Page 77 - Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies

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6: Motiva
5: Business objectives and stakeholder objectivess
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Maslow believed that humans have five levels of need:

■ Physical needs – these are the basic needs we must have to be able to survive. They
include water, food, shelter, clothing and rest.
■ Safety needs – we need to be safe from physical danger and individuals need to
know that they have job security.
■ Social needs – most people want to be accepted by others and to feel that they
are loved and trusted. It is important to have friends and belong to a group where
social activities can be shared and enjoyed together.
■ Esteem needs – individuals want to be respected and to have their achievements
recognised by others. For some people having a certain status is also an important
need.
■ Self-actualisation – not everyone will reach their full potential, but for some
individuals it is a very important need. Even the most successful people rarely
achieve self-actualisation because they will always set themselves another
challenge.

According to Maslow, all humans start at the lowest level of need – physical needs.
Once they have satisfied their physical needs, then they are motivated to try to

reach the next level – safety needs – and so on, until they reach the top level of
need – self-actualisation. Once a need has been satisfied it is no longer a motivator.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is important to managers because it is possible
for an individual to satisfy some, or all, of their needs at work. If managers want
to motivate workers then they have to organise work so that individuals are able to
satisfy their needs. If managers do this, and worker motivation is improved, then 75
this will increase business efficiency. Workers will produce more, better quality,

goods and services for customers. This will improve competitiveness and help to
reduce business costs and improve profi tability.
However, there are some limitations of Maslow’s theory of motivation.
Th ese include:

■ It is oft en difficult to identify how much of each need has been met and which level
each worker is on.
■ Money might also satisfy esteem needs as well as those lower down the
hierarchy.
■ Not everyone has the same needs as those in Maslow’s Hierarchy.
■ Self-actualisation is rarely, if ever, achieved. Therefore, unless more challenging
tasks are always being provided, it is unlikely that work will help to satisfy this need.
Contract of employment:
see Chapter 8, page 119. There is the risk that if jobs are no longer challenging that the worker becomes
demotivated.

ACTIVITY 6.2

Each of the following could help an individual to achieve one of the needs identified by Maslow. Copy and complete the table
below by entering each of these into your table against the correct level.

1 Pay received is high enough to buy basic needs.
2 The manager praises workers.
3 Workers are given a contract of employment setting out their pay and working conditions.