Essentials of Organizational Behavior

Fourteenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 5
Basic Motivation

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After studying this chapter you should be
able to:
1. Describe the three key elements of motivation.
2. Compare the early theories of motivation.
3. Contrast the elements of self-determination theory and
goal-setting theory.
4. Demonstrate the differences between self-efficacy theory,
reinforcement theory, equity theory, and expectancy
theory.
5. Identify the implications of employee job engagement for
managers.
6. Describe how the contemporary theories of motivation
complement one another.

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What Is Motivation?
• Motivation: The processes that account for an
individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of
effort toward attaining an organizational goal
– Intensity: the amount of effort put forth to meet the goal
– Direction: efforts are channeled toward organizational
goals
– Persistence: how long the effort is maintained

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Early Theories of Motivation
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
• Herzberg’s Two-Factor (Motivation-Hygiene)
Theory
• McClellan’s Theory of Needs (Three Needs
Theory)

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Hierarchy of Needs Theory (1 of 2)

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Two-Factor Theory
Not Dissatisfied Satisfied

Quality of
•• Quality of Promotional
•• Promotional

Motivation
Motivation Factors
supervision opportunities
Factors

supervision opportunities
Hygiene Factors

Pay
•• Pay Opportunities for
•• Opportunities for
Company policies
•• Company policies personal growth
growth
personal
Physical working
•• Physical working
Hygiene

Recognition
•• Recognition
conditions
conditions

Factors
Relationships
•• Relationships Responsibility
•• Responsibility
Job security
•• Job security Achievement
•• Achievement

Dissatisfied Not Satisfied

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Hierarchy of Needs Theory (2 of 2)

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McClelland's Theory of Needs
• Need for Achievement (nAch)
– The drive to excel
• Need for Power (nPow)
– The need to make others behave in a way they would
not have behaved otherwise
• Need for Affiliation (nAff)
– The desire for friendly and close interpersonal
relationships

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McClelland's High Achievers
• High achievers prefer jobs with:
– Personal responsibility
– Feedback
– Intermediate degree of risk (50/50)
• High achievers are not necessarily good
managers
• High nPow and low nAff is
related to managerial success

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Contemporary Theories of Motivation
• Self-Determination Theory
• Goal-Setting Theory
– Management by Objectives

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Self-Determination Theory
• Self-determination theory: People prefer to have
control over their actions so when they feel they
are forced to do something they previously
enjoyed, motivation will decrease
– Cognitive evaluation theory: Proposes that the
introduction of extrinsic rewards for work (pay) that was
previously intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease
overall motivation
– Self-concordance: Considers how strongly people’s
reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their
interests and core values
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Goal-Setting Theory
• Goals increase performance when goals are:
– Specific
– Difficult, but accepted by employees
– Accompanied by feedback: self-generated feedback is
best
• Contingencies in goal-setting theory
– Goal commitment: public goals better
– Task characteristics: simple and familiar is better
– National culture: Western culture suits best

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Management by Objectives
• Management by objectives (MBO): Converts
overall organizational objectives into specific
objectives for work units and individuals
• Common ingredients:
– Goal specificity
– Explicit time period
– Performance feedback
– Participation in decision making

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Cascading of Objectives

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Other Contemporary Theories of
Motivation
• Self-Efficacy Theory
• Reinforcement Theory
• Equity Theory
– Organizational Justice
• Expectancy Theory

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Self-Efficacy Theory (1 of 2)
• Self-efficacy theory: An individual’s belief that he
or she is capable of performing a task
– Also known as social cognitive theory or social learning
theory
• Self-efficacy increased by:
1. Enactive mastery: gain experience
2. Vicarious modeling: see someone else do the task
3. Verbal persuasion: someone convinces you that you
have the skills
4. Arousal: get energized

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Self-Efficacy Theory (2 of 2)

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Reinforcement Theory
• Reinforcement theory: Behavior is a function of
consequences
– Operant conditioning theory
 Behaviorism
– Social- learning theory and reinforcement

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Equity Theory (1 of 2)
• Equity theory: Employees weigh what they put
into a job situation (input) against what they get
from it (outcome)
– They compare their input-outcome ratio with the input-
outcome ratio of relevant others

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Equity Theory (2 of 2)
• Equity theory suggests employees who perceive
inequity will make one of six choices:
1. Change inputs
2. Change outcomes
3. Distort perceptions of self
4. Distort perceptions of others
5. Choose a different referent
6. Leave the field

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Model of Organizational Justice

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Expectancy Theory (1 of 2)
• Three key relationships:
1. Effort-performance: perceived probability that
exerting effort leads to successful performance
2. Performance-reward: the belief that successful
performance leads to desired outcome
3. Rewards-personal goals: the attractiveness of
organizational outcome (reward) to the individual

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Expectancy Theory (2 of 2)

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Job Engagement
• Job Engagement: The investment of an
employee’s physical, cognitive, and emotional
energies into job performance
• Organizations where employees are highly
engaged have:
– Higher levels of productivity
– Fewer safety incidents
– Lower turnover

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Integrating Theories

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Implications for Managers
• Make sure extrinsic rewards for employees are not viewed as
coercive, but instead provide information about competence and
relatedness.
• Consider goal-setting theory. Clear and difficult goals often lead
to higher levels of employee productivity.
• Consider reinforcement theory regarding quality and quantity of
work, persistence of effort, absenteeism, and accident rates.
• Consult equity theory to help understand productivity,
satisfaction, absence, and turnover variables.
• Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance
variables such as employee productivity, absenteeism, and
turnover.

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