Bold Flash Case

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.

As stated earlier, only when the basic needs are met, then a person will be motivated to pursue the next level. McGregor stated that because most workers have basic physical and safety needs met, he/she will only be motivated to satisfy higher needs, such as esteem and self actualization. Therefore, management must be able to provide workers with opportunities to satisfy their higher needs or they will not be motivated to perform their organizational duties (Barnett). Because Theory X fails to satisfy the higher needs of the worker, a different set of assumptions need to be made to account for them, thus McGregor developed an alternative he called Theory Y.

Human Resources is dependent on the success, happiness, and contentment of employees that keep the business on course. Motivation is one of the best ways to push employees forward while making sure everyone is in a comfortable position in their job. Motivational theories just attempt to explain what motivates or makes people act the way that they do. The goal of understanding these theories and their outcomes is to ensure a better performance from each employee, and to give each of those employees the best situation they can have in the workplace. Visionaries such as Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, and Henry A. Landsberger also brought forward new ways of management and ways to handle internal situations that changed the landscape of human resources as a whole. Motivational theories instituted in the workplace have a commonly positive effect on both employees and management, showing that it is important to strive for proven motivational practices.

According to Maslow’s Needs theory, based on the fact that a person is justified as long as he still has not reached a certain level of satisfaction, has a better understanding of the fact that human motivation leads to a broad spectrum of their needs we could say that in order to motivate people, the manager has to give employees the opportunity to meet the needs in a way that together lead to the organization's objectives.

Maslow identified that employees have the motivation to achieve certain needs. Once these needs have been achieved the employee will seek to fulfil the next set of needs.

Douglas McGregor was a management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He introduced a new motivational theory in his book ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’, stating that all workers were divided into two groups: Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X workers were lazy, irrational and unreliable, and were only motivated by money and threatened by punishment. Theory Y workers were able to seek and accept responsibilities and fulfil any goals given.

industry has been facing challenges. The industry is in a decline. This is because people may be

company continued to focus on storage devices as technology evolved (with the exception of an illfated foray into MP3 players in the early 1990s), although its product mix evolved with the market.

Simply, company started to sell everything that is commercially profitable, which is big mistake in the long term.

Motivation according to Kelley (2014) is the ‘process through which managers build the desire to be productive and effective in their employees’. If an employee is motivated, they are more likely to be productive and generally staff turnover is low. The problem of worker motivation is that workers are not seen as humans, they have a lack of freedom at the workplace and lack of job fulfilment. Taylor and McGregor Theory X argue that there is not a problem with worker motivation, workers will be obedient because of fear of losing their job motivates them to do well. Whereas Maslow and McGregor’s Theory Y argues that there is a problem with worker motivation because of class conflict between the worker and the manager. The

As Douglas McGregor began working on his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, he encountered Abraham Maslow’s theory. Maslow believed that people had 5 basic ascending needs. It was this theory that not only supported McGregor’s thinking about a hierarchy of motivation, but it also provided a strong theoretical foundation for his assumptions (Bobic, 2003). With a firm foundation McGregor shared his theory with the world, and his theory has had a lasting impact on management theory.

The external environment of an organisation are those factors outside of the company that affect the company’s ability to function. These factors can include customers, the government, the economy, and competition (Five Components of an Organization’s External Environment, George N. Root III). Although Maslow discovered ways that management can motivate employees, he ignored the fact that management must also influence customers to buy their products. Likewise, Taylor decided that using science would improve the workplace, but that does not mean that sales will increase. Both Maslow and Taylor did not take into account government regulations or the economy when outlining their management theories. If the economy was struggling, e.g. If there was a recession, Maslow’s management theory may not be successful as worker’s psychological needs such as a salary could not be fulfilled as the business may not have the money to do so (Five Components of an Organization’s External Environment, George N. Root III). Likewise, Taylor believed that efficiency could be improved by utilizing scientific, engineering and mathematical analysis. However, it may not be possible for a business to operate in a scientific manner if the economy is in recession and does not have the capital to do so (Scientific Management: Theories, Principles and Definition). Maslow and Taylor also failed to recognise their competitors in the external environment. They both chose a management style that increased productivity, but this does not affect the demand for products. The first need that must be satisfied in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is psychological, such as wages (Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model). Businesses who adopt this type of management style may offer a competitive salary to their employees to motivate them, which may also result in an increase in the

Osland, et al. (2007) provide a good introduction to three basic motivational content theories. The first theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that proposes man is motivated by a lack in the one or more of the five common needs. The needs that Maslow identifies are physiological, safety, social belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow believed that one fills needs from the most basic (like food and water) to the highest level (self-actualization). Maslow’s ideas are easy to relate to and attempt to provide an all-inclusive approach to the concept of motivation; however, there is little evidence to support the idea that man cannot have self-actualization without the other more basic needs first satisfied. The second content theory Osland, et al. discuss is McCelland’s learned needs. McCelland states that man is motivated by one of three things: achievement, power, or affiliation – or a mixture of the three. Each of these needs can possess a negative or positive connotation or implementation, but it is argued that people motivated by affiliation make better leaders. The third theory presented is McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor asserts that Theory X people or employees are inherently lazy and must be controlled and forced to act, whereas Theory Y people are self-controlled, motivated, and ambitious.

The literature review, explain the theories which are related to the case study’s problems in order to the motivation and satisfy employees’ needs. There are three important theories include; organizational motivation justice, Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory, and expectancy theory.

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.