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Assignment 4 The report on article on Motivation a key elements in
Organizational Behavior
In performance management (PM), the manager needs to ensure that the goals will be
accomplished in efficient and effective manners (Performance management). It is enabled for the
company to have a high-level competent employees as well as the favorable environment.
However, these factors do not completely support the company to achieve their goals. In fact, the
improvement of perform need to involve the motivation. It could be identified that performance
is the combination of individual ability, environment and motivation. So, what is the motivation?
What will motivate people? Why the motivation is the key for organization to have high
performance? The answers lie in the article Motivation a key element in Organizational
Behavior, which points out the way of motivating people in the organization based on the
content and the process.
The content approach, firstly, refers to the way in which motivator (supervisor) uses the
individual needs and desire to inspire motivate (employee). In terms of need-based theories, the
earliest study of Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs find out that there are 5 levels of needs
in systematic order, including Physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs
which they motivate can base on to generate motivation correctly. This hierarchy considers that
people are motivated at first by the basic needs such as food, water, and biological needs.
However, the degree of content will evolve as the increasing material. In this sense, people aspire
to have security at safety level, well-fare society at the social level, more salience and respect
from other people at esteem and finally self-fulfillment at the self-actualization. The other later
study of this field was provided by Alderfer including the concepts of existence, relatedness and
growth. Like the previous theory of Maslow, it was also based on the human needs and put them
in order. However, the investigation from ERG led people to new hypothesis - frustration
regression. This could be explains scenario that people cannot fulfill all of their needs as one
kind of them is higher the others will fall off simultaneously. Among the content theories, the
two-factor theory is designed to come up with the ideas of two factors causing the dissatisfaction
as hygiene factors or the satisfaction as motivators. The motivation process consists of 2 steps:
first hygienes and then motivators. Hygiene factors, including the company policy, working
environment, relationships, salary or even security are considered job stay-on. This means that
unless they are present, the dissatisfaction will occur. In addition, once these factors are
provided, the supervisor do not necessarily generate the motivation. By the way, satisfaction
intrinsically stem from the job content, such as achievement, recognition, advancement,
responsibility, the work itself, and grow possibilities. These factors contribute to improve
significantly the performance since they provide the employee satisfaction. Now, they play a role
as job turn-ons. Another study of McClelland also divides the needs into three kinds. However,
they are simply no longer associated with the needs of existence. At a higher level of cognition,
they involve the needs for power, affiliation and achievements. That refers to the degree of desire
for completing tasks, influencing the others, and cooperating the subordinates and colleagues.
According to the textbook of Organizational Behavior, it is a theory which has received the most
amount of support. The fact that the theory reflects what motivates people based upon the
personality. Through that, it is asserted that a person an employee may perform very well in a
specific field, but poorly in the others because his/ her intensives are different in each situation.
The second approach is the process way which focuses on external behaviors people
choose in order to satisfy their own needs. There are three theories in this section: equity,
expectancy and reinforcement. If the need-based approach emphasizes the role of motivator, the
process theories now draw attention to the motivation. In terms of that, they expect that they will
receive more valuable rewards as they work hard. By this assumption, they strive to improve
their performance on the next project. Another point is associated the equity in the workplace
which force the employees performance. In reality, the comparison between the outcomes or
reward usually occurs. There are many alternative results happen in this situation as the
employee may consciously or unconsciously justify their contributions to bring a better balance.
Last but not least, reinforcement involving positive, negative, punishment, and extinction
reinforcement. Reinforcement influences the organizational behaviors as in fact the employee
easily are affected by the reward or punish system. The report also shows the most powerful
rewards are symbolic which give significant meaning to people who get but cost cheaply.
In conclusion, motivation is one the keys of performance. However, how they motivate
contributes to high performance is not easy as the process of motivation requires the substantial
organizations understandings and practices. It is not only based on the individual needs in
material and cognition, but also the attitude and behaviors. Unless the company has a reasonable
motivation strategy, the paradoxical reality will happen as the company pays more but loses the
effectiveness.
References
(n.d.). Performance management. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_management
Textbook: Bauer, T. and Erdogan, B. Organizational Behavior. (2013). Version 1.1. New
York, NY: Flat World Knowledge.