Chapter Six

Motivation Concepts
 Defining Motivation
The result of the interaction between the individual
and the situation.

•The processes that account for an individual’s

intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward
attaining a goal – specifically, an organizational goal.

•Three key elements:

– Intensity – how hard a person tries
– Direction – effort that is channeled toward, and
consistent with, organizational goals
– Persistence – how long a person can maintain effort
 Early Theories of Motivation
These early theories may not be valid, but they do form the
basis for contemporary theories and are still used by
practicing managers.

•Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

– Alderfer’s ERG (Existence, Relatedness, and Growth)
•McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
•Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
•McClelland’s Theory of Needs
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
There is a hierarchy of five needs. As each need is substantially
satisfied, the next need becomes dominant.

Assumptions
– Individuals cannot
Higher Order move to the next higher
Internal level until all needs at
the current (lower)
level are satisfied
Lower Order – Must move in
External hierarchical order
 Alderfer’s ERG Theory
A reworking of Maslow to fit empirical research.

•Three groups of core needs:

– Existence (Maslow: physiological and safety)
– Relatedness (Maslow: social and status)
– Growth (Maslow: esteem and self-actualization)
•Removed the hierarchical assumption
– Can be motivated by all three at once

•Popular, but not accurate, theory

 McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
• Two distinct views of human beings: Theory X (basically
negative) and Theory Y (positive).
– Managers used a set of assumptions based on their view
– The assumptions molded their behavior toward employees

• No empirical evidence to support this theory.

 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Key Point: Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites
but separate constructs

Extrinsic and Intrinsic and

Related to Related to
Dissatisfaction Satisfaction
 Criticisms of Two-Factor Theory
Herzberg says that hygiene factors must be met to remove
dissatisfaction. If motivators are given, then satisfaction
can occur.

•Herzberg is limited by his procedure

– Participants had self-serving bias
•Reliability of raters questioned
– Bias or errors of observation
•No overall measure of satisfaction was used
•Herzberg assumed, but didn’t research, a strong
relationship between satisfaction and productivity
 McClelland’s Three Needs Theory
• Need for Achievement (nAch)
– The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of
standards, to strive to succeed
• Need for Power (nPow)
– The need to make others behave in a way that they would
not have behaved otherwise
• Need for Affiliation (nAff)
– The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships
• People have varying levels of each of the three needs.
– Hard to measure
 Performance Predictions for High nAch
• People with a high need for achievement are likely to:
– Prefer to undertake activities with a 50/50 chance of
success, avoiding very low- or high-risk situations
– Be motivated in jobs that offer high degree of personal
responsibility, feedback, and moderate risk
– Not necessarily make good managers – too personal a
focus. Most good general managers do NOT have a high
nAch
– Need high level of nPow and low nAff for managerial
success
• Good research support, but it is not a very practical theory
 Contemporary Theories of Motivation
• Cognitive Evaluation Theory
• Goal-Setting Theory
– Management by Objectives (MBO)
• Self-Efficacy Theory
– Also known as Social Cognitive Theory or Social Learning
Theory
• Reinforcement Theory
• Equity Theory
• Expectancy Theory
 Cognitive Evaluation Theory
Providing an extrinsic reward for behavior that had been previously only
intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease the overall level of motivation
•Major Implications for work rewards
– Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are not independent
– Extrinsic rewards decrease intrinsic rewards
– Pay should be noncontingent on performance
– Verbal rewards increase intrinsic motivation; tangible rewards reduce it
•Self-concordance
– When the personal reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with
personal interests and core values (intrinsic motivation), people are
happier and more successful
 Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory
• Basic Premise:
– That specific and difficult goals, with self-generated feedback,
lead to higher performance
• Difficult Goals:
– Focus and direct attention
– Energize the person to work harder
– Difficulty increases persistence
– Force people to be more effective and efficient
• Relationship between goals and performance depends on:
– Goal commitment (the more public the better!)
– Task characteristics (simple, well-learned)
– Culture (best match is in North America)
Implementation: Management by Objectives
• MBO is a systematic way to utilize goal-setting.
• Goals must be:
– Tangible
– Verifiable
– Measurable
• Corporate goals are broken down into smaller, more
specific goals at each level of organization.
• Four common ingredients to MBO programs:
– Goal specificity
– Participative decision making
– Explicit time period
– Performance feedback
 Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory
• An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a
task.
– Higher efficacy is related to:
• Greater confidence
• Greater persistence in the face of difficulties
• Better response to negative feedback (work harder)
– Self-Efficacy complements Goal-Setting Theory.

Increased Confidence

Given Hard Goal Higher Performance

Higher Self-Set Goal

 Increasing Self-Efficacy
• Enactive mastery
– Most important source of efficacy
– Gaining relevant experience with task or job
– “Practice makes perfect”
• Vicarious modeling
– Increasing confidence by watching others perform the task
– Most effective when observer sees the model to be similar to him- or
herself
• Verbal persuasion
– Motivation through verbal conviction
– Pygmalion and Galatea effects - self-fulfilling prophecies
• Arousal
– Getting “psyched up” – emotionally aroused – to complete task
– Can hurt performance if emotion is not a component of the task
 Reinforcement Theory
• Similar to Goal-Setting Theory, but focused on a behavioral
approach rather than a cognitive one.

– Behavior is environmentally caused

– Thought (internal cogitative event) is not important
• Feelings, attitudes, and expectations are ignored
– Behavior is controlled by its consequences – reinforcers
– Is not a motivational theory but a means of analysis of
behavior
– Reinforcement strongly influences behavior but is not likely
to be the sole cause
 Adams’ Equity Theory
• Employees compare their ratios of outcomes-to-inputs of
relevant others.
– When ratios are equal: state of equity exists – there is no
tension as the situation is considered fair
– When ratios are unequal: tension exists due to unfairness
• Underrewarded states cause anger
• Overrewarded states cause guilt
– Tension motivates people to act to bring their situation into
equity
 Equity Theory’s “Relevant Others”
• Can be four different situations:
– Self-Inside
• The person’s experience in a different job in the same
organization
– Self-Outside
• The person’s experience in a different job in a different
organization
– Other-Inside
• Another individual or group within the organization
– Other-Outside
• Another individual or group outside of the organization
 Reactions to Inequity
• Employee behaviors to create equity:
– Change inputs (slack off)
– Change outcomes (increase output)
– Distort/change perceptions of self
– Distort/change perceptions of others
– Choose a different referent person
– Leave the field (quit the job)
• Propositions relating to inequitable pay:
– Paid by time:
• Overrewarded employees produce more
• Underrewarded employees produce less with low quality
– Paid by quality:
• Overrewarded employees give higher quality
• Underrewarded employees make more of low quality
Justice and Equity Theory

Overall perception
of what is fair in
the workplace.

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 Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on
the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by
a given outcome and on the attractiveness of the outcome to
the individual.

Expectancy of Instrumentality Valuation of the

performance of success in reward in
success getting reward employee’s eyes
Integrating Contemporary Motivation Theories
• Based on Expectancy Theory
 Global Implications
• Motivation theories are often culture-bound.
– Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
• Order of needs is not universal
– McClelland’s Three Needs Theory
• nAch presupposes a willingness to accept risk and
performance concerns – not universal traits
– Adams’ Equity Theory
• A desire for equity is not universal
• “Each according to his need” – socialist/former
communists
• Desire for interesting work seems to be universal.
– There is some evidence that the intrinsic factors of
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory may be universal
 Summary and Managerial Implications
• Need Theories (Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Herzberg)
– Well known, but not very good predictors of behavior
• Goal-Setting Theory
– While limited in scope, good predictor
• Reinforcement Theory
– Powerful predictor in many work areas
• Equity Theory
– Best known for research in organizational justice
• Expectancy Theory
– Good predictor of performance variables but shares many of the
assumptions as rational decision making