LE02

In this lecture we learnt about Theory X(authoritarian management  style) and Theory Y(participative management style).

The Theory X managers think that their employees are not inclined towards work. They have to be forced with the threat of punishment to work.

On the other hand Theory Y managers think that employees will put in their best to achieve the organizations goals.

Four cases arise in such a scenario:

1.        When the worker  is lazy and the manager assumes that the worker is lazy then that  manager may be a Theory X manager

2.        When the worker  is lazy and  the manager assumes that the worker is not lazy then that manager may be a Theory Y manager

3.       When the worker is not lazy and the Manager assumes that the worker is lazy then the manager may be a Theory X manager

4.        When the worker likes the work and the manager assumes that the worker is not lazy then the manager may be a Theory Y manager

Let me give some examples from my work life experiences for the same. The examples would be with reference to a colleague, who is a very close friend of mine. Let us call him X. We both joined the organization at the same time. We will see the cases mentioned above in the order in which they occurred.

1.       Case 3: X was not lazy, but the project leader would never be satisfied with his work. He would criticize him, rather I would say embarrass him in front of everyone, and assume that X is just passing time.

2.       Case 1: As mentioned in case 3 X was not lazy, but the treatment meted out to him made him lazy. Despite several one to one conversations the same continued and X got demoralized and lost all dedication towards work.

3.       Case 4: X has a new project team, and now he directly reports to the project manager. He is keen to prove himself and his manager motivates him all the way.

4.       Case 2: X to prepare for higher studies starts putting in lesser time into work. But the manager still pushes him positively to give it his best.