2. Chapter Study Questions
What is motivation?
What can we learn from the needs theories of
motivation?
Why is the equity theory of motivation important ?
What are the insights of the expectancy theory of
motivation?
How does goal setting influence motivation?
3. What is Motivation?
Motivation
Forces within the individual forces that
account for the direction, level, and
persistence of a person’s effort expended at
work.
Direction - an individual’s choice when presented
with a number of possible alternatives.
Level - the amount of effort a person puts forth.
Persistence - the length of time a person sticks with
a given action.
4. What is Motivation?
Types of motivation theories
Content theories
Focus on individual needs – that is, physiological or
psychological deficiencies that individuals feel a
compulsion to reduce or eliminate.
Process theories
Focus on how cognitive processes as thoughts and
decisions within the minds of people influence their
behavior.
5. What can We Learn From the Needs
Theories of Motivation?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Identifies five levels of individual needs.
Assumes that some needs are more
important than others and must be satisfied
before the other needs can serve as
motivators.
7. Existence:
Desires for
physiological and
material well-being
Relatedness:
Desires for
satisfying
interpersonal
relationships
Growth:
Desires for continued
personal growth and
development.
What can We Learn From the Needs Theories of Motivation?
Alderfer’s ERG
Theory of
Motivation
9. What can We Learn From the Needs
Theories of Motivation?
Acquired needs theory
Need for achievement (nAch).
The desire to do something better or more
efficiently, to solve problems, or to master
complex tasks.
Need for affiliation (nAff).
The desire to establish and maintain friendly and
warm relations with others.
Need for power (nPower).
The desire to control others, to influence their
behavior, or to be responsible for others.
10. What can We Learn from the Needs
Theories of Motivation?
Two-Factor Theory
Identifies two different factors as primary
causes of job satisfaction and job
dissatisfaction.
Also known as the motivator-hygiene theory.
11. What can We Learn From the Needs
Theories of Motivation?
Hygiene factors
Sources of job dissatisfaction found in the
job context or work setting.
Job dissatisfaction occurs when hygiene
factors are poor.
Improving the hygiene factors only
decreases job dissatisfaction.
12. What can We Learn From the Needs
Theories of Motivation?
Motivator factors
Sources of job satisfaction related to job
content.
Presence or absence of satisfiers or motivators in
people’s jobs is the key to satisfaction,
motivation, and performance.
Job enrichment is a way of building more motivator
factors into job content.
14. What is the Equity Theory of Motivation?
Equity Theory
Any perceived inequity
becomes a motivating state
of mind.
People are motivated to behave in ways
that restore or maintain equity in situations.
Foundation of equity is social comparison.
15. What is the Equity Theory of
Motivation?
Individual Outcomes
Individual Efforts
Others’ Outcomes
Others’ Efforts
=
16. What is the Equity Theory of Motivation?
Equity theory prediction:
Felt Negative inequity.
Individual feels he/she has received relatively
less than others in proportion to work inputs.
Felt Positive inequity.
Individual feels he/she has received relatively
more than others have.
17. What is the Equity Theory of Motivation?
Equity restoration behaviors.
Reduce work inputs.
Change the outcomes received.
Leave the situation.
Change the comparison points.
Psychologically distort things.
Try to change the efforts of the comparison
person.
18. Your experience…
You regularly work longer hours than anyone else in
your department. Yet, you do not feel that you are
being adequately recognized or rewarded. According
to equity theory, you will most likely ….
1.Increase your efforts by working longer hours.
2.Ask for a raise or bonus.
3.Reduce your efforts by decreasing hours.
4.Frame the situation as a learning experience
and beneficial for your future career.
19. What is the Equity Theory of Motivation?
Organizational justice
How fair and equitable people view the
practices of their workplace.
20. What is the Equity Theory of Motivation?
Procedural justice - degree to which the rules and procedures
specified by policies are properly followed.
Distributive justice - degree to which all people are treated the
same under a policy, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender,
age or any other demographic characteristic.
Interactional justice - degree to which the people affected by
a decision are treated with dignity and respect.
Commutative Justice – degree to which exchanges and
transactions among parties is considered free and fair.
21. What is the Expectancy Theory of
Motivation?
A person’s motivation is a multiplicative
function of expectancy, instrumentality,
and valence (M = E x I x V).
22. What is the Expectancy Theory of
Motivation?
Expectancy
effort will yield acceptable performance
Instrumentality
performance will be rewarded
Valence
value of the rewards is highly positive
24. What is the Expectancy Theory of
Motivation?
Motivational implications of expectancy
theory.
Motivation is sharply reduced when,
expectancy, instrumentality, or valence
approach zero or are negative.
Motivation is high when expectancy and
instrumentality are high and valence is
strongly positive.
25. What is the Goal-Setting Theory of
Motivation?
Goal setting
The process of
developing,
negotiating, and
formalizing the
targets or
objectives that a
person is
responsible for
accomplishing.
26. What is the Goal-Setting Theory of
Motivation?
Difficult goals are more likely to lead to
higher performance than are less difficult
ones.
Specific goals are more likely to lead to
higher performance than vague or very
general ones.
27. What is the Goal-Setting Theory of
Motivation?
Task feedback is likely to motivate people
toward higher performance by
encouraging the setting of higher
performance goals.
28. What is the Goal-Setting Theory of
Motivation?
Goals are most likely to lead to higher performance
when people have the abilities and the feelings of
self-efficacy required to accomplish them.
Goals are most likely to motivate people toward
higher performance when they are accepted by
the individual, and there is commitment to them.
29. What is the Goal-Setting Theory of
Motivation?
Management by
Objectives
(MBO)
Process of joint
goal setting
between a
supervisor and a
subordinate.
<number>
Theories of both types contribute to our understanding of motivation to work. But none offers a complete
explanation.
The content theories try to explain work behaviors based on pathways to need satisfaction and on blocked needs. Whereas a content approach may identify job security as an important individual need, a process approach would probe further to identify why the decision to seek job security results in certain work behaviors.
<number>
Needs range from self-actualization and esteem at the top, to social, safety, and physiological at the bottom.
Physiological needs must be satisfied before safety needs are activated – safety needs must be satisfied before social needs are activated.
<number>
Figure 5.1
The figure identifies five levels of individual needs. They range from self-actualization and esteem
needs at the top, to social, safety, and physiological needs at the bottom. The concept of a needs “hierarchy” assumes that some needs are more important than others and must be satisfied before the other needs can serve as motivators. For example, physiological needs must be satisfied before safety needs are activated; safety needs must be satisfied before social needs are activated; and so on.
Some research suggests that higher-order needs (esteem and self-actualization) tend to become more important than lower-order needs (psychological, safety, and social) as individuals move up the corporate ladder. Studies also report that needs vary according to a person’s career stage, the size
of the organization, and even geographic location.4 There is also no consistent evidence that the satisfaction of a need at one level decreases its importance and increases the importance of the next-higher need.
ERG theory is also based on needs, but it differs from Maslow’s theory in three main respects. First, ERG theory collapses Maslow’s five needs categories into three: existence needs, desires for physiological and material well-being; relatedness needs, desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships; and growth needs, desires for continued personal growth and development.
Second, ERG theory emphasizes a unique frustration-regression component. An already satisfied lower-level need can become activated when a higher-level need cannot be satisfied. If a person is continually frustrated in his or her attempts to satisfy growth needs, for example, relatedness needs can again surface as key motivators. Third, unlike Maslow’s theory, ERG theory contends that more than one need may be activated at the same time.
<number>
The TAT is a projective technique that asks people to view pictures and write stories about what they see.
<number>
Because each need can be linked with a set of work preferences, McClelland encouraged managers to learn how to identify the presence of nAch, nAff, and nPower in themselves and in others. Someone with a high need for achievement will prefer individual responsibilities, challenging goals, and performance feedback. Someone with a high need affiliation is drawn to interpersonal relationships and opportunities for communication. Someone with a high need for power seeks influence over others and likes attention and recognition.
<number>
This theory identifies motivator factors as primary causes of job satisfaction and hygiene factors as primary causes of job
dissatisfaction. And, the two factors operate independent of one another.
<number>
Hygiene factors relate more to the setting in which people work than to the nature of the work itself.
<number>
When motivator factors are minimal, low job satisfaction decreases motivation and performance. When motivator factors are substantial, high job satisfaction raises motivation and performance.
Figure 5.2
<number>
<number>
Motivation is a function of how one evaluates rewards relative to efforts made, and as compared to the rewards received by others relative to their efforts made. A key word in this comparison is “fairness.”
<number>
Perceived inequity occurs when someone believes that the rewards received for their work contributions compare unfavorably to the rewards other people appear to have received for their work.
<number>
When either feeling exists, the theory states that people will be motivated to act in ways that remove the discomfort and restore a sense of felt equity.
<number>
Research on equity theory indicates that people who feel they are overpaid (perceived positive inequity) are likely to try to increase the quantity or quality of their work, whereas those who feel they are underpaid (perceived negative inequity) are likely to try to decrease the quantity or quality of their work.
You will most likely reduce your efforts (3.) or try to restore equity by increasing our outcomes (2.)
<number>
<number>
<number>
<number>
Expectancy theory posits that motivation is a result of a rational calculation – people will do what they can do when they want to do it.
<number>
Equity theory is based on the concept of fairness.
Expectancy is the probability assigned by an individual that work effort will
be followed by a given level of achieved task performance.
Instrumentality is the probability assigned by the individual that a given level of achieved task performance will lead to various work outcomes.
Valence is the value attached by the individual to various work outcomes.
Figure 5.3
In expectancy theory, and as summarized in the figure, a person is motivated to the degree that he or she believes that: (1) effort will yield acceptable performance (expectancy), (2) performance will be rewarded (instrumentality), and (3) the value of the rewards is highly positive (valence).
<number>
<number>
Expectancy logic argues that managers should always try to intervene actively in work situations to maximize work expectancies, instrumentalities, and valences that support organizational objectives.
Even though the theory has received substantial support, some components, such as the multiplier effect, remain subject to some question.
<number>
The basic precepts of goal-setting theory are an important source of advice for managing human behavior in the work setting.
<number>
If the goals are seen as too difficult or impossible, however, the relationship with performance no longer holds.
All too often people work with very general goals such as the encouragement to “do your best.” Research indicates that more specific goals, such as selling six computers a day, are much more motivational than a simple “do your “best” goal.
<number>
Feedback lets people know where they stand and whether they are on course or off course in their efforts.
<number>
The individual must be able to accomplish the goals and feel confident in those abilities.
Participating in the goal-setting process helps build acceptance and commitment. It creates a sense of “ownership”.
<number>
MBO involves managers working with their team members to establish performance goals and make plans that are consistent with higher level work unit and organizational objectives. When done throughout an organization, MBO helps clarify the hierarchy of objectives as a series of well-defined means-end chains.
Figure 5.4
Figure shows how an MBO process might utilize goal- setting principles.
<number>