MOTIVATION: Motivation as the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. Finally motivation has a persistence dimension. This is a measure of how long a person can maintain his or her effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY

It’s probably safe to say that the most well known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. These needs are:

1- Physiological: Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs.

2- Safety: Includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm.

3- Social: Includes affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.

4-Esteem: Includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement and external esteem factors such as status recognition and attention.

5- Self-actualization: the drive to become what one is capable of becoming includes growth achieving ones potential and self fulfillment.

As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied the next need becomes dominant.

LOWER ORDER NEEDS: Needs that are satisfied externally physiological and safety needs.

HIGHER ORDER NEEDS: needs that are satisfied internally social esteem and self actualization needs.

EXPLANATION OR IMPORTANCE OF MASLOWS THEORY

Maslows need theory has received wide recognition particularly among practicing mangers. This can be attributed to the theory intuitive logic and ease of understanding. Unfortunately however research does not generally validate the theory. Maslows provided no empirical substantiation and several studies that sought to validate the theory found no support for it.