CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3 THE THEORIES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
2.3.1 Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor
Theory X and Theory Y are two theories of modern human resource management was initiated by Douglas McGregor (MIT Sloan School of Management) in 1960.
McGregor said that management strategies greatly influenced by the views of human nature, with the assumption that:
+ Human nature does not like to work and always escape when possible.
+ People like to be controlled, if these controls make them work well.
+ They just work under coercion, punishment.
+ They are passive, shirk the responsibility when possible.
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+ They are selfish, think of themselves first, no ambition, desire to lead on.
McGregor named for this assumption is the theory X. Thus, according to the theory of X, the human is considered inherently negative, therefore the management method according to this assumption is: should reward if you want them work and punish when they do not work. The managers who follow the theory X usually have negative and ultra behavior. When a problem occurs, the first thing they will do is blame someone. They said that workers only work for themselves and can only be affected by money. In all situations, the employee will be held responsible and the objective causes such as system failure and policies, due to lack of training ... are being ignored or handled improperly needed. Theory X managers do not trust anyone. They believe in the mechanical and close supervision system and believe in the power of discipline.
However, McGregor said that in fact, at work, people may behave different from what is stated in theory X. He finished this comment and named it as theory Y. Theory Y assumes that humans always have aspirations and are capable of encouraging themselves, receiving the larger duty, control and governing. This theory also believes that humans like to perform tasks in a self-conscious way. Theory Y managers believe that creating good working conditions which causes workers interested in jobs, they will have great dedication.
Therefore, managers try to do our best to liberate workers from the barrier to the ability to express themselves.
According to theory Y, human nature is considered positive, claims:
+ Human loves to work and considers employment as a need.
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+ They have an awareness of self-examination, self-discipline, self-adjusting when works are assigned clearly.
+ Whether the normal person, there is also a sense of responsibility, self-esteem, take responsibilities at work.
+ Everyone has creative possibilities, though little creativity and enthusiasm to make a creative assignment.
Management methods according to the theory Y is believe in human, arouse internal forces and self-consciousness, particularly:
+ Trust, expand responsibilities and obligations of membership in the organization.
+ To promote autonomy, self-management of the working group.
+ Fair distribution of rights so that working groups can work actively, self-assessment, self-control and promote results of works.
+ Creating forms of activities to help people work closely and creatively.
Thus, from the content of theory Y, we can see this theory is more positive and progressive than theory X that it has a more exact look about human nature.
Theory discovered that humans are not machines, the incentive for people within themselves. Administrators need to give them a good working environment and to know skillfully combine individual goals and organizational goals, meaning that administrators have to make employees understand that: to satisfy their goals, they need to implement the objectives of the organization. However, like theory X, Theory Y is not absolute, it is used in combination will provide high
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performance. This theory is effective in suggesting for the management and is always a classics lesson in modern human resource management.
2.3.2 Theory Z of William Ouchi
William Ouchi is a Japanese immigrant in America. He is a scholar of management theories and also a professor of management at the University of California. He began to study the management methods of Japanese firms from 1973. In 1981, he published in the United States a book "Theory Z – How American enterprises can deal with the challenge of Japan."
The basic contents of theory Z of William Ouchi are:
1 Institutional of management have to ensure superiors can grasp of the situation of subordinates fully.
2 The managers at the local level must have enough rights to handle the problems at the grassroots level, must have the capacity to regulate and coordinate ideas and perspectives of workers, promoting positiveness for all people, encouraging them to brainstorm, make their plans and proposals.
3 Intermediate-level managers must perform the role of ideological consistency, revising and perfecting grassroots opinions, timely report the situation to their superiors and give recommendations.
4 Enterprise must hire workers in long term to make them feel secure and increase their responsibly, share the glory and tough with the firm, sticking their destiny to the fortunes of the enterprise.
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5. Managers must regularly concerned about the welfare of workers, seeks to comfort them, creating harmony, cordial environment, no gap between superiors and subordinates.
6. The managers not only concerned with production tasks, but also have to make employees feel their work is not arid, not monotonous.
7 It should be noted staff training, improve the capacity in practical work in all aspects of them.
8 The observation of human expression should not be limited only in a small number of items but it must be observed in a comprehensive way, in the long run to have the exact basis.
Application of theory Z in practice:
Theory Z has many similarities with the theory of "inner incentives". In fact, the widespread theory Z has boosted the theory "inner Incentives" (Soul management) and the thought of it. Theory Z is supported and applied practically by many Japanese companies. It brings success of many Japanese companies and help Japan become a superpower in the world, as well as many Japanese companies become worthy adversary of the United States. Theory Z also has basic weaknesses, and the most important point is to create greater inertia in Japanese companies which the Japanese companies are trying to study and change until now.
In summary, when comparing management theory of the East and the West, we find them similar in that these theories revolve around the adjustment of human behavior; people are focus of any theory. However, there is also a
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difference between management theory of the East and the West, Western theory considers the effectiveness of works as the highest target, while the Eastern theory overvalue “ethics” and “spirit” of human. (Ha & Nguyen, 2010)