People and their relationships to dominant and subordinate roles reflect culture and cultural viewpoints. These expectations are communicated through experience and create expectations for how and when managers interact with employees. The three most commonly discussed management theories are X, Y, and Z. In this section, we’ll briefly discuss them and their relationship to intercultural communication.

Theory X

In an influential book titled The Human Side of Enterprise, M. I. T. management professor Douglas McGregor described two contrasting perceptions on how and why people work, formulating Theory X and Theory Y; they are both based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, A., 1954; Maslow, A., 1970). According to this model, people are concerned with physical needs (e.g., food, shelter) first and with safety second. At the third level, people seek love, acceptance, and intimacy. Self-esteem, achievement, and respect are the fourth level. Finally, the fifth level embodies self-actualization.

McGregor’s Theory X asserts that workers are motivated by their basic (low-level) needs and have a general disposition against labor. From this viewpoint, workers are considered lazy and are predicted to avoid work if they can, giving rise to the perceived need for constant, direct supervision. A Theory X manager may be described as authoritarian or autocratic and does not seek employee input or feedback. The view further holds that workers are motivated by personal interest, avoid discomfort, and seek pleasure. The Theory X manager uses control and incentive programs to provide punishment and rewards. Responsibility is the manager’s domain, and the view is that employees will avoid it if at all possible to the extent that blame is always deflected or attributed to something other than personal responsibility. Lack of training, inferior machines, or failure to provide the necessary tools are all reasons to stop working, and it is up to the manager to fix these issues.

Theory Y

In contrast to Theory X, Theory Y views employees as ambitious, self-directed, and capable of self-motivation. Employees have a choice and prefer to do a good job as a representation of self-actualization. Pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain is part of being human, but work is also a reward in itself, and employees take pride in their efforts. Employees want to reach their fullest potential and define themselves by their profession. A job well done is rewarded in and of itself, and the employee may be a valuable source of feedback. Collaboration is viewed as normal, and the worker may need little supervision.

Theory Z

Theory X and Y may seem like two extremes across the range of management styles, but they are often combined in actual work settings. William Ouchi’s Theory Z combines elements of both and draws from American and Japanese management styles. It promotes worker participation and emphasizes job rotation, skills development, and loyalty to the company (Luthans, F., 1989). Workers are seen as having a high need for reinforcement, and belonging is emphasized. Theory Z workers are trusted to do their jobs with excellence, and management is trusted to support them, looking out for their well-being (Massie J. and Douglas, J., 1992).

Each of these management theories features a viewpoint with assumptions about people and why they do what they do. While each has been the subject of debate, and variations on each have been introduced across organizational communication and business, they serve as a foundation for understanding management in an intercultural context.

Key Takeaway

Management Theories X, Y, and Z offer distinct and divergent views on worker motivation, the need for supervision, and the possibility of collaboration.

Luthans, F. (1989). Organisational behaviour. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Massie, J., & Douglas, J. (1992). Managing: A contemporary introduction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

McGregor, D. (1960). The human side of enterprise. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

This page titled 18.6: Styles of Management is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Anonymous (LibreTexts Staff), from which source content was edited to the style and standards of the Pressbook platform licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License by Brandi Schur.