Discuss Carson's view in the context of the history of management Essay

Discuss Carson's view in the context of the history of management theory and evaluate the relevance of McGregor's theories t - Essay Example The theories were based on a number of assumptions which a manager can use to motivate his employees (Koontz and Weihrich 2007). Managers who apply theory X in their management practices believe that employees do not like work. People are generally lazy and do not like responsibility. They avoid work and lack ambition and as a result, managers have to direct them and force them to work. On the other hand, managers who apply theory Y believe that employees are self -motivated, like work and are responsible. However, according to Carson (2005), â€Å"McGregor did not originate these ideas; he just made them easy for practitioners to use and implement in their work environments.† This paper discusses Carson’s view in the context of the history of management and also evaluates the relevance of McGregor’s theories to the contemporary leisure industry. Early foundations of theory Y The foundations of theory Y can be traced back to as early as 1690. The initial ideas of the theory were introduced by Locke in the year 1690 and Smith 1776. The philosophy by Locke was law based. The four ideas in his philosophy were; law based on purpose rather than arbitrary, government deriving powers from its citizens, freedom to pursue personal objectives as a natural right, as well as use of private property in search of happiness as a legally protected and natural right. These ideas have a connection with theory Y in that they all focus on an individual (Carson 2005). It is important to note that theory Y and theory X focus on individual behavior and their motives to work. Locke suggested that power, legal matters and liberty are influential at personal pursuance of goals and objectives. People need to be given the freedom to do their own things. He argued that individuals use their own properties in order to pursue happiness and objectives and they should not be dictated on how to achieve that fate. This is the same manner with which McGregor placed his theory . He argued that managers do not have to put much pressure on employees for them to perform. Instead, they should have faith in them. Each individual employee should be given a responsibility and the employer should trust him or her with it. Employers and managers should give employees freedom to carry out their duties (Lussier and Achua 2010). Smith presented an idea similar to that by Locke in that it focused on freedom. His liberal economics were developed in a period when there was less government control and interjection. The government interjection was similar to the assumption in McGregor’s theory X that people do not like work, have little ambition and tend to avoid responsibility. Smith advocated for a free market that gives an opportunity for competition. For a free market to be achieved, people should be accorded the liberty to make decisions on their own (Lusch and Vargo 2006). This was a foundational idea to the assumption by McGregor in his theory Y which indica ted that managers do not have to input external control or threat of punishment to make employees work towards achieving the organizational objectives. He suggested that man has the ability to exercise self- control as well as self- direction towards achieving the goals to a service in which they are committed (Carson 2005). Further foundation to McGregor’s theory was developed when Owen in the year 1857 expressed his beliefs that workers are a valuable asset to an organization. He felt that managers should realize the value in