Managers’ Motivation Profiles: Measurement and Application

Abstract

One approach in leadership research describes the behavior or behavioral pattern of managers and explains the reasons for the behavior. The ambition is also to predict the consequences of managerial behavior on organizational outcomes. Managerial psychology has a great deal of knowledge on motivation that can be used to enhance organizational effectiveness (Stone, 2010). The study of motivation-based behavior of formal leaders (managers) is part of this research tradition (e.g., Ebrahimi, 1996). A major contribution in the field of motivation linked to managers' motivation is the work of McClelland (1961, 1990). He holds a significant position in leadership research verified by the number of references in Bass (1990) and Yukl (2010). The three motivation factors highlighted in McClelland's theory are the needs for achievement, power, and affiliation. According to McClelland, it is not the achievement, affiliation, or power motivation in isolation that is of central importance. Rather, it is managers' comprehensive motivation profiles, that is, the relative strengths of these three kinds of motivation which are crucial. Leadership scholarship requires a test of the concept of "motivation profile" (McClelland & Burnham, 1976). To avoid instrument-dependent conclusions, leadership researchers also need an alternative instrument to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). The alternative instrument must (a) measure achievement, affiliation, and power motivation; (b) measure the relative strengths of these factors; (c) rest explicitly on McClelland's definitions, and indicators; and (d) be designed to measure the work motivation of managers. Several instruments on motivation are available, but they do not measure the three motivation factors. They do not rest explicitly on McClelland's definitions and are not designed to measure work motivation in managerial settings (e.g.,

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