Chapter 8- McClelland's Need Theory

In reading chapter 8, I came across McClelland's need theory, and after reading it, I agreed that people usually yearn for the following needs. The first one mentioned is the need for achievement, which is the desire to accomplish something difficult. The second need is for affiliation, the desire to spend time in social relationships and activities. The last one is the need for power, the desire to influence, coach, teach, or encourage others to achieve. Personally, I find that I follow all of those needs. Through these needs, people gain more motivation.

On the site NetMBA: Business Knowledge Center site, I came one of McClelland's need theory tests. It's called the Thematic Apprecitation Test (TAT), and through it, the person taking the test is shown a series of ambiguous photos and is asked to tell a story each that photo. From this test, it is assumed that the person will make up a story that targets their own personal needs. The scoring of the TAT can be used for job searches.

The theory of needs can also exhibit what kind of management a person would need. For those with high achievement needs, management must be challenging and contain a lot of feedback. Those with high affiliation needs would consider participating in group efforts with cooperative environments. Lastly, those with high power needs would want to be the ones managing others. I think that I personally am one with a high achievement need, and I definitely look for a lot of challenges and projects.

sources: http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcclelland/