and controlled. Every day managers that utilize McGregor’s assumptions have the choice to either believe Theory X and control their