Business 101: Principles of Management

Do you act out of a need for achievement, power or affiliation? This lesson describes the acquired needs theory and how one of the three types of needs affect us more than the others.

Acquired Needs Theory

David McClelland proposed that one's needs are acquired over time as a result of their experiences - a notion that soon turned into what is now known as the acquired needs theory. As McClelland studied the needs of various individuals, he was able to classify them as either being achievement-, power- or affiliation-based. That is, every person holds an aspiration for achievement, power or affiliation. Interestingly, each person has a tendency to be motivated by one of these needs more so than by the other two. Consequently, a person's behavior and performance at work is strongly influenced by the most meaningful of the three needs.

David McClelland classified various people as being achievers, power-seekers or affiliation-seekers.

Need for Achievement

The need for achievement is greatest for those individuals who have a strong desire to excel. Achievers seek neither power nor approval; rather, their only focus is on success. Achievers prefer work that has a moderate chance for success (about 50/50) and tend to avoid situations that are low-risk and those that are high-risk. Low-risk situations are avoided because of the presumed ease of accomplishment related to low-risk activities and the belief that things which come easy are not a true measure of success. High-risk situations are avoided by achievers because of the fear that success might be more related to luck than actual effort. Achievers need to be able to see the correlation between the level of effort they exert and the success that results.

The achiever prefers to work alone or with other achievers.

The achiever prefers to work alone or with other achievers. Managers of achievers should work to provide them with challenging projects filled with attainable goals. For example, because Maria has a high need for achievement, her manager Sam might ask her to work independently on projects that allow for her to use her knowledge and skills in a way that challenges her, but at the same time provide her with a clear path for how she can successfully accomplish her task. Additionally, achievers appreciate managers who provide frequent recognition of how well they are doing so that they can monitor their progress, making feedback extremely important to achievers.

Need for Power

Those with a high need for power seek agreement and compliance; approval and recognition are not of their concern. Managers of power-seekers should provide them with an opportunity to manage others. However, they must pay special attention to the type of power-seeker they are. Power-seekers who are after personal power have a strong desire to control others or cause them to behave in a way that is consistent with the power-seeker's wishes. For example, Shawn has a high need for personal power and often manipulates his employees to do his work for him. He later takes credit for it.

Personal power-seekers have a strong desire to control others.

On the other hand, those power-seekers who need institutional or social power work to use their power to help mobilize efforts aimed at organizational goals. For example, Marco has a high need for institutional power and is regarded as a person who is capable of bringing necessary changes to the organization due to his charisma and ability to assemble and motivate employees to work towards some organizational goal in the matter of minutes. As you might have guessed, because Marco is a manager with a high need of institutional power, he is far more effective as a manager than Shawn, who has a high need for personal power.

Need for Affiliation

Being liked by others is the main goal of people with a high need for affiliation. Affiliation-seekers are more interested in approval rather than recognition or power and will consequently act in ways in which they believe will earn the endorsement of others. They also tend to avoid conflict with others at all costs. Affiliation-seekers prefer to work in groups and happily conform to the norms of the group. They thrive in situations where they can interact with others and have opportunities to build close interpersonal relationships. Therefore, managers of affiliation-seekers should provide them with the opportunities to work in a cooperative environment.

Affiliation-seekers prefer to work in groups and conform to their norms.

Those individuals with a need for affiliation look for harmonious, friendly relationships with other people, making personal sacrifices for others often at their own expense. For example, last week when Jane was asked by Mark to cover his shift at work, she willing agreed. Yet, she had already worked her maximum of 40 hours that week. This meant that she would not be paid for working Mark's shift. Because Jane has a high need for affiliation, she willingly complied with Mark's request even when she knew she'd be working for free.

Lesson Summary

Let's review. David McClelland proposed that one's needs are acquired over time as a result of their experiences - a notion that soon turned into what is now known as acquired needs theory. As McClelland studied the needs of various individuals, he was able to classify them as being either achievement-, power- or affiliation-based.

The need for achievement is greatest for those individuals who have a strong desire to excel. Achievers prefer work that has a moderate chance for success (about 50/50) and tend to avoid situations that are low-risk and those that are high-risk. Achievers also like to work alone or with other achievers. Managers of achievers should work to provide them with challenging projects filled with attainable goals.

Those with a high need for power seek agreement and compliance. Managers of power-seekers should provide them with the opportunity to manage others. However, they should pay special attention to the type of power-seeker they are. Power-seekers who are after personal power have a strong desire to control others. On the other hand, those power-seekers who need institutional or social power use their power to help mobilize efforts aimed at organizational goals.

Being liked by others is the main goal of people with a high need for affiliation. Affiliation-seekers prefer to work in groups and happily conform to the norms of the group. They thrive in situations where they can interact with others and have opportunities to build close, harmonious interpersonal relationships. Affiliation-seekers often make personal sacrifices for others often at their own expense. Therefore, managers of affiliation seekers should provide them with opportunities to work in a cooperative