The outward tendency has its basis in the need for each to improve its financial position in opposition to the others. This is not a conscious opposition, but as each seeks to maximize its financial benefits and because at any one time there is only so much finance, each necessarily opposes the others. The centering tendency has as its basis the need that each has for another kind of benefit.
The employee does not only have a need for higher pay; he also has a need for challenge, recognition, and personal growth. The customer does not only want something that is cheap, they also want something that has quality, that will last and that has pleasing features. Likewise, the shareholder not only seeks dividends, but also wishes to see his investment grow–some shareholders even wish to see their investment grow in an enterprise worthy of growth.
The centering tendency is realized in the product of the company. It is the product that holds a company together and each of the forces collaborate to produce the product. Once again this collaboration is not a “conscious” one, but as each seeks to maximize its “centering” needs, a product comes into being. Our diagram can now be expanded thus:
