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Essay on Motivation Theory X

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Motivation Theory X Foundation of today's organizations. These theories go back to the turn of the century and in some cases are considered by the uninformed to be simply fads which come and go. As I have discovered, these theories are rather the steps on a ladder which continually takes us higher and higher. Douglas McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise" published in 1960 has examined theories on behavior of individuals at work, and he has formulated two models which he calls Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X Assumptions The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can. Because of their dislike for work, most people must be controlled and threatened before they will work hard enough. The …show more content…

Self directed work teams have also become one of the more changing approaches to employee involvement, and has been increasing in popularity within the last several years. Companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Digital Equipment, General Mills, Federal Express and other well known companies, are reorganizing their employees into self directed work teams. In a recent survey, 476 Fortune 500 companies found that although only 7% of the work force is organized into self directed work teams, management at half of these companies said that they will be relying on them more in years ahead. (Cotton, 1993). Establishing Self-Directed Work Teams.

There are nine basic steps in establishing self-directed work teams:

· Developing a shared vision,
· Empowerment
· Training
· Presence of a supportive culture
· Developing performance expectations and feedback
· Establishing boundaries
· Developing an appropriate pay system
· Constructing the appropriate physical layout of facilities (where applicable)
· Developing friendly union interaction. (Berger, 1998),(Cotton, 1993).

The benefits I have witness at this company from utilizing these theory Y employee empowerment methods are increased morale from a more satisfying and effective workplace. More personal pride in the quality of the product we have at Harbinger.

Although there are some noted disadvantages to self directed teams such as some team member's unwillingness to change their

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