Motivation to Manage at the Top Executive Level: A Test of the Hierarchic Role‐motivation Theory

Abstract

Measures of managerial motivation (the Miner Sentence Completion Scale ‐ Form H) were obtained from a sample composed of 75 chief executive and operating officers, executive vice presidents, and group vice presidents. Within this sample, 49 individuals had clearly worked their way up a bureaucratic hierarchy, and thus were congruent with managerial role motivation theory, while 26 were either the original entrepreneur or relatives of the entrepreneur. Comparisons were made with a sample of 65 managers in the same companies who, although of similar ages, had not reached the same high levels. The theory congruent top executives proved to have higher managerial motivation than either of the other two groups. These results support the hierarchic role‐motivation theory and reinforce one of its most central propositions; they also support the use of the MSCS‐Form H in the selection of managerial talent and in executive assessment.

Russian Entrepreneurial Motive Patterns: A Validation of the Miner Sentence Completion Scale in Russia

“…Planning for the future is based on the desire to think about the future and anticipate future possibilities. Using these five motives, Miner and several colleagues have examined the entrepreneurial motive extensively and have achieved considerable success in predicting entrepreneurial outcomes (Berman & Miner, 1985;Smith & Miner, 1983;Miner et al, 1989Miner et al, , 1994.…”

How deficiencies in motivation to manage contribute to the United States' competitiveness problem (and what can be done about it)

“…Furthermore, there is the question as to whether we are getting the high motivation to manage people into the upper level positions of the managerial hierarchy. As of the early 1980s (Berman & Miner, 1985) this was happening, but given the values of the increasingly vocal low motivation to manage population, this may well no longer be true. There is a concern here.…”

“…Managerial promotion based on seniority and other nonperformance-based factors such as family membership would become a thing of the past. We know that the present system has been getting many high motivation to manage people to the top (Berman & Miner, 1985); the goal is to increase that number. Even if a company is downsizing, it should pay attention to motivation to manage, to be sure that the low and not the high scoring managers are the ones who leave.…”

Die betroubaarheid en faktorstruktuur van die aangepaste meervoudige keuse-formaat van die miner sentence completion scale (MSCS)

“…(1977) en Barlol el al. (1985) waarsku dan ook teen die verdere gebruik van die vrye respons-vorm van die MSCS en voc r argumente aan vir die vervanging daarvan met 'n meervoudige keuse-vo rm_ Miner (l978a) en Miner et al (1985) beweer ook dal met minder ervare en bekwame nasieners die meervoudige keuse-vorm bo die oorspronk!ike MSCS gekies behoorl te word.…”