MOTIVATION

Motivation is described as one of the most pivotal concerns of modern organizational research. Just like anything that is considered pivotal , motivation influences many other important issues with in an organization : Employee performance , employee retention , creativity and problem and other actions if we combine motivation with other measures such as commitments.

Hence , we define motivation as the process that account for an individuals intensity , direction and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal. While general motivation is concerned with the effort towards attaining a goal , we will narrow the focus to organizational goals in order to reflect our singular interest in work related behavior . KEY THREE ELEMENTS :
1. Intensity : How hard a person tries. 2. Direction : High intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job performance outcomes unless the effort is challenged in a direction that benefits the organization. 3. Effort : Effort that is directed towards and consistent with the organizational goals is the kind of effort that we should be seeking.

INDIVIDUAL , GROUP AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS OF ANALYSIS.

Motivation has basically remained within the domain of individual dynamics of behavior. However , with increasing popularity of groups and teams as the basic units of organization and performance , managers need to understand and create group motivation and design work contexts that create and maintain group motivation. Lets us take a systematic view of motivation by exploring different theories on the subject. We have selected some theories that have received greater attention of researchers and executives. CLASSIFICATION OF MAJOR THEORIES OF MOTIVATION .

Content Theories ( What Motivates )

Drive ( HULL) Motives ( Mc Clelland) Needs Hierarchy ( Maslow) Two Factors ( Herzberg) ERG ( Alderfer) Vroom s VIE theory

Process Theories ( HOW Motivation WORKS )

DRIVE THEORY ( HULL , 1943)

Hull (1943) explained motivation in terms of drives that are created by unfulfilled needs, deficits and deprivation. These unfulfilled needs are understood to create some kind of disequilibrium or imbalance , which in turn , drives the behavior whose results satisfies the unfulfilled needs and restores the balance. For example, if a person has not eaten for the last three to four hours , he/ she might feel a psychological tension that we level as hunger . When drive sufficiently by this hunger , he/ she will begin to look for food in the refrigerator or pantry or go to a restaurant or order food. All this behavior options will lead to one result : eating food , which would satisfy hunger. The model focuses on need fulfillment for an individual s survival and wellbeing . The need have been sorted in to A. Primary need Also known as unlearned need, which are biological and cynical in nature , such as hunger . B. Secondary or learned needs are developed because of our interaction with others in our social group. Experience and satisfaction of secondary needs requires the presence and interaction with others. Example of these needs are the needs for power status . In organizational studies , the secondary needs are very important.

Maslows Need Hierarchy Theory

Psychologist , Abraham Maslows research was actually focused on human personality, and he suggested that people differ because they differ in their needs and motivation. His hierarchy of needs hypothesized that within every human being , there exist a hierarchy of five needs . 1. Physiological - Includes hunger , thirst , sex and other bodily needs . 2. Safety Security and Protection from physical and physical harm . 3. Social Affection , belongingness , acceptance and friendship. 4.Esteem- Internal factors such as self respect , autonomy and achievement and external factors such as status , recognition and attention. 5. Self Actualization - Drive to become what one is capable of becoming includes growth , achieving ones potential and self fulfillment. As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied , the next need becomes dominant and the individual moves to the next step of the hierarchy . Maslow separated the 5 needs in to higher and lower level orders. Physiological and Safety needs were described as lower order needs and social , esteem and self actualization as higher order needs. The higher order needs are satisfied internally ( with in the person ) and the lower order needs are predominantly satisfied externally ( pay, union contracts and tenure )

Mc Clellands Need Classification

Recall the section on Hulls drive theory and the classification of primary and secondary needs. David Mc Clelland highlighted the secondary needs as more important from a social perspective. He categorized three new perspective of motivation. n Ach :This is the need for achievement. A need for a sense of mastery over once environment , accomplishment through ones own abilities and skills, preference for challenges but moderate risk . n Pow : This is a need for autonomy and control over others, partly relating to the social and esteem needs of Maslow . n Aff :This is the need for affiliation , very similar to Alderfers relatedness. This is the need to establish and maintain relationship that gives positive feelings , or friendship with others. Of the three needs , Mc Clellands focused most on nAch . High achievers perform best when they perceive their probability of success as .5 that is , when they estimate that they have 50-50 chances of success. They dislike gambling with high odds because they get no achievement satisfaction from success that comes by pure chance. Similarly they dislike high probability of success , because then there is no challenge to their skills.

Alderfers's ERG Theory

The acronym for ERG stands for Existence , Relatedness and Growth. The ERG theory also highlighted need satisfaction as a motivational factor. Alderfer classified needs in to three categories that is very similar to Maslows need hierarchy. The existence needs with in Alderfers ERG model are essentially the physiological and safety needs or Herzbergs maintenance need. Relatedness needs are the social needs in Maslows hierarchy . How Alderfers model differed from Maslows was that it did not specify the hierarchy of needs. The lower needs did not have to arise first.

Herzberg Two Factor Theory

Psychologist Fredrick Herzberg proposed the two factor theory Also called motivational hygiene theory . Herzberg investigated the question what do people want from their job ? According to Herzberg the factors that lead to job satisfaction are separate and distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction . As a result, Herzberg characterized conditions surrounding the job such as quality of supervision , pay, company policies, physical working conditions, relations with others and job security as a Hygiene factors. When they are adequate , people will not be dissatisfied , neither will they be satisfied. If we want to motivate people in there job , Herzberg suggested emphasizing factors associated with the work itself or with outcomes directly derived from it , such as growth , recognition , responsibility , promotional opportunities, achievement . This are the characteristics that people find intrinsically rewarding.

Herzbergs Two-factor Theory

Hygiene Factors

Company policy and

Motivators Achievements

administration Supervision, technical Salary Interpersonal Relations Working Conditions

Recognition
Work Itself Responsibility

Advancement

JOB SATISFACTION
Low satisfaction results in high turnover
High turnover has high cost to organization Some turnover is healthy but not dysfunctional

turnover

Process Theories
The Process theories of motivation take the fundamental position that motivation is a complete psychological process determined by factors and

choices on the individual side and shaped by context factors. As the process theories focus on the how of motivation , they are generally found more useful for the application in the work context. The process theories are not independent of the need theories.

Expectancy Theory
One of the most widely accepted explanations of motivation is by Victor Vrooms Expectancy theory. Expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain manner depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and depending on the attractiveness of the outcome , individual will elicit that behavior. The theory suggest s that when presented with behavioral options in a situation , individuals select the opinion with greatest motivational forces (MF) . The MF for a behavior , action , or task is a function of three distinct perceptions , namely

MF = Expectancy * instrumentality * Valence Expectancy indicates the probability that an individual assigns to the belief that if he / she tried ( E) then there would be success (P) necessary for meeting the final goals. This depends on Past experience , Self efficacy , Perceived difficulty of the goal. Instrumentality ( P-> R ) is the subjective probability that meeting performance expectations will be instrumental in getting the rewards desired or valued by the individual, say as pay increase , promotion, recognition or sense of accomplishment. Instrumentality is again a perception which is affected by the following factors a. Trust , b. Control, c. Polices. Valence V ( R) : The valence refers the value an individual personally places on the rewards. This is a function of his or her needs , goals, values and sources of motivation. Thus , a conceptual presentation of VIE theory can be made as follows.