Motivation Concept of an Organizational Behavior

Chapter 6 MOTIVATION CONCEPT Early Theories of motivation Definition of Motivation Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal – specifically, an organizational goal. Three key elements ?Intensity – how hard a person tries. ?Direction – effort that is channeled toward, and consistent with, organizational goals. ?Persistence – how long a person can maintain effort. Early Theories of Motivation These early theories may not be valid, but they do form the basis for contemporary theories and are still used by practicing managers. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory ?McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y ?Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory ?McClelland’s Theory of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow believed that to motivate someone, you had to understand which level of the hierarchy the person was on, and fill those needs or those on the levels above. There is a hierarchy of five needs; as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. ?Self-Actualization: highest need level; need to fulfill oneself; to grow and use abilities to fullest and most creative extent Esteem: need for esteem of others; respect, prestige, recognition, need for self esteem, personal sense of competence, mastery. ?Social: need for love, affection, sense of belongingness in one’s relationships with other persons. ?Safety: need for security, protection, and stability in the physical and interpersonal events of day-to-day life. ?Physiological: most basic of all human needs; need for biological maintenance; need for food, water, and sustenance. ?Assumptions ?Individuals cannot move to the next higher level until all needs at the current (lower) level are satisfied. Must move in hierarchical order. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y ?Douglas McGregor added to the motivation work done in the 1950’s and developed the theory called Theory X, Theory Y. He believed that there are two distinct views of human beings that managers hold. ? The Theory X view is basically negative and believes that workers have little ambition, dislike work, and avoid responsibility. ?The Theory Y view is in contrast to X and believes that workers tend to be self-directed, enjoy work, and accept responsibility.

Managers will modify their behavior toward employees based on what view they hold about them. Theory X managers operate under four assumptions (Robbins and Judge, 189): ? Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. ?Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals. ?Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. ?Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition.

On the other hand, we have the positive Theory Y managers, who operate under these four assumptions (Robbins and Judge, 189): ? Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play. ?People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. ?The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility. ?The ability to make innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management positions.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory ?Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory is another one of the earlier developed theories. ?This theory sets forth that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites but two separate ideas which are Hygiene factor and Motivator factor ? Hygiene factors are based on the need to for a business to avoid unpleasantness at work. If these factors are considered inadequate by employees, then they can cause dissatisfaction with work. ?Motivator factors are based on an individual’s need for personal growth.

When they exist, motivator factors actively create job satisfaction. If they are effective, then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort. ?These factors are distinct and the presence of hygiene factors does not cause satisfaction, it just helps avoid dissatisfaction. Key Point: Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites but separate constructs Hygiene factor (Extrinsic and related to Dissatisfaction ) ?Company policy and administration ?Wages, salaries and other financial remuneration ?Quality of supervision Quality of inter-personal relations ?Working conditions ?Feelings of job security Motivator factor (Intrinsic and Related to Satisfaction) ?Status ?Opportunity for advancement ?Gaining recognition ?Responsibility ?Challenging / stimulating work ?Sense of personal achievement & personal growth in a job McClelland’s Three Needs Theory ?McClelland bases his theory on the idea that people are motivated in the workplace by three main needs. ?The first need is the need for achievement or the drive to excel in relation to a set of defined standards. The second is the need for power, to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise. ?The final need addressed in this theory is the need for affiliation. Affiliation looks at the relationship aspect and the desire for close relationships. People will have varying levels of these needs, which make this theory difficult to measure. ?Need for Achievement (nAch) ?The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed ? Need for Power (nPow) The need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise ? Need for Affiliation (nAff) ?The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships ? People have varying levels of each of the three needs ?Hard to measure Performance Predictions for High nAch ?People with a high need for achievement are likely to: ?Prefer to undertake activities with a 50/50 chance of success – avoiding very low or high risk situations ? Be motivated in jobs that offer high degree of personal responsibility, feedback, and moderate risk ?

Don’t necessarily make good managers – too personal a focus ? Most good general managers do NOT have a high nAch ?Need high level of nPow and low nAff for managerial success ? Good research support but it is not a very practical theory Reference ?Robbins & Judge Organizational Behavior 13th Edition ?Robbins & Judge Organizational Behavior 14th Edition ?Schermerhorm/ Hunt/ Osborn / Uhl-Bien Organizational Behavior 11th Edition ?O. Jeff Harris, PhD Organizational Behavior ?http://blog. adsdevshop. com/2008/02/14/motivation-part-1-what-is-motivation/