This is Theory Y century, at least when it comes to talks about organizational performance improvement and employee motivation. Yet, while managers are discussing the ways to build self-motivated workplace based on cooperation and respect, researchers are still evaluating pros and con of Theory X and Theory Y and the effect of each theory on organizational performance (Barnett, 2016). Such debates seem unending until it comes to practice that helps to see the effectiveness of each theory clearly. As an example, I would choose managerial practice that I have had an opportunity to observe working at one of the city restaurants. The manager has been a bright representative of Theory X, so as in this paper I would like to follow Stewart’s (2010) pattern of organizational analysis based on such managerial functions as planning, leading and controlling and discuss the effect of Theory X on organizational performance.
In terms of planning, the manager has had a tendency to pursue merely his own goal of generating profit, not giving an opportunity for employees to participate in planning process, so as the employees have been losing their self-esteem. In regards to leadership, the manager used centralized autocratic style so as communication was going downward from manager to the team. Therefore, there has been lack of cooperation and team commitment to goal achievement. Regarding control, the manager has been using fear to emphasize authoritative atmosphere among employees. Thus, being constantly under total control, team members have lost the sense of self-development and motivation.
McGregor insisted that both Theory X and Theory Y have value in the appropriate contexts (Stewart, 2010). Most of the researches are still arguing that the contingencies of each managerial situation determine which of the approaches is more appropriate. However, as practice shows and as Barnett (2016) has correctly pointed out, quite a few employees would like their manager to be “autocratic mass murderers”, thus Theory X is predestined for failure.
References
Barnett, T. (2016). Theory X and Theory Y. Retrieved July 22, 2016, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Str-Ti/Theory-X-and-Theory-Y.html
Stewart, M. (2010, June). Theories X and Y, Revisited - Oxford Leadership. Retrieved July 22, 2016, from http://www.oxfordleadership.com/journal/vol1_issue3/stewart.pdf
