LECT 02

This lecture was more focused the types of managers and their behaviors. The managers were classified on the basis of their behaviors into “Theory X and Theory Y Managers”.

Theory X managers:

These managers think that most of the people don’t care about the needs of the organization they work for. They think the team lack ambition and has very little creativity and problem-solving capacity. These managers never believe in the potential of their employees. They never think of channelizing the potential of their teams in the right direction to produce the desired results. Instead they don’t encourage the team resulting into dissatisfactory performance of the team.

Theory Y managers:  

As opposed to Theory X managers, Theory Y managers trust their employees. They believe that most of the people are high performers in a proper work environment. These managers will always do something that will keep their employees motivated. The team will also work for the organization with great passion. The motivation is the key these managers use to make the team work in proper direction.

Also there are two types of Employees

1.       Lazy Employees : The employees who don’t take any responsibility and lacking productivity

2.     Good Employees : The employees who take responsibilities and achieving the desired goals

Out of the combination of the nature of employees and the managers, There arise 4 situations described below.

Theory X managers:

Situation 1 : Employees are lazy and the managers also think that they are lazy

This situation the team does not perform at the level it can perform.

Situation 2 : Employees are good and the managers assume that they are lazy

Most of the people think that they have been through this situation. In this situation even if the employees are good and willing to work, their strengths and potentials are not used to that extent. They are never encouraged or motivated by their managers. Such team lacks the healthy communication and synchronization between the levels.

Theory Y managers:

Situation 3 : Employees are lazy but the managers assumes that they are good.

We discussed the classic example of this situation. Even if their child is not doing good in the studies, parents still believe in their child. They always encourage their child to perform better by saying that their child is good. This the way managers can make their employees work and channelize their potential in the right direction to produce the desired goals.

Situation 4 : Employees are good and the managers also think that they are good

This is the best situation people can be into. This is the situation where we can expect maximum productivity out of the team.

LECT 01

Introduction to course

Prof. T. Prasad entered the classroom with many no. of toys in his hands. Everybody was keen to know what those toys were. He welcomed all to NITIE. He put more emphasis on “You have paid a huge amount to come to NITIE ” than the process we have been through to get into NITIE. The basic intention was to inculcate the feeling of responsibility in the students of this young generation. Students should value money. If we have spent such a huge amount of money to study in this centre of excellence then we should be using every moment of our stay here for some productive work, learn as much as we can.

He also talked about “Mandi” and “Hamara Dhanda”. These are the two entrepreneurship activities he stared at NITIE. He inspired students to own their own company and try to make progress in the same area.

He then showed the toys he had brought with him. The toys were very simple in design and involved very basic physics. He threw light on the thing that “We learn things theoretically, But never think about its application”. We should really change the way we study by taking the concepts on more practical grounds.

The most encouraging thing I observed in his addressing was that he always wanted students to address themselves as Managers. He put emphasis on using “I” in place of “manager” in every context. This was really helpful to get the feeling of responsibility.

Exercise

Further he took one small task in the classroom. The task was to put wooden cubes one on the top of the other to build the tower. He asked the entire class to write their estimates on the piece of paper. Everybody came up with the different estimates. Finally the tower was built of 17 cubes. Then he asked if the student is blindfolded then what the estimates will be. Will there be any change in the same?

Most of the class decreased their estimates.

Analysis:

He related these observations of the estimates of the blocks in 3 parts.

Part 1 : The students who decreased their estimates. They are the reflection of the managers who put limits on the goals and lower them looking at the hurdles that might come in their way.

Part 2 : The students who did not change their estimates. They are the reflection of the managers who believe in steady goal settings. They don’t let the hurdles affect the performance.

Part 3 : The students who increased their estimates. They are the reflection of the progressive managers. They believe in their capabilities even if the hurdles come their way

 This was the best way to inculcate the best values of management in the students and study “Principles of Management ”