Essentials of

Organizational Behavior

Motivation Concepts
 After studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
1. Describe the three key elements of motivation.
2. Identify four early theories of motivation and evaluate
their applicability today.
3. Compare and contrast goal-setting theory and self-
efficacy theory.
4. Demonstrate how organizational justice is a
refinement of equity theory.
5. Apply the key tenets of expectancy theory to
motivating employees.
6. Explain to what degree motivation theories are
culture bound.

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 What Is Motivation?
The processes that accounts for
an individual’s intensity, direction,
and persistence of effort toward
attaining a organizational goal
 Intensity – the amount of effort
put forth to meet the goal
 Direction – efforts are channeled
toward organizational goals
 Persistence – how long the effort
is maintained

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Early Theories of Motivation
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theory
• McGregor’s Theory X and
Theory Y
• Herzberg’s Two-Factor
(Motivation-Hygiene) Theory
• McClellan’s Theory of Needs
(Three Needs Theory)

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theory

Self-Actualization

Esteem
Upper

Social

Safety
Lower

Psychological

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ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer)
ERG Theory
There are three groups of core needs: existence,
relatedness, and growth.

Core Needs Concepts:

Existence: provision of More than one need can
basic material be operative at the same
requirements. time.
Relatedness: desire for If a higher-level need
relationships. cannot be fulfilled, the
Growth: desire for desire to satisfy a lower-
personal development. level need increases.
 Douglas McGregor’s X & Y

Theory X Theory Y

• Inherent dislike for work • View work as being as

and will attempt to avoid natural as rest or play
it
• Must be coerced, • Will exercise self-direction
controlled or threatened and self-control if
with punishment committed to objectives

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 Herzberg’s Two-Factor
Theory
Not Dissatisfied Satisfied

Motivation Factors
• Quality of • Promotional
Hygiene Factors

supervision opportunities
• Pay • Opportunities for
• Company policies personal growth
• Physical working
• Recognition
conditions
• Relationships • Responsibility
• Job security • Achievement

Dissatisfied Not Satisfied

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McClelland's Theory of Needs

• Need for Achievement (nAch)

The drive to excel
• Need for Power (nPow)
The need to make others behave in a way
they would not have behaved otherwise
• Need for Affiliation (nAff)
The desire for friendly and close
interpersonal relationships

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 McClelland's High Achievers
• High achievers prefer jobs with:
 Personal responsibility
 Feedback
 Intermediate degree of risk (50/50)

• High achievers are not

necessarily good managers
• High nPow and low nAff is
related to managerial success

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Contemporary Theories of
Motivation
• Cognitive Evaluation Theory
• Goal-Setting Theory
 Management by Objectives

• Self-Efficacy Theory
• Equity Theory
• Expectancy Theory
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Cognitive Evaluation Theory

• Proposes that the introduction of

extrinsic rewards for work (pay) that
was previously intrinsically rewarding
tends to decrease overall motivation

• Verbal rewards increase intrinsic

motivation, while tangible rewards
undermine it

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 Goal-Setting Theory
• Goals increase performance when the
goals are:
 Specific
 Difficult, but accepted by employees
 Accompanied by feedback (especially self-
generated feedback)
• Contingencies in goal-setting theory:
 Goal Commitment – public goals better!
 Task Characteristics – simple & familiar better!
 National Culture – Western culture suits best!

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 Management by Objectives
(MBO)

• Converts overall organizational

objectives into specific objectives
for work units and individuals
• Common ingredients:
 Goal specificity
 Explicit time period
 Performance feedback
 Participation in decision making
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Self-Efficacy or Social
Learning Theory
Individual’s belief that he or she
is capable of performing a task
Self-efficacy increased by:
 Enactive mastery – gain experience
 Vicarious modeling – see someone
else do the task
 Verbal persuasion – someone
convinces you that you have the skills
 Arousal – get energized

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 Inputs & Outputs
Inputs Outputs
• Individual’s • Organization’s return
contribution to an to an Individual.
Organization.

• Job Security
• Time
• Effort • Salary
• Loyalty • Employee benefits
• Hard work • Recognition
• Commitment • Reputation
• Abilities • Sense of achievement
 Equity Theory
• Employees weigh what they put into a
job situation (input) against what they
get from it (outcome).
• They compare their input-outcome ratio
with the input-outcome ratio of relevant
others.
My Output Your Output
My Input Your Input
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 Consequences of Inequity
Based on equity theory, when employees
perceive an inequity, they can be predicted to
make one of six choices.
•They change their inputs.
•They change their outcomes
•They distort perceptions of self
•They distort perceptions of others
•They choose a different referent
•They leave the field
 Victor Vroom’s Expectancy
Theory
The theory assumes that behavior results from
conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose
is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
The key elements to this theory are referred to as
following-
1. Valence (V)
2. Instrumentality (I)
3. Expectancy (E)
 Valence
 The term refers to the emotional orientation
people hold with respect to outcomes
(rewards).
 Valence may vary from -1 to +1.
 Valence is negative if the individual prefers
not attaining an outcome compared with
attaining it.
 Valence is zero if the individual is indifferent
to the outcome.
 Valence is positive if the individual has the
strong preference to the outcome.
 The Valence of the individual must be
positive if motivation were to take place.
 Instrumentality

 The Instrumentality refers to the belief that

the first level outcome will lead to the second
level outcome .
 The value of Instrumentality varies from 0 to
1. If an employee sees that promotions are
based on performance, instrumentality will be
rated high.
 A low estimate of instrumentality will be
made if the employee fails to see such linkage
between performance and reward.
 Expectancy
 Expectancy refers to the belief that an
effort will lead to completion of a task.
 The value of Expectancy varies between 0
to 1.
 If an employee sees no chance that effort
will lead to the desired performance, the
expectancy is zero.
 On the other hand if the employee is
confident that the task will be completed ,
the expectancy has a value of 1.
Motivational Force
 Expectancy Theory
Three key relationships:
1. Effort-Performance: perceived probability that
exerting effort leads to successful performance
2. Performance-Reward: the belief that successful
performance leads to desired outcome
3. Rewards-Personal Goals: the attractiveness of
organizational outcome (reward) to the individual

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Motivation: From Concepts
to Application
 Motivating by Changing the
Work Environment: JCM
The Job Characteristics Model - jobs are
described in terms of five core dimensions:
 Skill variety
 Task identity
 Task significance
 Autonomy
 Feedback
Job Design Theory (cont’d)
Skill Variety
The degree to which a job requires a variety of
different activities (how may different skills are
used in a given day, week, month?)

Task Identity
The degree to which the job requires completion of a
whole and identifiable piece of work (from beginning to
end)

Task Significance
The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on
the lives or work of other people
Job Design Theory (cont’d)
Autonomy
The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom
and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work
and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying
it out

Feedback
The degree to which carrying out the work activities
required by a job results in the individual obtaining direct
and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her
performance
 JCM: Designing
Motivational Jobs
• JCM-designed jobs give internal rewards
• Individual’s growth needs are moderating
factors
• Motivating jobs must be:
 Autonomous
 Provide feedback, and
 Have at least one of the three meaningfulness factors
 How Can Jobs be
Redesigned?
Job Rotation
The periodic shifting of an employee from one task
to another

Job Enlargement
Increasing the number and variety of tasks

Job Enrichment
Increasing the degree to which the worker controls
the planning, execution and evaluation of the work
 Alternate Work
Arrangements
• Flextime
 Some discretion over when
worker starts and leaves
• Job Sharing
 Two or more individuals split a
traditional job
• Telecommuting
 Work remotely at least two days
per week or working from virtual
office
 Global Implications

Are motivation theories culture-bound?

 Most were developed for and by the United States
 Goal-setting and expectancy theories emphasize goal
accomplishment and rational individual thought
 Maslow’s Hierarchy may change order
 McClelland's nAch presupposes acceptance of a
moderate degree of risk concern for performance
 Equity theory closely tied to American pay practices
 Hertzberg’s two-factor theory does seem to work
across cultures
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 Implications for Managers

• Look beyond need theories

• Goal setting leads to higher productivity
• Organizational justice has support
• Expectancy theory is a powerful tool,
but may not very realistic in some cases
• Goal-setting, organizational justice, and
expectancy theories all provide practical
suggestions for motivation
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 Keep in Mind…

• Make goals specific and difficult

• Motivation can be increased by raising

employee confidence in their own abilities
(self-efficacy)
• Openly share information on allocation
decisions, especially when the outcome is
likely to be viewed negatively

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