por Who was Douglas McGregor?
Douglas Murray McGregor (1906-1964) was an American engineer and industrial psychologist who lived during the first half of the 20th century. He had an apparently simple existence, although a very deep vocation for service led him to make transcendental contributions at the business level.
He walked the path of education and delved into a philosophy of productivity. Although his written work was not copious, it was so forceful that it transformed the vision of human resource management.
This man also had a position towards life that made him live with inner intensity. With this he generated friction with the most conservative sectors of his time.
McGregor developed Theory X and Theory Y, ranking alongside characters like Abraham Maslow (1908-1970). Together they opened up a new and visionary path for business administration, and advanced towards the humanization of those who build the current world with their workforce.
Douglas McGregor Biography
Birth and early years
Douglas McGregor was born in Detroit in 1906, a city that is part of the northern state of Michigan. During that year, that city lived in full industrial explosion.
Being next to a lake that had a river channel directly with New York, it became a business hub. In less than 40 years it had grown almost eight times in population and four times in size.
The majority of Detroit’s population was white Anglo-Saxon. Huge factories allowed for the rise of a very wealthy and powerful business class. There also grew a middle class made up of company managers and foremen and their families.
The industrial city also became the point of arrival for many immigrants, mainly European whites: Irish, Scottish and Italian. Precisely, Douglas McGregor was born into a family of Scottish, white and Protestant origin. That marked his existence and work.
His grandfather created the McGregor Institute which was later run by his uncle and father. It was a center to house workers who came to the city attracted by the possibility of getting a job. In his teens, Douglas worked there as a night receptionist. Also, he played the piano for the residents.
At one point in his life, at the age of 17, he considered becoming a preacher without a temple, but it would be other directions of his existence that led him to be a recognized management theorist.
Detroit, the city that shaped him
Detroit had lumber, salt, copper, and steel, giving it the opportunity to build a major chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Paint and glass were made with chemicals and salt, and with wood, car bodies and wheels for cars.
By the beginning of the 20th century, that city had already become a great attraction for unskilled labor. Henry Ford founded his automobile manufacturing plants there.
It was the capital of research for online production, mechanization and unskilled labor. Detroit went on to become the third largest industrial city in the US It was also the fourth largest in population, with almost a million people.
In 1919, 27% of the inhabitants were African-Americans from the southern states, from the slave plantations, with very little academic training.
While working at the McGregor Institute, Douglas was studying industrial engineering at Wayne State University. He then began working at a gas station and quickly rose through the ranks: he became responsible for the administration of all the service stations in the region.
In the period between World War I and World War II, the United States suffered a major economic recession. McGregor returned to the family high school where he organized meals for the unemployed, more than 50,000 in the city.
When Detroit returned to its productive normality, Mcgregor traveled to Harvard University, in the neighboring state of Massachusetts. There he received a master’s degree and a doctorate in psychology. He also served as a professor at the same university.
Performance in academic and work spaces
In 1937, at the age of 31, McGregor created a chair of Industrial Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. In addition, he became an industrial relations consultant for the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company, a manufacturer of sealants and glues.
In that job he was in charge of the issue of wages and salaries. He also negotiated contracts, was responsible for job training and foreman training.
McGregor specialized both in the training processes of workers and in the problems of the labor structure. His expertise was such that both employers and unions requested his mediation in labor disputes.
At age 41, he became president of Antioch College, in Yellowsprings, Ohio. There he made great advances on the civil rights of workers. Antioch was the first educational institution to receive African Americans to train as teachers.
From there, McGregor began a new battle: getting his graduates placed in white schools.
He also had to face investigations by the Committee on Un-American Activities, of the House of Representatives of the US Congress. Said committee demanded that he expel left-wing student activists.
According to his own writings, that stay at Antioch College gave him extensive experience on the subject of organizational leadership. He concentrated on decision making and procedures for analyzing situations.
Revolutionizing labor relations
After six years working at Antioch College, McGregor returned to MIT. He took over as a faculty member at the Sloan School of Management.
He then convinced former Dewey & Almy labor union accountant Joe Scalon to join the faculty. In this context, McGregor developed a new language in the field of labor relations.
He wrote several books and released a treatise on Theory X and Theory Y.
Death
He died of a heart attack at the age of 58, in 1964. His vision, however, keeps his presence alive in the academic and working world. In his honor, Antioch University is now called McGregor University.
Theory X
McGregor took up Maslow’s studies and developed several studies that ended up becoming his work and reason for life. He then worked with the human side of the company, industrial psychology and the necessary conditions to be a professional administrator. He generated a theoretical paper comparing what he called a double theory, the Y and the X.
Based on the visions of his predecessors in studies on factory work, McGregor developed Theory X.
According to this theory, most people are disgusted by work. Therefore they will do everything possible to avoid it, hence the workers must be forced with punishments to do so.
Another premise in this theory is that most people prefer to be directed, thus avoiding decision making and responsibility quotas. In addition, for the scientists who endorse this position, ordinary people have few ambitions, which leads them to need a lot of security.
Therefore, organizations must develop very strict supervision mechanisms. That is why supervisors and continuous reviews are necessary.
As a consequence, specialists thought that workers should be trained in repetitive tasks. Thus, automatic responses could be obtained and with them improve efficiency.
They called this parameters of certainty. In other words, when faced with such pressure, and with specific training, it is almost certain that a certain response will be obtained.
Theory Y
In Theory Y, a different vision of the human being is proposed; It is based on the fact that people like to take risks and the answers are not always the same in similar circumstances. Therefore, workers exist in a state of permanent uncertainty.
On the other hand, it is considered that the physical and intellectual activity at work is normal, it is equal to that of play or rest, so wear and tear is not a punishment, it is typical of existence itself. Consequently, if people get some benefit from work, they will gladly do so.
If the workers, consequently, have their own decision, then it is not logical to punish them to make them work. People can simply direct their activity and self-control it according to their goal.
Based on this, if the organization presents the worker with the appropriate rewards, he will assume them as a personal challenge.
Thus, the correctly motivated worker will not only accept responsibility but will seek new goals. His level of learning will be higher and he will find solutions that he will contribute to the organization.
Theory X vs. Theory Y
According to McGregor, organizations that run on Theory X only take advantage of a small part of human capacity. From there he raises the urgent need to put aside the principle of authority. This principle must be replaced by one of motivation, integrating the interests of the worker and the organization.
The principle of integration entails that of self-control. When a person has his share of responsibility within the organization, he will strive to meet his own goals.
Theory Y establishes the urgency that commanding bodies have to learn to delegate. Thus the worker will be able to assume his share and even take on new challenges. This will benefit both the worker and the organization.
Satisfying the needs of both will allow a continuous evolution for mutual benefit.
McGregor’s humanist sense
Some detractors have accused Douglas McGregor of manipulating the worker-organization relationship, but it is no less true that his vision is much more humanistic than that of classical theory.
Among the conclusions reached by McGregor is the need to create achievement motivation programs. That is, workers must be encouraged to recognize their potential and develop it.
Thus, organizations need to develop manuals and procedures so that people have tools that allow them to advance their own achievements. That is, the organization must create opportunities, reduce obstacles and promote the personal development of its workers.
The followers of Theory Y have spoken, since McGregor, of management by objectives, opposing it to management by control.
Among the contemporary visions of McGregorian approaches are delegation and decentralization. Likewise, the expansion of labor limits and the promotion of participation in decision-making are proposed.
The evaluation and co-evaluation of the achievements, and the application of innovative ideas are also premises of this managerial vision.
In short, McGregor’s management of organizations delves into the side…