Showing papers on "Theory X and Theory Y published in 1975"

Organizational Legitimacy: Social Values and Organizational Behavior

Abstract: Organizations seek to establish congruence between the social values associated with or implied by their activities and the norms of acceptable behavior in the larger social system of which they are a part. Insofar as these two value systems are congruent we can speak of organizational legitimacy. When an actual or potential disparity exists between the two value systems, there will exist a threat to organizational legitimacy. These threats take the form of legal, economic, and other social sanctions. In this paper, it is argued that an empirical focus on organizational efforts to become legitimate can aid in explaining and analyzing many organizational behaviors taken with respect to the environment, and further, can generate hypotheses and a conceptual perspective that can direct additional attention to the issue of organizational legitimacy. This paper provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of organizational legitimacy and the process of legitimation through which organizations act to increase their perceived legitimacy. It presents a number of examples including a discussion of the American Institute for Foreign Study as a demonstration of these ideas in action. Both the particular circumstances which can lead to problems of organizational legitimacy and some of the actions that can be taken to legitimate an organization are illustrated.

Organizational Control: Two Functions.

Abstract: William G. Ouchi and Mary Ann Maguire A distinction is drawn between two modes of organizational control, one based on personal surveillance, behavior control, and the other based on the measurement of outputs, output control. A study of employees over five levels of hierarchy shows that the two modes of control are not substitutes for each other, but are independent of each other, The evidence suggests that output control occurs in response to a manager's need to provide legitimate evidence of performance, while behavior control is exerted when means-ends relations are known and thus appropriate instruction possible.

Theory of Change and the Effective Use of Management Science.

Abstract: Dale E Zand and Richard E Sorensen A theory of social change formulated by Kurt Lewin was used as a framework to investigate conditions in the successful application of management science Several hypotheses about change are derived, and questionnaires developed to assess forces affecting change A sample of 154 management scientists provided information about successful and unsuccessful change projects Successful projects were found to have a preponderance of favorable forces in each of three phases of change: unfreezing, moving, and refreezing The research also suggested that favorable and unfavorable forces in each phase of change were not simple opposites The study indicated that many forces may affect the success of a change; such as, recognition by management of the need for change, the openness of management about its difficulties, and their confidence in the management scientist, the participation of management in gathering data and choosing a solution, the efforts of management scientists to reinforce the new behavior of management, the measurability of results, and the involvement of top management Although the change efforts studied in this research were projects in management science, the findings seem relevant and generalizable to other change efforts

Theories of Management: Implications for Organizational Behavior and Development

Abstract: to overtake short-run considerations. Involved in the day-to-day operations of keeping an agency well staffed, the personnel man has little time to consider the long-range implications of the pragmatic compromises he makes every day. The practitioner in public personnel administration who feels this way about his work will be wise to read Professor Shafritz's latest book. Shafritz argues that many of these compromises result in perversion of the merit system, but that this perversion is a relatively normal condition in personnel management that may actually benefit the system. Essentially, the merit system arose as a series of controls, procedures, and accountability in response to abuses in government personnel aclministration. Although undoubtedly well meaning, these counteractions restricted the ability of the personnel officer to do his essential jobto obtain and retain the best employees to do the work of the agency. Shafritz points out that a "scrounger mentality" is often found in American public bureaucracies. A successful personnel officer is expected to produce results, even if this requires bending the rules. An ends-justify-the-means attitude ensues and the successful personnel officer produces the results desired. It is clear that applying a scrounger mentality to public personnel administration undermines the governing principle of the system. The question is: does this mentality exist because of the rigidity of the system or because of political pressures? Can the merit in the merit system be renewed? The author calls for a revitalization of government personnel administration through position management by "analysis of an organization's work to assure that it relates meaningfully to the agency's mission, and for the making of decisions on organizational structure and job design that will insure the most advantageous use of the organization's manpower." He suggests that managers should think diagnostically about personnel problems and that low employee productivity can be overcome. Shafritz's analysis of personnel as the organizational underachiever and description of the "netherworld" of public personnel management are accurate and incisive. He holds out a bit of optimism, however, for the future of public personnel management in the movement toward elimination of cultural bias in testing (brought about by Griggs v. Duke Power Company) and toward participatory management that involves employee labor unions. This book is well written and its thesis is supported by lucid text and voluminous citations. While it is doubtful that everyone would accept the concept of a merit system that is fully politicized-for that is the antithesis of a merit system-many of us who have been unhappy with the somewhat substandard results obtained from existing merit systems would feel that some improvement is called for. This volume can be an important catalyst, at least, in getting personnel managers in government to think about the ends they wish to attain and appropriate means to these ends.

A Multi-Systems Theory of Organizational Communication:

Abstract: A unified theory of organizational communication is presented which explains the variety of communication behaviors with which organizations must deal, including internal communication, internal-external communication, and interorganizational communication. The theory is developed from the concepts of system openness, structural constraints, and synchronic and diachronic communication. Application of the theory is demonstrated with data from five separate studies of employee communications, communication with consumers, organization-clientele communication in a community development agency, total organizational communication, and communication between organized interest groups.

A Study of Theory X-Theory Y Managerial Attitudes and Attitudes Toward Organizational Power of Managers in the Public Utilities Industry in the New Orleans Area.

Abstract: An empirical study was conducted to test the relationship between the Theory X or Theory Y orientation of managers in the public utilities industries in the New Orleans area and their attitudes toward the exercise of power. Based on the theories of Douglas McGregor, it was hypothesized that managers with Theory X orientation would have significantly different attitudes toward such concepts as managerial authority, to direct, to advise, etc., than would managers with Theory Y orientation. Thirteen concepts were selected and atti­ tudes toward them were measured by the semantic differential with nine bipolar, adjectival, seven-point scales. There were 139 subjects in the study and 112 were classified as Theory Y oriented based on their agreement with a series of state­ ments descriptive of Theory Y assumptions. The attitudes of the Theory Y managers were found not to differ significantly from the attitudes of the Theory X managers toward any of the concepts related to the exercise of power. Three factors emerged from factor analysis of the semantic differential results. These factors were given names to encompass the polar adjectives of the scales with which they were most highly corre­ lated. They were labeled the hero factor, the guillotine factor, and the ease factor. The hero factor correlated highly with the adjectival scales successful-unsuccessful, effective-ineffective, fair-unfair, x Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. important-unimportant, and strong-weak. This factor accounted for 45.0 per cent of the total variance, and 64.6 per cent of the common variance in the scale ratings. The guillotine factor correlated with the scales severe-lenient, and fast-slow. The ease factor correlated only with the scale easy-difficult. The semantic distances between the two pairs of concepts, managerial authoritymanagerial power and to coerce to direct did not differ significantly for the two groups. Theory Y managers made a significantly greater distinction between the concepts to direct and to coerce than between the concepts to direct and £o advise, indicating that the latter pair were closer in meaning. However, Theory X managers did not differ from Theory Y managers; they also perceived to direct to be closer in meaning to _to advise than to to coerce. Theory X and Theory Y managers did differ significantly in their attitude toward the concept worker. However, the semantic dis­ tances between higher-status and lower-status positions did not differ significantly for the two groups. In summary, Theory X managers differed from Theory Y managers about the meaning of the concept worker, but not in their attitudes toward concepts related to the exercise of managerial power. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Creativity--in 'open' organizational communication.

Abstract: Creative Interchange and General Semantics, when interrelated, form the basis for a concept and a process of creativity. From General Semantics is drawn the processes of abstracting, time-binding, and multidimensionality--necessary ingredients for creative expressing. Creative Interchange contributes the interconnecting processes which freight the concepts and provide the organizational climate. The creative process is defined as one of connecting and applying in a different way the nonconscious experiences of man. Because man is a time-binder, he can use his past and present experiences to solve current organizational problems more efficiently.

Symposium on organizational communication, 1975

Abstract: (1975). Symposium on organizational communication, 1975. Journal of Applied Communication Research: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 103-116.