Understanding Motivations I

motivation

forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work

content or needs theories

identify different needs that may motivate individual behavior

process theories

examine the thought processes that motivate individual behavior

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s theory that offers a pyramid of physiological, safety, social esteem, and self-actualization needs

higher-order needs

esteem and self-actualization

lower-order needs

physiological, safety, and social

ERG theory

identifies existence, relatedness, and growth needs

existence needs

desires for physiological and material well-being

relatedness needs

desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships

growth needs

desires for continued personal growth and development

need for achievement (nAch)

the desire to do better, solve problems, or master complex tasks

need for affiliation (nAff)

the desire for friendly and warm relations with others

need for power (nPower)

the desire to control others and influence their behavior

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

identifies job context as the source of dissatisfaction and job content as the source of job satisfaction

Hygeine factors

within the job context, they are the sources of dissatisfaction (organizational policies, quality of supervision, working conditions, and relationships with co-workers + etc)

motivator factors

within the job content, they are sources of job satisfaction (e.g. work itself, recognition, advancement, growth, etc)

job enrichment

tries to build more motivator factors into job content

equity thoery

posits that people will act to eliminate any felt inequity in the rewards received for their work in comparison with others

percieved inequity

when someone believes that he or she has been under-rewarded or over-rewarded in comparison with others

felt negative inequity

occurs when an individual believes he or she has received relatively less than others in proportion to efforts.

felt positive inequity

occurs when an individual believes he or she has received relatively more than others in proportion to efforts

organizational justice

how fair and equitable people view the practices and outcomes of their workplace

procedural justice

the degree to which rules are always properly followed to implement policies

distributive justice

the degree to which all people are treated the same under a policy

interactional justice

the degree to which people are treated with dignity and respect in decisions affecting them

commutative justice

the degree to which exchanges ad transactions are considered fair

Vroom’s expectancy theory

argues that work motivation in determined by individual beliefs regarding effort-performance relationships and work outcomes

expectancy

the probability that work effort will be followed by performance accomplishment

instrumentality

the probability that performance will lead to various work outcomes

valence

the value attached by the individual to various work outcomes (-1 very undesirable to +1 very desirable outcome)

goal setting

the process of setting performance targets

management by objective (MBO)

a process of joint goal setting between a manager or team leader those who report to them