McClelland's Needs Theory Of Motivation

Mc CLELLAND'S NEEDS THEORY OF MOTIVATION

David C. McClelland of Harvard university has contributed to the understanding of motivation by identifying three basic motivating needs. These needs are

a) The need for power n/PWR.

b) The need for affiliation

c) The need for achievement (n/Ach)

Mc clelland and his associates carried out a substantial research on needs especially on the need-for-achievement drive. Research of achievement need has been noteworthy and is often used by psychologists as a prototype of how knowledge should be researched and discovered in the behavioural sciences. The three needs discussed are of great importance to management because all must be recognized in order to make an organized enterprise work well. This is because any organized enterprise and every department of it represent groups of individuals working together to achieve goals,the need for achievement is of great importance.

Need for power:

Mc Clelland discovered that people with a high need for power have a great concern for exercising influence and control. They are referred to as position seekers,they seek positions of leadership,they are forceful,outspoken,hardheaded and demanding. They enjoy teaching and public speaking.

Need for Affiliation:

People with high need for affiliation derive pleasures from being loved and tend to avoid the pain of being rejected in social group. They seek to enjoy a sense of intimacy and understanding,and are likely to be concerned with maintaining pleasant social relationships. They are ready to console and help others in trouble,and enjoy a friendly interaction with others.

Need for Achievement:

People with a high need for achievement have an intense desire for success and an equally intense fear of failure. They enjoy being challenged and they set moderately difficult but not impossible goals for themselves. They are mostly risk takers but take a realistic approach to risk. They prefer to assume personal responsibility to get a job done,like specific and prompt feedback on how they are doing,tend to be restless,like to work long hours,do not worry about unduly about failure if it does occur,and tend to be In the driving seat,running their show.

How McClelland's approach applies to managers.

In research made by McClelland and others,entrepreneurs showed a very high need for achievement and a fairly high need for power drive but were quite low in need for affiliation. Managers generally showed high on achievement and power and low on affiliation,but not as high or low as entrepreneurs.