Ashley Hernandez

ORGL 4342-V02

South Texas College

November 8, 2020

Professor Lucio

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 There are several organizational change theories that have been theorized throughout the

years. The one that will be disguising today is Maslow’s theory. Maslow’s theory can be a bit

controversial compared to other theories. Kotter’s theory has an 8 step process, and Lewin’s

theory dealt with individuals who were influenced by restraining forces. One must believe that

Maslow’s theory was the one that is most relatable due to the fact that it is the most realistic.

People in an organization are pushed by their desire to satisfy their needs. The hypothesis that

the writer believes to be true is that people are driven to satisfy their own needs before anyone

else’s.

If one looks at Figure 1 on page 86 of Who Built Maslow’s Pyramid, it shows that the

“steps captured the thinking of an important figure in the history of an established discipline of

which management could claim to be,” (Bridgman, 2019). This goes to show that no matter the

person, there is always the thought process of wanting to grow. Within this theory the author

does research on management theory. Within Bridgman’s study they found out that no matter

what type of management theory an organization is trying to convey, there is always room to

create new styles. This can range because of different types of information within a study.

Results can range on the times, gender, age, ethnicity

The fact that Maslow thought that people are driven by motivation is truthful. According

to Heylighen, “self-actualizing persons is their openness to experience, they are eager to undergo

new experiences, learn new ideas and skills, try out new things,” (Heylighen, 1992). This goes to

show that people who follow Maslow’s theory have the highest need, which is self-actualization.

In this particular article, it states that there are still some flaws within Maslows’s theory. Since

humans are complex beings, sometimes people aim for self-actualization due to the fact that they

are frustrated and not because they do want the need.

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 We learn that Maslow “focuses on precondition on the role of freedom as a means that

strongly motivates individuals in order to allow them to achieve the ends presented in the

hierarchy (Goede & Boshuizen, 2019). This evidence goes to show that someone will do almost

anything in order to achieve their goals. This is completely understandable, especially if this is a

life of death situation. Within this peer-reviewed article it speaks on the importance of Maslow’s

theory but for refugees. This seems like the most vital and important type of need. These refuges

are trying to seek asylum within a different county and they are motivated to do so. They seek

freedom and will do whatever possible to gain that freedom.

Maslow stated that there are five stages in his model. This goes back to the hypothesis

that people will do whatever possible to be “on top.” Humans are driven my motivation and that

is, most of the time, apparent in the workplace. Naturally, there is the biological/physical needs,

the safety needs, love and belongingness needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Those

five needs make up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, or the five-stage model. As stated in

Comparing the effects of low-level and high-level worker needs, “Dozens of studies have shown

that satisfying these three needs helps people to function well and to thrive in many different

ways,” (Rasskozova, 2014). With this article there are study one and study two. The different

effects were dependent on the socio-demographic status. They studied the higher level blue-

collar workers and the high-level managers in this study. In the end the participants were less

engaged in their work and were not satisfies financially. Compared to study one this is where

study two was different. Next, we will look at the study motivation in the sales force. There was

a study done to see it Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. While there might have been some flaws in

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs does have some faults within their study. There were not many

differences.

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 There are several ways that Maslow’s ways of thinking have several different variables

that affect people’s way of thinking. In a way Maslow was not wrong; there have been several

studies done that are not sufficient enough to not say that Maslow was wrong. There is several

ways that someone is affected by their needs. In the articles that studied the refuges was the one

that stood out the most. This goes to show that it is human nature to go and get what you want in

order to surive.

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 References

Berl, R. L., Williamson, N. C., & Powell, T. (1984). Industrial Salesforce Motivation: A

Critique and Test of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales

Management, 4(1), 33–39.

Bridgman, T., Cummings, S., & Ballard, J. (2019). Who Built Maslow’s Pyramid? A

History of the Creation of Management Studies’ Most Famous Symbol and Its Implications for

Management Education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 18(1), 81–98.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.southtexascollege.edu/10.5465/amle.2017.0351

Goede, R., & Boshuizen, van B. C. (2019). A critical systems thinking approach to

empower refugees based on Maslow’s theory of human motivation. Systems Research &

Behavioral Science, 36(5), 715–726. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.southtexascollege.edu/10.1002/sres.2623

Heylighen, F. (1992). A cognitive-systemic reconstruction of Maslow’s theory of self-

actualization. Behavioral Science, 37(1), 39. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.southtexascollege.edu/10.1002/bs.3830370105

Rasskazova, E., Ivanova, T., & Sheldon, K. (2016). Comparing the effects of low-level

and high-level worker need-satisfaction: A synthesis of the self-determination and Maslow need

theories. Motivation & Emotion, 40(4), 541–555. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.southtexascollege.edu/10.1007/s11031-016-9557-7

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 Tripathi, N., & Moakumla. (2018). A valuation of Abraham Maslow’s theory of self-

actualization for the enhancement of quality of life. Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, 9(3),

499–504.

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