Theories of Motivation: Analysis of Maslow and McClelland

Theories of Motivation: Analysis of Maslow and McClelland â€Å"Why are there multiple theories of ‘motivation in organizational behaviour? Discuss this question by including a critical evaluation of two theories of motivation.† The purpose for writing this essay is to describe different motivational theories by concentrating on how managers motivate employees in an industry with a high level of turnover and low levels of motivation. This essay will mainly evaluate Maslows hierarchy of needs theory and McClellands Needs of Achievement theory and it will include other theories to support the argument.   Many organisations face difficulties when trying to motivate their staff to complete a given task. If the employees are motivated the company is likely to be successful and achieve set goals. To be able to understand motivation and the way it works, first we have to understand human nature itself. In some cases this could be a straightforward process however in others it could be very complex. There has to be an effective management and leadership to guide employees through the motivation stages. Many companies believe that pay is the prime motivator, however nowadays people may want to exceed acknowledgment, participation and heightened sense of worth at the workplace. This is where empowerment plays a very important part in a companys progression as it is supported by R.French. â€Å"Empowerment is the process by which managers delegate power to employees to motivate greater responsibility in balancing the achievement of both personal and organisational goals†. (French, R., Rayner, 2008, page page 184) By empowering employees this will make the staff more satisfied, productive and motivated throughout their working hours. Throughout the years many theorists have tried to explain what motivation is by designing theories describing how managers should stimulate their staff. The two approaches to motivation are Content and Progress theories and they were published in 1950s. Content theories explain the specific factors that may stimulate people within the organisation by analysing the individuals needs and trying to assume what can motivate their behaviour. On the other hand a Process theory highlights the thought process by examining how and why individuals decide one action over another at the organisation.   This theory mainly focuses on the persons beliefs and how certain performances will lead to rewards such as pay raise and promotion. While both content and progress theories are central in helping us to understand motivation this essay will focus on the content approach in particular the classic motivational theory of Maslows hierarchy and David McClelland needs for achievement.   Abraham Maslow created the Hierarchy of needs theory in 1940-50s and to this day its still popular with managers. He developed the hierarchy to understand human motivation, management training, and personal development by creating five distinct levels. Maslow designed two main strategies lower order needs and higher order needs. Lower order needs includes Physiological needs (these are the most basic human needs such as food, and water etc) moving one level up is safety needs (which would be need for security, protection and stability). After an individual has exceeded the lower order needs mentioned above, he or she moves on to higher order needs which are Social needs (need for love, affection, relationship with another person), Esteem needs (respect, self esteem, need of esteem from others etc) and after achieving the previous 4 levels the person progresses to the desired level Self actualisation will motivate both employees and employers. (French R, 2009, page160) However with every motivation theory there has always been disadvantages. Maslow himself has been critical about the theory he created and in a statement he said:â€Å"My motivation theory was published 20 years ago and in all that time nobody repeated it, or tested, or really analyzed it or criticised it. They just used it, swallowed it whole with only the minor modification† (Wilson, F.M 2004, page 146) In approaching this problem Maslows work has faced a great deal of criticism to whether or not the concepts are different depending on culture. In countries such as Japan and Greece lower order needs such as security motivates employees to work harder more than self actualisation. (R. Rayner, 2009, page 162). Unfortunately those countries have lower employment opportunities; therefore residents mainly focus on security needs rather than self actualisation. Whereas some managerial companies disregard the lower order needs and go directly to higher order needs such self esteem and self actualisation. â€Å"Hall and Nougaim have found that as managers advanced, safety needs became less important while higher order needs were more important but this could be explained by a process of career change and advancement†. Wilson, F.M (2004, page 147) The above two statements suggest that people do not follow the traditional process of the hierarchy. Maslow believes that individuals are motivated by unmet needs which are in a hierarchical order; people have to keep moving up the hierarchy in order to succeed, this method has not been followed due to cultural difference and managerial configuration. Touching onto Alderfers ERG theory he argues that Maslows theory is not flexible and as a result of this people may become frustrated as they are not able to move to the next stage. Alderfer has minimized Maslows 5 stages into 3 levels: existence needs, relatedness needs and growth needs.   This theory is more flexible as people can downgrade a level if they cant achieve the higher stage. After having evaluated Maslows hierarchy theory, this essay will now focus on McClelland need for achievement theory. Peoples needs keep changing as well as their career occupations. Some seek the need for achievement as a way of motivating themselves at the workplace. Over the years this observable fact has fascinated David McClelland. After spending 20 years studying at Harvard University McClelland and his associates tried to identify the urge to achieve. They began a long research using Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) as an evaluation of individual needs of different people. This is a technique that asks people to develop a spontaneous story for each photo. David McClelland used the feedback from people and collected data and facts on motivation. After a series of tests using the TATs technique, David McClelland was able to identify three needs, which he believes are important in understanding human motivation and behaviour. These are; the need for achievement (nAch), need for affiliation (nAff) and need for power (nPower). Need for achievement is concentrating on those individuals who seek to excel and therefore tend to avoid low and high risks situations. They have a desire to achieve something superior and get to the bottom of problems as well as completing difficult tasks. They need regular feedback from managers in order to view their progress of their achievement. On the other hand need for affiliation is about creating harmonious connections with other individuals. This group of people may perform well in customer service and consumer interactions situations. Last of David McClelland needs is need for power, this assemblage of people are mainly focused on taking control over others, manage their behaviour or be in charge. Like Maslows Hierarchy theory, David McClellands acquired needs theory has its disadvantages and criticism from other theorists. Erikson proposes that ‘The need to achieve is a behaviour that is only acquired and developed during early childhood therefore if its not mastered at an early stage it cannot be achieved in adult life. French, R. Rayner C, Rees. G, Rumbles.S, Organisational Behaviour, 2009 However on the other hand McClelland argues that the need to achieve is behaviour and it can be done through training in adulthood Ref: R, French, Organisational Behaviour, 2009, page 164 McClelland has already put into practice training in countries such as Kakinda and India and taught people to think, talk and act as high achievers. Other critics have disagree with the influencing attributes of entrepreneurs are dominant. High needs of achievement individuals are continuously competing with standards of excellence. Further, they are involved with tasks of moderate difficulty. ‘The argument that need for achievement is the dominant motive disposition for entrepreneurs may be in conflict then with other research (Langan- Fox and Roth 1995) Wilson, F.M (2004). Organisational behaviour and work. Oxford University press, page146 (Lowry 1982:63) TAT test was also criticised by organisations due to the length of the examination and the complexity in conducting it. Taking an overlook at the most well know motivational theories, I have been overwhelmed by the demand and expectations each author expects from the individuals. Theorists such as Maslow believe that individuals are motivated by unmet needs which are in a hierarchical order; people have to keep moving up the hierarchy in order to succeed.   Whereas Herzberg states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on the same range. He believes motivation can cause satisfaction or no satisfaction, as well as hygiene factors can cause dissatisfaction when absent and no dissatisfaction when present. McClellands need for achievement takes it future as he underlies Maslows Hierarch theory self-actualization. However McGregors Theory Y equals much of Maslows self-actualization level of motivation. His theory focuses on self-direction, self-control, and maturity control motivation. Reward systems are an important factor when managers want to motive their staff.   I believe that fulfilling extrinsic aims is a very common method used to motivate individuals at their work place. Managers can not follow just one of the above theories as each individual has different ways in which they are motivated. I believe that motivation cannot be forced onto an employee; it has to come within them. If a certain person does not enjoy their work environment it will be impossible for them to be motivated. Over the years theorists have tried to create a theory to accommodate the needs both employers and employees, therefore at the present time we have a huge variety of motivational theories to choose from. Having closely looked at Maslows hierarchy of needs theory and McClellands acquired needs theory ,I have come to a conclusion that both theories demonstrate peoples motivation needs, however this a complex process because most individuals are not aware of their motives, their needs and expectations keep chancing.   Each of the above theories has its advantages as well as disadvantages; its up to the individual to choose which one of them works best.

Popular Piety Refers to Religious Practices Essay

1) Popular piety refers to religious practices that arise and occur outside of the official faith. Typically the term is used within the context of the Catholic Church forms of popular piety can be seen from as far back as Ancient Rome when the people would practice pious exercises to their goods, family and homelands. 2) –Sinulog is an annual festival held n the third Sunday of January in Cebu city and maasin city, southern Leyte, Philippines. The festival commemorates the bisayan people’s pangan origin and their coceptance of Roman Catholicism. -Santacruzan religious historical beauty held in many cities, towns and even small villages throughout the Philippines during month of Mary. -Simbang gabi or misa de Gello is a nine-day novena, honoring Mother Mary is a centuries old-of Jesus Christ, it begins on Dec.16 and ends on the mid of the 24th of Dec night which is the midnight mass. -Black Nazareno known to devotees in Spanish as Nuestra Padre Jesus Nazareno is a life dark wooden scripture of Jesus Christ carrying the cross believed to s miraculous by many Filipino Catholics. -Pahiyas is the time when people in Lucban, Quzon give thank to san isidro Labrador for a good harvest – pahiyas means â€Å" decor† every may 15 the fronts of house are elaborately decorated with brightly colored. 3) Because some confided their petitions were granted. Whatever the intentions may be, it certainly is an opportunity to thank the Lord for blessings received, especially for reaching another Christmas and a New Year. The nine-day Misa de Gallo is also one of the best ways of preparing  spiritually for the blessed season of Christmas which has become more and more materialistic and commercialized.

The Strategy Experience Free Essay Example, 1250 words

This was discussed owing to the fact that cultural issues impact the business and hence it was important to get insights into the culture. The framework used for underpinning cultural differences was Hofstede’s cultural dimension framework. Lastly, consultants report on opportunities in digital media was the topic of discussion. The robust development of digital media created opportunities for the business houses (Bull and Compton, 2006). This was probably the biggest driver to discuss about this issue. It has been also observed that WRSX Group gives enormous importance to the reports of consultants and devised strategies on these bases only. The aforementioned factors were discussed with the notion that the profitability of the firm will increase with these agendas. In addition, the aforementioned factors also have the ability to make comprehensive development of the company. In the next board meeting, the first topic of discussion was client churn- critical success factors. This was principally discussed because knowing customer requirements was extremely important in order to retain them. Reports have already shown that the WRSX Group has already started to lose their consumers in the US market. We will write a custom essay sample on The Strategy Experience or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Hence, this was an essential discussion. CSF model was used to sort out this issue. Next was sponsorship opportunity and this was an effort to strengthen marketing initiatives. Although financial cost is low but the benefits are questionable. As a result of that, the company had chosen to go with brand endorsement with celebrities. The next was knowledge sharing and communication coordination, the aim was to win orders through better coordination with the external stakeholders. Strategic capabilities and competitive advantage were the two key frameworks used in this context. In the similar way, corporate governance was also discussed with the aim of strengthening the company’s law and order and also promotes transparency (Love and Bullen, 2009). Most of the decisions in the meeting were made by applying theoretical models and it supported the decision making process greatly. Moreover as a result of that the company succeeded to resolve or min imize the possible conflicts that could have taken place. The other factors not discussed in the meeting because owing to the current market trend, those factors were found to be more important and thus required attention of the management. The key issues in the third board meeting were launching cine FX in London and New York - core and non core business services, changing organisational structure so as to meet the strategic challenges facing the company, ways to minimize the printing cost - the power of buyers / suppliers in procurement and market opportunity in the Asian SMEs - strategic directions, diversification or through market development.

A Study On Nursing Practice - 1692 Words

I have chosen this article because as a nurse we will come across this kind of service users in the hospital environment and understanding their experiences will helps to improve the quality of care given to the patients. In nursing practice, research is one of the main tools available to question practice and seek answers and also to generate knowledge for nursing staff to contribute towards the development of nursing as a profession (Parahoo, 2006).Therefore, to ensure nursing practice is effective both for patients’ and nurses’ perspectives, it has to be questioned and improved where necessary (Boswell and Cannon, 2014). It is vital for nurses to have the ability to critique research in order to identify what is best practice for caring the patients and to deliver best practice to the care and underpin evidence based practice (Boswell and Cannon, 2014).It has been stated by (Peat 2001 citied in; John and ward 2007) critique is to identify the issue of the study. The critique framework by (Caldwell K et al 2005) will be used here to guide my research. The research topic is very easy to understand and it clearly indicates what the article is about. It clearly indicates the target group. The research paper is about the elderly people with mental health problems admitted in the hospital and the family carers are also affected by it. It takes the qualitative approach. (Ellis,2013) states that nurses gain their better understanding by providing direct care to the patientsShow MoreRelatedThe Study and Practice of Nursing1101 Words   |  4 Pages Transforming Practice, Education, and Leadership The field of nursing is one that has profound impact on medicine, health care, and society. There has been increased interest in the study and practice of nursing in the 21st century around the world. It is a growing field with a solid global reputation of necessity and respect. 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