Essentials of Organizational Behavior: Motivation Concepts

Motivation Concepts

Definition of Motivation

  • Motivation: The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
  • Intensity: Amount of effort put forth to meet a goal.
  • Direction: Efforts channeled toward organizational goals.
  • Persistence: Duration of effort maintained toward achieving the goal.

Early Theories of Motivation

  • Major theories include:
  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
  • Herzberg’s Two-Factor (Motivation-Hygiene) Theory
  • McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Three Needs Theory)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
  • Five levels of needs, arranged in a pyramid from basic to advanced:
  1. Physiological Needs: Basic survival needs (food, water, shelter)
  2. Safety Needs: Security, health, and safety
  3. Social Needs: Relationships, belonging, and community
  4. Esteem Needs: Recognition, status, and esteem from others
  5. Self-Actualization: Personal growth, creativity, and fulfillment
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
  • Two Factors:
  • Hygiene Factors:
    • Quality of supervision
    • Pay
    • Company policies
    • Working conditions
    • Relationships
  • Motivation Factors:
    • Opportunities for personal growth
    • Recognition
    • Responsibility
    • Achievement
McClelland's Theory of Needs
  • Three Key Needs:
  1. Need for Achievement (nAch): Drive to excel and succeed
  2. Need for Power (nPow): Desire to influence or control others
  3. Need for Affiliation (nAff): Desire for friendly and close relationships
Goal-Setting Theory
  • Effective goals should be:
  • Specific: Clearly defined
  • Difficult but accepted: Challenging goals that employees agree to
  • Accompanied by feedback: Regular feedback leads to improved performance.
Management by Objectives (MBO)
  • Converts overall organizational objectives into specific objectives for work units and individuals.
  • Key components include:
  • Goal specificity
  • Defined time period
  • Performance feedback
  • Participation in decision-making

Contemporary Theories of Motivation

  • Self-Efficacy Theory: Belief in one’s capability to perform a task influences motivation.

  • Increased through:

    • Enactive Mastery: Gaining experience
    • Vicarious Modeling: Observing others
    • Verbal Persuasion: Encouragement from others
    • Arousal: Gaining energy or motivation

  • Reinforcement Theory: Behavior is motivated by its consequences.

  • Key aspects include:

    • Behaviors that are rewarded increase
    • B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning theory

  • Expectancy Theory: Motivation depends on the expected outcome of behaviors.

  • Involves three key relationships:

    1. Effort-performance: Belief that effort leads to performance
    2. Performance-reward: Belief that performance will result in rewards
    3. Rewards-personal goals: Attractiveness of rewards to individual goals
Equity Theory
  • Employees compare their input-output ratio (what they contribute versus what they receive) with others.
  • Perceptions of fairness lead to motivation; inequity can lead to reduced motivation or efforts to change the situation.
  • Options include:
    • Change inputs
    • Change outcomes
    • Distort perceptions
    • Choose a different referent
    • Leave the field
Organizational Justice
  • Distributive Justice: Fairness of outcome (e.g., pay raises)
  • Procedural Justice: Fairness of the processes used to determine outcomes (e.g., clarity and participation in decision-making)
  • Interactional Justice: Quality of interpersonal treatment during outcomes (e.g., manager's communication style)
  • Organizational Justice: Overall perception of fairness in the workplace.