As the knowledge of the human mind and his behavior continue to grow, social sciences are becoming increasingly influential within the organizational setting. It is in the best interest of managers to apply this knowledge to increase efficiency in the organization. It takes many years of research and observation for organizations to change the way they apply new methods but ultimately they adapt to new findings from the social sciences.
Mr. McGregor describes the evolution of management concepts in the last century by contrasting the conventional view that he called “Theory X” and the new and more progressive theory that he calls “Theory Y”. Several authors noted that “McGregor's landmark book, The Human Side of Enterprise (1960) changed the path of management thinking and practice. Questioning some of the fundamental assumptions about human behavior in organizations” (Kopelman, Prottas, & Davis, 2008).
Theory X assumes that the role of management is to organize the different elements of the firm including money, materials, equipment, and people with the purpose of making a profit. Theory X also assumes that management should control and modify people’s behavior in order to motivate them. According to McGregor the average man is lazy and lacks motivation, therefore it is the manager’s responsibility to control employees through “coercion and threat (usually disguised)” in order to keep them in line (McGregor, 2011).
When practicing the theory X, one may choose to apply a hard or soft style of control. The hard style of control creates more resistance from employees whereas the soft style creates complacency from employees. It is the task of the manager to find the right equilibrium between the two styles (McGregor, 2011). Studies from social sciences have shown that the assumptions on which theory X is based on are not correct. It is not in human’s nature to