Abraham H. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908.

He studied at the University of

Wisconsin, where he received his doctorate in psychology in 1934. Maslow was drawn to the
study of human motivation and personality. His theory of the hierarchy of needs, which leads to
the "self-actualized" individual, was a strong catalyst for the founding of humanistic psychology.
Maslow successfully bridged motivation and personality in his theories of needs, self-actualizing
persons, and peak experiences. For 14 years, he taught at Brooklyn College, and then went to
Brandeis University as chairman of the Psychology Department. In 1968, he was elected
president of the American Psychological Association. In 1969, he went to the Laughlin
Foundation in Menlo Park, California. Abraham Maslow died of a heart attack in 1970.

The following on Maslows work sums up his contribution to human motivation;

The empirical fact, according to Maslow, is that human life is beyond itself to the
cosmos. Except in sickness, no opposition, gap, or differ-ence is found to exist between ego and
world (1979, p. 117). A search for the actualization of this our fundamental identity with the
cosmos, human motivation, at its highest and deepest, is a reaching out for the ultimates of truth,
beauty, goodness, justice, and the like. Such Being-values are said to form the heart of true
religion: the human being is naturally religious. Maslow's naturalism is thus an invitation to
savor the splendor of all things, to bear witness to the extraordinary in the ordinary (unitive
consciousness), including in this mortal flesh of ours. Maslow's psychology, ad-dressing the
ultimately spiritual or cosmic character of human life, is a courageous and bold undertaking.

In his Theory of Human Motivation and Hierarchy of Need, people are all motivated by certain
needs, needs manifested throughout their existence; they are being presented in the form of a
pyramid with five hierarchical levels, comprising: physiological needs, safety needs, the needs of
affiliate and medical condition, appreciation needs and self-succeeding ones. Each hierarchy
level means and a motivational stage, individual fulfillment and self-improve. Individual
positioning within a hierarchy level depends on the way they reflect the needs in a plan of
emergency and importance, so "A hungry man who feels in danger because of this, it is not
interested in anything else besides food. He dreams, remembers, he thinks about food, food
excites him, don't charge anything else, does not want anything else ... For a man affected by
chronic hunger, taken to the extreme, Utopia can be defined as a place where there is plenty of
food. He claims that if he is going to guarantee food for the rest of his days, will be fully happy
and he will never want anything else. He has a tendency to define life in terms relating to food.
Anything else will be considered unimportant. It can be said, without fail, that such a man lives
only for bread ... But what happens with human desires when has plenty of bread and the
stomach always full? Another immediate necessity arises (most wanted), which will dominate
the body more than physiological hunger...".Physiological needs are common needs, among who
belong to food, water, living conditions, sexual desires etc. Their Assembly defines the
individual welfare. Security needs reflect the independence of the dangers from the integrity of
the person, which is becoming prevalent after physiological needs have been fulfilled to a
reasonable extent. In turn, are found the defense needs against adverse weather conditions,
predators, against the perpetrator, take later, the need of a job, the need to make savings for
health, old age etc. Affiliate needs and condition refers to the people's needs to fit within certain
social groups, the most important being the establishment of his own family. To this, it can be
added needs related to cultivating friendly relations, affinity and affection. Needs related to the
appreciation of the person desires to be treasured and respected, to be good, to trust, to be
capable of. Need self-fulfillment willingness of people to achieve their full potential. All this
theoretical development of Abraham Maslow went into motivational culture as "The theory of
human needs".

Maslows model of Human Needs is a constructive tool in understanding individual human

behaviour; its use in the business/ organizational setting provides a means to understand and
affect employee motivation. In the work setting Maslows model has the same five levels, but the
definitions were modified in the following manner by Maslow himself and authors of numerous
management books and texts. At the base, the first basic level that must be satisfied is that of
wages. Maslow posited that if individuals are, in their minds, fairly paid, they will not spend an
inordinate amount of time thinking about their salaries (Maslow 2000). Conversely, if an
individual does not believe that he/she is being paid a fair wage, too much time will be spent
contemplating this perceived inequity and other work concerns will not be given the attention
that might be required. There is a correlation between the traditional model and that found in the
work environment. Basic survival needs must be met with wages which in turn provide shelter,
food, water, heat, clothing, etc.

With adequate wages, the individual seeks safety on the job. This includes not only physical, but
mental safety. A secure working environment can also mean the decreased anxiety produced by
adequate benefits, union contracts, etc. Training occupies an important position at this level
because the worker consciously and subconsciously relates training to safety. For instance, a
person trained on a piece of machinery is a safer worker than one that has not had the training
and has been required to learn by trial and error. However, the worker also associates the
willingness of the company to spend resources, time and money, on his/her training as an
assurance that he/she is of value to the company. Individuals then move to the third level seeking
social belongingness in the workplace. Anyone having experienced the ordeal of feeling socially
uncomfortable in a work setting can understand the importance of workplace collegiality. We
seek pleasant working relationships with co-workers, peers, and others in the hierarchy; we seek
to find our place in formal and informal work groups. The social needs wax and wane on the
strength of our personal relationships and our participation with others in the organization
(Maslow 2000, p. 2). Unfortunately, in the highly pressured environments employees often find
themselves working in, making others socially comfortable or fitting in, is given less and less
consideration. Training provides the individual with additional opportunities to meet people in
the place of employment, to discover others with the same interests or job responsibilities, and to
establish new lines of communication. Although much consideration is given to the technical
aspects of training, the social element cannot and should not be underestimated for establishing
firmer workplace bonds. Thus, although Maslow specifically related training to only two of his
levels security and self-actualization, we posit that training, especially in the increasingly
technological realm that it occupies, relates specifically to two other levels as well social
belongingness and self-esteem. Self-esteem in the organization is generally based on the
individuals successful performance appraisals, incentives, rewards received and recognitions
obtained all which enhance self-confidence. As the individual obtains training, it presents an
opportunity to feel and actually be more productive and confident in the work environment. In
turn, as the individuals confidence level grows there is greater opportunity to obtain rewards,
recognition and positive performance appraisals. Finally, training allows the individual to move
toward self-actualization; to develop ones potential, to learn new things, to take risks, and to feel
even more confident in what one does. As the individual learns, and grows in the work
environment Maslow suggests that, Duty becomes pleasure and pleasure is merged with duty
(Maslow 2000, p. 25).

In conclusion, Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helped to explain how these needs
motivate us all. He suggests that human needs are arranged in series of levels, a hierarchy of
importance. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting
with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. It is only when the
lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied that we are concerned with
the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely if the things that
satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance
of our higher order needs. Although, Maslows theories has had a significant impact on
management approaches to motivation and the design of organisations to meet individual needs,
there is the need to identify the relationship among the dynamic variables that make up
motivation and the actions required to influence behavior and actions which provide contribution
to our understanding of complex nature of work motivation. Organizational behavior is how
people act in groups, particularly at work. In practice, no single type of organizational behavior
characterizes a business, so leaders need to analyze which type their company uses and find ways
to utilize that knowledge to make the company effective. People learn from each other every
time and turn to see each other as a motivator.