What Is Need?

A need is something an organism must have in order to sustain itself. It is a need that has a clear and objective outcome, as opposed to a want. Needs refer to things an organism cannot live without, such as food and water. Similarly, business needs are defined as objectives or the desired end results. The difference between a need and a want is that a need is a requirement for survival and a want is a desire.

Needs are important to all organisms. They provide basic needs, as well as social and societal needs. They can be subjective, objective, or psychical. Regardless of their form, needs are a common substrate in many fields. Psychologists define needs as psychological features that arouse an organism to act or fulfill a need. The following are examples of need. They are not intended to be exhaustive and are meant to illustrate how human beings process needs.

Some experts consider needs to be instrumental, requiring that a person obtain a certain outcome. Others argue that a need is primarily non-instrumental, reflecting a gap between one’s actual and desired status. The definitions of need vary widely across fields, but all share a basic premise: the person must benefit from the service in order to live a fulfilling life. For example, a person needs coronary bypass surgery in order to improve his life quality and extend his or her life. A teleological need, on the other hand, is the opposite, requiring that a person should obtain a desired status. The latter is a more abstract notion that implies that an individual must have the right to the health care service.

Need can also be an auxiliary verb. It agrees with its subject, and takes the subject before the next verb. In some constructions, need combines with do, but not when it is used as an auxiliary verb. This makes it easier to understand why a need is so important. The auxiliary form of need, on the other hand, is a negative construction. While it is rare, a need can indicate an important reason for a person to do something.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been applied to health care and social work. People tend to prioritize certain needs over others based on difficult circumstances in their life. Early childhood traumas or other conditions that affect a person’s ability to cope may make them fixated on a particular need. As such, even people who have everything may obsess about food. But despite these factors, Maslow’s theory is widely accepted. These studies have implications for social, psychological, and health care.

A SWOT analysis, in contrast, determines the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. It is also useful for developing an action plan to enhance its products and services. A more complete needs assessment will reveal any gaps that need to be filled. Action steps can include changing policies and products to meet those gaps. However, organizations should avoid boiling the ocean by focusing on the most critical and urgent business initiatives. They should carry out a needs assessment only when they are economically feasible.