Although Maslow’s Theory of Need
Hierarchy is widely accepted in management theory and practice, consequent upon
its easiness to understand, yet there is little evidence to support its
accuracy.
A study by Lawler and Suttle
(1972) involving 187 managers in two different organizations over a period of 6
to 12 months found little evidence to support Maslow’s theory that human needs
form a hierarchy. They rather noted that there were two levels of needs:
biological and other needs, and that the other needs would emerge only when
biological needs were reasonably satisfied. They found
further that at the
higher level, the strength of needs varied with the individual; in some
individuals social needs predominated, while in others self- actualization
needs were strongest.
Another study of Maslow’s Need
Hierarchy involving a group of managers over a period of 5 years by Douglas T.
Hall and Khalil Nougaim (1968), did not find strong evidence of a hierarchy.
They found that as managers advanced in an organization, their physiological
and safety needs tended to decrease in importance and their needs for
affiliation, esteem, and self –actualization tended to increase. They however,
insisted that the upward movement of need prominence resulted from upward
career changes and not from satisfaction of lower – order needs.
A study of the differences in
motivation and business practices in various cultures by Geert Hofstede (1973)
concluded that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs does not describe a universal human
motivational process. It was rather the description of a specific value system,
specifically that of the American middle class