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Preferred term

theories X, Y, and Z  

Definition

  • Drawing upon the conventions of the scientific community, the management theorist Douglas McGregor (1906–1964) postulated two theories that he designated with alphabetic characters: Theory X and Theory Y. These theories represent pure archetypes of managerial beliefs about the nature of people that, in turn, influence their managerial and leadership behavior. Theory X Theory X is the belief that people are passive, dislike work, avoid responsibility, and need to be closely supervised and told what to do. [Source: Encyclopedia of Leadership; Theories X, Y, and Z]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/theories_X,_Y,_and_Z

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