What is Z theory in organizational behaviour?
hi addi, First things first – Theory Z is not a Mcgregor idea and as such is not Mcgregor’s extension of his XY theory. Theory Z was developed by not by Mcgregor, but by William Ouchi, in his book 1981 ‘Theory Z: How American management can Meet the Japanese Challenge’. William Ouchi is professor of management at UCLA, Los Angeles, and a board member of several large US organisations. Theory Z is often referred to as the ‘Japanese’ management style, which is essentially what it is. It’s interesting that Ouchi chose to name his model ‘Theory Z’, which apart from anything else tends to give the impression that it’s a Mcgregor idea. One wonders if the idea was not considered strong enough to stand alone with a completely new name… Nevertheless, Theory Z essentially advocates a combination of all that’s best about theory Y and modern Japanese management, which places a large amount of freedom and trust with workers, and assumes that workers have a strong loyalty and interest in team-work
