The relationship of managers\u27 Theory X and Theory Y assumptions to managerial participative behavior, employee commitment, and employee absenteeism

The purpose of this study was to implicate managerial assumptions in employee commitment and performance. Twenty-eight first-line managers in a large insurance company was administered the Managerial Philosophies Scale to determine each manager\u27s affinity for Theory X and Theory Y. Two-hundred-nineteen insurance claim processors who were subordinates of the managers were administered a scale of participative decision making which measured each subordinate\u27s perception of his/her manager\u27s participative behavior. Subordinates were also administered a scale of organizational commitment which measured commitment to the employing company. An absenteeism measure was obtained for each subordinate through the use of personnel records. In accordance with management theory posited by Douglas McGregor, it was expected that managers\u27 subscription to Theory X assumptions would be associated with a tendency to seldom allow subordinates to participate in decision making; subordinates so treated were expected to exhibit low organizational commitment and high absenteeism. Conversely, it was expected that managers\u27 subscription to Theory Y assumptions would be associated with a tendency to frequently allow subordinates to participate in decision making; subordinates would respond with high organizational commitment and low absenteeism. Results compatible with expectations were: Managers\u27 use of participative decision making was positively related to subordinates\u27 organizational commitment; and, there was marginal support for a positive relationship between managers\u27 subscription to Theory Y and subordinates\u27 organizational commitment. A result which was opposite from expectation was that managers\u27 participative behavior and subordinates\u27 absenteeism were positively rather than negatively related. Though there was a trend for managerial assumptions to be related to the subordinate attitude of organizational commitment, the study was unable to directly relate managerial assumptions to the subordinate performance measure of absenteeism