It is my humble opinion that Management science has changed more in the past 10 years than in the previous 100 and also that, despite this dramatic and recent change, the basics remain essentially the same.
After reviewing the great list of scholars that we'll have the chance to review in these short weeks, I asked myself: Where's McGregor? , the father of the widely known and used "X and Y Management Theories". See link below (public access) to his original essay from the MIT Management Review in 1957:
Douglas McGregor - The Human side of Enterprise - http://bit.ly/w2Ph67
In a nutshell, Douglas' approach to theory is centered on two distinct types of employees and the different management styles necessary to use or apply to reach goals, increase efficiency, etc. I cordially invite you to read the article posted above and to draw your own conclusions to share and include in our classes, discussions and live sessions. I believe that McGregor's management theories are visible every day and under almost every circumstance (in any team or company)
Additionally, I’d like to share this article:
Theory U and Theory T http://bit.ly/wmAkX3
This article was published in Strategy+Business (a magazine by Booz&Co.) to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of McGregor's the X & Y Theory (hint - it says who won)
In my humble opinion, this is a key perspective we need to include as a part of our learning in this course together. I hope you enjoy the readings and look forward to your comments and our discussion.
Thanks for reading!
JMA
Javier, I agree that McGregor is an important theorist in the management field. He came later than the theorists we read about this week, and many of the foundational theories (like Scientific Management) no doubt influenced his work. Do you see some Taylorism in his Theories of X and Y? Which one sounds more like Taylor? More like Fayol? Do these scholars have different assumptions about management? About workers? Which type of worker do you think would most thrive in Weber’s bureaucracy?
ReplyDeleteWhen separating the theories into topics, I tend to put McGregor's into the motivational bucket. That is, he was mainly concerned with how management could motivate two very different types of workers. In Theory X, management needs to focus on control and punishment. In Theory Y, management can use rewards to motivate. We can revisit this during the rewards and motivation week.