We studied the motivational pattern of Romanian accounting professionals. Our theoretical framework was based on Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. He called the satisfiers motivators and the dissatisfiers hygiene factors, using the term “hygiene” in the sense that they are considered maintenance factors that are necessary to avid dissatisfaction but that by themselves do not provide satisfaction.
Since Herzberg in his studies used the interviewing method, for more consistency, we found the most appropriate an empirical, interview-based, qualitative approach to our research.
The main conclusion is Herzberg’s theory can identify and explain reasonably well the motivational factors of today’s Romanian accounting professionals. However the theory must be adjusted for higher relevance. Motivators and hygienics were directly related to the level of the hierarchy and significantly differ within the structure of a single company.