motivation is a force that serves three functions:

1. energizes, or causes people to act;

2. directs behavior toward the attainment of specific goals
3. sustains the effort expended in reaching those goals.

 Motivation cannot be observed directly.

 Frederick Taylor: workers are motivated by money and material gains
 Elton Mayo: interpersonal needs play in motivating workers

NEED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

- motivation is the process of the interaction among various needs and the drives to satisfy those needs.
Needs- specific physiological or psychological deficiencies that the organism is driven to satisfy.

A. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

-proposes five categories of needs (from the more basic human needs to more complex, higher-order needs)
-lower-order needs= deficiency needs (should be satisfied first before levelling up)
-higher- order needs= growth needs
-based on sequential ordering of human needs that individual seek to fulfil in serial progression.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (arranged from lowest- to highest-order needs)

1. Physiological needs: the basic survival needs of food, water, air, sleep, and sex
Examples: an individual that has no job, is homeless, and is on the verge of starvation will be satisfied
with any job as long as it provides his basic needs.

2. Safety needs: needs for physical safety (need for shelter) and needs related to psychological security (job security)
Examples: Individuals may work in an unsafe coal mine to earn enough money to ensure their
family’s survival, but once their family has food and shelter, they will remain satisfied with their job
ONLY IF the workplace is safe.

3. Social needs: the need to be accepted by others and needs for love, affection, and friendship
: working with others, developing friendships and feeling needed
Examples: Organization provides cafeterias = opportunity to socialize and meet other employees.

4. Esteem needs (Ego Needs): needs to be recognized for accomplishments and to be admired and respected by peers
Examples: Satisfactions gain from praise, awards, promotions, salary increases, publicity

5. Self-actualization needs: needs to reach one’s highest potential and attain a sense of fulfilment; highest level of
needs
Examples: Employees wants to reach her potential in every task.

Three propositions:
1. Behavior is dominated and determined by the needs that are unfulfilled
2. An individual will systematically satisfy his or her needs by starting with the most basic and working up the hierarchy
3. Basic need takes precedence over all those hight in the hierarchy

 as people move up in the management hierarchy, they are motivated by increasingly higher-level needs.

B. ERG Theory
-Clayton Alderfer’s Theory
-collapses Maslow’s five categories of needs into three
-Existence Needs: Basic physiological and safety needs
-Relatedness: social and self-esteem needs
-Growth: Self- actualization needs
-as each level of need becomes satisfied, the next higher level becomes a strong motivator
-a person can skip levels
-advancement to the next level is not possible because of company policy and nature of the job
-demands more money and benefits rather than job enrichment.
 C. Achievement Motivation Theory
-three needs are central to work motivation (needs for achievement, power, and affiliation)
-people are motivated by different patterns of needs, or motives
- emphasizes the differences in these basic needs from person to person.
A. Need for achievement- compelling drive to succeed and to get the job done
-with being task oriented, preferring situations offering moderate levels of risk or
difficulty, and desiring feedback about goal attainment.
-desires to be successful
Higher need: love the challenge of work, motivated by a desire to get ahead in the job, to solve
problems, and to be outstanding work performers.
B. Need for power- motivated by the desire to influence others
-desires to be in control of other people
Higher need: status oriented and are more motivated by the chance to gain influence and prestige
than to solve particular problems personally or reach performance goals.
Two sides: personal power- used toward personal ends; institutional power- oriented toward
organizational objectives
C. Need for affiliation- involved in jobs they can work with and help other people
-desires to be around other people, to be liked and accepted by others
-strive for friendship.
-greatly concerned with interpersonal relationships
-motivated by cooperative work situations

BEHAVIOR-BASED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

- focuses on behavioral outcomes as critical to affecting work motivation

A. Reinforcement Theory
- behavior is motivated by its consequences
-based on schedule of rewards received for behavior that is exhibited
Reinforcers: consequence that follows a behavior; increase the motivation to perform that behavior
Two Types:
1. Positive reinforcers: events that are in and of themselves desirable to the person
: desirable events that strengthen the tendency to respond
Examples: praise, money, or a pat on the back
2. Negative Reinforcement: events that lead to the avoidance of an existing negative state or
condition.
: events that strengthen a behavior through the avoidance of an existing
negative state
: increases the motivation to perform the desired behavior again
Examples: working hard at a task to avoid the wrath of a watchful supervisor
Punishment: unpleasant consequences that reduce the tendency to respond
: weaken the tendency to perform the behavior again.
: poor managerial strategy

 reinforcement is a much better motivational technique than is punishment

THREE KEY VARIABLES:

A. stimulus- any variable or condition that elicits a behavioral response
B. response- some measure of job behavior (i.e. productivity, absenteeism, accidents)
C. Reward- value given to the employee on the basis of elicited behavioral response

SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
1. fixed-interval- reinforcement that follows the passage of a specified amount of time
-predictable.
-rewarded at fixed time interval
-reinforcement is not contingent on the performance of the desired behavior.
example: employees who are paid an hourly or daily wage or a weekly or monthly salary
 2. variable-interval- somewhat rare means of work compensation
-also determined by the passage of time, but the interval varies
-follows the passage of a specified amount of time, with exact time of reinforcement varying
-rewarded at some time interval that varies
Example: Bonuses that are given on the bosses’ whims
3. fixed-ratio- is contingent on the performance of a fixed number of behaviors
-commonly referred to as “piecework.”
-rewarded for a fixed number of responses
Example: workers who are paid for the number of components assembled, baskets of fruit picked, or reports
written.
4. Variable-ratio- depends on the performance of a specified but varying number of behaviors
-usually lead to very high levels of motivation
-person is paid on the basis of the response but the schedule of payment is not constant
Example: a salesperson on commission, who is required to give a number of sales presentations (the work
behavior) to make a sale and receive a commission (the reinforcement).

 ratio schedules result in higher levels of motivation and subsequent task performance than do fixed-interval schedules
 subject’s motivation to respond can be shaped by manipulating these reinforcement schedules.
 Entails placing the control of employee motivation in the organization’s hands

B. Goal Setting Theory

-emphasizes the setting of specific and challenging performance goals
-goals must be clear, specific, attainable, and, whenever possible, quantified
-emphasize taking a large, challenging goal and breaking it down into a series of smaller, more easily attained
goals.
-Difficult or challenging goals will also result in greater levels of motivation, if the goals have been accepted
by the workers
-also stressed the importance of getting workers committed to goals
-relationship among goals, intentions and task performance
-conscious ideas regulate a person’s actions
-strategies used to influence employees’ commitment to performance goals.
> extrinsic rewards (e.g., bonuses)
> use of peer pressure via setting both individual and group goals
> encouragement of intrinsic motivation through providing workers with feedback about goal
attainment
Goals- provides guidelines for a person deciding how much effort put into work
-they influence task performance.
Two Functions of Goals:
1. Basis for motivation
2. Directs behavior

 More difficult goals lead to higher levels of job performance.

 Commitment to a goal is proportional to its difficulty
 More difficult goals, more commitment to the attainment.
 The more specific the goal, the more concentrated the individual’s effort and the more directed the behavior

Sources of motivation: desire and intention coupled with the acceptance of the goal

JOB DESIGN THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

-stress the structure and design of jobs as key factors in motivating workers.
-argue that if jobs are well designed, containing all the elements that workers require from their jobs to satisfy
physical and psychological needs, employees will be motivated.

A. Two-Factor Theory
-formulated by Frederick Herzberg
-highlighted the role of job satisfaction in determining worker motivation
Two factors: motivators and hygienes
 Motivators: elements related to job content that, when present, lead to job satisfaction
: inherent in the work itself.
: job elements that do concern actual tasks and duties
Examples: type of work, the level of responsibility associated with the job, and the chances for recognition,
advancement, and personal achievement

Hygienes: elements related to job context that, when absent, cause job dissatisfaction
: job-related elements that result from but do not involve the job itself.
Examples: benefits, working conditions (including both physical and social conditions), type of
supervision, base salary, company policies, making new friends

B. Job Characteristics Model

-emphasizes the role of certain aspects or characteristics of jobs in influencing work motivation

three important psychological states to be motivated:

a. Workers must perceive their work as meaningful
b. associate a sense of responsibility with the job
c. have some knowledge of the results of their efforts

Five core job characteristics

1. Skill variety—job requires the worker to use a variety of abilities and skills to perform work-related tasks.
-A job that demands a range of skills is likely to be perceived as challenging and meaningful.
2. Task identity—job requires the completion of an entire job or function.
-worker needs to see the observable outcome or product of work efforts
-connect their efforts to an outcome
3. Task significance—job has a substantial impact on other people within the organization, such as co-
workers, or persons outside of the organization, such as consumers.
-has meaning, is useful or is appreciated
4. Autonomy—job gives the worker freedom and independence to choose how to schedule and carry out the
necessary tasks.
-determining procedures that the job requires
-responsible for the outcome of their work
5. Feedback—job allows the worker to receive direct and clear information about the effectiveness of
performance.
 Skill variety, task identity, and task significance= experience of meaningfulness in work
 autonomy = sense of responsibility associated with the job and with work outcomes
 feedback = worker’s experience of work results; knowledge of results of work activities
 high levels of critical psychological states will lead to favorable personal and work outcomes
 high internal work motivation
 work performance and satisfaction
 low absenteeism and turnover
 individuals who possess high growth need strength will exhibit high motivation on the job when the job is
characterized by a high motivating potential.

COGNITIVE THEORIES
-view workers as rational beings who cognitively assess personal costs and benefits before taking action
-individuals are constantly aware of important elements in their work environment and that motivation is determined
by a conscious processing of the information received.

A. Equity theory
-workers are motivated by a desire to be treated equitably or fairly
-If workers perceive that they are receiving fair treatment, their motivation to work will be maintained, and
steady performance can be expected.
-If they feel that there is inequitable treatment, their motivation will be channelled into some strategy that
will try to reduce the inequity.
Inputs: elements that a worker invests in a job, such as experience, time, and effort
Outputs: those things that a worker expects to receive from a job, such as pay and recognition
 -To determine whether the situation is equitable, workers make some social comparisons between their own
input–outcome ratio and those of comparison others.
-based on workers’ perceptions of equity/inequity.

lack of motivation is caused by two types of perceived inequity:

1. Underpayment inequity - inputs are greater than outcomes
Ways to balance:
 Increasing outcomes
 Decreasing inputs
 Changing the comparison others
 Leaving the situation
2. Overpayment equity- outcomes are greater than inputs
Ways to balance:
 Increasing inputs
 Decreasing outcomes
 Changing the comparison others
 Distorting the situation

B. Expectancy (VIE) theory of motivation

-assumes that workers are rational, decision-making persons whose behavior will be guided by an analysis of
the potential costs and benefits of a particular course of action.
-focuses on the particular outcomes associated with a job
Valence: desirability (or undesirability) of a particular outcome to an individual
: an employee values particular consequences
: reward must be something he values
Instrumentality: perceived relationship between the performance of a particular behavior and the likelihood
that a certain outcome will result
: link between one outcome (the worker’s behavior) and another outcome (obtaining
recognition or a pay raise, for example)
: employee will be motivated only if his behavior results in some specific consequences.
Expectancy: perceived relationship between the amount of effort an employee puts in and the resulting
Outcome
: if an employee believes that no matter how hard he works he will never reach the necessary level
performance then his motivation will be probably be low.

The motivation to perform a particular behavior depends on a number of factors:

 whether the outcome of the behavior is desirable (valence);
 whether the individual has the ability, skills, or energy to get the job done (expectancy)
 whether the performance of the behavior will indeed lead to the expected outcome (instrumentality).