ESACa International Business A05 20215719

UG-ESAC Arts & Social Sciences

Coursework

Semester 2 2019-20

Independent Writing Assignment

International Business

Critically Evaluate Maslow’s Hierarchy

of Needs Theory in Relation to
Employee Motivation

Student Name:Bingxin Xu (Juliet)

ID 20215719
Module code: CELEN051
I give permission for this paper to be used
for future research and training purposes.
Yes / No

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 ESACa International Business A05 20215719

It is a well-known fact that Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory was created by

Abraham Maslow, a psychology professor and expert. His paper, titled as a
theory of human motivation, had established the foundation of human motivation
training and provided profound insights related to the staff incentives for the
managers in the business field (Maslow, 1943, cited in Kermally, 2004). In short,
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory can be differentiated into five levels
arranged in a pyramid: physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs,
esteem needs and self-actualization needs (Maslow, 1943, cited in Kermally,
2004). Furthermore, these needs are hierarchically constructed in the urgency
and priority to individuals (Maslow, 1943, cited in Kermally, 2004). This theory
has been considered as one of the most frequently cited and widely applied
theories relative to the employee motivation (Gordon-Rouse, 2004; Jelavic and
Ogilvie, 2010). This essay will critically evaluate Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
Theory and discuss why in the modern world, it still has certain practical
significance in the aspect of encouraging the employees. This essay will first
point out the non-universality of Maslow’s theory, before giving some concrete
examples of this theory. Secondly, compared to other incentives, the better
efficiency of this theory relevant to the staff motivation will be presented.
Ultimately, the new practices and interpretations of this theory concerning
inspiring employee will be stated.

Certain studies have discovered that in terms of workers incentives, Maslow’s

Hierarchy of needs Theory cannot be applied to all the cultures worldwide,
particularly non-Western Cultures. In the western world, people value the
personal benefits a lot. The belonging and love needs in the content of Maslow’s
theory, also focus more on the environment of the group and the family rather
than the entire environment (Kermally, 2004). It still remains debatable whether
the employee motivation section of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory is
applicable across cultures. For instance, China, regarded as a model of collective
civilizations, emphasizes the social and esteem needs over the self-needs and
self-actualization (Adler, 1991, cited in Geren, 2011). Hence, Geren (2011)
comments that the group harmony seems to be more significant than the
individual goals in this kind of the cultural contexts.

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Nevertheless, in the field of the current business, there have been a mass of the
practices of Maslow’s Theory about how to encourage the staff. Firstly, the basic
physiological needs referring to part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory, are
regarded as the theoretical sources of the valid approaches to motivating
personnel of the companies. Specifically, the abundant income could serve as an
useful example of the pattern of inspiring employees. An investigation highlights
that a decent salary is the most essential incentive factor for the workers in
China from (Yang, 2011). Moreover, For the sake of further meeting the basic
requirements of their staff, numerous enterprises have offered some free food
and subsidized perks for them. According to a report, Google’s personnel can
have free meals in its 11 gourmet cafeterias at its headquarters and enjoy
several subsidized products provided by Google (Fortune Magazine, no date,
cited in Sadri and Bowen, 2011). Furthermore, given as the safety needs of the
staff, the business have established a series of systems and plans to satisfy
workers’ requirements. Take Mcdonald’s as an example, a research illustrates
that McDonald’s in the United States has injected capital of $596.5 billion into
health benefits on its personnel in 2005 (EBRI, 2005, cited in Sadri and Bowen,
2011). Another prime component used for satisfying staff’s safety needs is the
clauses about the retirement plans, which is famed as the 401k plan (Sadri and
Bowen, 2011). In regard to higher level of needs, the needs of love and
belonging deem to be the third layer in Maslow’s pyramid of motivations. Some
fruitful plan offices and break rooms where employees have an opportunity to
exchange ideas with each other have been built by a large number of
corporations (Sadri and Bowen, 2011).

With regard to inspiring the workers, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory is more
productive and effective than other methods, such as the external rewards.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory comprises five levels of needs, which are
regarded as the innate needs of human by most scholars (Kermally, 2004).
Therefore, the specific methods which are based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
theory, tend to mainly come from the inner nature of encouraging the staff. As
for the external ways to motivate the workers, diverse methods concentrating on

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extrinsic sources have been utilized in the contemporary enterprises, such as the
performance bonuses, promotions and salary increases (Barnett,2020).
Nonetheless, the inner approaches to motivating employees are more useful than
extrinsic approaches. It have been shown that the staff seem to become more
powerful at work with the fulfillment of their inner requirements. Barnett (2020)
illustrates that compared with the external benefits, the personnel of the
companies are more likely to complete the tasks efficiently and sense the
pleasure and accomplishment of exceeding a goal when following their intrinsic
drives, especially the pursuit of the self-actualization and the self-esteem.
Moreover, an investigation into one traffic organization notes that, the most
effective guarantee of retaining and inspiring the employees is connected with
the sense of security (Barnett, 2020). Furthermore, Tenuta (2020) suggests that
the external forces could only last for a short term, while the intrinsic incentives
are counted to be sustainable and long-rang for the staff. Similar to the
deadlines for students to finish their assignments, the extrinsic incentives may
function during the operation periods. However, Tenuta (2020) has found that
the workers’ subsequent outcomes and efficiency could not surpass the previous
results after the bonus ends. Additionally, it is conceivable that with the further
implementation of the rewarding systems, employees may gradually establish
the ’reward resistance’ and lose some essential qualities towards the enterprise
success, such as the creativity, curiosity, inquiring and innovative characteristics
(Tenuta, 2020). In the contrast, the inner motivations appear to be conductive to
the formation of a persistent characters of the workers.

On the arrival of the fourth Industrial Revolution, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

theory involved with the staff incentives has fitted well with the the demand of
the technical progress for the employees. Maslow’s model has been viewed as a
constructive tool to inspire employee’s enthusiasm about the job (Benson and
Dundis, 2003). Allowing for the occupation threat posed by the rapid
technological development, the workers are expected to open up broader
horizons and expand their own values, thus self-actualize. At present, the
personnel of larger enterprises, particularly those possessing the high technology,
are strongly desired to keep up with the accelerating pace of skills and

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knowledge training (Barefield, 1983; Benson and Dundis, 2003). In terms of the
self-esteem level mentioned in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory, a research
from Barefield (1983) discovers that there is a positive correlation between the
satisfaction of personnel self-dignity and organizational agility and efficiency. As
the Internet spreads over every corner of the globe, companies who owe better
sensitivity to the market information are less possible to be eliminated. Hence,
an enterprise with great development prospect is beneficial for the staff to realize
self-dignity. Furthermore, according to a specific survey among 1500 individuals,
30 percent in the low esteem classes are the drags on themselves, their
employers and even the whole American society (Schuller, no date, cited in
Barefield, 1983). Advances in technology have reduced industry’s tolerance on
the staff with low efficiency. Unlike the previous periods, people with low esteem
could be more difficult to seek a livelihood in the contemporary age.

Overall, this essay has critically assessed Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory
and illustrated that this theory can still provide some beneficial perspectives for
inspiring workers in the current age. In general, this essay has first described
that Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory is not universal towards all the cultures.
Then, it has given some specific examples before demonstrating the validity of
this Theory and contrasting with other extrinsic methods. Finally, in terms of the
staff incentives, the practical meanings of this theory in the information era have
been elaborated. Nevertheless, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory has
shortcomings and requires adding new contents with the changes of times.
However, this theory has stood the test of time and emitted an everlasting
favour in the fields of encouraging either individuals or employees. As Abraham
Maslow (1943) once said: What a man can be, he must be. Employee’s inner
drives could bring about enormous rewards to themselves, the company and the
whole industry. Whether it is government, enterprise or individual, everyone
should attach the importance of the normal needs of the heart and take
advantages of them to realize the personal and common targets.

Word Count: 1502

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References:

Barefield, R.F. (1983) ‘Self-esteem in the workplace’, Journal American Water

Works Association, 75(12), pp. 600-603.

Barnett, J. (2020) ‘Here’s what happens when leaders get employee motivation
right’, Forbes, 6th January. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimbarnett/2020/01/06/heres-what-
happens-when-leaders-get-employee-motivation-right/#2fcbb24d5c13
(Accessed: 10th January 2020).

Benson, S.G and Dundis, S.P. (2003) ‘Understanding and motivating health care
employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and
technology’, Journal of Nursing Management, 11(1), pp. 315-320.

Geren, B. (2011) ‘Motivation: Chinese theoretical perspectives’, Journal of

Behavioural Studies in Business, 3(1), pp. 1-10.

Gordon-Rouse, K. A. (2004) ‘Beyond Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: What do

people strive For?’, Performance Improvement, 43(10), pp.27-31.

Jelavic, M. and Ogilvie, K. (2010) ‘Maslow and management: Universally

applicable or idiosyncratic?’, Canadian Manager, 34(4), pp. 16-17.

Kermally, S. (2004) Gurus on people management. London, UK: Thorogood

Publishing.

Rahimi, I., Divisalar, K., Rezvani, M., Sameneh S.A, Pourranjbar, M. (2015) ‘The
relationship between lifeguard’s needs and their job satisfaction based on
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’, Report of Health Care, 2(2), pp. 23-30.

Sadri, G. and Bowen, R. C. (2011) ‘Meeting employee requirements’, Engineering

and Management Solutions at Work, 43(10), pp. 44-48.

Tenuta, J. (2020) ‘Best practices for fostering intrinsic Motivation’, Forbes, 3rd
January. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/01/03/best-practices-for-
fostering-intrinsic-motivation/#5e2b77a86179 (Accessed: 10th January
2020).

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Yang, F. (2011) ‘Work, motivation and personal characteristics: an in-depth

study of six organizations in Ningbo’, Chinese Management Studies, 5(3),
pp. 272-297

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