ABSTRACT
Douglas McGregor claims that it does not matter what kind of Theory X management style is used, as all lead to the company failing to meet its economic objectives. Theory X practices also fail to create working conditions in which people thrive, since they meet only physiological needs and safety needs. Under Theory Y strategy, management can be flexible enough to address its workforce's social needs and egoistic needs. For McGregor, it was more important that management abandon its limiting assumptions about people, such as those identified in his Theory X, than that they accept the assumptions of Theory Y. Theory Y was important insofar as it was a proposed replacement for Theory X, but McGregor did not see it as the only way forward. McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y led to substantial research on psychology and management within the field of organizational development.
