Maslow on management

Maslow's "humanistic psychology" won a wide following with the publication of his essays in Eupsychian Management (1965). The present book reprints those essays along with a new foreword by Warren Bennis and commentary by Stephens and Heil. Maslow is best known for his hierarchy of needs model of motivation; material needs form the base, followed by psychological needs, with "self-actualization" at the peak. Maslow on Management thus advises that treating people well materially (good pay, job security) and psychologically (challenging work, autonomy, participation) pays off for employees and firms. Contrary to his critics' grumbles, Maslow did not assume that everyone wants to self-actualize or that most employees' material needs are met sufficiently to foster self-actualization. Maslow was smart and reasonable. But there is scant evidence that self-actualization is more than an optimistic view of human nature, or even if it is, that it can be a widespread motivational force. Indeed, since Maslow's death in 1970, managers and institutional investors have considered the firm as a set of assets whose components can be bought, sold, or downsized to achieve higher stock prices. Employees' needs are not a high priority. Students and teachers in psychology, sociology, and management will find Maslow on Management a useful and engaging explanation of the humanistic approach to work. Upper-division undergraduate through research collections. C. Tausky; University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Maslow wrote very little on the subject of management, and this is a revision of his obscure Eupsychian Management (1965). Nonetheless, Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" and his concept of "self-actualization" form the basis of most motivational theory.