Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – ” Organizational Behaviour is the study of human behaviour in the workplace, the interaction between people and the organization, and the organization itself.”

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University contains following topics

Unit III- Motivation: Content Theories- Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, Herzberg’s Two factor theory; Contemporary theories of motivation (ERG, Cognitive evaluation, goal setting, equity, Intrinsic Motivation Theory by Ken Thomas), expectancy model; Behaviour modification; Motivation and organisational effectiveness.

Theories Of Motivation

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University -Despite the fact that motivation is a basic psychological process, much relevant motivation theories have been identified so far. Over time, these major theoretical streams of research in motivation were classified into two major schools:

The content theories of motivation and
The process theories of motivation

Content Theories of motivation

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal to the individual that energize and direct behavior. These theories suggest that people have certain needs and/or desires which have been internalised. These theories look at what it is about certain people that make them want the things that they do and what things in their environment will make them do or not do certain things. In general, such theories regard motivation as the product of internal drives that compel an individual to act or move (hence, “motivate”) toward the satisfaction of individual needs. The content theories of motivation are based in large part on early theories of motivation that traced the paths of action backward to their perceived origin in internal drives.

Major content theories of motivation are

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory
Alderfer’s ERG theory
McClelland’s learned needs or three-need theory

Process Theories of motivation

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Process (or cognitive) theories of motivation focus on conscious human decision processes as an explanation of motivation. The process theories are concerned with determining how individual behavior is energized, directed, and maintained in the specifically willed and self-directed human cognitive processes. Process theories of motivation are based on early cognitive theories which posit that behavior is the result of conscious decision-making processes. Process theories of motivation look at what people are thinking about when they decide whether or not to put effort into a particular activity.

The major process theories of motivation are

Cognitive Evaluation theory
Expectancy theory
Equity theory
Goal setting theory
Reinforcement theory

Content Theories Of Motivation

MASLOW’S NEED THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – One of the earliest and best-known content theories is needs hierarchy theory. According to Maslow, individuals would move to satisfy their needs in a hierarchical manner. Once a need is satisfied, it no longer has have the ability to motivate. At the bottom of the hierarchy are physiological needs such as food, shelter, and sexual gratification. These were followed by safety needs (protection from environmental dangers), social needs (love and belonging), and esteem (self-respect and the approval of others). The highest need is the need for self-fulfillment, which involves deriving a sense of value and satisfaction from one’s work.

If motivation is driven by the existence of unsatisfied needs, then it is worthwhile for a manager to understand which needs are the more important for individual employees. In this regard, Abraham Maslow developed a model in which basic, low-level needs such as physiological requirements and safety must be satisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfillment are pursued. In this hierarchical model, when a need is mostly satisfied it no longer motivates and the next higher need takes its place.

Physiological Needs: Physiological needs are those required to sustain life, such as air, water, nourishment and sleep. According to Maslow’s theory, if such needs are not satisfied then one’s motivation will arise from the quest to satisfy them. Higher needs such as social needs and esteem are not felt until one has met the needs basic to one’s bodily functioning.

Safety Needs: Once physiological needs are met, one’s attention turns to safety and security in order to be free from the threat of physical and emotional harm. Such needs might be fulfilled by living in a safe area, medical insurance, job security and financial reserves. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, if a person feels that he or she is in harm’s way, higher needs will not receive much attention.

Social Needs: Once a person has met the lower level physiological and safety needs, higher level needs become important, the first of which are social needs. Social needs are those related to interaction with other people and may include need for friends, need for belonging, need to give and receive love.

Esteem Needs: Once a person feels a sense of “belonging”, the need to feel important arises. Esteem needs may be classified as internal or external. Internal esteem needs are those related to self-esteem such as self respect and achievement. External esteem needs are those such as social status and recognition. Some esteem needs are self-respect, achievement, attention, recognition, reputation. Maslow later refined his model to include a level between esteem needs and self-actualization: the need for knowledge and aesthetics.

Self-Actualization: Self-actualization is the summit of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is the quest of reaching one’s full potential as a person. Unlike lower level needs, this need is never fully satisfied; as one grows psychologically there are always new opportunities to continue to grow. Self-actualized people tend to have needs such as truth, justice, wisdom, and meaning. Self-actualized persons have frequent occurrences of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound happiness and harmony. According to Maslow, only a small percentage of the population reaches the level of self-actualization.

LIMITATIONS OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – While Maslow’s hierarchy makes sense from an intuitive standpoint, there is little evidence to support its hierarchical aspect. In fact, there is evidence that contradicts the order of needs specified by the model. For example, some cultures appear to place social needs before any others. Maslow’s hierarchy also has difficulty explaining cases such as the “starving artist” in which a person neglects lower needs in pursuit of higher ones. Finally, there is little evidence to suggest that people are motivated to satisfy only one need level at a time, except in situations where there is a conflict between needs. Even though Maslow’s hierarchy lacks scientific support, it is quite well-known and is the first theory of motivation to which many people they are exposed.

HERZBERG’S THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Herzberg theorized that lack of satisfiers would not cause dissatisfaction. The presence of hygiene factors would not cause satisfaction, but their absence would cause dissatisfaction. Herzberg developed a list of factors that are based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, except that his version is more closely related to the working environment.

HERZBERG’S HYGIENE AND MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

Hygiene or Dissatisfiers:

Working conditions
Policies and administrative practices
Salary and Benefits
Supervision
Status
Job security
Co-workers
Personal life

Motivators or Satisfiers:

Recognition
Achievement
Advancement
Growth
Responsibility
Job challenge

Hygiene factors must be present in the job before motivators can be used to stimulate that person. That is, one cannot use motivators until all the hygiene factors are met. Herzberg’s needs are specifically job related and reflect some of the distinct things that people want from their work as opposed to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which reflect all the needs in a person’s life.

LIMITATIONS OF HERZBERG’S THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Critics of Herzberg’s theory argue that the two-factor result is observed because it is natural for people to take credit for satisfaction and to blame dissatisfaction on external factors. Furthermore, job satisfaction does not necessarily imply a high level of motivation or productivity. Herzberg’s theory has been broadly read and despite its weaknesses its enduring value is that it recognizes that true motivation comes from within a person and not from hygiene factors.

ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – The ERG theory is an extension of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Alderfer identified three categories of needs. Alderfer suggested that needs could be classified into three categories, rather than five. These three types of needs are existence, relatedness, and growth.

Existence needs are the desires for material and physical well being. These needs are satisfied with food, water, air, shelter, working conditions, pay, and fringe benefits.

Relatedness needs are the desires to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. These needs are satisfied with relationships with family, friends, supervisors, subordinates, and co-workers.

Growth needs are the desires to be creative, to make useful and productive contributions, and to have opportunities for personal development.

PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University -This theory suggests that there are actually two motivation systems: intrinsic and extrinsic that corresponds to two kinds of motivators:

Intrinsic motivators are those motivators which come from the actual performance of the task or job –the intrinsic interest of the work like achievement, responsibility and competence.
Extrinsic motivators like pay, promotion, feedback, working conditions -things that come from a person’s environment, controlled by others.

EXPECTANCY THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – This model is generally known as expectancy theory but is sometimes referred to as VIE theory, where the letters stand for valence, instrumentality, and expectancy, respectively (Mitchell and Mickel, 1999). Expectancy theory is classified as a process theory of motivation(Fudge and Schlacter, 1999) because it emphasizes individual perceptions of the environment and subsequent interactions arising as a consequence of personal expectations.

Vroom’s Expectancy theory states that an individual will act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. This motivational model (Vroom, 1964) has been modified by several people, to include Porter and Lawler (Porter et. al., 1968). Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is written as a formula:

Valence x Expectancy x Instrumentality = Motivation

Valence (Reward) = the amount of desire for a goal (What is the reward?)
Expectancy (Performance) = the strength of belief that work related effort will result in the completion of the task (How hard will I have to work to reach the goal?)
Instrumentality (Belief) = the belief that the reward will be received once

EQUITY THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Equity theory says that it is not the actual reward that motivates, but the perception, and the perception is based not on the reward in isolation, but in comparison with the efforts that went into getting it and the rewards and efforts of others. If everyone got a 5% raise, B is likely to feel quite pleased with her raise, even if she worked harder than everyone else. But if A got an even higher raise, B perceives that she worked just as hard as A, she will be unhappy.

In other words, people’s motivation results from a ratio of ratios: a person compares the ratio of reward to effort with the comparable ratio of reward to effort that they think others are getting.

Of course, in terms of actually predicting how a person will react to a given motivator, this will get pretty complicated:

People do not have complete information about how others are rewarded. So they are going on perceptions, rumors, and inferences.
Some people are more sensitive to equity issues than others.
Some people are willing to ignore short-term inequities as long as they expect things to work out in the long-term.

GOAL-SETTING THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – Goal-setting theory emphasizes the importance of specific and challenging goals in achieving motivated behavior.

The goal-setting model indicates that individuals have needs and values that influence what they desire. A need is defined as a lack of something desirable or useful. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, all individuals possess the same basic needs. Individuals do, however, differ in their values. Values are defined as a group of attitudes about a concept that contains a moral quality of like or dislike and acceptable or unacceptable. Values determine whether a particular outcome is rewarding. Employees compare current conditions to desired conditions in order to determine if they are satisfied and fulfilled. If an employee finds that he or she is not satisfied with the current situation, goal setting becomes a way of achieving what he or she wants.

REINFORCEMENT THEORY

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University – The reinforcement theory of motivation (also called contingency theory) is an outgrowth of the behaviorist school of psychology.

The basic principles of the theory are:

reinforced behavior tends to be repeated,
reward is more effective than punishment,
feedback is necessary for improvement
rewards should be given without delay, and
rewards should be given for successive approximations of the desired

APPLICATION OF MOTIVATIONAL CONCEPTS

Unit III Motivation for Organisational Theory and Behaviour Mcom sem 1 Delhi University -It is very important to apply the various motivational concepts to the organizations so that organizational effectiveness can be achieved. Various motivation techniques and programs have gained varying degrees of acceptance in organizations. Some of applications of motivation and their linking with motivational theories as depicted by Robbins have been discussed below.

Management by Objectives
Employee Recognition Programs
Employee Involvement Programs
Variable Pay Programs
Skill-Based Pay Plans
Special Issues in Motivation