Chapter

Motivation

Slide 6-1 Copyright 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Goals
What is motivation? What three beliefs help determine work effort, according to expectancy theory? What two qualities make goals strong predictors of task performance, according to goal setting theory? What does it mean to be equitably treated according to equity theory, and how do employees respond to inequity?

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Learning Goals, Contd

What is psychological empowerment, and what four beliefs determine empowerment levels? How does motivation affect job performance and organizational commitment? What steps can organizations take to increase employee motivation?
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What is Motivation?
Motivation is defined as a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence.
Motivation is a critical consideration because job performance often requires high levels of both ability and motivation. Employees who are engaged completely invest themselves and their energies into their jobs.

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Motivation and Effort

Figure 6-1

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Discussion Questions
What makes you decide to direct your effort to work assignments rather than taking a break or wasting time?

What makes you decide to be a good citizen by helping out a colleague or another student?

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Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory describes the cognitive process that employees go through to make choices among different voluntary responses.
Employee behavior is directed toward pleasure and away from pain or, more generally, toward certain outcomes and away from others.

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Expectancy Theory

Figure 6-2

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Expectancy Theory, Contd

Expectancy represents the belief that exerting a high level of effort will result in the successful performance of some task.
Expectancy is a subjective probability, ranging from 0 to 1 that a specific amount of effort will result in a specific level of performance (abbreviated E P). Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success.
Past accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, emotional cues
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Sources of Self-Efficacy

Figure 6-3

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Expectancy Theory, Contd

Instrumentality represents the belief that successful performance will result in some outcome(s). Instrumentality is a set of subjective probabilities, each ranging from 0 to 1 that successful performance will bring a set of outcomes (abbreviated P O). Valence reflects the anticipated value of the outcomes associated with performance (abbreviated V).
Can be positive, negative, or zero

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Expectancy Theory, Contd

What exactly makes some outcomes more positively valenced than others? In general, outcomes are deemed more attractive when they help satisfy needs.
Needs can be defined as cognitive groupings or clusters of outcomes that are viewed as having critical psychological or physiological consequences.
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Commonly Studied Needs in OB

Table 6-1

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Expectancy Theory, Contd

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that is controlled by some contingency that depends on task performance. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that is felt when task performance serves as its own reward. OB on Screen
The Dark Knight
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Extrinsic and Intrinsic Outcomes

Table 6-2

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Expectancy Theory, Contd

Total motivational force to perform a given action can be described using the following formula: Motivational Force = E P x *(P O) x V]

The symbol in the equation signifies that instrumentalities and valences are judged with various outcomes in mind. Motivational force equals zero if any one of the three beliefs is zero.
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Goal Setting Theory

Goal setting theory views goals as the primary drivers of the intensity and persistence of effort.
Assigning employees specific and difficult goals will result in higher levels of performance.

What is a difficult goal?

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Goal Difficulty and Task Performance

Figure 6-4

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Settings and Tasks Used in Goal Setting Research

Table 6-3

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Goal Setting Theory, Contd

Why do specific and difficult goals have such positive effects?
Assignment of a specific and difficult goal shapes peoples own self-set goals the internalized goals that people use to monitor their own task progress. Goals trigger the creation of task strategies, defined as learning plans and problem-solving approaches used to achieve successful performance.
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Goal Setting Theory, Contd

Moderators on Task Performance
Feedback consists of updates on employee progress toward goal attainment. Task complexity reflects how complicated the information and actions involved in a task are, as well as how much the task changes. Goal commitment is defined as the degree to which a person accepts a goal and is determined to try to reach it.
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Goal Setting Theory

Figure 6-5

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Strategies for Fostering Goal Commitment

Table 6-4

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Equity Theory
Equity theory acknowledges that motivation doesnt just depend on your own beliefs and circumstances but also on what happens to other people.
Employees create a mental ledger of the outcomes (or rewards) they get from their job duties.

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Equity Theory, Contd

You compare your ratio of outcomes and inputs to the ratio of some comparison other some person who seems to provide an intuitive frame of reference for judging equity. Cognitive calculus
Ratio of outcomes to inputs is balanced between you and your comparison other.
My Outcomes My inputs vs. Others Outcomes Others Inputs
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Equity Theory, Contd

Cognitive calculus, contd
Your ratio of outcomes to inputs is less than your comparison others ratio.
Any imbalance in ratios triggers equity distress an internal tension that can only be alleviated by restoring balance to the ratios.

Your ratio of outcomes to inputs is greater than your comparison others ratio. Change your comparison other.
Internal versus external comparisons
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Some Outcomes and Inputs Considered by Equity Theory

Table 6-5

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Three Possible Outcomes of Equity Theory Comparisons

Figure 6-6

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Judging Equity with Different Comparison Others

Table 6-6

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Psychological Empowerment
Psychological empowerment reflects an energy rooted in the belief that work tasks contribute to some larger purpose.
Meaningfulness captures the value of a work goal or purpose, relative to a persons own ideals and passions. Self-determination reflects a sense of choice in the initiation and continuation of work tasks. Competence captures a persons belief in his or her capability to perform work tasks successfully. Impact reflects the sense that a persons actions make a differencethat progress is being made toward fulfilling some important purpose.
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Figure 6-7

Why Are Some Employees More Motivated than Others?

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How Important is Motivation?

Strongest performance effect is self-efficacy / competence; people who feel a sense of internal self-confidence tend to outperform those who doubt their capabilities. Difficult goals are the second most powerful motivating force. The motivational force created by high levels of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy is the next most powerful motivational variable for task performance. Perceptions of equity have a somewhat weaker effect on task performance.
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Effects of Motivation on Performance and Commitment

Figure 6-8

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Application: Compensation Systems

Do the elements provide difficult and specific goals for channeling work effort?
Lump sum bonuses and gainsharing have been credited with improvements in employee productivity.

Consider the correspondence between individual performance levels and individual monetary outcomes. Merit pay represents the most common element of organizational compensation plans.
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Compensation Plan Elements

Table 6-7

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Compensation Plan Elements, Contd

Table 6-7

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Takeaways
Motivation is defined as a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence. According to expectancy theory, effort is directed toward behaviors when effort is believed to result in performance (expectancy), performance is believed to result in outcomes (instrumentality), and those outcomes are anticipated to be valuable (valence).
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Takeaways, Contd
According to goal setting theory, goals become strong drivers of motivation and performance when they are difficult and specific. Specific and difficult goals affect performance by increasing self-set goals and task strategies. Those effects occur more frequently when employees are given feedback, tasks are not too complex, and goal commitment is high. According to equity theory, rewards are equitable when a persons ratio of outcomes to inputs matches those of some relevant comparison other. A sense of inequity triggers equity distress. Underreward inequity typically results in lower levels of motivation or higher levels of counterproductive behavior. Overreward inequity typically results in cognitive distortion, in which inputs are reevaluated in a more positive light.
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Takeaways, Contd
Psychological empowerment reflects an energy rooted in the belief that tasks are contributing to some larger purpose. Psychological empowerment is fostered when:
work goals appeal to employees passions (meaningfulness), employees have a sense of choice regarding work tasks (self-determination), employees feel capable of performing successfully (competence), and employees feel they are making progress toward fulfilling their purpose (impact).
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Takeaways, Contd
Motivation has a strong positive relationship with job performance and a moderate positive relationship with organizational commitment. Of all the energetic forces subsumed by motivation, selfefficacy/competence has the strongest relationship with performance and commitment. Organizations use compensation practices to increase motivation. Those practices may include individual-focused elements (piece-rate, merit pay, lump sum bonuses, recognition awards), unitfocused elements (gainsharing), or organizationfocused elements (profit sharing).
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