Since the end of the 19th century, when factory manufacturing became widespread and the size of organisations increased, people have been looking for ways to motivate employees and improve productivity. A need for management ideas arise which lead to classical contributors such as Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol generating management theories such as Taylor’ Scientific Management and Fayol’s Administrative Management. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s the Hawthorne studies were conducted where Elton Mayo was the predominate figure and contributed to the Behavioural viewpoint. This brought about a Human Relations Movement which included Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y approach. Similarities and differences can be found between …show more content…

Frederick Taylor vs. Douglas McGregor vs. Elton Mayo
McGregor’s management theory involves the idea that there are two types of managers Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers assumes that “the average human being has an inherit dislike of work and will avoid it if he can” (McGregor, 1960, p 33) and because of this “most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort” (McGregor,1960, p34). Theory Y managers assumes employees can “exercise self-direction, accept responsibility and consider work to be as natural as rest or play” (Robbins, 2004, p 616). McGregor believes that employees fall under Theory Y. Taylor’s theories relate to McGregor’s as it could be considered Taylor theories fall under theory X. Taylor belief that “there is no question that the tendency of the average man is toward working slow”(Taylor,1947, p19) that soldiering was a result of natural instinct and the value he placed on monetary motivation seems to conform to McGregor’s Theory X. However Taylor is not completely similar to Theory X as Theory X believes workers are not fulfilled solely with monetary rewards and will just want more when they have been received. Mayo’s ideas tend to follow McGregor’s Theory Y as Mayo’s theory suggests that good relationships, allowing teamwork to occur, and positive leadership will leader to greater productivity. This is similar to McGregor’s Theory Y