Note: This section contains five (5) questions based on the following paragraph. Each question should be answered in about thirty (30) words and each carries five (5) marks.
(5 x 5 = 25 marks)
David C Mc Clelland has contributed to the understanding of motivation by identifying three types of basic motivating needs. He classified them as the need for power, need for affiliation and need for achievement. Considerable research has been done on methods of testing people with respect to these three types of needs, and Mc Clelland and his associates have done substantial research especially on the need for achievement.
All three drives—power, affiliation and achievement—are of particular relevance to management, since all must be recognised to make an organised enterprise work well.
Mc Clelland and other researchers have found that people with a high need for power have a great concern for exercising influence and control. Such individuals generally are seeking positions of leaderships; they are frequently good conversationalists, though often argumentative; they are forceful, outspoken, hard headed, and demanding; they enjoy teaching and public speaking.
People with a high need for affiliation usually derive pleasure from being loved and tend to avoid the pain of being rejected by a social group. As individuals, they are likely to be concerned with maintaining pleasant social relationships, to enjoy a sense of intimacy and understanding, to be ready to console and help others in trouble, and to enjoy friendly interaction with others.
People with a higl need for achievement have an intense desire for success and an equally intense fear of failure. They want to be challenged, and they set moderately difficult (but not impossible) goals for themselves. They take a realistic approach to risk, they are not likely to be gamblers but rather, prefer to analys and assess problem, assume personel responsibility for getting a job done and like specific and prompt feedback on how they are doing. They tend to be restless, like to work long hours, do not worry underly about failure if it does occur, and tend to like to run their own shows.
Q.1. What is the current relevance of Mc Clelland’s contribution to the understanding of motivation?
Ans. David C Mc Clelland advocated achievement motivation theory. It is also known, as three needs theory. Achievement motivation theory propounded by Mc Clelland has been considered as more practicable theory than Maslow and Herzberg’s theories. The concept of overlapping needs has signiflcance for organisations in designing motivational strategies. Similarly, recognising that achievement needs could be created throu training has brought new dimension in managerial motivation.
Q.2. Describe the Mc Clelland’s theory of Motivation?
Ans. In his’quired-needs theory, David Mc Clelland proposed that an individual’s specific needs are acquired over time and are acquired over time and are shaped by one’s life experiences. Most of these needs can be classed as either achievement, affiliation, or power. A person’s motivation and effectiveness in certain job functions are influenced by these three needs.
Q.3. Detelinine the job suitabillty of the people who have high need for power.
Ans. A person’s need for powel can be one of two types—personal and institutional. Those who need personal power want to direct others, and this need often is perceived as undesirable. Persons who need institutional power (also known as social power) want to organise the efforts of others to further the goals of the organisation. Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.
Q.4. What do you mean bjneed for affiliation?
Ans. Need for affiliation is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships. Mc Clelland suggested that need for affiliation is based on the concept of belongingness needs advocated by Maslow. Affiliation oriented individual’s exhibit high preferences towards inter-personal relationships, establish psychological contact with others and crave for social acceptance. They always strive for friendship and prefer cooperative situations.
Q.5. What are the characteristics of high achievers?
Ans. The characteristics of high achievers are as follows:
1. Monetary rewards do not motivat high achievers.
2. High achievers create situations in which they can attain personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems.
3. High achievers do not depend on chance. They assume responsibility.
4. They are willing to work independently. They wish to establish relationship between their effort
and success. -
