Mcgregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Mcgregor's Theory X and Theory Y
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In his 1960 book 'The Human Side of Enterprise', the American social psychologist, Douglas McGregor, proposed his famous X-Y theory. Theory X and Theory Y are management and motivation theories that describe two contrasting models of workforce motivation in organizational behavior, human resource management, organizational development and organizational communication. McGregor’s work is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, organized into a higher-order needs (Theory Y) and a lower-order needs (Theory X). He suggested that either set of needs could be utilized by the management to motivate employees but that the use of Theory Y rather than Theory X gave better results (McGregor, et al. 1980).
With the assumptions of Theory Y, the role of the management is to develop the employee’s potential and to help them to discharge that potential towards their role in the organization (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). The assumptions is that work is natural and enjoyable to employees and that if people are committed to the objectives of the organization, they will exercise self-direction. Theory X assumptions is that the role of the management in motivating employees is to coerce and control employees. The assumptions is that people inherently dislike work and will avoid it whenever possible (Sund, 2012).