Theory Y Can Still Work

READ "THE HUMAN SIDE OF ENTERPRISE" (2006, McGraw-Hill) by Douglas McGregor, newly released in an annotated edition, updated and with commentary by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld of MIT's Sloan School of Management.

That imperative is about as commanding and controlling as you can get, and about as

far as you can get from McGregor's Theory Y approach to managing working behavior. The theory, which McGregor advanced more than 40 years ago, asperts that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed. It has been incorporated into contemporary management principles and is one of the criteria that INDUSTRYWEEK uses annually in the selection of IW's Best Plants.

McGregor's impact on contemporary management in manufacturing-to the extent there is an impact-regretfully remains more at the level of articulated principle than actual practice. Think about what those personnel review forms say and then contrast those words with the behavior and results that really get rewarded. That's not to say fundamental change-even more than four decades after Mcpregor first encouraged it-can't happen. For example, W. James McNerney, the new chairman (and CEO at Boeing Co., has the smarts and the personality to alter the command-and-control at the aerospace giant, to nurture the human side of that enterprise while, at the same time, competing very effectively against arch-rival Airbus SAS. -JOHN S. McCLENAHEN