Business Wants vs. Needs a Need Is

Business Wants vs. Needs A need is defined as "a state of felt deprivation in a person" (Kotler, Chandler, Gibbs, & McColl 1989, p. 4). This refers to a general feeling of needing something. This can include needing physical items such as food, clothing, a place to live, or a mode of transport. It can also refer to a more psychological need such as a need to fit in and feel accepted, a need to express oneself, or a need to feel loved and valued.

A want is defined as "the form human needs take as shaped by culture and individual personality" (Kotler, Chandler, Gibbs, & McColl 1989, p. 5). This refers to the specific item that a person wants to fill a certain general need. For example, a general need for clothing may result in an individual wanting a certain pair of jeans and a certain jumper. As another example, a general need for food may result in an individual wanting to have dinner in a specific restaurant.

For a psychological need such as the general need to fit in, an individual might want a certain brand of shoes that are considered fashionable. One of the main differences between wants and needs is that needs refers to a general desire, while wants refers to a specific desire. For example, I need a way to get to work each day is a general desire, while I need a BMW is a specific need. Another important point is that general needs can be satisfied in various ways.

For example, an individual needing to get to work each day could buy a BMW, a Suzuki motorcycle, a Dunlop bicycle, or an annual pass for public transport. The related feature of wants is that people can be influenced to accept different items to fulfill a need. For example, if a person has a need for food, this need cannot be influenced.

However, the individual can be influenced into selecting a specific product to fulfill that need, such as a Big Mac, a Subway Sandwich, or a meal in a certain restaurant. Satisfied Needs and Motivation Abraham Maslow described how people are motivated in his hierarchy of needs theory. This theory describes five categories of needs: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. The important point about Maslow's theory is that the needs exist in a hierarchy. As Daft (1997, p.

531) explains "low-order needs take priority -- they must be satisfied before higher-order needs are activated." This theory explains why a satisfied need ceases to motivate because once a need is satisfied, a new higher-order needs becomes the focus. To explain how this works, consider a person who has not achieved the basic physiological needs of food and water. This unsatisfied need becomes a source of motivation. However, once this need has been met, the individual is no longer motivated by a need for food and water.

This occurs because the need is no longer unsatisfied. In response, the individual moves up the hierarchy and focuses on the next unsatisfied need, which is the safety need. This becomes the unsatisfied need that motivates the individual. The same process occurs when the individual achieves safety. Once again, this is no longer an unsatisfied need and so the individual moves up the hierarchy to the next need, which is belongingness. This occurs again as the person moves up the hierarchy to achieve esteem needs and self-actualization needs.

This illustrates how individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs. A satisfied need ceases to motivate because once a need has been met, the individual moves on and is motivated by the next need in the hierarchy. In this way, an individual is always motivated by an unsatisfied need, not a satisfied one. Discrimination Based on Sex One solution to the problem of sexual discrimination is to implement systems and procedures that allow victims to make complaints and have action taken.

This solution is based on the fact that sexual discrimination becomes an ongoing problem when people who are sexually harassed do not make complaints. This results in the problem not being identified. In turn, the consequences of sexual harassment do not become obvious for those that may harass others. Hawkins (1994, p. 26) notes that sexual harassment is a particularly challenging problem because victims are reluctant to make complaints. Hawkins (1994, p.

27) goes on to say that "organizations need to create a climate in which people are sufficiently confident to raise problems." In addition, there need to be procedures and systems in place so that victims can make complaints and get action taken. The action taken becomes a method of preventing sexual harassment from continuing. It also becomes a preventative measure, since it makes it apparent to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Another solution to sexual harassment involves developing a sexual harassment policy.

This policy should detail the kind of behavior that is unacceptable. It should also detail the action that will be taken in response to sexual harassment. The main purpose of the policy is to ensure that all employees understand what actions constitute sexual harassment and understand that the organization will not tolerate such behaviors. The policy is also important because it ensures that people in the organization are not acting based on their own standards of what they consider appropriate behavior.

Instead, the organization clearly identifies what is considered suitable behavior and takes appropriate action when sexual harassment occurs. Five Traits Common Among Effective Leaders Five traits common among effective leaders are knowledge, personal integrity, creativity, achievement drivel, and cooperativeness (Bass 1981, p. 75). Knowledge refers to the ability of a leader to understand information necessary to the job and to have the skills.