Category: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

One of the most intricate concepts to grasp in human psychology is the concept of motivation. It seems that the more one studies this subject, the more complex it becomes. Since motivation is behaviour, directly observing this concept on a global scale is a difficult task to achieve (Pakdel, 2013). In this essay, I aim to highlight and analyse three of the most well-known theories of motivation in relation to social class disparity within the UK workplace, and try to offer solutions to this problem using the three theories of motivation. These three theories are McClelland’s Need for Achievement Theory, McGregor’s Theory X and Y, and Adams’ Equity Theory.

According to my research, social class inequality in the UK seems to be a prominent issue. Studies reveal that there is clear distinction between individuals from middle-class or upper-class backgrounds, and those from working-class backgrounds. This division is especially evident in top management roles within the finance and medical industry (Sellgren, 2017).

Research tells us that in comparison to middle-class individuals, working-class individuals are more likely to lack self-confidence and have a lower sense of self-control. In addition to this, working-class people tend to score higher on empathy, meaning they are more likely to help others in need (Manstead, 2018). This could mean that middle-class individuals who tend to be more assertive and confident, may see this trait as a weakness and use it to their advantage to receive more respect, promotion, or recognition in the workplace.

I strongly believe that the three theories of motivation that I have decided to focus on are particularly useful because they can be used to develop the working-class employees’ internal motivators to enable them to gain a sense of personal control, boost their self- esteem, and to help them feel just as competent and valued as workers from a higher social status. If done correctly, this can lead to an increase in the quality of workers’ performance and energy, as well as create a positive and equal work environment for everyone involved.

In the 1960’s, David McClelland, an American psychologist, built on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory by presenting a content theory which suggests that there are three dominant motivators that we all have regardless of our age, gender, background, or ethnicity. These are need for achievement, affiliation and power. This essay will only focus on the ‘need for achievement’ theory which according to McClelland, individuals with this type of need tend to set difficult goals for themselves and constantly aim to achieve them. They have a strong drive for success, and ask for feedback on their performance. As a result, this theory is associated with great economic growth (Wilson, F. 2014).

The next theory is developed by Douglas McGregor in the 1950’s, and is known as Theory X and Theory Y. In the context of work, Theory X suggests that managers have certain negative assumptions about their employees, and this negativity can be detrimental to the business’s success and growth because it usually dominates the way managers run the organisation. As a result, managers often become aggressive and controlling, or use threats and punishment as a means of motivating their employees. On the other hand, Theory Y is a softer approach. Here, managers hold adequate assumptions about their employees, and they adopt a strategy where many opportunities are created for their workers. Employees are also encouraged to fulfil their potential and overcome difficult challenges (DeVoe and Iyengar, 2004).

The third and final theory is known as Adam’s Equity theory, developed by John Stacey Adams. According to Adams, people have their own ideologies about what they consider to be fair, and they compare this with what they are actually receiving from others. We can see how this could negatively affect the performance of a business if employees feel as though they are being underpaid for the amount of hard work they are putting in. This theory speaks of maintaining a fair input vs output ratio, which will allow employees to stay motivated enough to continue to work. However, this balance is often difficult for managers to maintain because every employee has his very own internal definition of what is fair and what isn’t, and so creating a space where all employees feel equally valued is a huge challenge.

Most research supports equity predictions in the area of underpayment, however there is not much evidence to show that overpayment also has the same effect on employees (Pritchard, 1969). This could be linked to the loss aversion bias where it is suggested that people tend to pay more attention to losses, which leads to losses appear larger than gains (Köbberling and Wakker, 2005).

Evidence suggests that social class origins determine earnings in professional and managerial jobs. The majority of employees working within the finance, law and medical sectors are children of higher managers. Although it is possible for individuals with a working-class background to pursue and land high-status roles within an organisation, research shows that on average, they are paid less than workers from privileged backgrounds (Laurison and Friedman, 2016). Since money is one of the biggest motivators for workers within the UK, we can see how this can easily demotivate workers and weaken their work ethic (Gentle, 2018).

In order to reduce the negative impact of this type of inequality on workers, I believe that managers must empathise with their employees and take the time to understand them on a more personal and deeper level. This will allow them to come up with strategies that help boost their self-esteem. For example, employees could be offered the chance to participate in training programmes to develop certain skills or gain new experience, which they could then bring into the workplace. Not only will this make them feel more confident as they will be able to add value to the team, but they will also start to feel worthy of attention and recognition at work, thus inspiring them to compete with employees from higher social-status backgrounds, and to achieve their goals. As mentioned before, McClelland’s need for achievement theory is linked to great economic growth, therefore encouraging workers to strive for excellence, and giving them the opportunities and support they need will in turn increase their performance and the organisation’s profits.

Since research reveals most managers come from privileged backgrounds, we could argue that their assumptions on their employees, who are most likely from working-class backgrounds, tend to be negative. This relates to the McGregor’s Theory X. This is more difficult to manage because these socially advantaged individuals tend to have the upper hand and dominate the market. This means trying to find replacements by hiring people from working-class backgrounds who have the same experience, qualifications or connections as those from higher social status backgrounds is a big challenge. Therefore, my suggestion in this scenario would be to focus on managers rather than the employees, and try to change their perception and help them understand that not every person from a working-class background has a weak work ethic or lacks confidence, and so long as they are treated equally and fairly and are given support and guidance, they too can become just as confident and successful.

Another strategy that can be used to deepen the bond between managers and employees and therefore increase the quality of an organisation’s performance, is prioritising social or team building activities at work. Teamwork has become an increasingly popular and useful tool in the success of a business, and it has been said to have a positive impact on workers’ attitude (Ruiz Ulloa and Adams, 2004). Interpersonal connections at work are extremely beneficial because employees are given the opportunity to learn more about their colleagues, which can help reduce or eliminate any envy or tension that can be felt amongst working-class and middle-class employees who have to collaborate at work everyday.

Finally, with Adam’s Equity theory in mind, in order to maintain a healthy input vs output ratio, managers need to come up with a strategy where employees feel that they are being listened to and can see that their expectations of how they want to be treated at work is being taken into consideration by their managers. But the key point to remember is maintaining a balance where employees can see that there are still challenges that they need to overcome and be rewarded for. Employees could start to become bored and demotivated if they feel that they are receiving more than they are giving as their job will become easy for them, and this could potentially lead them to look for other jobs where they are mentally or physically challenged to do more. A popular example of this is the ‘employee of the month’ reward program where employees are encouraged to push harder and perform better to achieve recognition (Viesca, 2016). In regards to the social class disparity within the UK workplace, this strategy is helpful because it means that every employee is given the same opportunity to shine despite their social status and background differences.

In conclusion, motivation plays a significant role in a workplace. It affects the quality of production, the work atmosphere, and most importantly the attitude and mental well-being of workers. Social class inequality in the UK requires more attention and research as it is a complex situation, and solving this issue will take time and patience. However, understanding the theories of motivation give us an insight into what makes a good manager, and how he or she can implement these theories into their leadership style. I believe it is also useful to teach aspiring managers and next generation leaders the importance of being a fair and empathetic leader, in order to build a more egalitarian society for people of all ages, social-status and backgrounds.

The objective of the option 2 case study 5-6 was to develop a motivational plan for Susan Smith to present to her director of nursing, Jane Couch. Jane is looking for ways to motivate Susan to her prior ‘self’ that was a highly motivated and productive member of the nursing staff. High inpatient census along with increased pressure from the management by an upcoming accreditation visit from The Joint Commission has added a lot of stress on hospital employees, Susan in particular. The following will go over the different principles of the motivational content theory that will develop the plan to enhance Susan’s work experience.

The internal tension felt by Susan is brought on by the inability to have a proper annual performance evaluation. During her assessment, Susan would have been able to voice her concerns to Jane. Even though she received a 5% raise, as did the other staff, this additional compensation doesn’t satisfy her self-esteem, self-actualization, or affiliation needs. Because several needs are being unmet, Susan’s work performance is suffering. She frequently argues with treating physicians and nurses about treatment plans, doesn’t exhibit a very high productivity level and often vocalizes her concerns of not being heard and not receiving enough compensation to do her job even after her more than reasonable raise.

The definition of motivation is the conscious or unconscious stimulus, incentive, or motives for action toward a goal resulting from psychological or social factors, the factors giving the purpose or direction to behavior (Borkowski 2016). Behavior is lead by a person’s desire to satisfy a want or a need. If these wants or needs go unsatisfied, it creates internal tension until the tension can be relieved.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow designed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory in 1954. Maslow concluded that human behavior is not controlled only by internal or external factors, but by both and that some elements have precedence over others (Borkowski 2016). This concept helped develop his five-tiered hierarchy of needs theory. The base of his pyramid houses the most basic human needs, which are physiological such as air, water, and food. After basic needs, the demands for safety and security are next. The third tier is the need to be loved and felt like they are needed and approved by others. The fourth tier is self-esteem, receiving respect from others, holding a high social and professional status, recognition, and appreciation. Maslow’s most top level is the individual’s desire to become all that he or she can be or self-actualization (Borkowski 2016). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was designed for individuals to satisfy their lower-level needs, to an acceptable state, before being motivated to achieve higher levels in the hierarchy (Borkowski 2016).

As you can see, this theory can account for several of Susan’s behaviors. Jane gave her employees a 5% raise to compensate for the extra workload. This money was accommodating, but still left some of her employee’s needs neglected. Susan was unable to fulfill satisfaction in her third and fourth-tier; therefore, she was unable to feel completely satisfied. The lack of a proper annual review left Susan feeling unappreciated.

Maslow saw leaders as enlightened and self-actualized beings; far superior to the masses they lead (Soni & Soni 2016). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory suggests private meetings are a great addition to management style to motivate employees such as Susan. A private meeting would allow Jane and Susan to discuss and discrepancies in the work style to motivate Susan to be back to her productive self. If Susan can voice her opinions and fears openly with her supervisor and gain feedback, she will begin to feel more appreciated. If I were in Jane’s shoes, I would also stress to Susan how much she is appreciated by me as well as by the organization. According to Oved (2017), love needs are part of basic needs rather than psychological needs; therefore, they should precede the safety needs in importance. This ideal is being felt by Susan as well. Her ten years of experience is immeasurable as they get ready for the accreditation visit from The Joint Commission. Jane needs to reiterate that fact to her.

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Alderfer’s ERG Theory was introduced by Clayton Alderfer in 1972 after there were criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. While Maslow’s Hierarchy had five tiers, the Alderfer ERG Theory only has three categories: existence, relatedness, and growth. Existence is the primary material and physiological requirements such as food, water, pay, fringe benefits, and working conditions. Relatedness is the need to develop and sustain interpersonal relationships with family, friends, supervisors, coworkers, subordinates, and other groups. Growth is an individual’s intrinsic need to be creative and make useful and productive contributions with personal development (Borkowski 2016). The three points in the theory do not have any specific order in which they need to be satisfied for an individual’s behavior to change. This flexibility allows it to be utilized by any person because the needs will be different for different people. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of Alderfer’s ERG theory is the frustration-regression principle. This principle explains that when a barrier prevents an individual from obtaining a higher-level need, and person may ‘regress’ to a lower level need or vice versa to achieve complete satisfaction (Borkowski 2016). This theory explains how Jane’s behavior of just focusing on one aspect of the job, salary, did not satisfy all her employees. Even though Susan received a very generous raise, she regressed stating her salary wasn’t enough compensation to do her job. Susan’s social needs were also not being met due to the additional pressure from upper management as well as being overly busy with patients due to the high census. If Jane were able to prevent detrimental interruptions from her employees, she would be able to focus her attention more on creating opportunities for organizational growth (Snow 2019). Managers experience difficulty focusing their time on higher-level management activities. Activities such as strategizing open innovation and change to promote the success of their company get sidelined because lower-level issues require attention (Snow 2019)

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Frederick Herzberg developed Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, and it is also known as the Motivation-Hygiene Theory. The theory base concept is people only have two sets of needs: 1) avoidance of unpleasantness and 2) personal growth (Borkowski 2016). Herzberg was able to point out the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction but rather no job satisfaction. The same can be right about the opposite of job dissatisfaction is no job satisfaction, not being satisfied with one’s job (Borkowski 2016). As with both of the other motivational theories, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory has its criticisms. The thought that even if a single factor may be a motivator for one employee, it may also cause job dissatisfaction for another. For example: if pay did not meet expectations, employees were dissatisfied, but if salary met employee’s expectations, the salary was not needed to achieve satisfaction (Borkowski 2016). Pay will hold no merit to someone working under inadequate supervision and has relationship issues with their supervisor. If the supervisor merely gives them more money to stay, it may not motivate employees. There is no motivation because the demotivating factors are still present (EBA 2016), which proves true with Jane and Susan.

Research states even if Jane gave Susan another raise, it would just make the current situation worse.

Cardenas states, there are five major factors in motivating nurses. It is essential to ask for feedback regularly, involve nurses in leadership, set up mutual understanding, and commit to positive communication. These ideals would make a great addition to any management style, not just those of nurses. Jane would be better able to motivate Susan as well as possibly more of her other nurse employees if implemented. Another good motivator for Susan would be to have Jane remind her about why she became a nurse in the first place. Incentive theory suggests that engaging in an activity that provides positive reinforcement is motivational (LaFerney 2018).

References

1. Borkowski, Nancy (2016). Organizational Behavior in Healthcare (3rd ed). Burlington, MA: Jones & Barlett Learning
2. Cardenas, Heidi. Strategies to Motivate Staff Nurses. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/strategies-motivate-staff-nurses-15427.html
3. LaFerney, Michael (2018). Point of Care: What motivates you as a nurse? Reflections on Nursing Leadership. Retrieved from: https://www.reflectionsonnursingleadership.org/features/more-features/point-of-care-what-motivates-you-as-a-nurse
4. Oved, Or. “Rethinking the Place of Love Needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Society 54.6 (2017): 537–538. Web.
5. Snow, David. “The Big Picture: How the New Use of an Old Theory Will Enhance Leaders’ Perspective on Management.” The Journal of Applied Business and Economics 21.1 (2019): 117–130. Web.
6. Soni, Bina, and Soni, Ramesh. “Enhancing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Effective Leadership.” Competition Forum 14.2 (2016): 259–263. Web.
7. Using Herzberg Motivation Theory to Nurture the Ideal Working Conditions for Motivation. (2016) Retrieved from: https://www.educational-business-articles.com/herzberg-motivation-theory/

Maslow’s Hierarchy of significance of necessities can be depicted as a speculation of inspiration which communicates that there are five classes of human needs that chooses an individual’s lead (Pichère and Cadiat, 2015). Abraham Maslow was an American clinician who recommended that individuals are convinced to meeting their principal needs first before progressing to the following level of improvement needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of necessities is regularly established on reformist pyramid structure with five levels. He clarified that every individual’s longing is to progress up the different leveled pyramid. Nevertheless, heartbreakingly the progression is frequently blocked by the failure to meet the most negligible level of necessities (McGuire, 2012). The five classes of Maslow’s Hierarchy of necessities are depicted as follows: first, there is physiological prerequisites. This is minimal class of necessities or the early phase for convincing theory which addresses the most fundamental thing needs significant for any person to stay alive. Such needs incorporate food, asylum, water, and air, among others. Until these rule needs are refined, it gets hard to address various issues. Furthermore, all various needs are viewed as discretionary needs. These necessities must be fulfilled first before advancing to the following level.

The resulting one is prosperity and security needs. These are the necessities which put people out of physical or mental underhandedness. They fuse manager solidness, cash related security, legality, prosperity, social unfaltering quality, and normal security, among others. Preceding any undertaking to advance to the accompanying level of necessities, it is appropriate for individuals to fulfill prosperity needs first. The third level is social needs. These necessities fuse assessments of fondness and things, family associations, partnership, and fellowship, among others. They are met through fulfilling and satisfying relationship with others which is an eventual outcome of being perceived by others. In the wake of meeting the basic physiological needs and security needs, individuals may choose to look for good relationship with others and being significant for a social affair, for instance, a friends and family.

The fourth one is respect needs. This is where an individual starts to develop a decent slant of confidence and certainty. This is a show that creates for pride and vanity to self and to others. This level can be segregated into two groupings: certainty and a hankering for reputation or mentioning respect from others. These necessities incorporate certainty, achievements, certainty, and affirmation, among others.

The last one is self-acknowledgment needs. This is the apex level of Maslow’s chain of significance. It relates to what an individual’s whole potential is and recognizes that got limit. People in this level need to frame into all that they can transform into. The self-fruition needs join vanity, looking for mindfulness, recognizing singular limit, creative mind, among others.

References

1. Pichère, P., & Cadiat, A.-C. (2015). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Namur: Lemaitre.
2. McGuire, K. J. (2012). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. An introduction. München GRIN Verlag.

Maslow’s theory on the hierarchy of needs, developed in the United States, embodies a capitalistic perspective regarding the motivations that humans possess in attaining their needs. It comprises of a five-tier model of needs which must be satisfied in order, leading them to reach self-actualisation. This essay will critically examine the empirical validity of this model’s universality, arguing that it must be modified in order to reflect the collectivist nature of Eastern cultures. Individualistic societies strive for high quality of life as a result of individual success whereas collectivist societies define a high quality of life alongside the interest of a group and their success which creates differing perceptions on their motivations of needs (Hofstede, 1984). This will be explored through Michalak’s Motivational Feedback Opinionnaire (1973) and its application to Korea and global marketing, Zakaria and Abdul Malek’s (2014) paper on its applicability to the Islamic faith, and Edwin C. Nevis’ (1983) study on China.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs acts as a blueprint guiding businesses to their starting point in developing global marketing strategies to motivate consumers to buy and satisfy their needs. It is widely used with regard to advertising campaigns while promoting a “perceived need gap”, evoking purchases (Korschun, Bhattacharya, & Swain, 2014). However, collectivist cultures disagree with the hierarchical order of this model, hence raising questions regarding its empirical validity and universality. The model holds individualistic values being criticised as ethnocentric and self-aggrandizing, holding self-actualization at the top of the hierarchy. This one-dimensional perspective of human behaviour can be damaging for the development of business ethics and practice when taking into account differing societies in global marketing (Boulanouar & Boulanouar, 2013). Whereas collective cultures focus on belonging and tradition, where the interests of a group rather than the individual is actualised (de Mooij, 1998).

Korea has a homogenous population that is rich in tradition and is eminently collective (Raymond and Rylance, 1995). Michalak’s Motivational Feedback Opinionnaire (1973) examined “blue-collar” workers from different foreign businesses in Korea and found that belonging needs were the strongest and self-actualization needs were considered least important. Fisher’s Least Significant Difference Method demonstrated this major difference illustrating that collective societies needs perceptions differed to those defined by Maslow. This depicts the lack of universality of the model on international marketing due to Maslow’s ethno-centrality as he only used American subjects in research (Gambrel, 2003), not accounting the differing collectivist cultures beliefs and needs. This placed strong implications in global marketing for advertising, product positioning, and personal selling in these cultures as their advertisements use groups rather than individuals, and products positioned as “popular” are more accepted. Therefore, Maslow’s model must be modified to reflect the collectivist nature of Eastern cultures, hence leaving people critical of the applicability of his model in differing societies (Adler, 1991; Rice, 1993), suggesting the lack of universality of his model.

Moreover, the religious context in which Maslow’s theory was developed had an immense impact on its applicability to collectivist societies. As an Atheist, Maslow was unconsciously influenced by individualistic motivations such as self-esteem and materialism which is displayed in his journals as he believes “materialism is a marvellous philosophy” (Maslow, 1982). He imposes his disbelief in anything of a supernatural nature hence reducing the importance of faith as a need (Ragab, 1997). This further alludes to the fact that his model isn’t applicable universally. Religions and beliefs that share collective values such as Islam, portray Maslow’s theory as inaccurate as they place religion and their belief in actualising their link to their creator as motivation prior to any other need. Zakaria and Abdul Malek (2014) confirmed this in an attempt to incorporate this hierarchy into theory of the Islamic law and had gathered that the concept of religion and self-actualization were similar however religion is ranked last on Maslow’s hierarchy and most significant for Islamic believers. Alias and Samsudin (2005) also claims this study as unsuitable as firm believers had naturally placed religion above life on the Islamic hierarchy of needs. As a collective society, Muslims place great importance on belonging and tradition which declares that it is normal to never reach satisfaction in regards to possessions as it is not part of human nature, hence further disagreeing with Maslow’s theory. Thus, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is incompatible with the Islamic faith as it leaves out a crucial spiritual aspect, proving its lack of universality.

Additionally, the universality and applicability of Maslow’s ethnocentric hierarchy is further tested throughout Chinese cultures. The culture and values of China fit within the framework of a collectivist society, placing significance on belonging needs such as family, loyalty, equity, and communal property (Nevis 1983). Maslow had a large focus on Western hegemony and stressed individual achievement placing emphasis on self-actualization and self-esteem, disregarding collective societies such as China. Past studies depict that a key Chinese cultural characteristic is family-oriented collectivism (Li et al, (2000). There is no empirical study covering different sections of even American society when formulating the model, hence proving the model to be unreliable and inaccurate. Trompenaars (1993) and Hofstede (1993) both agree that the American way of management and their perceptions of needs does not apply to all cultures.

Edwin C. Nevis (1983) found that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was unsuitable for the collective Chinese context thus developing Nevis’ hierarchy of needs. This was developed based on collectivist characteristics placing belonging before other needs, self-actualization in the sense of service for society rather than individual, and removing self-esteem needs. This had brought to light that need hierarchies of differing cultures are classifiable based on individual and collective dimensions as well as an ego and social dimension (Loh et al, 2000). Another study by Gambrel and Cianci (2003) pointed out further limitations of Maslow’s model as it was used in international management. It was found contrasting with the special needs of collectivist cultures such as China. Therefore, this proves that the context that the theory was developed in had an immense impact on its applicability universally as it is an inaccurate model for collectivist societies including China.

In essence, the context in which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was developed had a large influence on the level of its universality. Placing a large focus on the American individualistic perceptions of needs, Maslow’s hierarchy is deemed inapplicable to collectivist cultures where the interests of a group are more significant. If needs existed independent of cultural contexts, this theory would be applicable across cultures. Although this model is pervasive and widely-used in individualistic contexts, it remains inaccurate for collective societies having different perceptions of needs. There is a lack of empirical evidence that Maslow’s theory is universal, leaving others to be critical of the applicability to collective cultures (Adler, 1991; de Mooij, 1998). Therefore, Maslow’s hierarchy does not reflect universal motivations that all humans possess as these findings must be modified in order to be applicable to differing societies, such as collective Eastern cultures.

Reference List

1. de Mooij, M. (1998), Global Marketing and Advertsiing: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/imr.1998.15.3.234.2
2. Gambrel, P.A., & Cianci, R. (2003). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Does it apply in a collectivist culture. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 8(2), 143-161.
3. Hofstede, G. (1984). The culture relativity of the quality of life concept. Academy of Management Review, 9 (3), 389-398.
4. Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive, 7 (1), 81-94
5. [bookmark: OLE_LINK1][bookmark: OLE_LINK2]Levitt, T. (1983), “The Globalization of Markets,” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 61 (May/June), pp. 92-102.
6. Li, J., Lam, K., & Fu, P. P. (2000). Family-oriented collectivism and its effects on firm performance: A comparison between overseas Chinese and foreign firms in China. The International Journal of Organisational Analysis, 8 (4), 364-379. doi: 10.1108/eb028923
7. Maslow, A. (1982) The journals of Abraham Maslow. USA: Lewis Publishers.
8. Nevis, E. C. (1983a). Using an American perspective in understanding another culture: Toward a hierarchy of needs for the People’s Republic of China. The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 19 (3), 249-264. doi: 10.1177/002188638301900304
9. Ragab, I. (1997). Creative engagement of modern social science scholarship: A significant component of Islamisation of knowledge effort. Intellectual Discourse, 5(1), 35-49.
10. Raymond, M. A., and W. Rylance (1995), “Evaluation and Management of professional Services in Korea,” Advances in International Marketing, Vol. 7, pp. 111-125.
11. Yang, K. S. (2003). Beyond Maslow’s culture-bound linear theory: A preliminary statement of the double-Y model of basic human needs. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 49, 175-255.

Political parties play an important role to every local, national, and even in school-based elections, such as in student councils. The establishment of political parties helped shape voter preference that accords to the social considerations and social benefits of the student body. For the past two (2) academic years (A.Y.), there has been a commonality of the winning participants coming from the same political party. The ALAB party is known to be the first political party established in the San Beda University-Manila Senior High School (SHS). From the seemingly overwhelming preference of the student body towards ALAB, the researchers conducted a study comparing voter preferences towards the different political parties of the elections in A.Y. 2018-2020, through the use of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Rational Choice Theory of Voter Turnout as basis for the analysis and interpretation of the acquired data. The results of the study displayed the evident voter preference of ALAB against other competitors, wherein the motivating need driving voter preference towards these parties turned out to fall under the “physiological” aspect, be it chosen consciously or unconsciously. Moreover, ALAB among other political parties from the A.Y. 2018-2020 was perceived to embody this need the most.

Background of the Study

Political parties play an important role in the electoral system, wherein different candidates form together an alliance known as a “political party;” promoting a common cause, belief, and ideology for the community they are bound to serve in. In view of this, several definitions of “political party” have been recorded, given the use of political parties as a topic by several distinguished studies. Quimpo (2007) states that an organized group of individuals with common ideology, political ideas, and platform of government is what a political party is, as defined by the country’s own “omnibus election code.” On the other hand, Sta. Ana III (2019) defined political parties as an organization bonded together under a “common vision, values, program and public policies” with the goal of achieving political power on a fair election. Moreover, Macaraeg (2019) states that proper programs and platforms are created between politicians with common ideologies helping each political candidate advance their cause and jump-start their political campaigns.

However, Rocamora (as stated in Quimpo, 2007) says that political parties in the Philippines are built on personalities as dominated by the country’s political-economic elites more than serving with a common purpose. Likewise, he further elucidates that the stances of varying political parties became indistinguishable from each other, thus eliminating the supposedly “unique platforms” or ideologies of varying parties. Consequently, political parties in the Philippines are also viewed with a weak membership wherein they are often only heard at times of elections (Quimpo, 2007).

In San Beda University-Manila Senior High School, the student body is empowered through its own ‘Student Council.’ Elections are held at the start of every academic year (A.Y.) to determine who gets to sit in the Senior High School Student Council, according to the Senior High School Commission on Elections (SHS-COMELEC). In A.Y. 2018-2019, three (3) political parties contested some, if not all, of the seats available in the Student Council (SC). According to the SHS-COMELEC, these three (3) political parties are the following: ALAB Party, headed by Allesandra Leine Sarangaya; GILAS Party, headed by April Angelica Filipino; and KAAGAPAY Party, headed by Daud Kim Anthony So. All of the party leaders were Grade 12 students at the time of the elections and were all candidates for SC President.

ALAB serves as the oldest political party in the department and traces its founding year to 2017. Allesandra Leine Sarangaya, known colloquially as “Lessa,” then a Grade 11 student, served as a founding member of the political party, along with Grade 12 students namely: Deane Nepomuceno, Nico Ponce, and Zion Licup. Sarangaya states that the ideology that ALAB espouses is their so-called “Students’ and People’s Rights and Welfare” or SPRAW. She characterized this their party as an advocate of “grounded grassroots empowerment, progressive discourse, advocacy-driven radical leadership and on social justice.” To justify this characterization of ALAB’s ideology, Sarangaya enumerated their political party’s list of platforms. These platforms include the following: a.) to initiate an institutional “Magna Carta,” b.) to add additional committees in the student council sub-committees, c.) a general assembly every quarter of the academic year (A.Y.) to discuss students’ grievances and opinions, d.) a percentage of the “student development fund” exclusive for the student-athletes of the Senior High School, e.) the proper orientation and implementation of school’s “merit and demerit” system, f.) to initiate a request for the installation of “bidets” in the comfort rooms, g.) the promotion of a “gender-friendly” environment, h.) no more deadlines before exams, i.) a “Fun Run for a Cause” in line with a partnership with the institutional “Community Involvement Center,” j.) the creation of a “Senior High School Fair,” k.) the proposal of a “student lounge,” l.) the empowerment of clubs and organizations, m.) an increase of “social consciousness” through seminars, n.) the strict monitoring of “self-bussing policy,” and o.) espousing the “Live Pure Movement.” ALAB has contested all three (3) of the SHS elections that have taken place since 2017. As of 2019, the political party led by Joshua Brozoto, a Grade 12 student, who also served as the SC President for A.Y. 2019-2020.

Eventually, ALAB ceased its monopoly on the SHS SC elections due to the entry of two (2) other political players. KAAGAPAY, led by Daud Kim Anthony So, entered the field with five (5) candidates for the SC elections. Calvin Joshua Salas, who ran as the political party’s candidate for Grade 11 Representative, states that KAAGAPAY was founded by So to “integrate student-centered” policies. “Class de-stress” sessions, extended or additional rest day for students, the suggestion of creating student lounges, and more frequent guidance sessions were the platforms cited by Salas as ‘student-centered.’ KAAGAPAY now ceases to exist, having dissolved itself immediately after the 2018 SC elections.

The other political party that challenged ALAB in the 2018 SC elections was the GILAS political party. Founded in 2018 by its leader and candidate for SC President April Angelica Filipino, GILAS espoused ‘radical centrism’ as the political party’s main ideology, calling for platforms that in spite of it being ‘idealistic,’ will still be ‘pragmatic’ and ‘realistic.’ To oppose ALAB’s SPRAW advocacy, Filipino says that under her leadership, the political party branded its own platforms as guided by the concept of “4U,” which she says stands for “Uncaged, Unity, Unshakable and Ubiquity.” Like KAAGAPAY, GILAS has since been dissolved right after the end of the 2018 SC elections as well.

In the SC elections for the A.Y. 2019-2020, a political party solely composed of Grade 11 students of the said school year contested the only other party in the SHS, ALAB. The new political party, SIMULA, was led by its candidate for SC Auditor, Maria Angela Meneses. The political party started after the SHS-COMELEC barred the entry of the National Youth and Progressive Democrats (NYPD) political party in the San Beda College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) into the SHS elections. The members of the political party then rebranded itself as “SIMULA” and contested five (5) seats in the Student Council. Meneses says that the party embodies the principle of “serving the student body” through its platforms such as “Transparency in Funds” and “Honesty Store.” Despite their novelty, the political party failed to succeed in the A.Y. 2019-2020 SC elections.

Statement of the Problem

This paper aims to compare voter preference in choosing political parties during the two (2) most recent elections in the San Beda University Manila Senior High School Student Council (SHS SC) namely: A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020. The researchers shall also seek to determine if Abraham Maslow’s five (5) Hierarchy of Needs is suited in measuring voter preference. Accordingly, the following questions shall be answered in the course of this study:

1. What are the attitudes of respondents towards Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a measurement of voter preference?
   1. Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which of the five (5) needs is most important in choosing a political party?
2. Which of the four (4) SHS political parties was perceived to possess the prevalent need the most?
3. Are there noticeable similarities and evident differences in voter preference of political parties in the A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020 SHS SC Elections?

Hypothesis

The researchers hypothesize that there is no relationship between voter preference of political parties in the A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020 SHS SC elections.

Scope and Delimitation

The study shall determine the viability of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a measurement of voter preference and subsequently compare the preference of voters during the San Beda University Manila SHS SC elections of A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020. Moreover, the study is limited only to the political parties who campaigned during the said two (2) SHS SC elections. Political parties that did not contest the aforementioned elections are not part of this study. Furthermore, this paper shall only cover students who are Grade 12 students of San Beda University Manila in A.Y. 2019-2020 and were also Grade 11 students of the said university in A.Y. 2018-2019. Moreover, due to the unavailability of information and data on the part of the SHS-COMELEC and Genyo E-Leaning, the exact figures of the election results were only stipulated in percent (5).

Significance of the Study

Political parties are a union of different persons with their common goals, visions, and ideas to impose upon the electorate, by campaigning in elections as one group with one advocacy and ideology. This paper aims to determine the similarities and differences between voter preference of political parties in A.Y. 2018-2020 SHS SC elections in San Beda University-Manila. Furthermore, this study shall benefit the following personalities:

The student-body. As the discerning body, the students shall benefit from this study for they will know how voters such as they, tend to tilt when it comes to choosing candidates based on their affiliation to a specific political party.

Possible candidates for Student Council elections. Students who may ultimately decide to run for a position in the student council may benefit from this research for they shall garner considerable knowledge as to how their chances of winning is related to their affiliation to a specific political party.

The SHS-COMELEC. This research shall aid the SHS-COMELEC in gauging the views and preferences of the student body. Furthermore, this study shall allow the SHS-COMELEC to review its policies towards political parties.

Future researchers. Any future researchers who plan to explore this topic shall be able to use the results of this study to more ably give a proper correlation between winning and party affiliation in the student council elections.

Conceptual Framework

1. Figure 1.1. Conceptual Framework

The study will use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Rational Choice Theory of Voter Turnout as its framework in conducting the study. These frameworks shall also be utilized in the crafting of survey questionnaires that shall gather data for this study; in order to establish the rationale behind the backing of a political party of the student body. Furthermore, through the use of survey questionnaires, data are to be collected and interpreted, which results into the accomplishment of this study.

Definition of Terms

Political party. A political party is an organized body of like-minded people who work to elect candidates for public office who represent their values on matters of policy (Murse, 2019).

Voter preference. It is the person’s or a voter’s choice of political person, it may be influenced by a political candidate’s characteristics, ideology, or from factors a voter assumes to be of importance (Arnesen, Duell, & Johannesson, 2019).

Student government or student council. It is an elected group of students in a high school, college, or university who represent the students in meetings and who organize school activities (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, n.d.).

Chapter II

Review of related literature

In conducting this study, the researchers have sought to use two guiding frameworks to help better understand the ideas of a “political party” and “voter preference.” These two frameworks include Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Rational Choice Theory of Voter Turnout.

Maslow`s hierarchy of needs

In an article by McLeod (2018), he discussed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a psychological theory that focuses on the motivational factors driving or directing human behavior. Composed of five tiers, the model is depicted in a hierarchal level within a pyramid. Each need inside the pyramid must be satisfied prior to moving higher in the hierarchy, the hierarchy from bottom to top are as follows: Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization.

The hierarchy is further divided into two parts wherein the first four needs from the bottom upwards are categorized under what Maslow called as “Deficiency needs,” while the highest of the hierarchy or the need for self-actualization is categorized as a “growth need.”

Deficiency needs are said to arise from the deprivation of people from the factors that would meet or satisfy these needs, the deprivation of this needs is what drives or motivates people to fulfill such needs. The longer time or period a person is deprived of such needs the stronger the urge or motivation people get to fulfill them. An example of such is when a person goes long without any food, overtime the hungrier will they get. Maslow (1943; as stated in McLeod, 2018) initially stated that each individual must satisfy each level of the hierarchy before moving higher which he latter clarified to not be as an “all-or-none” phenomenon but more of a ‘more or less’ satisfaction will allow individuals to move higher in the hierarchy.

Growth needs on the other hand, is characterized to be continuously felt or engaged. Growth needs unlike deficiency needs stem from the desire to grow as a person rather than the lack of something that is need of fulfillment.

1. Physiological needs

These needs are characterized by Maslow as the biological factors required for human survival examples of such needs are food, drink, shelter, clothing, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs

The safety needs were characterized to be elements of protection, order, law, freedom from fear, etc. that gives an individual the feeling of security.

3. Love and belongingness

This level of the hierarchy involves the presence of other beings, it is fulfilled through socialization and involves the feeling of belongingness. This need is fulfilled through friendships, intimacy, trust, acceptance, being part of a group, etc.

4. Esteem

This need is classified into two categories namely esteem for oneself and desire for reputation. The prior being fulfilled if the person finds his dignity, achievements, mastery, and independence. The latter then being fulfilled through respect reputation or respect from others gained through status, prestige, etc. The latter of the two are characterized to be more important.

5. Self-Actualization

This need is realized and fulfilled through seeking self-fulfillment, personal growth, peak experiences, and potentials. A desire to become everything one can become.

Voter preference

Voter preference is one of the aspects that may affect the candidate’s status as for they need to shape their ideologies and characteristics for the voters. According to Miller and Shanks (1996), voters also judge candidates by their personal characteristics. Included among the relevant characteristics are such things as the experience, honesty, morality, compassion, competence, and leadership ability of the candidates. Voter’s preference varies from one’s political view. Besides on how they see the candidate, they form their own qualities personally from the candidate itself. One important aspect of personal character is the perceived honesty and trustworthiness of the candidates–what might be termed an integrity dimension. Another important dimension, which might be termed competence, involves the experience and knowledge of the candidates; in particular, voters are hardly likely to vote for someone whom they feel lacks the experience and ability to handle the job of president. A third important dimension involves the leadership ability of the candidates. Those who are perceived as strong and inspiring leaders are much more likely to be preferred by the voters. Finally, there is a compassion dimension; voters favor candidates whom they see as concerned and caring. These four dimensions of personal traits may vary in their importance; perhaps one or more of the dimensions will have little effect in any given election (Miller and Shanks 1996).

In the Philippine context, since one voter equals to one vote, candidates make their own ways to achieve the means of a Filipino voter. The Institute of Political and Electoral Reform (2003) conducted a study on the voting behavior of a Filipino electorate. The study shows the characteristics and variants of what a voter finds and select out of the candidates. The study identified the primary base of a Filipino voter was the popularity of the candidate and public image. The next factor is the endorsement of traditional networks and organizations, which includes the family, church, and ward leaders. The third factor that the voters consider in choosing a candidate is the characteristics that can be of benefit to the voter. The least consideration for the voters is the party program. (Neuman, 1991). Through time, generations of today have changes their ideologies. Furthermore, according to Maurcia (2017), voters today have become cynical about politics. The most important factor for them in choosing the candidates are those from whom they will benefit most, as preference was universally noted to be modified by decision-making processes, such as choices. Filipino millennial of today have set their standards of what candidates they want to vote for and have been more politically inclined than past generations. Millennials most prefer a presidential candidate who has an experience in politics. Political experience among the candidates who are aiming for a position is one of the primary attributes considered by the voters. Prior to this, there are two identified fundamental dimensions of voter choice between competing candidates: ideological differences between the candidates and differences in their quality as leaders. This quality that a candidate had built put reputation on his part and was significantly considered by the voters.

Rational choice theory of voter turnout

The predicted utility of voting for electors with ‘personal’ interests is roughly independent of the size of the population, indicating that even in broad elections, sensible voter turnouts can be significant (Edlin, Gelman & Kaplan, 2005). The probability of a vote being definitive in a broad election is low, but the social benefit correlated with determining the outcome of the election is high, so the potential gain from voting to a person with social biases can be substantial. Unexpectedly, the anticipated social gain cost does not fall close to zero or even decline as the number of voters rises. It was then mentioned by Edlin, et.al., (2005) that The key way to go beyond a circular argument (of the sort, ‘people vote because it offers them good value’) is to view the perceived social advantage not simply as an individual’s emotional function, but as a utility that is proportional to the probability of being crucial (self-endogenous) and the number of people affected by the election being regarded. It was assumed that this measure is reasonably compatible with how people view voting and participation— not merely as a pleasant act (possibly) or as a clandestine obligation, but as a possible commitment to the general good. According to Geys (2006), The game-theoretical approach to turnout–proposed by Ledyard (1984, as cited in Geys, 2006) and Palfrey and Rosenthal (1983, 1985 as cited in Geys, 2006)–argues that people are explicitly taking into account the decisions made by others. If everyone votes, there is very little chance of influencing the election outcome.

Because this applies for everyone, abstaining –in which case one vote is definitive–would be fair for everyone. If everyone came to this conclusion, everyone would vote–making voting again useless. This line of reasoning can be eternally repeated.

Chapter III

Research methodology

In order to achieve an organized and structured research paper, the researchers used various methods to achieve this end. The methodology employed by the researchers were the research design, sampling method, procedures of data gathering, research locale, and ethical considerations.

Research Design

The research design used for this study is a comparative study, as the researchers have sought to determine if there is an evident trend between voter preference on political parties in San Beda University Manila SHS SC elections in A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020. With this research design, the researchers will dwell on the voters’ preferred “need” in Maslow’s Hierarchy that drives their preference of political parties. Moreover, a descriptive method was used by the researchers to describe the aforementioned trends that have taken place in the two (2) aforementioned election cycles.

Sampling Method

The researchers used random sampling as their sampling method, given all of the Grade 12 students as of A.Y. 2019-2020 are eligible voters for the SHS SC elections of A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020. Accordingly, the participants of the study included all of the Grade 12 students as of A.Y. 2019-2020 who voted during the SHS SC elections stated above.

Procedures of Data Gathering

The instrument utilized by the researchers was a survey questionnaire comprised of the following parts: (a) a profile of the respondent, (b) a Likert Scale rating the five Hierarchy of Needs based on their importance to likely voters, (c) a checklist of which particular need corresponds to voter preference of a political party, and (d) determining which of the five Hierarchy of Needs are represented by a political party from: A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020.

Research Locale

The research was conducted in San Beda University-Manila, wherein the respondents of this research are enrolled presently, as of A.Y. 2019-2020, in Grade 12.

Ethical Considerations

In conducting the research, the respondents are well oriented on the purpose of the interview and questionnaire, which will be used for the research study. Hence, the researchers and respondents formed an agreement on what will be acceptable and unacceptable in conducting the interview and answering the questionnaire. The respondents may decline in participating in the research study should they be out of time, and rest assured that the researchers ensured to treat the data gathered with the respondents with utmost confidentiality. Furthermore, the researchers no longer included in the data gathering the respondents who are unavailable during the time of data gathering.

Chapter IV

Presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data

The data gathered using the methodology cited by the researchers in the previous chapter of this paper shall be presented, analyzed, and interpreted in this succeeding chapter. In answering the research questions, the researchers encoded the responses generated through the selected instrument of this research.

The instrument utilized by the researchers was a survey questionnaire comprised of the following parts: (a) a profile of the respondent, (b) a Likert Scale rating the five Hierarchy of Needs based on their importance to likely voters, (c) a checklist of which particular need corresponds to voter preference of a political party, and (d) determining which of the five Hierarchy of Needs are represented by a political party from: A.Y. 2018-2019 and A.Y. 2019-2020.

This composition of the survey questionnaire is deduced from the research questions as mentioned in Chapter 1 of this study. The following are the research questions with their corresponding answers based on the data gathered by the researchers:

QUESTION 1: What are the attitudes of respondents towards Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a measurement of voter preference?

In measuring the attitudes of the respondents towards Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a measurement of voter preference, the researchers made use of a Likert Scale rating the five Hierarchy of Needs based on their importance to likely voters. This is broken down and tallied in Figure 2.1.

Well-being is effected by an individuals sense of living a good and purposeful life, and the sense of wellness can be measured against Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Which suggest that for an individual to be satisfied with their life, they need to achieve five main goals in their life to feel successful. In this hierarchy, an individual needs basic needs to be met such as food, water and sleep. But also the sense of a safe place or a secure environment. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs carries on to state that individuals need a sense of belonging, this need can be achieved by creating and maintaining close relationships such as family and friendship groups. The final two needs of the hierarchy are an individuals self-esteem and self-fulfilment. Going by this theory of wellbeing, an individual requires several aspects of their lives to be deemed as successful, from their own viewpoint to have a good sense of well being. However, mental health can be described as individuals own ability to cope with negativity.

I believe that a persons sense of wellness is closely related to a persons mental health, and vice versa. An individual who may deem themselves unsuccessful in certain areas of their life, may have a negative viewpoint and struggle to cope emotionally.

For example: An individual in the late 30’s may believe that they should be settled down with a partner and children. And have people make comments towards them, in regards to a lack of a family setting. However, this individual may have been career driven and not wanted to have a family, but as the comments are repeatedly made by family and friends, they may seems themselves as lacking in a relationship and due to this may see themselves as unsuccessful.

I used this example as the individual, could have the house, food and water, and the sense of security. Also, they could have progressed in their career, to have a good sense of fulfilment. But they do not have the family or social goals that they would have hoped to have had. This could lead this particular individual to have a negative or ill mental health. And due to this mental ill health, they withdraw from social events and plans, so in turn are less likely to meet other people.

Another example, is an individual who suffers from ill mental health, will have difficulties in maintaining their nutritional intake, and self neglect can become part of their norm. As this develops, the individual will find it difficult to maintain relationships as they struggle emotionally and mentally. This is where the individual will struggle to find a sense of achievement and fulfilment, in there lives. By neglecting their personal needs the individual will have a very difficult time to have a good sense of wellness and positivity, without intervention.

Are we acting in our own self-interest? Are we doing things for others? Self-improving minds perpetually search for answers to the questions of why we do, what we do, as well as who we do it for. The greater understanding we have for the ‘Why’ and the ‘What’, the more likely we are to find peace and balance in our lives. Every day, we meet so many people and we don’t really know what inspires them or drives their passion. I am on a mission to find out about their passion and what drives the people I interact with on a daily basis. Somehow I find it easier to ask those questions when I meet a stranger or a new friend. Physiologists defines Motivation as the drive to improve oneself or to achieve a higher level of benchmark. Motivation is what drives people to improve themselves. Motivation has always been a part of the human behavior. It has been used since the very beginning of human society as a means to develop themselves. There are a number of ways in which people or employees can be motivated. However, it was not until the mid 18th century that any sort of theory on motivation was developed. In fact the very first recorded history of development of motivational theories was by Fredrick Winslow Taylor (1856-1917), who came up with Taylor’s motivation theory (1989). But in order to be motivated to fulfill one of your goals you need to know your basic needs like maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that was first presented by Abraham Maslow in a paper entitled ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ in 1943. The theory includes five hierarchy levels of needs and is usually displayed as a pyramid. An individual’s needs are prioritized by the position in the hierarchy, whereby certain needs cannot be achieved until the needs in the lower level of the hierarchy are fulfilled. The five levels (from bottom to top) are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization. The physiological needs that one has are elements such as food, shelter, clothing, and other most basic necessities. The safety needs include protection from physical and emotional harm, and the elimination of conflict. The self-esteem needs include elements like job status, respect, promotion, and recognition. The self-actualization level is when you have reached the top and have full understanding of yourself but this is not a permanent state is only for a moment this is called peak experience. Peak experiences are those moments when you suddenly feel that everything is beautiful, that there’s a tremendous oneness to being, or that love suffuses the world.

Maslow’s Hierarchy is directly related to learning through motivation. In order for us students to succeed in the classroom, they must be motivated to learn. When all levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are met, students are at their full potential for learning. For example, I would not be able to enter a classroom with an empty stomach and the fear of dying from starvation and successfully learn. Each student has needs that must be met in order to maximize learning. The higher up in the hierarchy a student is, the more levels that are met, the better the motivation and therefore the more learning that the student will experience.

There are two main types of motivation, namely, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual. When you are intrinsically motivated, you do something for the personal gratification. An example of intrinsic motivation is completing a puzzle because you find it challenging. The first theory of motivation is the Instinct Theory, which says that we are motivated to complete goals through our instincts. An instinct is a fixed, inborn pattern of behavior that acts as a drive. Therefore, instinct theory postulates that behaviors occur so that we can get the basic things we need to survive. An example of an instinctual drive is fear, which allows people to avoid dangerous situations and thus, live. However, extrinsic motivation can have problems. In education, extrinsic rewards reduce intrinsic motivation of children to learn, and hinder self-determination and independent thinking. Fortunately there are teaching styles that encourage intrinsic motivation. For tokenized ecosystems, we must be similarly careful. Extrinsic motivation works for some goals like ‘maximize security’ or ‘maximize sharing of data’. But it can be dangerous in some places. Let’s say you’re building a decentralized reputation system. Directly tokenizing reputation would incentivize people to game their reputation for money, leading to all sorts of poor behavior and not have an achievement.

Achievement can be defined as a thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill. However, achievement is different from success. It refers to ‘getting what you want’. Achievement requires the ability to set goals and objectives, to make plans of action, and then to implement those plans. Achievement requires that you overcome obstacles and difficulties in reaching goals that you have set for yourself. So like our many successful leaders and mentors we have to know that both success and achievement are the starting point of attaining great accomplishment in every part of our life. The key to this success or achievement is to set goals programmed around these values. Once you program your target or desire in the subconscious. Your superconscious mind stimulates the power to drive and steer you to the attainment of your goals. It certainly helps to define these goals and attach action steps and strategies to match them.

According to the achievement approach to motivation, the need for achievement drives accomplishment and performance and thereby motivates our behavior. People may be motivated by different goals related to achievement, and each of these goals affect one’s motivation and behavior differently. Achievement and motivation are two strictly related concepts. People need to feel motivated in order to act, and motivation is boosted by achievements. The self-confidence that arises from the achievement of a goal. For example catching a Pikachu motivates people to play more and more…and Pokemon Go players are indeed very motivated, to the point of catching Pokemon while their wife is giving birth! The achievement experience is the fundamental mechanism of the entire Pokemon Go game. And it’s such an easy goal to achieve, that you can’t stop yourself. The ease with which the reward comes every time your phone buzzes, alerting you that a Pokemon is nearby, is very basic psychological conditioning of gratification.

Gratification comes in two forms which are instant gratification and delayed gratification. For example when shopping there is instant gratification and delayed gratification. Instant gratification means seeing something that you want and buying it there and then to take home with you. Delayed gratification means seeing something that you want but not buying it right away and instead of saving up for it, or going away to think about it and return another time to purchase it. Whichever option you choose, this gratification can make us feel happy and satisfied. A drive is that part of an actualized need referring to the purely physiological urge in relation to the physiological gratification received. It is inherent in the person and is that which is felt irrespective of external stimulation. Need is therefore the broader concept, not only involving the drive, but also the constitutional and hereditary nature of the individual (for example, some have constitutionally stronger sex drives than others), our past history of gratification, and the overall present satisfactions of the need).

Personally, I don’t consider the act of rewarding oneself once a goal is accomplished as a motivational technique for students per se. However, the positive effect that a gratification can have on your motivation to study is stupendous. Hence I have no other choice other than including the fantastic aspect of gratification into this essay. If you feel the urge to become motivated to study, set yourself a goal. The motivational power of having a goal and determine an appropriate reward once the objective is accomplished. It’s really that simple, but so effective. By rewarding yourself, whenever a goal is achieved, your brain elicits positive emotions, leading to the realization that an effort results in a positive reward. Furthermore, you will consciously or subconsciously recognize that a high effort will result in an even more positive gratification. Also, your willingness to make a sacrifice in order to accomplish the objective. In my case, my goal is to graduate high school and go to college and my reward will be the fruits of my studying.

Maslow laid out. As someone who was trying to inspire people towards revolution, Karl Marx fought against the fact that religion made people more content with less basic needs. To him, humans who believed in religion acted ‘backward’. In fact, a preliminary evaluation of Maslow’s Hierarchy as applied to religion would lead the average observer to also think that religious people acted backward when compared to Maslow’s theory. It is only by doing the mental gymnastics in the previous paragraph that one is able to reconcile religion and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. In the grand scheme of things, all the theories of motivation discussed are elementary and redundant at best, but misleading at worst. The theories all point to basic human motivation on a superficial level, but fail to get anywhere close to the core truth that all human beings are unique and nuanced. The theories only point to select variables and ignore everything that makes us human. They reduce the employee to his animal form. Only Maslow touched on the higher motivations, and even so, he said that they were only unlocked once the animal motivations were met. However; Karl Marx’s own admissions on religion reveal that the higher motivations can still be unlocked before fulfilling the more basic ones. This means that religion is one of the most powerful motivators and has the power to trump any basic motivator. As such, religion is a vital component of individuals that companies should fully utilize to effectively motivate their employees. When a company is able to truly unluck the whole employee, then they will enjoy an invigorated and motivated employee.

There are other ways a business can look after an individual, and in turn, look after themselves. Improving the employees’ work environment has been shown to improve productivity. Opperman (2002) categorizes the work environment into three groups: the technical environment, the human environment, and the organizational environment. The technical environment is everything physical about an employee’s workspace. The human environment encompasses all the individuals who interact and work with the employee. The organizational environment is made up of the methods and values the business uses to achieve its goals. Certain changes to either three of these environments can have surprising effects. One study showed that productivity increased when a plant was added to an individual’s workspace ( Nieuwenhuis, Knight, Postmes & Haslam, 2014). This shows employees are not machines, they are human. If you put a plant next to a machine, its productivity would not change. Only a human being, with a soul, can appreciate the immaterial beauty of a plant. Secularism cannot explain this. The beauty of the plant inspires the soul and therefore improves productivity. The soul can be inspired even more so with religion. If the same holds true as in the experiment with the plant, then it should stand to reason that the worker should be even more productive with a religious work environment. It is for this reason that religion should not just be tolerated, but nurtured and encouraged in business.

One main idea that has appeared in the attempt to secularize business is the privatization of religion. This is the concept that one’s work life and private life are separate, and should not be intertwined. It is applied most commonly within the scope of religion, in order to prevent employees from bringing their personal religious beliefs into the workplace. This concept ignores a historical reality, which only recently has changed. You work while you live and live while you work. In the past, a person’s occupation consisted of getting up and working on his farm. The farmer’s job was to make a living for himself. Who this person was, what he valued, and how he chose to do things did not change just because he decided to do a few chores around his home. With job specialization, this fact didn’t change. Instead of doing all the chores, he focused on what he was good at. He milked his many cows and gave some milk to his neighbor in exchange for the fruits and vegetables the neighbor had picked in his large garden. At some point, the idea that work became separate from living appeared. This is probably due to the assembly line work culture of the industrial revolution. The works of Taylor (1911), asserted that the average worker, when left to his own devices, would slack off unless he was motivated by money and monitored closely. To maximize productivity, the jobs of the workers should be broken down into simple tasks that could be done by anyone. Workers then should be all trained to repeat these tasks in a standard way.

This approach completely ignored the individuality of the employee, it turned them into a machine. The dehumanization of the worker, all in the name of productivity. The privatization of religion denies the importance of work. It claims by what it does, that the purpose of working is solely to make money. By separating religion from business, it is also separating any motivations a human being might have to work other than those of a purely material origin. Its basis is incredibly wrong, and the effects of the privatization of religion will continue to put the individual at a disadvantage and unfulfilled in the business world. THE BUSINESS Religion in the workplace should be encouraged on an individual level because it benefits the individual, and therefore the business. But a business should also encourage religion in itself as well. This will not only help employees feel purposeful at work, but it will also endear the business to its consumers. To be clear, it is not necessary for a business to subscribe to a particular religion like it would be for an individual, but rather, it is important that a business adheres to an unwavering set of moral principles. These principles can be selected at random in theory, however, selecting a particular religious worldview lends itself to greater consistency, appeal, and foundation. Furthermore, businesses are not impersonal entities but are comprised of human beings that own it. It is only fitting that the religion of the owner be reflected in their own business. Businesses should not shy away from displaying their moral principles so they may receive the benefits that a purpose-driven business has. Businesses that are able to capture a strong moral principle are much more likely to succeed. In Simon Sinek’s book, “Start with Why,” he codifies how businesses and leaders attract consumers with their core values. In it, Sinek, (2009) outlines how human beings think about products in ‘What’, ‘How’, and ‘Why’ terms.

In a fashion reminiscent of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he draws circles with ‘Why’ being the smallest circle and ‘What’ being the largest circle encompassing the other two. He says that most people tend to think and communicate by going outside in, starting with ‘What’, moving to ‘How’, and then lastly explaining ‘Why’. However, Sinek says that great businesses and leaders do the opposite and start with ‘Why’. When Sinek asks what the ‘Why’ of a business is, he clarifies that it is certainly not “to make money”. That is a result, not a purpose. Customers want to know why your organization exists. Many different companies will attempt to answer this question with a nice little story about how their founder started from nothing in order to found the first restaurant in 1908 with a grill and a dream… or something along those lines. This works to answer the question ‘Why,’ but it is a mere shadow of what typically sparks a successful business. Great businesses will inspire with a set of strong moral principles that garner public trust that a business is more than just a capitalistic soulless corporation. Chick-fil-A is a perfect example of a business that has a very clear and defined core set of moral principles. According to Business Insider, Chick-fil-A loses an estimated 1 billion dollars in sales every year by not being open on Sundays. (Taylor, 2019). However, this defining trademark of the company arguably helped launch this company forward. It generates goodwill and endears customers because they feel as though the workers get treated well by always having at least one weekend day off. Additionally, customers subconsciously humanize the business more because it actively cuts profits in order to do something very human: strictly observing a religious obligation.

Another big part of this set of moral principles is that it is consistent with itself. The company goes through extra effort in order to train their employees to always serve with a smile and with their, now signature, “my pleasure”. The real trial of this whole theory came about when the owner was asked about gay marriage during a time when public opinion was changing to be in support of it. Anyone would expect an owner that closes his restaurants on Sundays to not waver on the traditional definition. But the expected fallout from the interview actually turned into several record-breaking days in the fast food industry. Companies on the opposite side of the moral spectrum, like Starbucks and Nike, also enjoy business success by holding to steadfast moral principles. Although Nike was supposed to take a hit after their signing with a controversial figure, Colin Kaepernick, their stock rebounded and the company thrived for taking a stand as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Nike Inc., Sept. 4, 2018, to Sept. 11, 2018. This figure illustrates Nike Inc’s stock prices after the company released a controversial advertisement depicting C. Kaepernick (Martin, 2018) Businesses can enjoy success by adopting strong guiding moral principles, however, this strategy can severely backfire if those principles are random and do not find consistency. Take the case of the infamous Gillette ad. Gillette attempted to ride a wave of public approval by supporting the #MeToo movement with their video “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be”.

This politically and socially driven ad received the intended effect at first, but then, people scoured the internet and found an image of scantily clad women in Gillette outfits posing for the company. The hypocrisy between the ad was immediately spread and what was originally a stunt intended to achieve the same results Nike saw; had instead turned into a public relations nightmare (Smith, 2019). This originally all stemmed from the fact that Gillette never had a consistent core of moral principles guiding the company. So, when they were caught and called out for it, it became clear to the consumers, that Gillette was only trying to get an angle on more free publicity. Rather than humanize the business, it further alienated it as a brand. Business in America that ignores the societal need for moral principles can also be negatively affected by society in the form of government. If society believes a business is not acting ethically, society will lose confidence in that business’s ability to act in the best interest of others. It will use the government to regulate the business and pass laws that ensure the moral principle that they ascribe to is enforced. “The dangers to business from loss of public confidence are illustrated by the experience of certain Latin-American countries (notably Chile) in which inflation has run wild, in part because of unfavorable “welfare” programs and severe restrictions on business enterprise” (Worthy, 1958) CONCLUSION: Business and religion are both an integral part of the human experience. Religion is how the soul communes with its Creator and Business is a representation of work, where the soul glorifies the Creator by enhancing His creation. To separate these core aspects of human nature is to separate the soul. Especially in America, where Secularism was resisted, the privatization of religion in the American workplace is a crisis that harms both the employee and the business. Secularism attempted to separate man from the need for God, but all it did was a separate man from morality, purpose, and fulfilling life.

References

1. Cox, H. (1965) The Secular City. New York: The MacMillan Company
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Mental health refers to our psychological, emotional, and social well-being, where an individual realizes his/her capacity and can handle the normal stress of life. It is the way people feel, behave, and think. Mental health is essential in every stage of life, from childhood to adolescence through adulthood. Basic human psychological needs like self-actualization, self-esteem needs, belongingness, and love need, safety needs, and psychological needs are the needs that are related to a human being’s mental health. If these needs are not fulfilled, it may be difficult for an individual to lead a healthy mental life. The recovery approach to mental health emphasizes and supports an individual’s ability for recovery. During this recovery, an individual faces many challenges in society that may demotivate them and slow recovery. This essay intends to argue on human psychological needs and their relationship with mental health and how the recovery approach is applied in mental health care.

Mental health is a condition of health where a person recognizes his/her capacity and can deal with the normal stress of life to contribute to his/her community and work profitably. Many elements contribute to mental health problems like life experience, family history, biological factors. Suppose an individual is experiencing at least one of the following behaviours (mentalhealth.gov, 2020). In that case, it can be the beginning of a problem: feeling hopeless or helpless, feeling like nothing matters or numb, having no energy or feeling low, fighting with friends and family, drinking, smoking or drug use more than ever, thinking of harming one own self and others are some of the behaviours that a person experienced at the beginning of the problem. Mental health is also dependent on the basic psychological needs of a person.

Abraham Maslow, one of the American psychologists, argued that if a person fails to fulfil his/her needs at different stages of the hierarchy may lead to a psychiatric issue or mental health problems. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is described in 5 stages (Mathes, 1981). The first need in Maslow’s need hierarchy is psychological needs. These are the basic needs for human survival. These needs have to be satisfied for a human body to function properly. For example- water, shelter, food, air, sex. The second need is safety needs. It talks about a person’s safety and security, whether it is personal safety or financial safety. For example, employment, security guard, house. The third level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is belongingness and love need. Feeling loved and intimated is one of the most important needs. This need is for the interpersonal relationship, which motivates behaviour. For example, love, trust, friendship, family. Esteem needs are the fourth level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is defined as the need for reputation or respect; many individuals need to fulfil their self-esteem or dignity. The last level of need is the self-actualization need. It is a need that people have to give their best to achieve their full potential as a human being. It is the full use of potentiality, capability, the talent of a person. One has to know about his potential and his interest and work on it. Mental health is dependent on these needs. If a person whose physiological needs are not fulfilled, he/she may not survive or may become sick. When the need for safety is not fulfilled, then post-traumatic stress may arise. Human beings who cannot feel love and belonging may suffer from anxiety or depression. The absence of self-esteem or inability to self-actualize may as well suffer from depression and anxiety. Even if any one of these needs is not fulfilled, it will lead to instability, and cope with this instability; mental health issues may generate because the basic needs are not fulfilled (Help et al., 2020).

Mental health issues are common, and help is also available. Individuals with mental health problems may improve, and many people recover completely. The recovery approach of mental health emphasizes and supports an individual’s ability for recovery (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2020). Recovery is a very personal procedure for every individual. There are several signs of recovery, and all have been categorized under a concept of CHIME (Connectedness, Hope and optimism, Identify, Meaning, and Purpose of Empowerment). Connectedness is a common feature of recovery that requires reciprocity and compassion in relationships. It is said that when any person is in the process of recovery, then the presence of others who believes in them and stands by them will increase the rate of recovery. An individual requires emotional availability, respect, and reliability. Although mental health experts offer a restricted type of assistance and relationships, but relationships with community, family, and friends are of greater importance. Hope the second sign of recovery and is said as the main feature of recovery. It is not just that one has to be optimized but should also have a sustainable belief and willingness to maintain through incertitude and setbacks. Hope may emerge gradually, or it may be a certain turning point and may vary with depression. It should also include risking disappointment and trusting further hurt and failure. Identifying and accepting one’s mental health is an important element. People sometimes accomplish this by ‘positive withdrawal’ the process is generally facilitated by the experiences of mutuality, interpersonal relationship, and a sense of social belonging. When an individual is ready for change, grieving is commenced; here, one should accept the sufferings in the past and the lost opportunities and time. The progress of self-management, which includes self-help and coping strategies, is also an important factor. It may include psychotherapy and meditation. Here, the patient is fully aware of everything and the approaches that will fit the journey of recovery of the consumer’s life. To develop problem-solving and coping skills, one may require to be own expert; to identify stress points and turn points, one may develop personal coping and responding ways. In the recovery approach constructing a positive approach to healing is essential. Since the process of recovery is very long, a strong supporting system can be beneficial. Increasing an individual’s self-sufficiency by the violence-free environment, inadequate shelter, sufficient income, medical care support are important instruments in increasing self-sufficiency. It is suggested that women understand their rights to enhance their capacity to make independent choices, which will help them recover from mental illness. It may build confidence for independent decision-making, which will help them with proper medications and self-support. Achieving and overcoming challenges like prejudice thinking about mental health and social stigma is also an important part of empowerment. Some other approaches help recover mental health like an individual should have a safe and stable place. A person should be involved in daily life activities like job or school, caring for family, income, he/she should have a purpose of living. One should establish social networks and relationships that provide support to the individual. Social interaction is very challenging as one has to overcome with fear and anxiety while dealing with new people and their acceptance. Ssocial acceptance, as well as self-acceptance, is also a very important factor. In general, people may have prejudiced thinking about the individual and treat them differently, for which the person may face difficulty in self-acceptance. People with a mental health problem may find it difficult to get a job or get admission to school as they require a frequent check on their behaviour. The general public may have different behaviour towards mental health people, making them isolate themselves from the general public. In some cases, parents abandon their children facing mental health problems by not protecting them or not giving them basic needs, or treating them differently from their other children. In these cases, people suffering from mental health problems find it difficult to reach out to people, and they end up isolating themselves, which slows their recovery rate.

It can be concluded from the above discussion that mental health is as important as much as any physical health. When basic needs are not fulfilled, it may lead to disturbance in mental health. As per Maslow’s need hierarchy, basic needs are physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness, and love need, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs are the most important needs of human life. If these needs are not fulfilled, then it may lead to a breakdown in mental health. A mental health patient may face difficulties in society during their recovery stage like self-acceptance, social-acceptance, different behaviour from other parent’s abandonment. These behaviours generally slower the recovery process. The recovery approach of mental health emphasizes and supports an individual’s recovery ability. The recovery approach involves connectedness, hope and optimism, identify, meaning and purpose of empowerment. Connectedness is required compassion in a relationship. Inter-personal relationships with peer’s family may help them in recovery. Being positive is one of the important factors in the recovery process. Identifying and accepting one mental condition can motivate them to cope with the problem. Development in problem-solving skills and to identify the stress point may help the individual to recover. Freedom from violence, having proper access to health care, and having appropriate shelter may also help an individual to resolve their mental health problem.

References

1. Chronister, J., Chou, C.C. and Liao, H.Y., 2013. The role of stigma coping and social support in mediating the effect of societal stigma on internalized stigma, mental health recovery, and quality of life among people with serious mental illness. Journal of Community Psychology, 41(5), pp.582-600.
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Summary

For this report is going to analyze that two problems of the Luxe Mart. The reason for search Luxe Mart is a large retail chain with more than 500 branches and 250,000 employees in Australia. Within two years, the company’s sales fell sharply, and closed more than 100 stores. After the search, there are two different types of problem is about two theory. One of the theories is Stakeholders theory, the stakeholder theory is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that accounts. And another theory is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It used the terms ‘physiological’, ‘safety’, ‘belonging and love’, ‘social needs’ or ‘esteem’, and ‘self-actualization’ to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move. This means that for motivation to occur at the next level, each level must be satisfied within the individual themselves.

According to recent research, this paper combines stakeholder theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to analyze the various factors that contribute to this series of issues and suggest solutions to the problem. There are two main problems with no effective management methods and low motivation.

1.0 Problem Identification & analysis

1.1 Problem 1

The first problem of Luxe Mart in business is about an unhealthy working environment and the stronger competitor enters the market and competes with Luxe Mart for customer resources. According to the Stakeholders theory, there are 4 parts about it, employees which include all workers who work for the company and help company to develop, secondly is customers that means absorbs the organisation’s outputs, thirdly is competitors, it means some company are in same area in market and have similar product. And last one is pressure groups, all interest groups that attempt to influence organizational behavior are pressure groups. After this paragraph, it is going to analyse problem in Luxe Mart by Stakeholders theory.

Fist problem is the labour of employees do not have a healthy working environment in Luxe Mart, the labour of employees means the people who work for company and support company to produce product and develop. From the report, there is an employer from NSW, tells readers he always gets shift at every weekend, he cannot have a break during this time. And the boss does not care about the employees’ situation, when working trying to talk with boss. The boss just got up and left. And it is not only reason to make an unhealthy environment. There is a good example, Low, S., & Gao, Shang. (2011) state that In the Toyota Way, leadership means directly involved in daily efforts to dig deeper into root causes and act to resolve them. These issues will not stop continuing until the actual improvements. That the reason for Toyota can successful and famous to the world. The safety of work is not guaranteed is another part of this environment. The boss does not recruit new experienced manager to manage all workers without any explanation. And every night, when the employees at shift. There are too many accidents happened at night, because no manager to a manager working and the workplace are filthy. They cannot finish work before 4 am every shift. So, we can know manager is important to a company. Tiffan, B. (2011) print out that their job is to supervise their work and tell people what to do, and make sure they do it. For those reason with this situation that make employees leave this organization, and without experienced worker. More serious consequences will occur. The problem not only inside, but also happens outside.

The second problem is Luxe mart has a strong competitor which already entre same market. It will be directly confronted by Luxe Mart. The competitor means Amazon will enter this market and produce similar services which as same as Luxe Mart, and only one result can outcome. As the report said, Amazon changes the way of shopping. Before Amazon enter, people must go to the store and shopping, after Amazon coming in, people can shop online at home and the product will be sent to the home. Amazon direct access and Luxe Mart not ready yet, that make Luxe Mart lose the first fight of the ‘war’. The reason for losing, Luxe Mart must close 100 stores in Australia, due to the trend of online sailing growth and fewer people go to the store. Hatch (2017) points out that Amazon is changing shopping way by people, more and more people are choosing shopping online because of more reasonable prices, better products, more choices, and time savings. Those reasons are making people change their way of shopping. And Luxe Mart is not only one company which must close stores.

1.2 Problem 2

For the problem of Luxe Mart is the low level of motivation in employees and management. Motivation is a kind of drug. It is processing by a person’s effect are energised. Upadhyaya, C. (2014) analysis that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a good model for understanding human motivation, revealing the level of demand in today’s business organizations. The motivation is one of the most important things in a real company. It can decide a company success or failure. Follow the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, it can be used in this case. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology, including a five-layer model of people needs, which has a hierarchy of levels like a pyramid. Starting from the bottom of the hierarchy, the needs are physiology, Safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-realization. Physiological needs are the individual needs of human survival. Love is about life and peace that people want to control and order. love and belonging are Important, this need includes feeling that respecting needs a desire for oneself and that the last self-realization means feeling satisfaction or feeling that we are playing our potential. In this report is going to analysis the problem that is lack of safety and esteem.

At the beginning of the problem is the lack of safety in Luxe Mart. The manager in Luxe Mart does not care about the employer’s working environment and don’t have enough attention to employees. Safety needs need both physically and psychologically safe in the workplace for commitment to be possible. According to the case, the employees in Luxe Mart are worried about their safety. On the physical level, there is a dirty work environment and don’t have a good manager. Both of it make employees cannot focus on the working, not only are they unable to get the job done, but they also cause a lot of unexpected situations happened. The company let young staff work at night but without a good leader, they don’t know what need to do. They were will be making terrible to the experienced worker and easy to make an accident happened. Without manager is not only one reason, but the employees are also always concern about their jobs, they can be dismissal if they got two warning. It is on the psychologically level. Two different types of problem with safety make a low level of motivation. But safety is not only one reason to make motivation low, but esteem is also another problem of Luxe Mart.

The second demand in the Luxe Mart is that lack of esteem and lack of respect. Osabiya, B & Joseph, B (2015) state that esteem often referred to as self, self-respect, self-confidence, strength, independence, and the desire for freedom, in addition to the respect of others… Employees have no normal goals, and everyone is too easy. They have no challenges in their work. This situation prevents employees from achieving success through their work. On the other hand, some employees must work uninterrupted for a long time because the manager chooses to work for them. If this is the only problem, then there is no problem. However, age discrimination in the Luxe Mart already exists. The manager chooses young workers to go to work, and then some experienced old employees do not have the opportunity to get more opportunities. It is age discrimination. All those reasons let a low motivation happened. Working with low motivation, as a result, we can know sale decreased.

Recommendation

Base on the explanation and analysis of two main problems. Luxe Mart needs to start with the management mechanism and incentives to reorganize the company’s internal operational processes. For two problem above, it includes 4 small questions. There are employees do not have a healthy working environment in Luxe Mart, Luxe mart has a strong competitor which already entre same market, the lack of safety in Luxe Mart and in the Luxe Mart is that lack of satisfaction and lack of respect.

For the first question, employees do not have a healthy working environment at Luxe Mart: Luxe mart needs to hire experienced managers and try to listen to the needs of employees and can make a questionnaire. Luxe Mart also needs to arrange reasonable arrangements for employees. And clean the workplace to allow employees to work in a clean environment. Then we can let the workers stay in the company. This is good for the company’s development.

For the second small problem Luxe mart has a strong competitor which already entre the same market: Luxe mart must develop more sales channels and improve them. In the current era, more and more people rely on online shopping. So luxe mart should also develop online sales channels.

For the third small problem the lack of safety in Luxe Mart: A clean working environment is a necessary factor, for example, it is forbidden to accumulate garbage in the aisle, and it is forbidden to put heavy objects in the high place. The managers should have more tolerance for employees. Luxe mart should develop more accurate rules and regulations to let employees understand what should be done and what should not. Let employees no longer worry about being fired.

For the last problem in the Luxe Mart is that lack of satisfaction and lack of respect: Managers need to set more difficult goals for employees to complete so that people who are discriminating against age should be warned or even fired. Let employees have a better working environment. Luxe mart can create a training program allows old employees to teach new employees how to work.

Reference

1. Low, S., & Gao, Shang. (2011). Bridging Western management theories and Japanese management practices case of the Toyota way model. Bingley]: Emerald Group Publishing.
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3. Upadhyaya, C. (2014). Application of the Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture, human resource and employee’s performance. International Journal of Education and Management Studies, 4(4), 353-356.
4. Osabiya, B & Joseph, B (2015). The effect of employees’ motivation on organizational performance. Academicjournals. Vol. 7(4) pp. 62-75, DOI: 10.5897/JPAPR2014.0300.
5. Hatch. P (2017). How Amazon will change the way we shop (1th ed.). The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieve from: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/how-amazon-will-change-the-way-we-shop-20171122-gzqn40.html