Foundational Management Concepts: Maslow, Informal Org, McGregor
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow classified human needs into five levels, represented as a pyramid, and which must be met progressively. These needs are a source of motivation, which diminishes once they are met.
- Physiological Needs: Basic survival requirements (e.g., food, water, shelter).
- Security Needs: Appear when physiological needs are sufficiently satisfied. These include personal security, financial security, and health and well-being.
- Social Needs (Love and Belonging): These include the need for love, affection, and to feel accepted by the community.
- Self-Esteem Needs: Involve having confidence in oneself, achieving recognition, and gaining prestige.
- Self-Actualization Needs: The desire to reach one’s full potential and achieve personal growth.
The Informal Organization
The informal organization is a set of personal and social relationships not predetermined by the company’s direction, but arising spontaneously when people interact. It emerges naturally from circumstances such as:
- Personal relationships among members.
- The spontaneous emergence of leaders on issues unrelated to the company’s formal structure.
- The existence of problems and the need for advocacy.
It forms when workers interact with people outside their department, creating informal working groups. These groups are not predetermined and aim to fill gaps created by a poorly defined formal organization, ultimately improving work efficiency.
Understanding Management Functions
Management Definitions
Management: The individuals responsible for performing company tasks to achieve objectives.
To manage a company, there are various levels of management, each responsible for different tasks, typically represented as a pyramid:
- Top Management: Engaged in making long-term plans and responsible for meeting overall objectives.
- Intermediate Level: Responsible for implementing and monitoring overall planning.
- Operational Level: Directly assigns tasks to employees.
Functions of Management and Douglas McGregor’s Theory
At the management level, a manager’s functions can be differentiated as follows:
- Choosing tasks to be performed and classifying the steps to achieve proposed goals.
- Communicating assigned tasks to subordinates.
- Providing instructions to enable task performance.
- Creating positive working environments.
Various management styles exist, generally ranging between two extremes: the purely authoritarian style, characterized by mandatory direct orders, and a more democratic approach where decisions are made participatively.
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor studied the behavior of managers and staff, noting that their approach depended on their perception of workers. From this study, he identified:
- According to Theory X, some individuals are inherently averse to work, lack ambition, prefer to be directed, and resist change. These individuals require an authoritarian management style.
- According to Theory Y, other individuals are willing to work, possess ambition, view effort in work as natural as in play or rest, and seek responsibilities. They thrive under a more flexible and democratic management style.
There are also individuals with intermediate behaviors. Managers should motivate their staff by delegating responsibilities, ensuring employees understand work expectations, providing training opportunities, and offering salaries commensurate with their work and efforts.