MOTIVATION | What is the common ground in Maslow's, Alderfer's, and McClelland's views of human needs?

What is the common ground in Maslow's, Alderfer's, and McClelland's views of human needs?

MOTIVATION | How does the Alderfer’s ERG theory differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory?

How does the Alderfer’s ERG theory differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory?

ANSWER

Maslow’s theory classifies human needs as lower-order needs and higher-order needs. It states that a satisfied need is not a motivator of behavior. It states that five needs exist in a hierarchy and that a need does not become activated until the next-lower-level need is already satisfied. People are expected to advance step by step up the hierarchy in their attempt to satisfy the lowest-level need that is currently unfulfilled.

In contrast, Alderfer’s ERG theory groups human needs into three categories. This theory suggests that any or all needs can influence individual behavior at a given time. ERG theory does not assume that certain needs must be satisfied before other needs become activated. Alderfer also believes that satisfied needs do not lose their motivational impact and that they can become reactivated and influence behavior when a higher-level need cannot be satisfied.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

MOTIVATION | Describe the basic features of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, and McClelland’s acquired needs theory? What guidance does each theory provide to managers?

Describe the basic features of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, and McClelland’s acquired needs theory? What guidance does each theory provide to managers?

ANSWER

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory specifies five levels of human needs that are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. In the hierarchy, lower-order needs include physiological, safety, and social concerns, whereas higher-order needs include esteem and self-actualization concerns. Additional features of the need hierarchy are the deficit principle and the progression principle. The deficit principle holds that a satisfied need is not a motivator of behavior; people act to satisfy needs for which a deficit exists. The progression principle holds that a need at one level doesn’t become activated until the next lower-level need is satisfied. People are expected to advance step by step up the hierarchy. Within this framework, self-actualization needs become stronger when they are satisfied. Therefore, a person should continue to be motivated by opportunities for self-fulfillment as long as the other need levels remain satisfied. (pg. 363)

Alderfer’s ERG theory is an extension of Maslow’s theory. Instead of five need levels, Alderfer proposed three need levels, the first letters of which are identified by the name of the theory itself –– ERG. Existence needs are desires for physiological and material well being. Relatedness needs are desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships. Growth needs are desires for continued psychological growth and development. ERG theory does not assume that lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become activated. ERG theory includes a unique frustration-regression principle whereby an already satisfied lower-level need becomes reactivated when a higher-level need is frustrated. Mangers should help to remove blocks to need satisfaction. (pg. 363)

Two-factor theory argues that different factors are sources of job dissatisfaction and job satisfaction. The job dissatisfaction factors are called hygiene factors and the job satisfaction factors are labeled satisfier factors. Hygiene factors are elements of the job context, including the following: working conditions, interpersonal relations, organizational policies and administration, technical quality of supervision, and base compensation. Improvements in hygiene factors can prevent and/or eliminate job dissatisfaction; they will not improve job satisfaction. Satisfier factors are elements of the job content that include the following: sense of achievement, feelings of recognition, sense of responsibility, advancement opportunities, and feelings of personal growth. Improvements in satisfier factors increase job satisfaction; they will not prevent job dissatisfaction. According to two-factor theory, managers should: (a) recognize that all jobs have two important aspects  what people do in terms of job tasks (i.e., job content) and the setting in which they do it (i.e., job context); (b) always correct poor context to eliminate actual or potential sources of job dissatisfaction; and (c) be sure to build satisfier factors into job content to maximize opportunities for job satisfaction. (pg. 364)

Acquired needs theory proposes that people acquire or develop needs through their life experiences. These needs relate to achievement, power, and affiliation. The need for achievement is the desire to do something better or more efficiently, to solve problems, or to master complex tasks. The need for power is the desire to control other persons, to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for other people. The need for affiliation is the desire to establish and maintain friendly and warm relations with other persons. Managers should create work environments that are responsive to the varying need strengths of people.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

History of Management - Behavioral Approaches & Management Thinking

What did the behavioral management approaches contribute to management thinking? 

Ans:

The basic assumption of the behavioral management approaches is that people are social and self-actualizing. These approaches include the Hawthorne studies, Maslow’s theory of human needs, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, and Argyris’s theory of adult personality. The key contribution of the Hawthorne studies is that people’s feelings, attitudes, and relationships with co-workers influence their performance. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs suggests that managers who can help people satisfy their important needs at work will achieve productivity. Douglas McGregor, the developer of Theory X and Theory Y, argued that managers should devote more attention to people’s social and self-actualizing needs at work. McGregor asserted that managers must shift their perspective from Theory X  a set of negative assumptions about human behavior  to Theory Y  a set of positive assumptions about human behavior. McGregor believed that managers who hold either set of assumptions can create self-fulfilling prophecies — that is, through their behavior they can create situations where subordinates act to confirm the managers’ original expectations. Theory Y assumptions are central to contemporary ideas about employee participation, involvement, empowerment, and self-management. Argyris argued that organizations were too often structured and operated in ways that were incongruous with the needs and characteristics of the adult personality. He maintained that implementation of classical management ideas such as the bureaucratic organization and Fayol’s administrative principles would create conditions for psychological failure among the workers, create dependent and passive workers, cause workers to have little sense of control over their work environments, and undermine worker performance. To have high individual and organizational performance, Argyris advocated transforming organizations so they would be compatible with the capacities and characteristics of the adult personality.

Source: Management, 11th Edition - John R. Schermerhorn

Motivation | Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

List and discuss the five needs that are based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. 

Answer: 

Maslow was a psychologist who proposed that within every person is a hierarchy of five needs:

1. Physiological needs: A person's needs for food, drink, shelter, sex, and other physical requirements.

2. Safety needs: A person's needs for security and protection from physical and emotional harm, as well as assurance that physical needs will continue to be met.

3. Social needs: A person's needs for affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.

4. Esteem needs: A person's needs for internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.

5. Self-actualization needs: A person's needs for growth, achieving one's potential, and self-fulfillment; the drive to become what one is capable of becoming.

Maslow argued that each level in the needs hierarchy must be substantially satisfied before the next need becomes dominant. An individual moves up the needs hierarchy from one level to the next. In addition, Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower levels. Physiological and safety needs were considered lower-order needs; social, esteem, and self-actualization needs were considered higher-order needs. Lower-order needs are predominantly satisfied externally while higher-order needs are satisfied internally.

Managers using Maslow's hierarchy to motivate employees do things to satisfy employees' needs. But the theory also says that once a need is substantially satisfied, an individual is no longer motivated to satisfy that need. Therefore, to motivate someone, you need to understand what need level that person is on in the hierarchy and focus on satisfying needs at or above that level.

Source: Management, 11e (Robbins/Coulter)