Page 49 - IMDR - Journal of Management Development and Research - March2019-20

One can argue that competition in market improves efficiency and performance.

However, main incentive from market is higher exchange value and material aspects
rather than human qualities of honesty, authenticity, decency, and collaboration.

The point is that a young person is pushed to suppress his or her potential while
choosing a career. Those jobs which give better monetary rewards are preferred. What

is not recognised by many is that money is important only to the extent of offering a
person more choices. Money cannot satisfy higher level needs like self-esteem, self-

actualisation, and self-development. Development and satisfaction of these needs is

delivered by the person to himself or herself. It cannot be bought by money like
branded products!

Summary and Conclusion
Maslow’ theory of human needs and motives (1940) has two limitations. One was

acknowledged by Maslow himself who did accept that not all human being could

potentially be motivated by higher order needs like self-esteem, self-fulfilment
through deployment of potential. In industrial context, it was found that employees,

who were adequately paid, secure in their positions, and with reasonably good social

relationship, remained discontented. This signifies that need for self-actualisation
does not depend on satisfaction lower level needs as hypothesised in need hierarchy

theory of Maslow. The paper tried to probe the reasons of why Self-actualisation is
not a commonly shared human need as proposed by humanist psychology. In

contemporary context in SMEs, opportunities for human development are multiplied
but market orientation has diverted the psychological energies of men and women to

focus on receiving satisfaction from material success rather than delivering

satisfaction to self through potential development by self. Self-fulfilment in true spirit
of actualisation of self is possible only when one directs psychological energies

towards the use of basic human capacities or powers viz
a) to reason, discern, imagine

b) to relate, engage, to love and form social bonding with others and
c) to be productive, to create, to act out the vision.

Human potential is developed through deployment of human capacities rather than

search for external incentives from market. In contemporary context, we need to

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