MOTIVATION

Introduction-
Motivation is the factors that determine the grounds for engagement in a particular behavior by a person or
persons. It attached with the beginning, route, the level of involvement and the sustaining at a particular level of
behavior of a person. The grounds for a particular behavior may include the determinants which are varying
from basic human needs to higher level of social needs. Motivation can be reflected through the energy and
commitment of the individual or group to perform a certain task or tasks (Joseph 1989).

The employee motivation is a crucial factor for every business at a same or sometimes at a higher level with
compared to other businesses. It affects the every aspects of the business. The basic level of the motivation is
reflected by the hard working work force. At this stage the productivity will be high and hence the cost of labor
per unit will be reduced. However the mere improvements in productivity will not be the single factor that a
firm can achieve by motivating its workforce. Motivated employees are performing to a high standard level of
performance where favorable impacts over the customer satisfaction and the shareholder value can be gained.
The motivated employees are less likely to engage in industrial actions or such other violence actions against
the company. The employee conflicts and grievances may lower. Further the motivated employees would work
effectively under minimum supervision. They will be enthusiastically learning new things relating to their jobs
that would enhance the quality of performance.

Building or creating motivated employee force is a difficult task by which a high amount of effort and money
are absorbed. More importantly the culture, leadership style and the management style affect the employee
motivation. Therefore the motivated employee force is becoming a competitive source to the company. There
are various theories that are built regarding employee motivation. Various philosophers have presented various
models on employee motivation. Their efforts and numerous case studies on this topic show the importance of
the subject matter to the today’s business context. This assignment will present an introduction of those theories
and the practice of those theories in the today’s business environment with relevant case studies.

Motivation Theories
There are several theories of motivation of various philosophers such as Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs Theory, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Kurt Lewin’s
Force Field Theory, Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management, etc.

At lower levels of the Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs theory the monetary benefits are considered to be the
motivation factor. At the higher level of the hierarchy factors such as social respect, recognition, sense of
belonging and empowerment are powerful than the monetary factor of motivation. Accordingly Maslow
suggested that the money is a lowest important factor as a motivator of employees. McGregor has included
money in his Theory X category and explained it as a poor motivator and in theory Y category he has placed
social recognition and praise suggesting that they are strong motivators other than money. This section of the
assignment will present explanations of those important theories of motivation before understand the practical
usage of those theories to generate a motivated workforce (Werther and Davis 1985).

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
This theory composed of two parts; classification of human needs and relating classes to each other. The classes
of needs are as follows.

The theory explains the order of the fulfilling needs as follows.

Person begin from the bottom line of the hierarchy and will try to satisfy the very basic physical needs of
hunger, thirsty, shelter, etc.When he has satisfied these needs then they are not motivators further. Hence he
moves upward of the hierarchy. Then the person would seek for the safety at work, job security, etc to ensure
his survival at workplace.Having ensured that he is safe his curiosity then will search for social needs such as
belongingness, love, friendships, etc. the person would seek for colleagues to work with, share information,
team work, communication, etc.Then the esteem needs will come forward. This is the need for being praised,
given recognition or evaluation for a job well-done. The people normally seek for respect of others while
sharing the happy and sorrow.Self-actualization is the way a person perceives himself. It measured by the extent
of success and the amount of challenge of work.

There are several problems attached with this model where as it has greater potential to appeal in the business
world such as,

It is no clear when would be a certain level is considered as “satisfied”

Individuals may respond differently regarding the same need

Sometimes individual behavior reflects the reaction for more than one need

Model has ignored several conditions such as bearing a low-pay by an employee expecting future benefits

Some critics argue that this model explain the behavior of middle-class workers in UK and USA (Forshaw and
Korn 2010)

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

This is a content theory of motivation whereas the main theory is the Maslow’ Hierarchy of Needs. Herzberg
carried out a research utilizing 200 engineers and accountants. They were asked to memorize the situations
when that they felt positive or negative feelings at their job and the reasons there of. According to his findings
he presented a two-steps approach to understand employee motivation and satisfaction which are called as
Hygiene factors and Motivator factors.

There are several factors that can be used to eliminate the unpleasant working conditions at work. These fcators
are called a Hygeine factors. These factors may include one or all of the following factors.

 Working conditions
 Company policies
 Administration
 Quality and the way of supervision
 Eetent of inter-personal relationships
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  Salaries, wages and other financial benefits
 The job security

The individual’s need for personal growth determines the motivaor factors of the particular person. Motivator
factors actively create job satisfaction when they exist. If those factors are effective then the individual’s
performance would be of above-average. The motivator factors may,

1. Opportunity for growth in the job

2. Entrusted responsibility
3. Social status
4. Recognition among others
5. Challenging work
6. Sense of achievement

(Stephen 2002)

Herzberg model more identical to the Maslow’s theory yet it focus specially on the higher levels of the
hierarchy of needs. The factors in the lower level of the hierarchy are considered as generating dissatisfaction
only when they are not met with.

Motivator factors are specific to the job itself such as how interesting the work is and how much of
responsibility whether it assumes. The hygiene factors are considering the factors that are related to the
environment of the job such as the safety working environment and the resources to complete the job assigned.
These factors facilitate or able the employees to perform the job rather motivate to do the job with an extra
effort and interest. Herzberg identified pay as a Hygiene factor. According to his theory the businesses are
required to adopt the democratic approaches to motivate employees. These approaches may include one or more
of the followings.

Job Enlargement: Employees are given a range of tasks that are in various areas of the business or fields.
However these tasks must not assume much responsibility if so the motivation to the tasks would less.

Job Enrichment: this assigns the employees with more complex tasks which are attached with the completion
of full work unit. The tasks will be of more challenging and interesting. And at the end the employee will feel a
sense of achievement.

Employee Empowerment: Here the employees are delegated with more power to make decisions on the areas
attached to their jobs. The responsibility of the decisions made also to be held by them.

(Musselwhite 2004)

F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management

Taylor has formed several assumptions about the human behavior at work base on observations of the research
he carried out participating US steelworkers.

Man is a rational economic animal who concerned with maximizing his economic growth.

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People respond as individuals and not as groups.

People can be treated as standardized machines

Taylor simply described that the motivation factor of people at work is money. He suggested that the pay based
on the rates produced by an each worker will induce him to produce more and more to earn more. Further the
employees who do not achieve target of a daily production should be paid less in order to induce them to meet
daily target. And the employees who exceed the target production should be paid more to induce them to keep
that productivity and to motivate others. Accordingly manager’s job is to tell the employees what to do and the
employees target is to complete that and to be paid according to their production (Tripathi 1991)

When presenting this theory Taylor has ignored that there are many individual differences which would affect
the motivator factors of the employees.

However his methods were highly implemented by the business world which experienced a higher productivity
and lower unit cost. It also gave the beginning kick to the mass production. Workers were unhappy with the
Taylor’s methods since it assigned them with boring, repetitive work that required them to effort greatly to
maximize the earnings. The employees were treated as machines and business people redounded employees as
the productivity grew. These situations lead many industrial disputes and industrial actions by the workers
(Mathis and Jackson 2000).

This model is closely related with the autocratic leadership style.

Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

This theory presents two extremes of the behavior of people at work as theory X and theory Y. No individual
would be necessarily categorized into one category but the whole behaviors will be in between the ends of X
and Y.

The characteristics of the two categories are as follows.

 Theory X Workers
 Theory Y Workers

Dislike Work and avoid working as much as possible Who are lackof ambition.

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Conclusion
Motivation is crucial factor of the success of the organization these days. There are various theories have been
presented by various philosophers regarding the motivation of employees. Management, leadership, and
organizational culture are key determinants among the factors affecting employee motivation. Every job has the
probability of motivation or demotivation the employee. Motivation affects the every aspects of the business
and strongly affects the level of productivity.

Whether some philosophers have considered money as a low motivator it has a high influence of person’s life
and hence still it is valid as motivator. The reward system, job title, periodical performance reviews can also be
considered as motivators.

Many organizations have adapted the teachings of theories like Mayo, McGregor to create a motivated
employee force. A motivated employee force would benefit the company by lowering the unit cost, high
productivity, maintaining quality, etc. the motivation is simply the work harder to accomplish the organizational
goals effectively and efficiently by its workforce. Only a motivated workforce will be able to bring the
organization to a successful position in the today’s dynamic competitive market environment.

(https://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/motivation-in-the-modern-business-world-business-essay.php)

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LEADERSHIP
Introduction-
Leadership in business is the capacity of a company's management to set and achieve challenging goals, take
fast and decisive action when needed, outperform the competition, and inspire others to perform at the highest
level they can.

It can be difficult to place a value on leadership or other qualitative aspects of a company, versus
quantitative metrics that are commonly tracked and much easier to compare between companies. Leadership
can also speak to a more holistic approach, as in the tone a company's management sets or the culture of the
company that management establishes.

Individuals with strong leadership skills in the business world often rise to executive positions such
as CEO (chief executive officer), COO (chief operating officer), CFO (chief financial officer), president, and
chairman.

Understanding Leadership
Leadership provides direction for a company and its workers. Employees need to know the direction in which
the company is headed and who to follow to reach the destination. Leadership involves showing workers how to
effectively perform their responsibilities and regularly supervising the completion of their tasks.

Leadership is also about setting a positive example for staff to follow, by being excited about the work, being
motivated to learn new things, and helping out as needed in both individual and team activities.

How Leadership Works

Effective leadership includes exhibiting a strong character. Leaders exhibit honesty, integrity, trustworthiness,
and ethics. Leaders act in line with how they speak and earn the right to be responsible for others’ success in the
company.

Strong leadership involves clear communication skills. Leaders speak with and listen to staff members, respond
to questions and concerns, and are empathetic. Leaders use effective communication skills for moving the
company forward and achieving new levels of success.

True leadership sees where the company is headed and plans the steps needed to get there. Visualizing what is
possible, following trends in the industry, and taking risks to grow the business are all required of leaders.

Productive leadership shows optimism and provides positive energy for staff. Good leaders are supportive and
are truly concerned about the well-being of others. Leaders find answers to challenges and reassure and inspire
workers when things go awry. Leaders find ways for staff to work together and achieve maximum results in an
efficient and effective manner. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/leadership.asp

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Features of Leadership

 Influence the behaviour of others: Leadership is an ability of an individual to influence the behaviour of
other employees in the organization to achieve a common purpose or goal so that they are willingly co-
operating with each other for the fulfillment of the same.

 Inter-personal process: It is an interpersonal process between the leader and the followers. The relationship
between the leader and the followers decides how efficiently and effectively the targets of the organization
would be met.

 Attainment of common organizational goals: The purpose of leadership is to guide the people in an
organization to work towards the attainment of common organizational goals. The leader brings the people
and their efforts together to achieve common goals.

 Continuous process: Leadership is a continuous process. A leader has to guide his employees every time and
also monitor them in order to make sure that their efforts are going in the same direction and that they are
not deviating from their goals.

 Group process: It is a group process that involves two or more people together interacting with each other. A
leader cannot lead without the followers.

 Dependent on the situation: It is situation bound as it all depends upon tackling the situations present. Thus,
there is no single best style of leadership.

Importance of Leadership:

 Initiating Action: Leadership starts from the very beginning, even before the work actually starts. A leader is
a person who communicates the policies and plans to the subordinates to start the work.

 Providing Motivation: A leader motivates the employees by giving them financial and non-financial
incentives and gets the work done efficiently. Motivation is the driving force in an individual’s life.

 Providing guidance: A leader not only supervises the employees but also guides them in their work. He
instructs the subordinates on how to perform their work effectively so that their efforts don’t get wasted.

 Creating confidence: A leader acknowledges the efforts of the employees, explains to them their role clearly
and guides them to achieve their goals. He also resolves the complaints and problems of the employees,
thereby building confidence in them regarding the organization.

 Building work environment: A good leader should maintain personal contacts with the employees and
should hear their problems and solve them. He always listens to the point of view of the employees and in
case of disagreement persuades them to agree with him by giving suitable clarifications. In case of conflicts,
he handles them carefully and does not allow it to adversely affect the entity. A positive and efficient
work environment helps in stable growth of the organization.

 Co-ordination: A leader reconciles the personal interests of the employees with the organizational goals and
achieves co-ordination in the entity.

 Creating Successors: A leader trains his subordinates in such a manner that they can succeed him in future
easily in his absence. He creates more leaders.

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  Induces change: A leader persuades, clarifies and inspires employees to accept any change in the
organization without much resistance and discontentment. He makes sure that employees don’t feel insecure
about the changes.
Often, the success of an organization is attributed to its leaders. But, one must not forget that it’s the followers who
make a leader successful by accepting his leadership. Thus, leaders and followers collectively play a key role to
make leadership successful.

Qualities of a Leader

 Personality: A pleasing personality always attracts people. A leader should also friendly and yet
authoritative so that he inspires people to work hard like him.

 Knowledge: A subordinate looks up to his leader for any suggestion that he needs. A good leader should
thus possess adequate knowledge and competence in order to influence the subordinates.

 Integrity: A leader needs to possess a high level of integrity and honesty. He should have a fair outlook and
should base his judgment on the facts and logic. He should be objective and not biased.

 Initiative: A good leader takes initiative to grab the opportunities and not wait for them and use them to the
advantage of the organization.

 Communication skills: A leader needs to be a good communicator so that he can explain his ideas,
policies, and procedures clearly to the people. He not only needs to be a good speaker but also a good
listener, counsellor, and persuader.

 Motivation skills: A leader needs to be an effective motivator who understands the needs of the people and
motivates them by satisfying those needs.

 Self-confidence and Will Power: A leader needs to have a high level of self-confidence and immense will-
power and should not lose it even in the worst situations, else employees will not believe in him.

 Intelligence: A leader needs to be intelligent enough to analyze the pros and cons of a situation and take a
decision accordingly. He also needs to have a vision and fore-sightedness so that he can predict the future
impact of the decisions taken by him.

 Decisiveness: A leader has to be decisive in managing his work and should be firm on the decisions are
taken by him.

 Social skills: A leader should possess empathy towards others. He should also be a humanist who also helps
the people with their personal problems. He also needs to possess a sense of responsibility and
accountability because with great authority comes great responsibility.
https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-studies/directing/leadership/

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COMMUNICATION
Introduction-
Communication is an essential business skill that encompasses reading, listening, speaking and writing.
Administrative communications involve writing business correspondence such as memos, notices, reports and
letters, speaking in meetings and presentations and listening to all levels of employees, co-workers and
superiors to be productive and effective in your position. The quality of communications influences business in
many areas, including working relationships, sales effectiveness and perceptions of leadership.

Communication Goals in Business

The four basic goals of business communications are receiver understanding, receiver response, a favorable
relationship and organizational goodwill. Messages must be clear so the receiver understands what the sender is
communicating and is prompted to respond appropriately. Senders have a responsibility to build favorable
relationships and goodwill for their companies through positive professional communications.
Patterns of Business Communications
There are various patterns of business communications that reflect their structure and purpose. For example,
internal communications flow upward, downward or horizontally between senders and receivers. Examples of
communications that flow upward are reports and proposals. Communications that flow downward are policies
and directives. Horizontal communications flow between work groups or individuals who need to share
information or efforts. Other patterns in administrative business communications are formal and informal and
written and verbal.