Organizational behavior Robbins, Judge and Sanghi What is motivation?

? It is the result of the interaction between an individual and a situation. The same student who finds it difficult to read a textbook for more than 20 minutes may devour a Harry Potter book in a day. For this student, the difference in motivation is driven by situation. The level of motivation varies both between individuals and within individuals at different times. Motivation can also be defined as the processes that account for an individuals intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. INTENSITY is concerned with how hard a person tries. High intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job-performance outcomes unless the effort is channeled in a DIRECTION that benefits the organization. Effort that is directed toward, and consistent with the organizations goals is the kind of effort that we should be seeking. Finally, motivation has a PERSISTENCE dimension. This is a measure of how long a person can maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve a goal. Motivation Theories: Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory: There exists a hierarchy of 5 needs: Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and Self-actualization.

From the standpoint of motivation, although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So if you want to motivate someone, acc. to Maslow, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or above that level. Clayton Alderfers ERG (existence, relatedness and growth) theory. Theory X and Theory Y:

Douglas McGregor proposed two distinct views of human beings: one basically negative, labeled Theory X, and the other basically positive, labeled Theory Y. After viewing the way in which managers dealt with employees, McGregor concluded that managers views of the nature of human beings are based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that managers tend to mould their behavior towards employees according to these assumptions. Two-Factor Theory (Motivation-hygiene theory) Frederick Herzberg: Ask the question What do people want from their jobs? Certain characteristics tend to be consistently related to job satisfaction and certain others to job dissatisfaction Intrinsic factors such as Advancement Recognition Responsibility Achievement, Seem to be related to job satisfaction, whereas extrinsic factors such as, Supervision Pay Company policies Working conditions Seem to be related to job dissatisfaction Even then, the factors that lead to job satisfaction are separate and distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction. Therefore, managers who seek to eliminate factors that can create job dissatisfaction may bring about peace but not necessarily motivation. Thus, Herzberg characterized conditions surrounding the job such as quality of supervision, pay, company policies, physical working conditions, relations with others and job security as hygiene factors!