2015-08-13
385
In his 1961 book named as “The Achieving Society”, David McClelland identified three basic needs that people develop and acquire from their life experiences.
§ Needs for achievement: The person who has a high need for achievement seeks achievement and tries to attain challenging goals. There is a strong need for feedback as to achievement and progress, and a need for a sense of accomplishment. The person who has a high achievement need likes to take personal responsibility.
§ Needs for affiliation: The person who has a high need for affiliation needs harmonious relationships with people and needs to be accepted by other people. (People-oriented rather than task-oriented).
§ Needs for power: The person who has a need for power wants to direct and command other people. Most managers have a high need for power.
Although these categories of needs are not exclusive, generally individuals develop a dominant bias or emphasis towards one of the three needs. Entrepreneurs usually have high degree of achievement needs.
