A Motivational Profile of Management Scientists

Maslow's need-hierarchy theory of motivation has had a major influence on the thinking and research of many writers studying managerial behavior in an organizational setting. A growing number of groups of managers have been used as subjects in studies concerned with motivation and perceived need satisfactions. One conspicously absent group in recent studies conducted by behavioral scientists has been management scientists, a randomly selected sample of 192 of whom participated in the present study. The objective of the study was to learn about (1) the relation between job level and perceived need satisfaction, (2) the relation between company size and perceived need satisfaction, and (3) the interaction effects of level and size on perceived need satisfaction. Since the management science profession is becoming a significant force in society and organizations, the preliminary findings of this study provide some much needed motivational data. It was generally found that the most predominant independent variable studied was the level of the management scientist in the organization. Hopefully, more controlled and sophisticated research studies will be stimulated by the present study.