Behavioral Science---Theory Y Assumptions in a Non-Theory Y World

Walter Nord
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Walter Nord: Washington University

Interfaces, 1978, vol. 8, issue 2, 61-66

Abstract: In many ways the values summarized by Tannenbaum and Davis (Tannenbaum, R., S. A. Davis. 1969. Values, man, and organizations. Indust. Management Rev. 10 67--86.) are values I would like to promote. Moreover, I am not suggesting that these values are too idealistic to be achievable. I am suggesting that management strategies, that many behavioral scientists hope will support the acceptance of such values, are doomed to failure. This is because these strategies embody implicit assumptions about the nature of people and organizations which are incomplete and/or inaccurate. Assumptions about individuals, without comparable assumptions about the nature of their environments, do not provide a sound basis for effective action. The problem, as I see it, is to design social systems which support the values summarized by Tannenbaum and Davis. Psychological models alone will not provide an adequate foundation for such work. Rather, social, political, and economic changes are needed to encourage the development and survival of systems useful in the real world.

Date: 1978
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