Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human work motivation  and management. They were created by Douglas Mcgregor while he was working at the MIT Sloan School of management in the 1950s, and developed further in the 1960s.

Theory X- People intrinsically do not want to work, so should be managed and coerced in an authoritative way. Their sole purpose of working is to earn a salary and do no more than is necessary. They do not seek any sense of ownership and have little ambition or motivation to exceed their manager’s expectations. However in this Theory was the “Hard” approach, which is very coercive, micromanagement style and “Soft” which is a bit more off the shoulder, with less rules and regulations. Essentially motivation must be external and administered by management.

Theory Y- This theory is almost the complete opposite of X. People want to work for more than money. They have a sense of internal ambition, motivation and drive. This is also I think ties in with Maslo’s Heirarchy. Manager’s aim to develop personal relationships rather than treating people like robots. They develop them through a sense of democracy. self-direction and a laissez faire attitude.