cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

Individual changeSimilarly social reinforcement could also take the form of ‘naming andshaming’ for ineffective performance.Social reinforcement is not only useful for performance issues, but canbe extremely useful when an organizational culture change is under way.Group approval or disapproval can be a determining factor in definingwhat behaviours are acceptable or unacceptable within the culture. Newstarters in an organization often spend quite some time working outwhich behaviours attract which reactions from bosses and colleagues.Motivation and behaviourThe pure behaviourist view of the world, prevalent in industry up to the1960s, led to difficulties with motivating people to exhibit the ‘right’behaviours. This in turn led researchers to investigate what managementstyles worked and did not work.In 1960 Douglas McGregor published his book The Human Side ofEnterprise. In it he described his Theory X and Theory Y, which looked atunderlying management assumptions about an organization’s workforce,as demonstrated in Table 1.2.Table 1.2Theory X assumptionsPeople dislike workThey need controlling anddirectionThey require securityThey are motivated by threatsof punishmentThey avoid taking responsibilityThey lack ambitionThey do not use theirimaginationTheory X and Theory YTheory Y assumptionsPeople regard work as natural and normalThey respond to more than just controlor coercion, for example recognition andencouragementThey commit to the organization’sobjectives in line with the rewardsofferedThey seek some inner fulfilment from workGiven the right environment peoplewillingly accept responsibility andaccountabilityPeople can be creative and innovativeSource: McGregor (1960)Theory X was built on the assumption that workers are not inherentlymotivated to work, seeing it as a necessary evil and therefore needing23