ABSTRACT
Douglas McGregor's humanistic values provoked criticism, even though his tone had been moderate and objective. And while the influential psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs provided a firm foundation for Theory Y, the theory had its limits. McGregor was criticized for the way he obtained and interpreted data. One scholar observed: "McGregor based his arguments in part on impressionistic observation and practiced hypothesis testing only in a casual manner". According to Geert Hofstede, there are some countries in which people are less prepared to cope with uncertainty and should therefore have less influence on decision-making. In those situations, Theory X might work better than Theory Y. McGregor's work also served as a foundation for other academics, such as the management scholar William Ouchi, who proposed Theory Z in 1981. Ouchi wanted to provide American companies with a competitive edge by implementing some of the characteristics of Japanese business corporations, which had been highly successful in the 1970s.
