Analysis of Maslow’s Motivation Theory and its relationship with Organizational

Behavior.

Abstract: This paper analyses the role of Abraham Maslow’s need theory in organizational
behavior. Motivated workplace is a valuable asset that creates value in strengthening business
and revenue growth for an organisation. Engagement will succeed if the appropriate
individual with the required skillset is made accountable for the task, else it would result in a
disuse of time and resources and will lead to job dissatisfaction. The objective of the paper is
to analyse the impact of employee engagement on employment gratification and success of
organisations. This analyses aims to enunciate the motivational philosophy advocated by
Maslow, titled as a need hierarchy theory. Here, the principle involved is well established by
the analyses of the literature available. It also discusses the administrative implications in
organizations of this philosophy and the critique it encounters. Increasing employee
satisfaction requires motivational factors.

Keywords; Abraham Maslow, hierarchy, organization, motivation, needs, theory, behavior.

Introduction

Every organization's success depends on the effective use of different development variables.
Development considerations such as robots can be non-human and their effective use would
depend on the state of the art technology and the skill of those responsible for using them.
Overall business success often depends on the effective use of human resources. Human
resources success is dependent on two factors, firstly their ability to work and secondly their
willingness to work. Ability is a function of factors such as awareness, abilities, experience,
etc. One can do a specific task, despite his skills and abilities. But he may lose the willingness
to work at the same time. The will is the consistency or state in which something is planned
or ready to be finished. Therefore, skill is nothing without will. The willingness to work can
be founded on human resources by inspiration. This will help the company to ensure the best
possible use of resources.
According to E. F. L. Brech, “ Motivation is a general inspirational process which gets the
members of a team to pull their weights effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry
out properly the tasks that they accepted and generally to play an effective part in the job that
the group has undertaken.”

The nature of man is social and public or collective life is one of the oldest and most
persistent characteristics of human survival on this planet. Because of this inherent desire for
living and working with others a number of social groups including families, clubs, party,
support group, association, etc. predominate. Human beings are connected in a chain of social
relations that are relatively defined. We can therefore conclude that our society is structured
through a network of vast and multidimensional organizations, which regulate every field of
human operation in almost all countries. The term Organization is an unit in which two or
more individuals work together to achieve a goal like a company, a school, a club, etc., whilst
the term conduct emphasizes the movements and responses of an individual or group towards
their work, e.g. an individual feels very happy and happy about an important work in which
there is a hidden opportunity.

The "motivation to work" written by Maslow probably provided a different point of view of
approach to employee task altitudes or attitudes in realising how people became driven in the
area of organizational behaviour and management. This theory has certainly launched the
best-known conceptualisation of individual needs in organisations. Abraham Maslow was a
clinical psychologist who developed his philosophy based on personal judgement, generally
known as the relational theory of need. According to him if people have grown up in an
environment where their needs are not fulfilled, they are unable to work as healthy
individuals or well-adjusted people.

Maslow explicitly theorized that individuals have five different types of needs and are
hierarchically enabled. This ensures that these requirements or necessities are created in a
certain order, from base to summit, such that before the next order is activated and the cycle
continues, the lowest order needs have to be fulfilled.
Physiological needs: these are the most significant requirements in terms of human life. It
will be difficult to maintain the human body if these needs are not met. Physiological criteria
type for milk, housing, fabric, etc. First of all, an individual will try to meet these criteria.
Once these requirements are met, one goes on to the other needs of the hierarchy. Given the
importance of meeting physiological needs, in Maslow's hierarchy it is the main priority.

Security requirements: Security needs are next in the list. Security means liberating
ourselves from terror. People may be afraid of different forms, e.g. fear of job loss, house
loss, money. Besides economic security, citizens may also look for physical safety from
accidents, fire, killings, etc. Satisfaction with the need for protection is one of the key
motivators of people. The organization can offer its employees security through the provision
of lower-cost insurance and pension schemes, permanent employment, housing or housing
loans etc.

Social Needs: Wishing to be socially relevant is always an incentive. Once a person is safe
from economic and physical threats, a meaningful relationship is needed. A person's social
needs are met by his being socially important and accepted by others. A human is a social
being and needs people to talk, exchange feelings and belong. The development of informal
organizational groups is the outcome of employees ' social needs. Therefore, informal groups
play an important role in meeting employees ' social needs. Instead of trying to control the
formation, management should try to benefit from this sort of informal organizations.
Esteem Needs: After the fulfillment of social needs, then emerges the confidence
requirements. These are also called Ego or Power desires. Both needs are associated with
reputation and power. Individuals want to be in command and order. We want to be special
and above everyone. It is concerned with their self respect, self confidence, appreciation,
accomplishment, ability, expertise, etc. If these needs are not met, feelings of inferiority or
failure can emerge.
Self-Actualization Needs: Self-realization or self-fulfillment desires are the strongest in the
principle of need hierarchy. Once all of the above criteria are met, it requires you to improve
yourself. It includes knowing all the talent and innovation he can do. You try to develop your
latent talents and take difficult tasks. This is also beneficial to people and culture as a whole.
Psychological happiness is not bodily or economic fulfillment, but the primary reason here.
At this step of need hierarchy, very few people arrive.
Maslow's theory is based on assumptions. He was of the view that the desires play a major
role in shaping human behaviour. Primary motivation is the desire in fulfil unmet needs. A
major feature of this theory is the hierarchical organization of requirements. Maslow claimed
that needs occur in a specific order or sequence. This sequence does not alter and as we
progresses from the first to the fifth level of needs the importance of the needs continues to
decrease. Meeting physiological needs is therefore more important than pursuing self-
actualisation. The important principle of Maslow's theory is that one won't move to the higher
needs unless the lower (in hierarchy) needs are completely satisfied. So a met need is no
longer a motivator. It is the unmet need that affects one's actions. To the degree that some
needs are unmet, one will continue to work to satisfy them. Once it is completely satisfied
there will be another need. Because human needs are limitless, this cycle of meeting unmet
needs continues throughout the individual's life.

Maslow’s ' biggest need for philosophy rests in the practical implications it has for any
corporate management.(Greenberg & Baron 2003 p.195). The theory's logic lies in the fact
that it can recommend to executives how to self-actualize their staff or subordinates. This is
because staff who are self-actualized are likely to work to their optimum creative potential. It
is therefore important to ensure that workers reach that stage by helping companies meet their
needs.
Recognize employee’s accomplishments: Recognizing the contributions of workers is an
effective tool to satisfy their demands for recognition. This might possibly be accomplished
in terms of awards, plagues etc. According to (Greenberg & Baron 2003, p197) research
undertaken in Temple Terrace's GTE Data Services, Florida reveals that awards are given to
staff who are finding ways to improve the quality or market efficiency of customers. But it
should be remembered that according to Greenberg & Baron honors, only when specifically
associated with desirable habits are successful in improving confidence. So general, awards
fail to meet this criteria.
Provide financial security: This factor is essential in respect to the employee’s need for
health. But companies require to keep them financially secure by including them in the
organization's profit sharing to inspire their workers. In a research conducted by AT&T and
Wang, it has been shown that 50 percent of their employees provided financial outplacement
services to help laid-off staff find new jobs.
Provide opportunities to socialize: Socialization is one of the causes that leaves workers
enjoying the pleasure of teamwork. While staff work as a team their output tends to increase.
Work carried out in esteemed corporations like IBM shows it conducts a "family day" picnic
every spring at its offices in New York (USA).
Promote a healthy work force: Organizations may help achieve physiological needs of their
workers by providing stimulus to maintain their health, both psychologically and in general.
Research conducted at both Hershey Foods and Edison Company have shown that employees
are indemnified with health care insurance rebates while those with harmful activities such as
drinking are given extra premiums.

Maslow suggested that if people were to grow up in an environment where their needs are not
fulfilled, it would be impossible that happy, well-adjusted individuals would work. Research
testing the theory of Maslow has supported the segregation between inadequacies and
necessities for growth, but has shown that not everyone on the job are able to meet their
higher-order targets. Based on the findings of the study conducted on the managers employed
in higher echelons of companies, we notice that they are able to satisfy both their
developmental and lower-level insufficiency needs. This theory has not yet received any
conclusive backing regarding the particular notion it proposes (Greenberg & Baron 2003,
p195). For them, this pattern is theorized as being particularly effective in explaining the
behavior of people who are high in growth need intensity as workers who depart from the
idea of increasing their growth will not understand any physiological reaction to their work.
While conducted this survey among a cross-section of the labor force in Los Angeles, Centers
& Bgental (1966,.193) reported that "context factors, altitudes and desires influence the needs
of workers, perceptions and condition appraisal." Based on Graham & Messner (1998,
p.196), three major criticisms are usually pointed out in the desire theory and other incentive
hypotheses of substance.
(A) Scarce scientific data are available to support their arguments,
(b) We conclude that workers are essentially identical, and
(c) These are not at all theories of motivation, nor theories of job satisfaction.
This was endorsed in Graham & Messner's opinions of Nadler & Lawler (1979) (2000, p
188). EOLBREAK Nadler & Lawler (1979), cited in Graham & Messner (2000,p.198),
where he also rejected the reward theory of need. We claim that the principle generally makes
the following unrealistic assumptions about workers: (a) all employees are alike (b) all
conditions are alike and (c) there is only one best way of meeting needs. Basset-Jones &
Lloyd (2004, p 961), was another critic of this view. EOLBREAK Basset-Jones & Lloyd
(2004, p 961) argues that, generally speaking, critics of the need principle argue that it is
because of the workers ' natural feeling that appreciation for needs is met and dissatisfaction
with needs is not satisfied.

Conclusion
Any organisation's success depends on the ability and dedication of its staff to run.
Willingness is the consistency or state of preparedness or preparation to do something.
Consequently, talent is nothing without desire. This is by motivation that the human
resources must rely on desire to work. Inspiration is something that drives the person to act,
and in the process of already begun action, it continues him. Motivation is a complex
phenomenon that arises from within, and is a process that is continuous. Motivation helps to
improve productivity, minimize absenteeism, achieve goals, enhance industrial relations,
reduce opposition, and create a positive organizational picture. There are various types of
inspiration, such as optimistic, negative, pecuniary and non-specific, etc. Non-cash incentive
covers work protection, recognition, workplace satisfaction, career progress, etc. Maslow's
Theory of Need Hierarchy is one of the ideas widely accepted. According to this theory,
human needs can be categorized into five groups, i.e. needs for health, protection needs,
social needs, requirements for dignity and needs for self-actualisation. A certain Hierarchy
meets these needs. These are the unmet needs that inspire a human to take action.

References
Antomioni, D. (1999), “What motivates middle managers”? Industrial Management, Nov,-
Dec, Vol. 41, No 6, pp. 27-30.

Basset-Jones, N. & Lloyd, G.C. (2005), “Does Herzbergs Motivational Theory have staying
power”? Journal of Management Development, Vol.24, No.10, pp. 57-56
Friedlander, F. (1964), “Job characteristics as satisfies and dissatisfies”, Journal of applied
Psychology, Vol.48, No.6, pp. 388-399.

Friedlander, F. (1966) “Motivation to work and Organisational Performance”, Journal of

Applied Psychology, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 143-152.

Friedlander, F. (1966b) “importances of work versus Non work among social occupationally
stratified groups.” Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 50, No. 6, pp. 437-443.

Gordon, G. (1965), “The relationship of Satisfies and Dissatisfies to Productivity, Turnover

and Morale”, American Psychologist, Vol. 20, pp.499