A Sociobiological Examination of Management Theory Z

Abstract

A premise of theory Z is that learning is the only significant source of human socialization, however, the theory's aims of individual worker fulfillment and increased aggregate productivity in a pluralistic society may be enhanced if possible instinctual contributions to behavior patterns are considered. Ideological snares in “genetic determinism” and “cultural determinism”are described and an attempt is made to depolarize these alternatives. Basic ideas about evolution and inheritance are explained briefly, with evidences from familial studies, interspecies studies, and brain research. Because societies as pluralistic as the United States are historically unusual, achieving a dynamic equilibrium of multiethnic integration that spans generations requires an unusually creative and predictive effort. Ouchi's notion of the natural mentoring relationship is a possible seed of such creative evolutionary change, suggesting a need for greater general dissemination of occupational information, to help individual teachers and learners to discover each other.