Maslow need hierarchy theory & MAX Weber Management Theory

Table of contents-

• Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory
• MAX Weber Management Theory 

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

Maslow need hierarchy theory stands as a fundamental framework for understanding human motivation and behaviour. This theory posits that individuals are driven by a series of needs, which are arranged in a hierarchical manner.

There are two types of needs – Primary / Basic needs and Secondary / Acquired needs. Basic needs are important for survival whereas acquired needs are not so important for human survival. We know various needs are felt by humans but do not know about their preferential order. Abraham Harold Maslow solved this problem by presenting a theory on the priority order of needs. 

To understand what motivates an individual, Maslow proposed that human needs can be organized into a form of hierarchy. This hierarchy ranges from concrete needs such as food, water and shelter to abstract concepts such as self-fulfilment. According to maslow need hierarchy theory, when lower needs are met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes our focus of attention.

Some important prepositions of Maslow need hierarchy theory model are as under: 

1) Man is a wanting animal,

2) A need that has been satisfied is no longer a motivator, and

3) Needs have a hierarchy of importance.

Maslow introduced the hierarchy of needs in the following order:

• Self-Actualisation Needs (Self-fulfilment)
• Esteem Needs or Ego Needs (Prestige,  self-respect, status)
• Social Needs (Affection, friendship, belonging)
• Safety and Security Needs (Protection, order, stability)
• Basic Physiological Needs (Food, water, air,  shelter, sex)

Figure: Maslow need hierarchy theory

1) Basic Physiological Needs

These needs are survival needs, If these needs are not fulfilled, the human body cannot continue to function. These needs are biological necessities for human survival. The needs that are taken as the starting point for motivational theory are physiological. These needs relate to the maintenance and survival of human life. These needs include such things as food, clothing, shelter, water, air, and other necessities of life.

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2) Safety and Security Needs

Once people have achieved their physiological needs, they are motivated to achieve their safety needs. Safety needs are about removing risk from life and helping someone to maintain their physiological needs into the future. After satisfying their physiological needs, people want the assurance of maintaining a given economic level. They want physical and emotional security, job security, security of source of income, insurance against risks, provision for old age, etc.

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3) Social Needs

Man is a social being. He is, therefore, interested in sociability, conversation,  exchange of feelings and grievances, recognition, companionship, belongingness, etc. Non-satisfaction with this level of needs may affect the mental health of a person.

Related Article: Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory

4) Esteem Needs or Ego Needs

Egoistic needs can take outward and inward orientations. Inward-directed ego needs to embrace such things as independence, self-confidence, competence, achievement, knowledge and success. They have to be earned by the individual himself through his intelligence and hard work.

They lead to earned recognition by society. Outwardly directed ego needs are concerned with status, prestige, and other marks of respect because of some position in the organization or control over social, economic, and organisational power.

5) Self-Actualisation Needs

The final step under the need priority mode is the need for self-fulfilment or the need to fulfil what a person considers to be his mission in life. It concerns realising one’s potential for continued self-development and for being creative in the widest sense of the work.

Related Article: Elements of Motivation

After his other needs are fulfilled, a person has the desire for personal achievement. He wants to do something that is challenging and since this challenge gives him enough initiative and dash to work, it is beneficial to him in particular and to society in general. The sense of achievement gives an individual psychological satisfaction.

Maslow suggested the following points: 

1) There are five levels of needs.

2) All these needs are organised in a hierarchy.

3) A need that has been satisfied is no longer a need. Once a certain order of need or a need is satisfied it ceases to be a motivating factor.

4) Once one level of need is fulfilled, the next level of need will emerge as the depressed needs seek to be

5) The security and physiological needs are limited but the needs of the higher order are endless and are likely to be dominant in individuals at higher levels in the organisation.

6) Maslow suggests that different levels are interdependent and overlapping. Each higher-level need emerges before the lower-level need has been fully satisfied.

Even though a need is satisfied it will influence behaviour because of the interdependent and overlapping characteristics of needs.

Maslow has further categorised the needs as lower-order needs and higher-order needs. The first two needs in the hierarchical order are lower needs and the rest three are higher-order needs.

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MAX Weber Management Theory 

Max Weber Management Theory: MAX WEBER’s bureaucratic theory of management is fundamental to management in many government and military organizations in the world. Bureaucracy theory is based on strict rules, regulations and expert authority guidance which he believed would improve the efficiency of the organizational performance. This type of management avoids biases and makes the job description very clear to everyone in the organization hierarchy.

Under a skilful leader, an organization can be more structured. Therefore bureaucracy focuses on the skills and technical ability of the management. Bureaucratic management is an excellent method of organizing government agencies.

The bureaucracy theory of Max Weber is based on the fact that leadership proficiency and experience are very useful in a large organization. There is no biasness in the organization and therefore strict rules and regulations are followed as per the organizational hierarchy.

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Max Weber initiated three types of authority:-

1. Regional-legal authority: – Obedience is retained to a legally established rank or authority within the hierarchy of a business organization, military unit, government, and so on.

2. Traditional Authority:- People obey a person because he belongs to a certain class or occupies a position traditionally recognized as possessing authority, such as the royal family.

3. Charismatic authority:- Obedience is based on the followers’ belief that a person has some special power of attraction within himself.

Critical Examination of Bureaucracy and Max Weber Management Theory

Max Weber propounded bureaucracy as an ideal and rational structure tested over time and space. Specialization and division of labour, along with employment based on technical qualifications, positions arranged in a hierarchy with promotions based on seniority and/or achievement, an ‘ideal’ bureaucrat at the apex protected against arbitrary dismissal and expected to maintain impersonal relations, and a system of impersonal rules are the features of bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy has been extensively criticized. Karl Marx believed that bureaucrats are utilized by the dominant capitalistic class to control and exploit the lower working class. He held the view that bureaucracy can be as effective as the person at the apex. Parkinson’s Law, which states that ‘bureaucratic staff increases in inverse proportion to the amount of work done,’ and Peter’s Principle, which posits that ‘in bureaucracy, people rise to the level of incompetence,’ indicate the weaknesses of bureaucracy.

Dysfunctions of Max Weber Management Theory

Dysfunctions are observed in Max Weber’s Management Theory, particularly in bureaucratic functions.

1. Specialization and division of labour seemingly enhance efficiency and productivity. However, at the same time, they create conflicts between specialized units, to the detriment of an organization, such as line-staff conflict.

2. The functional attributes of the hierarchy include maintaining the unity of command, coordinating activities of personnel, reinforcing the authority-responsibility-accountability chain, and serving as the formal system of communication. In theory, it has both downward and upward orientations, but in practice, it has turned out to emphasize only a downward direction. Consequently, individual initiative and participation are often blocked, upward communication is impeded, and there is no recognition of informal communication.

3. An ideal bureaucrat never truly exists. Nobody can be entirely impersonal, and the entire success of bureaucracy rests on the fragile impersonal conduct of the ideal bureaucrat.

4. Rules are supposed to be inviolate and non-discriminatory, but seldom are they. Rules have earned the notorious distinction of red tape and often become more important than goals. Delay and distortion in communication become a rule in itself under bureaucracy.

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