Theory of Motivation

Aubrey Rhose T. Insigne
FM 2-2

Theory of motivation

• Clayton Alderfer

He summarized Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into three and first published it first in a 1969 article titled "An Empirical Test of a New Theory of Human Need.”

• Existence needs - This includes the first two levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which are physiological and the safety needs. The needs can be easily attained. Some examples of this are food, water, air, clothing, safety, physical love and affection.

• Relatedness needs - This level relates to Maslow's social needs and to the external part of self-esteem needs – we feel good about ourselves based on what others think about us. Some examples are relationships with significant others like family, friends, co-workers and employers. This also means to be recognized and feel secure as part of a group or family.

• Growth needs - Here, we are looking for personal growth and development by doing work that is of high quality, and meaningful or desires to be creative and productive, and to complete meaningful tasks.. This equates to the internal part of Maslow's self-esteem needs and to his self-actualization needs. Some examples are to progress toward one's ideal self). Maslow's fourth and fifth levels.

To summarize, Existence needs are the most concrete, and easiest to verify. Relatedness needs are less concrete than existence needs, which depend on a relationship between two or more people. Finally, growth needs are the least concrete in that their specific objectives depend on the uniqueness of each person.

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• David McClelland

In his in his 1961 book 'The Achieving Society', David McClelland expounds on his acquired-needs theory. He proposed that an individual's specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by one's life experiences. He described three types of motivational need. A person's motivation and effectiveness in certain job functions are influenced by these three needs.

• Achievement Motivation (n-ach) – A person under the achievement motivation often  has a strong need to set and accomplish challenging goals. He takes calculated risks to accomplish their goals and he likes to receive regular feedback on their progress and achievements. Often he/she likes to work alone.
• Affiliation Motivation (n-affil)-  A person under affiliation motivation wants to belong to the group.  He also wants to be liked and will often go along with whatever the rest of the group wants to do . He also favors collaboration over competition and lastly he doesn't like high risk or uncertainty.
• Authority/power motivation (n-pow/nP) – A person under authority/power motivation wants to control and influence others and he likes to win arguments. Also, he enjoys competition and winning and enjoys status and recognition. Those with a strong power motivator are often divided into two groups: personal and institutional. People with a personal power drive want to control others, while people with an institutional power drive like to organize the efforts of a team to further the company's goals.

• Frederick Hezberg

        He had close links with Maslow and believed in a two-factor theory of motivation. He argued that there were certain factors that a business could introduce that would directly motivate employees to work harder .However there were also factors that would de-motivate an employee if not present but would not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder .