Morale

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Morale (also referred to as esprit de corps) is a term for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others. The term applies particularly to military personnel and to members of sports teams, but is also applicable in business and in any other organizational context, particularly in times of stress or controversy.

According to Alexander H. Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose".^[1]

1 Military usage
- 1.1 Factors affecting military morale
2 In the workplace
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Military usage

In a military sense, there are two meanings to morale. Primarily it means the cohesion of a unit, task force, or other military group. An army with good supply lines, sound air cover and a clear objective possesses, as a whole, good morale. Historically, elite military units such as the Praetorian Guard, Napoleon's Imperial Guard, and many Special Forces units like the French Foreign Legion, Green Beret, SAS, and Spetnaz, have high morale due to both their elite training and pride in their unit. When a unit's morale is depleted, it will usually crack and surrender, as was the case with Italian units in North Africa during World War II. It is well worth noting that generally speaking, most commanders do not look at the morale of specific individuals but rather the 'fighting spirit' of divisions, battallions, ships, etc as a whole.

A second military meaning of morale has to do with the morale of a nation's population. A nation that loses its will to fight often loses the war as well. This means that, quite often, morale efforts are tied to propaganda. Since at least the time of Carl von Clausewitz' On War, maintenance of morale has been considered one of the fundamental "Principles of War"; while Sir Basil Liddell Hart regarded morale even more fundamentally:

The aim of a nation in war is to subdue the enemy's will to resist,...

Sun Tzu, in his book The Art of War, also mentions morale of nations, as well as armies.

[edit] Factors affecting military morale

Despite the intangible nature of morale, improvements in material factors (such as remuneration, food and shelter) can improve the morale. However, history is filled with stories of the self-will and determination of a poorly supplied army maintaining morale to the very end, such as the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.

[edit] In the workplace

In the workplace, morale is more of an individual thing than something measured by departments. Events play a large part in morale, such as heavy layoffs, the cancellation of overtime, cancelling benefits programs, and the influence of unions. Other events can also influence workplace morale, such as sick building syndrome, low wages, and employees being mistreated.