Management Study Guide

Chapter 7

Motivation - the processes that account for an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort for toward attaining a goal - specifically, an organizational goal.

When defining motivation it is important to look at the interaction between the individual and the situation. There are three key elements that help us define motivation. The first is intensity - how hard the person tries to accomplish the task. The second element is direction- the effort that is channeled toward organizational goals. The final element is persistency - how long a person can maintain the effort.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs- The first theory was developed by Abraham Maslow in the 1950's. His theory states that with every individual there is a hierarchy of five needs. As each need is met or satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. His theory posits that individuals are stuck in their existing need level until it is satisfied and then they can move on to the next level. For example, until their safety needs are met, they will not be able to move on to the social level. High Order Internal - Self Actualization, Esteem, Social

Low Order External - Safety, Physiological

McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y - The Theory X view is basically negative and believes that workers have little ambition, dislike work, and avoid responsibility. The Theory Y view is in contrast to X and believes that workers tend to be self-directed, enjoy work, and accept responsibility. Managers will modify their behavior toward employees based on what view they hold about them.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory - This theory sets forth that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites but two separate ideas. There are a set of factors that when present will help to avoid dissatisfaction in workers. This group is called the hygiene factors and includes such things as salary, working conditions, and company policies. There is another set of factors that when present will help to cause satisfaction in workers. This group is called motivators and includes things such as growth, responsibility, and achievement. These sets are distinct and the presence of hygiene factors does not cause satisfaction, it just helps avoid dissatisfaction.

Criticisms of Two-Factor Theory - First, the participants had a self-serving bias. When things are going well, they will take credit themselves. When things are not going well, they tend to blame it on the environment or others. The second criticism is that the raters will incorporate their own biases in their observations. Finally, Herzberg's look at satisfaction had some errors in it as there was no attempt to measure overall satisfaction and he assumed a relationship between satisfaction and productivity.

Performance Predictions for Nach - The need that has received the most attention by researchers is the need for achievement. Achievers will carefully measure the odds and try to take on activities that are challenging but not too high-risk. They tend to be motivated in jobs that are more individualistic in nature and provide regular and effective feedback. Achievers tend to not make good managers because they have more of a personal focus. Strong managers have a higher level of need for power and a lower level of need for affiliation as they are trying to motivate a team to move toward a given direction.

Self-Determination Theory -The self-determination theory states that people prefer to have control over their actions. So when they are required to do something they previously freely chose, it will diminish their motivation. This theory sets forth that in the workplace, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are not independent of one another. In fact, the presence of extrinsic rewards may decrease the intrinsic rewards. In addition to extrinsic rewards, managers need to realize the importance of using goal setting and verbal rewards as a method to increase motivation.

Locke's Goal Setting Theory - The idea behind this theory is that goals that are specific and effectively difficult can lead to higher performance if they include self-generated feedback. A difficult goal will help the individual to focus and direct attention as well as energize them to work harder. The difficulty of the goal will increase persistence and force people to be more effective and efficient.

The relationship between goals and performance depends on how committed the individual is to the goal as well as how specific the tasks are. Most of the research has been done in the United States so the applicability of this theory to other cultures is suspect.

Implementation: Management by Objectives (MBO) - An implementation of the goal-setting theory is Management by Objectives, better known as MBO. MBO is a systematic way to utilize goal-setting theory, in which goals are set jointly by managers and employees. The goals must be tangible, verifiable, and measurable in order to be effective. The manager helps to break down the organizational goals into smaller more specific goals for the employee. In order for MBO to be effective, the goals must be specific, the employees must participate in the goal setting, there must be a defined time period, and feedback must be incorporated into the process.

Bandura's Self Efficacy Theory - This theory is based on an individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. This theory is a complement to the goal-setting theory as it incorporates goals into the process. Higher efficacy is related to greater confidence, greater persistence in the face of difficulties, and responding to negative feedback with working harder, not shutting down. Self-efficacy can be increased in several ways. The first is increasing your mastery of a task/skill. Another way is to model your actions after someone else who performs the task effectively and applying their actions to your own. The final methods to increase self-efficacy is to receive verbal persuasion through others as well as getting excited (arousal) about completing the task.

The Reinforcement Theory - The Reinforcement Theory is based on the goal-setting theory we looked at earlier. However, it focuses on behaviors instead of cognitive factors. This theory believes that reinforcement conditions behavior and by reinforcing certain behaviors we can increase the types of behaviors that impact organizational effectiveness in a positive way. This theory is based on the idea that behavior is environmentally caused. Behavior is believed to be based on the consequences and not on thoughts, feelings, or attitudes. This theory is not technically a motivational theory, rather it is a method used to analyze behavior. It is important to keep in mind that reinforcement does