Theory X is an idea advanced by Dr. Douglas McGregor which theorizes that the workforce is antagonistic to the idea of work and must be supervised and manipulated in order to be productive. Dr. McGregor also postulated the opposing Theory Y, which stated the opposite and summarized that employees are actually self-motivated and need little supervision to contribute to the benefit of the organization. This second theory views employees in a more positive light.

In present day United States, it is less common to see the first theory, "Theory X", than the second put into practice because of a shift in workplace priorities over time.

A comparison of the rules of Dr. McGregor’s first theory, and conditions that obtain in some workplaces in this present age, indicates that some companies do indeed believe that their employees are shiftless, and require a watchful eye to do the job well. Read more…

Matrix organizational structures emerged in the 1970’s as an effort to restructure inefficient organizational structures to support the more efficient project-based management.  Until then, big organizations had tendency to operate in "silos", rational divisions where basically separated groups of workers would report to a line manager or functional manager.

Functional Organizational Structure

Big organizations used to operate in a silo management structure, where isolated groups of workers in a division would report to a functional manager.  Imagine columns on a page with a line manager above each column and a group of workers inside each column under the manager of the division, such as in hospitality management , coal mining, and many manufacturing organizations.  As these groups operated independently, it was not unique to discover functions replicated in each silo. In an Information Technology organization, for instance, you might discover software programmers in the sales office, some more in the accounting department, and still more in corporate headquarters, because each of these functioning units have a programming demand. Read more…

Kaizen Process Improvement Project

This methodology that is being discussed about picking a project for a particular Kaizen event will apply to many projects as well as improvement objectives.  It is important that some particular items are considered regarding initial kaizen projects.  So, what is different about initial projects?

Initial Kaizen projects are often staffed primarily with people who are unfamiliar with the Kaizen manufacturing concepts . These first projects set the tone for Kaizen in the organization.  If the first event fails, it may doom the whole project. Many people will connect the failure to this ‘new method’.  Initial events require additional resources from those involved because of the rather big amount of issues that arise during the ’start up’.  Many organizations are not in possession of the data to give to the kaizen team, a ‘data-starved’ event can result quite quickly. Read more…

Similar to the drastic changes in industrial production methods brought about by the industrial revolution, revolutionary changes have taken place in business and project management in America between 1920 and 1940. These changes redefined the role of each worker in a business organization and the relationship between the management and the workers. Up until then, the workers in a business organization were forced to work by their management and they had no voice in the decision-making process. Gradually, behavioral management theory, in which the workers are given more prominence in a business organization, began to replace the then popular classical management theory just as organizational structure types experimenting shifts from functional to matrix .

Elton Mayo and Behavioral Management Theory

Elton Mayo , a chief proponent of behavioral management theory, explains that workers tend to work harder if they are mentally satisfied. He added that materialistic incentives are less important than inner satisfaction in determining the productivity of workers. This was similar to Abraham Maslow’s humanistic psychology .

Elton Mayo was an Australian psychologist and he, in collaboration with other eminent thinkers, tried to identify factors that satisfied the workers mentally and motivated them to work harder. They believed that economic incentives and environmental factors might play a role in increasing the productivity of workers. They were later invited to experiment their views at one of the workplaces of the Western Electric Company. The experiment was a failure and they couldn’t prove what they had hoped to be true. Read more…

Are you in the market for project management software? Do you want to make sure that you invest in the most appropriate project management software for your business’s needs? If so, you may be confused on how to pick the best project management software on the market. Here, we’ve developed a quick guide to help you figure out which of the many project management packages available will suit your needs.

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The business world has changed significantly since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The structure of employment when it comes to contemporary workers is becoming progressively more focused, isolating, and cold. Although modern technology has made it feasible to be able to improve people’s production, successful human cooperation remains needed for long-standing organizational prosperity.

Team Building Activities Unify Team Members

Although people no longer need to be in the same place at the same time in order for communication to happen, there is still no substitute for in-person physical interactions to build relationships and team cohesiveness.  People become more than just impersonal names on email distribution lists.  They become partners and members of a team, united by working toward a common purpose. Employees become much more energized and capable of truly working together to accomplish shared goals.

In an progressively aggressive business world where thriving businesses must be responsive, resourceful, and also proficient at synergy so that they can leverage swiftly adjusting market conditions, smart organizations should really make the most of external and internal team development opportunities.  Unless individuals feel in tune with one another while carrying out work with each other to solve shared problems, companies will be ineffective, lethargic, and unwieldy as everyone pulls and pushes in multiple directions to achieve distinct objectives. Read more…

Lots of folks are planning to take training courses to become properly certified not to mention accredited as a Project Management Professional, or PMP. They’re motivated to take up education because of the benefits and advantages that a project management career can give to them.

Project Managers are Central to an Organization's Success

Apart from the workers themselves, a lot of companies are also opting to send their existing employees for project management training. This is done with a view to bring about an improvement in the performance of the employers’ businesses.  Some of the major benefits that one will be able to derive by attending such a training program are discussed in this article.

Networking

Of course, there are a lot of benefits that one can enjoy after attending a professional project management training class, but during the course of the training itself one can start enjoying friendship with like-minded people.  This will also be helpful in networking in the future with individuals who are pursuing similar interests or goals.

Anyone who completes the training program and acquires the certification will be able to enjoy better working relationships . One can also feel proud of being belonging to a group of professionals.  As such, benefits keep accruing from the start of the training classes until one gets certified.  Read more…

You’ve heard of them. You’ve seen them on shows like Outsourced , Office Space , and Dilbert . Heck! You’ve probably even worked for one… the dreaded…

Theory X Manager

Douglas McGregor used the concept of the Theory X manager as a representation of one way to manage employees – in fact, the prevalent way to manage employees at the time. In the 1960’s, freedom was a popular concept for postulation about how life should be, and during those winds of change McGregor penned his work, The Human Side of Enterprise , in which he further postulated the “ideal” management theory which he called Theory Y in contrast to the prevailing style of employee management of the day.

Theory X Manager Definition

By McGregor’s definition a Theory X manager is a person responsible for building a team who thinks that humanity is full of self-centered, lazy, childish, creativity free, unintelligent and irresponsible people. Theory X managers think that a precious few representatives of humanity have what it takes to lead, and that this sliver of humanity was born with the traits of an effective leader . McGregor’s called this management style "management by control."
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Quiz Time!  How much do you know about Theory X?

Consider the following question about the Theory X management style:

Which of the following is Theory X is consistent with?

1. the autocratic management style
2. Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management principles
3. Sigmund Freud’s teachings about human motivation
4. All of the above

The answer might surprise you. Read more…