Organizational Behavior - The Vancouver 2011 Stanley Cup Riots - Research Paper Example

Organizational theories at play One of the organization’s theories that were applicable in the case is the McCleland’s need theory. This is a motivation theory that explains behavior at individual level and reviews “personality and learnt needs” (Nelson and Quick, 2010, p. 156). McCleland’s theory argues that people’s behaviors and efforts towards achievement are driven by three major needs, “need for achievement, for power and for affiliation” (Nelson and Quick, 2010, p. 156).

The need for achievement relates to individual’s focus to embrace difficulties towards successful realization of objectives. People who are driven by the need to achieve persevere conditions, plan, and influence to make sure that their expectations are met. The need for power on the other hand relates to the need and capacity to influence an individual’s immediate environment. It involves influencing other people to an individual’s control. This need is particularly exhibited in planning and running of an event that involve a group’s participation.

The need for affiliation is on the other hand concerned with interpersonal relationships among people and entails emotional expressions and interactions among people in a set up (Nelson and Quick, 2010). . Similarly, the attendants need to achieve their objective of being part of the game witnessed their early and general turn up for the event. Need for power is also explained through the influence that resulted into the riots. This is because only a small number of individuals started the idea of rioting and influenced others into it.

Similarly, the need for affiliation is exhibited by the initiatives of the individual attendants to be involved in the social event, the hokey game. The need was further manifested in the association with the individuals who caused the riots. The other individuals must have been driven by the need to be part of the already rioting group (Nelson and Quick, 2010; Furlong and Keefe, 2011). Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs is also directly applicable to the event. According to the theory, human needs are hierarchical and are satisfied in order of priority.

At the basic level of the Maslow’s hierarchy is a set of physiological needs that are prioritized. These include basic needs for survival and are followed by security needs. Subsequently, “belongingness needs and esteem needs” follow (Daft and Lane, 2007, p. 230). The need for belongingness drives people to being part of groups while the need for self esteem facilitate strife for recognized status of influence in the society. While the need for belongingness was exhibited by the crowds who turned up for the sports event and those that later joined in the riots, either actively as demonstrators or partially as spectators, the need for self esteem was registered among the individuals who organized and fuelled the riots.

The latter group must have had a combination of needs to be recognized by the peers as influential and need to achieve (Daft and