McGregor's Theories and Maslow's hierarchy of needs

McGregor's Theories and Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow's Theory of Needs

Abraham Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs explains why individuals are more inclined and motivated for certain things than others. The premise is that unless an individual's basic needs are met, higher levels in the pyramid are of no relevance, as survival is the most basic human component (Benson & Dundis, 2003). Maslow's model is a constructive tool in understanding human behavior. At the core of Maslow's theory of motivation is the idea that human needs are hierarchical, implying that until the lower-order needs that are not met, individual will stay in a dormant state and will struggle for accomplishing the unfulfilled needs. Exactly like Erickson's Stages of Development, once the basic needs are met or satisfied in their perspective level, the individual will be able to pursue the next higher need (Zalenski& Raspa, 2006).

McGregor's Theory

Douglas McGregor was born in 1906 and died in 1964 as a professor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute for his last 10 years. His work is very close to the talks and postulates of Rensis Likert and Arnold Tannenbaum, as contemporaries not to mention the influence they had on their initial research training of Elton Mayo. It is a theory that is widely distributed in the company. Theory X assumes that human beings are lazy should be encouraged through punishment and avoiding responsibilities. Theory Y assumes that effort is a natural at work and the commitment to the goals is a reward and that human beings tend to seek responsibility. Later, it was proposed Theory Z makes an impact on participation in the organization (Prilleltensky, 1992).

Implications of the Work Of McGregor

Although his book, "The human side of organizations", published in 1960, based his theory was developed by the author since the mid-thirties, finding its peak in the fifties. A decade of great turmoil in the United States of America, where he consolidated the fatal habit of noting as communist anyone who dared to leave a little of the parameters. Douglas McGregor receive this qualification on several occasions. At the end of the day proclaimed at the time what some interpreted as "equalization of power "in organizations that would allow subordinates to participate actively in decision making. No more missing. In a developed country thanks to a strict corporate authoritarianism which meant among other things become the first power industrial world (Heil, Bennis & Stephen, 2000).

Indeed the idea of ??McGregor was not quite original. Since 1932 (as part of the Great Depression), with the experiment in the power company Hawrthrone, which highlighted the difficulties in achieving the desired standards of performance and efficiency of workers, conducted research of all kinds ( Elton May ), which led to the conclusion that man is not only motivated to work through money (as proposed by Frederick Taylor since late last century), on the contrary, there was a whole lot of variables that influenced ...