McClelland’s Need Theory

McClelland created a motivation theory that is closely linked to learning notions, according to the notion, when a person's need is strong, it motivates them to engage in activity that satisfies the need and the key theme of McClelland's thesis is that one learns needs by cooperating with one's surroundings because needs are learned, rewarded behavior is more likely to be repeated (Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly, 1979, 111-112).

The desire to independently master objects, ideas, and other people, as well as to raise one's self-esteem via the exercise of one's aptitude, is known as the need for accomplishment, (Wallace, Goldstein and Nathan 1987, 289).

Some people with a great desire to succeed are more concerned with personal achievement than with the financial benefits of success. They want to do something better or more efficiently than others have done before them (Robbins, 1993).

According to Kreitner (1998), the need for power is defined as the desire to force others to behave in ways they would not otherwise, while the need for affiliation is defined as the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships, motivation and performance fluctuate based on the strength of one's demand for achievement, according to achievement theories.

According to McClelland’s (1961), findings, a country's level of economic growth is proportional to its total achievement motivation. High achievers are more likely to be successful entrepreneurs. (McClelland, 1961).

The need for achievement, according to Kreitner and Kinicki (1998), is described as mastering, manipulating, or organizing physical items, human beings, or ideas. Individuals who score high on this desire are not the best managers or leaders because they find it difficult to make difficult judgments without fear of being disliked (Kreitner, 1998). Because effective managers must favorably affect others, McClelland claims that top executives have a high need for power but a low need for connection (Kreitner, 1998).

McClelland’s need achievement theory postulates that some people are driven to success through seeking “personal achievement rather than rewards themselves” (Saif et al., 2012, p.1387)

Factors which reflect a high need for achievement

·         Need for Achievement

·         Need for Power

·         Need for Affiliation (McClelland and Johnson, 1984, 3).

Need for Achievement

The need for Achievement was described by McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, and Lowell (1958) as "success in competition with some criterion of excellence." That is, the purpose of some individual in the story is to be successful in terms of rivalry with some standard of perfection.

"The need for achievement is the unconscious concern for perfection in accomplishments through individual efforts," (Lussier and Achua 2007). "The desire to accomplish something difficult, achieve a high standard of success, master complex tasks, and surpass other, Individuals with an Achievement Need strive to achieve attainable but difficult goals, (Daft (2008).

Need for Power

The need for Power is defined by Daft (2008) as "the want to influence or control others, be responsible for others, and have authority over others." People who have the need for Power want to be influential and have an impact. Lussier and Achua (2007) defined the need for Power as “the unconscious concern for influencing others and seeking positions of authority''

Need for Affiliation

"Affiliation...establishing, sustaining, or repairing a positive affective relationship with another individual," (McClelland 1961). "The unconscious concern for forming, sustaining, and recovering close personal ties is the urge for affiliation" (Lussier & Achua, 2007, p. 43).  According to Daft (2008) "The desire to build intimate personal ties, avoid conflict, and establish warm friendships.

It's vital to remember that needs don't always correspond to skills; an employee can be heavily affiliation-motivated yet still be effective in a position where his affiliation needs aren't supplied (Brandon, 2015).

According to Dell (2008), Individuals' enthusiasm to function as a creator of happiness by creating items that suit people's needs and wants within a specific time frame is referred to as entrepreneurial readiness.

 

Reference

Daft, R. L. (2008). The leadership experience (4th ed.). Mason, OH: SouthWestern, Cengage Learning.

Dell, M. S. (2008). An investigation of undergraduate student self-employment intention and the impact of entrepreneurship education and previous entrepreneurial experience. Doctor of Philosophy, School of Business University, Australia

Gibson, James L., John M. Ivancevich, James H. Donnelly, Organizations; Behavior, Structure, Process, Dallas, Texas: Business Publications, Inc., 1979.

Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (1998). Organizational Behavior (4 ed.). Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Robbins, S. (1993). Organizational Behavior (6 ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2007). Leadership: Theory application, skill development (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

McClelland, D. C. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: Free Press.

McClelland, David C. and Eric W Johnson. Learning to Achieve. Glenview, Illinois: Scotti. Foresman & Co., 1984

McClelland, D. C., Atkinson, J. W., Clark, R. A., & Lowell, E. L. (1958). A scoring manual for the achievement motive. In J. W. Atkinson (Ed.), Motives in fantasy, action, and society (pp. 179-204). Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.

Saif, K.F., Nawaz, A., Jan, A. & Khan, M.I. Synthesizing the theories of job-satisfaction across the cultural/attitudinal dimensions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 2012,3 (9): 1382-1396.

Wallace, Patricia, Jeffrey H. Goldstein, Peter Nathan. Introduction to Psychology. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown. 1987.

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