“An interdisciplinary perspective of employee motivation is presented, based on the premise that the principles of natural science provide the fundamental basis for analogizing the operational similarities of physical and social productive systems. This concept is applied to motivation by observing that all productive systems-whether physical, organic or social-are input-output systems. The lowest common denominators in these systems are energy and mass. Le Chatelier's principle provides the universal environment for motivation. Thus, the transformation of energy in a given productive system represents the essence of motivation. The usefulness of analogizing the process of energy transformation in these two seemingly diverse systems can be seen by tracing the essential factors leading to efficient energy expenditure in physical systems and applying similar strategies to energy transformation in social systems. Such an approach will provide the manager with a concrete frame of reference from which to draw plausible remedies in solving the innumerable problems of efficient motivation and utilization of employee energies.”

“A threatening force to his survival or security from either of these environments will mobilize energies (ability to do work) of the entire organism in an active effort to restore the balance of the previous state. The result of these inner states of tension are thought of as motivation. The phenomenon of motivation can be seen in the tenets of physics; Le Chatelier’s principle states: ‘If a stress, any change in one of the variables that determines the state of a system in equilibrium, is applied to a system in equilibrium, the equilibrium is shifted in a way that tends to undo the effect of the stress’.”

“The basic motive in life can perhaps be readily recognized by visualizing the continuum of evolution from life’s simplest to most complex forms: molecular structure followed by instinct and the complex sensory mechanism of intelligent primates combine to make the drive for survival an irrepressible force. In essence, the law of self-preservation is the first law of nature.”

“Why should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N), 'struggle' for billions of years to organize themselves into a professor of chemistry? What's the motive?”

“In Gunn's paper, a framework is proposed for describing motivation of people within a business environment. The paper suggests that the universal principle[s] of physics may be the most appropriate vehicle for gaining insight into the complex process of this type of human behavior.”