APPRAISAL & CRITICISM

Appraisal: The professional & human side of McGregor reveals a very colorful person of wide vision & scientific temper. His ‘Model’ of a manager was apt for industry, governments & nations. His books are guidelines to a future manager, to understand human nature & proper utilization of human resources.

From his Human side to the professional side, the writings of McGregor show a systematic evolution of his ideas. This has helped a lot to industrial society of U.S.A. As a scholar of behavioral management, his writings have helped the managers to sharpen their potentials to readjust their strategies of management for tomorrow.

The ‘X’ Theory & ‘Y’ theory represent the behavioral patterns of the employees. McGregor had his deep observation of human nature & human behavior. He wanted to relate theory to practice. McGregor wrote on both - a) the employees as well as - b) the managers. A ‘Y’ theory manager can communicate openly with subordinates, can minimize the differences between superior & subordinates, can create a comfortable environment in which the subordinates can develop & can use their abilities. McGregor suggests Managers to be more positive to their employees, to trust the employees & to make proper utilization of human resource for development.

Criticism - However, McGregor is largely criticized by his critics. The main criticism is that, his theories are fine but are difficult to bring into practice. Especially his ‘Y’ theory seems to be difficult to bring into practice.

McGregor tried to answer this question by claiming that each person must find his own answer. A manager has to think about the deal with himself, his role, his style, his own power & the issue & control over others. McGregor is also criticized on the ground that neither his ‘X’ theory nor ‘Y’ theory represent human behavior or human relationship. These theories are tools by which managerial skills can be studied & analyzed. The current research in management has gone beyond ‘Y’ theory to ‘Z’ theory.

Today, any theory is seldom used explicitly. The managers & the employees somewhere fall in between these two poles of ‘X’ theory & ‘Y’ theory. However, McGregor’s ‘X’ & ‘Y’ theories are still important theories in the field of management & motivation. His ‘X’ theory & ‘Y’ theory still remain a guiding principle of positive approaches to the management, to the development of organization & to bring improvement in organizational culture.