ABSTRACT
Douglas McGregor advocated collaboration and participation between employees and managers, believing this would strengthen their relationships. Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn believed that organizations would be more effective if all their members were able to collaborate and participate with their coworkers. McGregor touted Theory Y as the management style that would generate the greatest employee satisfaction and the highest productivity. While Theory X management had satisfied basic needs, it had not gone far enough to change working conditions. But not everyone agreed with McGregor's assessment. McGregor anticipated the intellectual needs and movements of his time. When his theories were introduced, they helped modernize the ways in which businesses were structured and managed. His work is important because it combines psychological and managerial concepts, and, in so doing, encourages managers to self-reflect, and to see their workers more humanistically. In general, McGregor's work has been positively received in organizational management, and he is often referenced in management textbooks.
