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UNIT 13 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHDOUGLAS McGREGOR AND ABRAHAM MASLOW

Structure
13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7

13.8 13.9 13.10 13. I i 13.12 13.13

Objectives lntroduction Maslow's Theory of Motivation Need Hierarchy Theory How the Need Hierarchy Works conditions for Need Fulfilment Need Hie~orchy: An Evaluation McGregor's Theory 'X' : A Traditional t i e w df Management Theory 'Y': A New Theory of Management Theory 'X' and Theory 'Y' : An Evaluation Let us sum up Key Words Some Useful Books Answers to Check your Progress Exercises

t\fltr rJi~diildin~ this unit you should be able to : descfibe the social psychology approach explain the assumptions behind Theory 'X' and Theory 'Y' describe the need hierarchy theory; and critically evaluate rhe contributions of Maslow and McGregor to the social psychology 'approach.

In the previous units.you have studied the classical, human relations, systems and behavioural dppboaches to the study of Public Administration. In this unit you would study about the social psychological approach. Social psychologicai approach is a tool to understand the relationships between man and the organisation. Since long time, the most intriguing questions are: Why people work in organisations? What are the conditions that enhance the performance of people at work in organisations? Answers to these and several interrelated questions can be analysed from a + social-psychological point of view. The belief is that an analysis of human beings with reference to their psychological factors provides answers to many questions relating to their behaviour in organisations. This is mainly because, in organisations people work .individually as well as in groups to accomplish tasks and purposes, Basically this approach .. places ernpha$ison the &man side'of the organisation. A belief in man and his contribution to organisationsis central to this approach. Several thinkersand writers have~ontributed to this approach.'hmong them the contributions of Abraham Maslow and ~ o u ~ l a s ' ~ c 0 rare e~or phenomenal. In this unit, therefore, we would be studying their contributions. In particular we will study McGregor's heo or^ 'X' and Theory 'Y'and Maslow's ',Hierarc@+jtbf Needs'. Chronologically Maslow's studies come fint an$ ~ c , b r e ~ o r1ater.Masluw's 's contributions became popular only during sixties when Herzberg, McGregor and other

~ublic Organisations: The Paradigms

social psychologists used his analysis in their motivation studies'. We will first study, Maslow's 'Ned Hierarchy' and then McGregor's "Theory ' X ' and Theory 'Y?"

13.2 MASLOW'S THEORY OF MOTIVATBTIBK


Maslow 'in his classic paper 'A Theory of Human Motivation' published in 1943 outlined an overall theory of motivation. He a'nalysed the relationship between the human beings and organisations from the stand point of 'human needs'. Human beings become members of organisations to fulfil their needs. These needs arise in several areas. Fulfilment of these needs motivate the human beings to a higher level of performance. Non-fulfilment of needs will have adverse effect on the motivation of individuals to contribute t o the organisation to realise the oiganisational objectives.

13.3 NEED HIERARCHY THEORY


Maslow arranged a person's motivational needs in a hierarchical manner. According to him there are several needs of human beings which explain human behaviour in organisations. These needs have a hierarchy. The needs are: physiological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs and self actualisation needs. Physiological and security,needs are lower order needs in the hierarchy. Self-actualisation need is the highest in the hierarchy. In between comes the social and esteem needs. Maslow believed that unless the need at the lower level is satisfied, it will not motivate a person. Let us see what is the meaning of each of these needs. I .PhysidogicaI needs: Basic things necessary for human survival are hunger, thirst, shelter, etc. The human being, has to satisfy these needs first. After they are fulfilled he no longer strives hard to obtain them. They no longer motivate him. Security needs: Job security or safety in the work place gives psychological security to human beings Maslow stresses both physical and emotional safety. Human being is a safety seeking mechanism. Once safety and security are ensured, they no longer inotivate the human being.

Social needs: This represents the relationships between and among groups of people working in the organisation. 'This need provides emotional security to people. This gives a sense of belongingness and association. Every human being needs friendship'with others. If these social needs are not m e t ,the employee decomes resistant and hostile. Esteem needs: This represents higher level needs ofhuman beings. At this level human beings strive for power, achievement and status. Esteem connotates both self esteem and esteem from others. Self-actualisation: This higher level rieed represents culmination of all other needs. The fulfilment c9f this need gives a high degree of satisfaction to,the individual in work and life. 'This will further improve a person's 'performance in an organisation. A self-actualised person has fulfilled all his potential. This represents a person's motivation to transform perception of self into ' reality.

13.4 HOW THE NEED HIERARCHY WORKS


The need hierarchy has five levels: (See the diagram).

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Each need, according to Maslow,,is a goal to a person at a point of time. If a person's basic requirements, viz., physiological nGeds are not fulfilled, he concentrates all his energies to achieve satisfaction in that area. Once he gets satisfaction in that need area, he moves to the next oider 'need. This process continues in the daily life of all human beings. Non-: achievement of a particular goal in a need area motivates a person to achieve it. Once it is achieved, it no longer motivates or dnves,a person to work further in that area. This is one of the main,foundati~ns of Maslow's theory of need hierarchy.

Diagram I : Showing Maslow's Need Hierarchy Framework

Social Psychological
Approach .

Douglas McGregor and Abraham Maslow

The lowest in the hierarchy are the physiological needs like hunger, thirst, shelter etc. Such needs call for contributions from the organisation in the form of salary and other amenities to the members of the organisation. Once a person's needs in physiological areas are satisfied by the contributions from the organisation. he moves up in the hierarchy and the next higher level needs become important to him. He strives hard to satisfy himself in that need area. Fulfilment of physiological needs drives one to pursue satisfaction of his security needs. Security need dominates and motivates his behaviaur. Once security needs are satisfied, social needs come to the surface. Human beings are social beings and they value affiliation and association. Social needs include fulfilment of psychological needs like acceptance in the organisation. Social needs drives people to improve their interpersonal relations. Once the need to affiliate is fulfilled, human mind searches for the autonomy and prestige in organisation and freedom to work with and through people as described under esteem need. The fulfilment of esteem needs gives self-confidence to people and prepares them to take up leadership positions, guiding others and appraising the performance of people. The highest and the final level in the need hierarchy is the self actualisation need. This is described as achieving the meaning and purpose in life through personal and professional growtk. This is expressed by achieving higher performance in a role, be it a worker, or a supe'rvisoror a manager in an organisation. This is the spirit of excellence , found in all societies and organisations. We have examples of high performers in all walks of life all over the world. Self actualised people search for meaning and purpose in all their , endeavours and contribute their energies for the development of the organisation. According to Maslow, this need arises only when all the needs lower to it, viz., physiological, security, social and esteem, are fulfilled.

113.5 CONDITIONS FOR NEED3FULFILMENT


All orgianisation's culture, history, policie8, procedures.environmentand its ability to attract, I develop and retain people play an important role in the need fulfilment of its members. We come across excellent organisations which believe in people. We also witness o~ganisations which hardly think about human factor, ink.,about its members. Qrganisations, which belieye in people and [heir ability to perform, provide for the fulfilment of the needs of their m-nbers. Organisationswhich are not people orikted, make it difllcult for the members to fulfil , their needs. Such organisations, will face negative consequences of non-fulfilment of needs of their members. This would iitleast be the case in the long run! Conversely, people without a work ethic, self'control' and performance orientation become negative forces in an o~ganisation. 'They cannot' fulfil their higher order needs like esteem and self-actualisation. Nwd fulfilment in an organisation requires self control, goal orienthtion and work ethic i fro111 the organisat ion an well as t'roni. its members.

Public Organisations:

The Paradigms

Maslow clnrified thal the hierarchy is riot as rigicl as il is irnplied theoretically. His argunlent is that the t~ierarciiy is a framework which helps in understanding the human motivation in or.ganisutions. In other words the hierarchy need not necessarily operate in a fixed order and there is scope for deviations.

113.6 NEED HIERARCHY: AN EVALUATION -__ _ _ I _ _


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Maslow's theory, in bpite of its in~porcance in underhtandinp human behaviour, is subjected to criticism. Several empirical studies concluded that Maslow's model is open m question ds an overall theory of wprk motivation. These studies f ~ u n d absence of correlation between &i"tisfaction of needs at one level and activahon of needs at the next higher level. Modem managemen1 theory is influenced by Maslow's writings to a great extent. Some of the later researchers like Heriberg developed on Lhlaslow'stheory and contributed to the enrichment of the discipline. Though there :ire several limitations in Maslow's conceptualisation, his theory is helpful in predicting human behnviour on a low or high probability basis if not in absolute ternls. Check Your progress 1 Note; i ) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit . What is social psychological approach? i)

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ii) Discuss the importance of Maslow's Need Hierarchy theofy.


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iii) Explain

iny two needs of Maslow's Need Hierarchy.

iv) How does Need Hierarchy operate?


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Social Psychologlcel

Approach Douglas McCregor and Abraham Maslow

13.7 M C G R E G O ~ THEORY ~S 4X9 : A TRADITIONAL VIEW OF MANAGEMENT


~ & ~ l MEGregor as is a behaviouralist and social psychologist of repute. He is a strong beli'ever in the potentialities of human beings in contributing to organisational performance. His work, "The Human Side of Enterprise" (1 960) opened new vistas in organisation and management theory by providing answers to some of the intriguing questions. Later he published another book "The Professional Manager" (1964). His focus is on utilising human potential in organisations and getting the best out of people by creating a conducive and harmonious environment. He felt that the theoretical a&umptions about controlling men determine the character of the enterprise. Accordirlg to McGregor, the failure to bring the best out of human beings in organisitions can be attributed to our conventional view of organisation and man. I-Ie call. this view as 'Theory X'. According to 'Theory X' oriented thinking, managemtnt i$ viewed'as the master of an enterprise in directing economic activity and allocation of resources. Management, io them, is getting work done through other people and hence a manager needs to control the behaviour of other people in the organisation. They feel that the organisation can suitably intervene in the process of direction. controlling and motivating people to accomplish the purpose of the organisation. Behind these views there are a few assumptions about human nature.and human behaviour. These assumptions are so pervasive that one can see them in most of the literature on organisation and rnafigedent. The assumptions are :
1 ) "The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can"; 2) "Because of this human characteristic of dislike of wbrk, most people must be coerced, controlled, directqd, threatened with punishment to get them put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational objectives", and 3) ."The average human being prefers to he directed, wishes avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security aboveall." !

'Theory X' assumes human beings as lazy, lacking in ambition, resisting change, noncreative, capable of being deceived easily, etc. In such a case rlianagement has two strategies to adopt, viz., hard and soft. Hard strategy implies the use of techniques like close supervision, tight control, coercion and threat. Soft strategy, on the other hand, is more permissive, meets the dkmands and attempts to harmonise the demands f~r~organisadon and that of employees. But both these strategies have problems. For example, if the management is hard, it may lead to militant unionism, sabotage, and antagonism. On the other hand soft management in its anxiety to purchase harmony may abdicate itself. McGregor notes that this conventional management approach is inadequate as it creates more problems than it solves. He emphasised the need to study the motivational factors to understand the organisational behaviour. For, he believes, deprivation of needs has behavioural consequences at all levels. Hostility and passivity among employees are not inherent in human nature. They are only symptoms of deprivation of human needs. 'Theory X' explains the consequences of management strategy and it does not explain human nature. The assumptions on human nature under 'theory X' are unnecessarily limiting. Such assumptions prevent the management from seeing possibilities in.other strategies. Even when we use techniques like decentra1,isation and cnnsultative supervision, their implementation would be based on inadequate assumptions of human nature. Finally McCregor emphasises that the assumptions of 'Theory X' would not discover human potentialities in their entirity.
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'Theory X' which represents classifical admi~iistrative theory, as you know, lays stress on

Public Organisations: The Paradigms

efficiency and economy. As the human being tries to avoid work, this inherent human tendency should be counteracted by the management. Therefore, 'Theory X' emphz-ises on directionandcontrol. . 'Theory X' only explains the management strategy. It does not explain as to which factors motivate the employee. This also lays emphasis on manager and makes his job more . difficult and complex. He cannot expect cooperation from his employees if he continually distrusts them. Manager also has to spend a great part of his time on direction and control. This leaves very little time for policy making and planning. McGregor felt that this traditional view is helpful neither to achieve the goals nor to motivate the employees to accomplish the goals. You have studied in unit-10 how Elton Mayo has showrthat analysis of human factor and infonnal organisation are important to fully undersland the organisations. In unit-12 you have studied that according to Simon values of individuals influence the decision-making process in administration. But unfortunately 'Theory X' assumptions do not explain human behaviour in its totality. McGregor, therefore, proposed an alternative theory called 'Theory Y'

13.$ 'THEORY Yy:A NEW THEORY OF MANAGEMENT .


McGregor holds the opinion that 'Theory X' assumptions about organisation, management and man are obstacles to performance,and productivity. They are inadequate to realise all the human potentialities. Therefore, in place of 'Theory X' McGregor proposed a new theory broadly known as 'Theory Y'. This new theory gives a new look to the relationships between human being and management. According to this theory the management is responsible for coordinating the activities in an organisation and for accomplishing its purposes.
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In &is new theory McGregor replaces direction and control by integration. The assumptions about: human nature under 'Theory Y7 are :
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The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. The average human being does not inherently dislike work. Depending upon controllable conditions, work may be a source of satisfaction (and will be voluntarily performed) or a source of punishment (and will be avoided if possible). External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort towards organisational objectivts. Man will exercise self-direction and selfcontrol in the service of objectives to which he is committed. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. The most significant of such rewards, e.g., thp; satisfaction of ego and - self-actualisation needs, can be direct products of efforts directed towards organisational objectives. The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek nsponsibility. Avoidance of responsibility, lack of ambition, and emphasis on security a n generally consequences of experience, not inherent human characteristics. The capacity to kxercise a relatively high. degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solutioniof organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the bopulation. Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utiliskd.

McGregor suggests that there is a need for a new management strategy which is more dynamic than static. This strategy should provide for human growth and development. It should discover the human resources who have substantial potentialities to contribute to the organisations. 'Theory Y' underlines the importance of maintaining an organisation where people feel confident and motivated. It ~emphasises developing and improving performance orientation of the people working in the organisations. It involves lot of leadership skills on the part of the managers to achieve these objectives. The cornerstone of McGregor7s framework is self-restraint, self-direction, goal orientation and human v ~ l u e in s the organisajion.

McGregor says that 'Theory Y7is an invitation to innovation.'~heinnovative ideas

consistent with 'Theory Y' assurnptions me delegation and decentralisaticpn of authority and responsibility; making jobs more and mare appealing by job redesign; participative system of involving more and more people in decision-milking process; and developing appropriate performance appraisal systems. McGregor's 'Thecry Y'eri~phasises integration. % him integration means, "creation of .conditions such that, rlle mernbcr,~ of orgmisation can achieve their own goals best by iirecting their efforts towzrds the success of the enterprisei'. In this, both organisational needs and individual needs are identified and integrated. It implies both management and employees working together. This approach is also known as management by integration and self control. The major steps involved in this process are :
Determining job requirements The manager has to understand the purpose and productivity indicators of his job, so that he can guide his associates towards the achievement of key resiilc areas.

Swlal Psychological Approach Douglas McGregor and Abraham Maslow

Goal setting ' Once the manager knows the purpose of his job, he has to formulate goals with reference to quantity, quality, and time. This is normally done in consultation with one's associates and supervisors. Once there is an agreement on desi'red and committed goals, it will be easier tb evaluate objectively at any point of time in the future. .

In between.period
In between the period of goal setting and its final evaluation in performance appraisal, a manager has to use his self-control and direction to develop his associates. ?'his requires leadership skills on the part of managers. Self appraisal A manager ha's to evaluate his own performance against the goals set and agreed. While doing this analysis he has to measure each of the performance indicators as against the agreed targets. This gives an objective picture of targets and achievements of the manager with reference to quality, quantity and time. It also provides an opportuniiy to analyse the set-backs and short-comings and helps in goal setting in the future. The importance of this step is that it enhances the understanding between the organisation and the individual.

13.9 'THEORY X" AND 'THEORY Y ' : AN EVALUATION


McGregorls 'X and 'Y'theories are based on diametrically opposed assumptions of human nature. The latter theory holds that man is positive with potentiality to development. This has, implications for management. McGregor observes that if eniployees are lazy, indifferent, unwilling to take responsibility,stubborn, noncreative and noncooperative, the cause lies with management's methods of control. Theories 'X'iind 'Y' should not be takeh as neat categories of human relationships. They are only analytical tools through which behaviour can be analysed, predicted and corrected. After McGregor, marly scholars have gone beyond This, 'Theory Y' in analysing the hurhan nature and its implications to ~rganisation. however does not reduce the importance of ~ c ~ r e ~ o contributions. r's
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Check Your Progress 2 ~ o t c : i) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit., i) What is theory 'X"?

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i i ) What are the assurnptions of human iature under'.'Theory Y'?

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Public Organisatiuns: The Paradigms

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13J0 LET US SUM UP -

To sum up Maslow and McGregor are believers in the human side of organisation. Maslow's theory of need hierarchy has the distinction of demarcating between rhe selfinternalisation need and all other needs which satisfy sorne deficiency. McGregor's views and the framework he propounded opened new vistas in management thought. The socialpsycholcgical theorists provided a new technology to understand the age old question of, understanding human beings in organisations.

13.16 KEY WORDS


Decentralisation: Dispersal or distribution of authority throughout all levels cjf management Esteem : Think highly of Hierarchy: Presence of number of tiers or levels, one above the other in the organisation with authority flowing from higher to lower levels. Motivate: Stimulate interest Need: Want, requirement Performance Appraisal: Assessment of how an employee is doing hislher job Supervision: Act of overseeing or guiding the activities of subordinates by superiors Strategy: Plan of action
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13.12 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

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Chandan J.S., 1987. Management Theory & ~ r a c t i c eVikas ; Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. : Nt.w Delhi. Dwivedi R.S., 1979. Human Relations and Organisational Behaviaur; Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. : New Delhi. Hersey Paul and Blanchard Kenneth, 1980. Management of Organisational Behu~iour: Uiilising Nrrman Resources; Prentice Hall of India: New Delhi. McGraw Hill Book Co.: New York. Luthans Fred, 1977. O~~ga~isationalBehaviour; Mathur B.S., 1977. Principles oj Management; National Publishing House: New Delhi. McGregoiDo~glas, 1971. The Human Side of Enterprises; Tata McGraw Hill: New Delhi. Prasad Ravindra D,et. al., (Eds), 1989. Administrative Tl~inkers; Sterling Publishers: New Delhi. Vroom Victor H., 1980. Work and dfotivation; Wiley Eastern: New Delhi,

13.13 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS EXERCISES Check Your Progress 1 i) See Section 13.1 ii) See ~ e c t i b n 13.2 iii) See Section 13.3 iv) See Section 13.4 Check Your Progress 2 i) See Section 13.7 ii) See Section 13.8

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