Motivation Theories

Motivation within Tesco as an organisation – RESUBMISSION
Comparison between motivational theories
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory assumes that man is basically a wanting animal seeking to satisfying needs both in social and working life. We are motivated toward satisfying these needs. He theorised that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. These needs are Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and self-actualisation. Physiological needs includes all physical needs of the human body required to live like food, water, shelter, clothing, sex etc. Need to be safe include security and protection from physical and emotional harm, a sense of security. Social needs include affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship. Esteem includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement; and external esteem factors like status, recognition and attention. Self-actualisation is the drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving one's potential and self-fulfilment. Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and need of safety were described as lower order and social, esteem and self-actualisation as higher order needs. This differentiation was made on the premise that higher order needs are satisfied internally whereas lower order needs are satisfied externally. Maslow's need theory is very popular among practising managers such as Tesco because of its intuitive logic and ease of understanding.

Frederick Herzberg suggested the Two Factor Theory or Motivation-Hygiene Theory after examining the models and assumptions proposed by Abraham Maslow. He conducted a research study involving two hundred engineers and accountants. Employees were asked to describe times when they felt satisfied or dissatisfied with their jobs. Careful Analysis of the incidents described yielded an intriguing pattern of findings. Incidents involving the work itself, achievement, promotion,...