Ch 5 - Theories of Motivation at Work

Factors of Job Performance

• Motivation, ability, environment influences over employee performance

Motivation

The desire to achieve a goal or a certain performance levle, leading to goal-directed behavior

Ability

Having the skills and knowledge required to perform the job

Environmental

External factors that affect performance

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing an activity because it is enjoyable and absent of rewards

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing an activity because it is related to desirable outcomes such as financial rewards, status, or approval from others

Need-Based Theories of Motivation

• Main Idea: People are motivated by deficiencies in their needs. When a need is not met, individuals seek to fulfill it.

• Key Theories:

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A five-tier model of human needs, ranging from physiological needs to self-actualization.

  • Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory: Differentiates between hygiene factors (which prevent dissatisfaction) and motivators (which drive satisfaction).

  • ERG Theory: Groups needs into Existence, Relatedness, and Growth categories, allowing for regression if higher needs aren’t met.

  • Acquired Needs Theory: Suggests that needs (achievement, affiliation, power) are learned based on experiences.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Human beings have needs that are hierarchically ranked

• Not the strongest theory (not much evidence to support it; it doesn’t stand true in different cultural contexts) but one that is logical enough to be useful as a general framework to understand human needs and motivation

• Lower-level needs (bottom three)

• Higher level needs (top two)

Physiological Needs

air, food, water

Safety and Security

security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, property

Love and belonging

friendship, family, intimacy, sense of connection

Self-esteem

Self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others

Self-actualization

Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts

ERG

Developed by Clayton Alderfer, is a modification of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs."

• Existence

• Growth

• Relatedness

Characteristics

• Does not rank needs

• frustration regression

  • hypothesis suggesting that individuals who are frustrated in their attempts to satisfy one

    need may regress to another.

• satisfaction progression

  • moving up to the higher-level needs based on satisfied needs

Existence

A need corresponding to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs

Relatedness

A need corresponding to Maslow’s social needs.

Growth

A need referring to Maslow’s esteem and self-actualization.

Two Factor Theory/Herzberg’s Theory

Asking individuals what satisfies and dissatisfies them. When we have hygiene factors (money, safe environment, secure relationships) we can foxus on what really make us click (motivators)

• “hygiene” factors

• motivators

Example: Salary increase could lead to low job dissatisfaction, while opportunities to grow leads to high job satisfaction

Work was the basis to identify needs as either motivators or hygiene factors (hence the name of the theory is two-factory theory)

hygiene factors

factors that are extrinsic to the job, such as company policies and working conditions

• Company policy, Supervision and relationships, Working conditions, Salary, Security

• too basic to be motivators (lower level needs)

motivators

factors that are intrinsic to the job, such as achievement and interesting work

• Achievement, Recognition, Interesting work, Increased responsibility, Advancement and growth

• self actualiziation

Acquired-Needs Theory

David McClelland's acquired-needs theory is the one that has received the greatest amount of support. According to this theory, individuals acquire three types of needs as a result of their life experiences. 

• Achievement

• Affiliation

• Power

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) 

A test that assesses a person’s dominant needs.The exercise we worked on where we looked at an image and came up with a story; the idea is that the story that we come up with sheds light on what our needs are/currently are)

need for achievement

Having a strong need to be successful.

need for affiliation 

want to be liked and accepted by others.

 need for power 

want to influence others and control their environment.

Process-Based Theories

Process theories attempt to explain the thought processes of individuals who demonstrate motivated behavior.

• Equity theory

• Expectancy theory

• Reinforcement theory

Equity Theory

individuals are motivated by a sense of fairness in their interactions.

• we believe that the input-to-outcome ratio we are bringing into

  the situation is similar to the input-to-outcome ratio of a comparison person, or a referent.

referent

A person we compare ourselves to in equity theory. Comparison with other people and being motivated to take action accordingly

Person Referent Other

Outcomes = Outcomes

Inputs Inputs

Inputs

contributions people feel they are making to the environment

Output

the perceived rewards someone can receive from the situation.

Potential Responses to Inequity

• Distort perceptions

  • Changing one’s thinking to believe that the referent actually is more skilled than perceptions previously thought

• Increase referents inputs

  • Encouraging the referent to work harder

• Reduce own input

  • Deliberately putting forth less effort at work. Reducing the quality of one’s work

• Increase own outcomes

  • Negotiating a raise for oneself or using unethical ways of increasing rewards

    such as stealing from the company

• Change referent

  • Comparing oneself to someone who is worse off

• Leave the situation

  • Quitting one’s job

• Seek legal action

  • Suing the company or filing a complaint if the unfairness in question is under

    legal protection

Overpayment Inequity

research does not support equity theory's predictions with respect to people who are overpaid

• equity theory proposed

  that over-rewarded individuals would experience guilt and would increase their effort to restore

  perceptions of equity.

Individual Differences in Reactions to Inequity

• equity sensitivity

• benevolents

• entitleds

equity sensitivity

A personality trait that explains different reactions to inequity.

benevolents

Individuals who give without waiting to receive much in return.

entitleds

Individuals who expect to receive a lot without giving much in return.

Fairness Beyond Equity: Procedural and Interactional Justice

Equity theory deals with outcome fairness, and therefore it is considered to be a distributive justice theory. 

distributive justice

The degree to which the outcomes received from the organization are fair.

procedural justice

The degree to which fair decision-making

procedures are used to arrive at a decision.

interactional justice

The degree to which people are treated with

respect, kindness, and dignity in interpersonal interactions.

Expectancy Theory

individual motivation to put forth more or less effort is determined by a rational calculation in which individuals evaluate their situation. Effort performance linkeage (expectancy), performance-outcome linkage (instrumentality), and how important is the reward for you (valence)

All three determine whether you will put effort into any task

expectancy (effort) → instrumentality (performance) → valence (rewards)

expectancy

Whether the person believes that high levels of effort will lead to outcomes of interest such as performance or success.

instrumentality

the degree to which the person believes that performance is related to secondary outcomes such as rewards.

valence

The value of the rewards awaiting the person as a result of performance.

Ways in Which Managers Can Influence Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence

• Expectancy

  • Make sure employees have proper skills, abilities, and knowledge

  • Ensure that the environment facilities performance

  • Provide encouragement to make people believe that their effort makes a difference

• Instrumentality

  • Reward employee performance

  • Inform people in advance about the rewards

  • Try to eliminate non-performance influence over rewards

• Valence

  • Find rewards that are desirable to employees

  • Make sure that the rewards are reviewed as fair

  • Give employees choice over rewards

Reinforcement Theory

behavior is a function of its outcomes. 

Reinforcement Interventions

Reinforcement theory describes four interventions to modify employee behavior. 

Positive Reinforcement

Positive behavior followed by positive consequences (Manager praises the employee)

Negative Reinforcement

Positive behavior followed by removal of negative consequences (Manager stops nagging the employee)

Punishment

Negative behavior followed by negative consequences (Manager demotes the employee)

Extinction

The removal of rewards following negative behavior.

Reinforcement Schedules

researchers have focused their attention on schedules of reinforcement as well

Continuous Schedule

When reinforcers follow all instances of positive behavior.

• Wise parents stock up on stickers and other rewards to utilize this schedule when potty training their children

Fixed-Interval Schedules

Fixed-interval schedules involve providing rewards after a specified amount of time.

• Estee lauder was the first company to provide a “gift with purchase” certain times of the year to increase cosmetic sales

Fixed-Ratio Schedules

Rewarding behavior after a set number of occurrences.

• Some hair salons hoping to keep regular customers often give away a free haircut after every 10th haircut

Variable Ratio

Providing the reinforcement in a random

pattern.

OB Mod

A systematic application of reinforcement theory to modify employee behaviors in the workplace.

Stages of Organizational Behavior Modification

1. Identify behavior to be modified

2. Measure the baseline level

3. Analyze its antecedents and outcomes

4. Intervene

5. Evaluate and Maintain

Motivation and Ethics

• Motivations for Unethical Behavior

  • Employees may act unethically to satisfy personal needs.

• Reinforcement Theory & Ethical Behavior

  • Ethical and unethical behaviors are learned based on consequences.

• Organizational Influence on Unethical Behavior

  • Employees may receive positive consequences (e.g., promotions, bonuses) despite unethical actions.

• Solutions to Reduce Unethical Behavior

  • Remove rewards for unethical actions.

Why can algorithmic decision-making lead to unfairness, and how can technology be used positively in the workplace?

• Unfairness in Algorithms:

  • Algorithms learn from past data, which can reinforce biases.

  • Example: In 2020, the UK A-level grading algorithm penalized students from historically underperforming schools while benefiting private school students, leading to protests and policy reversal.

  • Automated decisions must be carefully examined for systemic bias.

• Positive Use of Technology:

  • Organizations use gamification to boost motivation and engagement.

  • Example: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) uses an app-based game to teach interns digital skills through competition and rewards.

How does culture influence employee motivation and perceptions of fairness?

• Motivation is culturally bound –

• Maslow’s hierarchy may differ across cultures – Financial satisfaction is a stronger motivator in developing nations, while esteem needs matter more in industrialized nations.

• Cultural differences in motivation:

  • High-performance cultures (U.S., Canada) → Strong need for achievement.

  • High-humane orientation (Thailand, Philippines) → Strong need for affiliation.

  • High power-distance cultures (Asia, Middle East) → Strong need for power.

• Perceptions of fairness vary by culture, affecting how employees react to workplace justice.

Learning-Based Theories

Main Idea: Motivation is influenced by learning through conditioning and reinforcement.

• Classical Conditioning: Associating an involuntary response with a stimulus (e.g., Pavlov’s dogs).

• Operant Conditioning (Reinforcement Theory): Behavior is shaped by consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement.

Classical Conditioning

A simple form of learning that links a conditioned response with an unconditioned stimulus

Operant conditioning (Skinner)

• Reinforcement theory and learning

• Based on the idea that behavior is a function of its consequences

• What is positive reinforcement vs negative reinforcement

• Make sure you reinforce when the behavior happens (contigent reinforcement) and in a timely or consistent manner (law of immediate reinforcement)