Chapter 6

Basic Motivation
Concepts

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS PowerPoint Presentation
All rights reserved. by Charlie Cook
 Defining Motivation

Motivation
The processes that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward attaining a goal.

Key Elements
1. Intensity: how hard a person tries
2. Direction: toward beneficial goal
3. Persistence: how long a person tries

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–2

 Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Maslow)

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

There is a hierarchy of five needs—physiological,
safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization; as
each need is substantially satisfied, the next need
becomes dominant.

Self-Actualization
The drive to become what one is capable of becoming.

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 Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)

Theory X
Assumes that employees dislike work, lack ambition, avoid
responsibility, and must be directed and coerced to perform.

Theory Y
Assumes that employees like work, seek responsibility, are
capable of making decisions, and exercise self-direction and
self-control when committed to a goal.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–4

 Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)

Two-Factor (Motivation-Hygiene) Theory

Intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while
extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction.

Hygiene Factors
Factors—such as company policy and administration,
supervision, and salary—that, when adequate in a
job, placate workers. When factors are adequate,
people will not be dissatisfied.

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Motivation – Hygiene Theory

Factors of Satisfaction Factors of Dissatisfaction

 Achievement  Company Policies
 Recognition  Supervision
 The work itself  Relationships with
 Responsibility supervisor and peers
 Advancement  Work conditions
 Growth  Salary
 Status

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Eliminate Job Create conditions for job
Dissatisfaction satisfaction
 Fix poor company  Provide opportunities
policies for achievement
 Provide effective and  Recognizing people’s
supportive supervision. contribution
 Create and support a  Creating work that is
culture of respect and rewarding and matches
dignity with people’s skills
 Ensure that wages are  Giving responsibility
competitive.  Providing opportunities
 Build job status, for promotion
meaningful work  Offer trainings
 Provide job security
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–7
 ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer)

ERG Theory
There are three groups of core needs: existence,
relatedness, and growth.

Core Needs Concepts:

Existence: provision of More than one need can
basic material be operative at the same
requirements. time.
Relatedness: desire for If a higher-level need
relationships. cannot be fulfilled, the
Growth: desire for desire to satisfy a lower-
personal development. level need increases.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–8

 David McClelland’s Theory of Needs

Need for Achievement Need for Affiliation

The drive to excel, to achieve The desire for friendly
in relation to a set of and close personal
standards, to strive to relationships.
succeed.

Need for Power nPow

The need to make others
behave in a way that they
would not have behaved
otherwise.
nAch nAff

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 Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Providing an extrinsic reward for behavior that
had been previously only intrinsically rewarding
tends to decrease the overall level of motivation.
The theory may only be relevant to jobs that are
neither extremely dull nor extremely interesting.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–10

 Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)

Goal-Setting Theory
The theory that specific and difficult goals, with
feedback, lead to higher performance.

Factors influencing the goals–performance

relationship:
Goal commitment, adequate self-efficacy, task
characteristics, and national culture.

Self-Efficacy
The individual’s belief that he or she is capable of
performing a task.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–11
 Reinforcement Theory

The assumption that behavior is a function of its

consequences.

Concepts:
Behavior is environmentally caused.
Behavior can be modified (reinforced) by
providing (controlling) consequences.
Reinforced behavior tends to be repeated.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–12

 Job Design Theory

Job Characteristics
Model
Characteristics:
Identifies five job 1. Skill variety
characteristics and their
2. Task identity
relationship to personal
and work outcomes. 3. Task significance
4. Autonomy
5. Feedback

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–13

 Job Design Theory (cont’d)
 Job Characteristics Model
– Jobs with skill variety, task identity, task significance,
autonomy, and for which feedback of results is given,
directly affect three psychological states of employees:
• Knowledge of results
• Meaningfulness of work
• Personal feelings of responsibility for results
– Increases in these psychological states result in
increased motivation, performance, and job
satisfaction.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–14

 Job Design Theory (cont’d)

Autonomy
The degree to which the job provides substantial
freedom and discretion to the individual in
scheduling the work and in determining the
procedures to be used in carrying it out.

Feedback
The degree to which carrying out the work activities
required by a job results in the individual obtaining
direct and clear information about the effectiveness
of his or her performance.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–15

 Job Design Theory (cont’d)

Skill Variety
The degree to which a job requires a variety of
different activities.

Task Identity
The degree to which the job requires completion of
a whole and identifiable piece of work.

Task Significance
The degree to which the job has a substantial
impact on the lives or work of other people.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–16
 Exhibit 4-12 – Examples of High and Low Job
Characteristics
Skill Variety
High variety – The owner-operator of a garage who does electrical repair, rebuilds engines, does body
work, and interacts with customers
Low variety – A body shop worker who sprays paint eight hours a day

Task Identity
High identity – A cabinet maker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the object,
and finishes it to perfection
Low identity – A worker in a furniture factory who operates a lathe solely to make table legs

Task Significance
High significance – Nursing the sick in a hospital intensive care unit
Low significance – Sweeping hospital floors

Autonomy
High autonomy – A telephone installer who schedules his or her own work for the day, makes visits
without supervision, and decides on the most effective techniques for a particular installation
Low autonomy – A telephone operator who must handle calls as they come according to a routine,
highly specified procedure

Feedback
High feedback – An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then tests it to determine if it
operates properly
Low feedback – An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then routes it to a quality
control inspector who tests it for proper operation and makes needed adjustments

Source: G. Johns, Organizational Behavior: Understanding and Managing Life at Work, 4th ed. Copyright © 1997. Adapted by permission of Pearson
Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-17
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
 Computing a Motivating Potential Score

People who work on jobs with high core dimensions are

generally more motivated, satisfied, and productive.
Job dimensions operate through the psychological states in
influencing personal and work outcome variables rather
than influencing them directly.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–18

 Job Design Theory (cont’d)

Social Information Processing (SIP) Model

The fact that people respond to their jobs as they
perceive them rather than to the objective jobs
themselves.

Concept:
Employee attitudes and behaviors are
responses to social cues by others.

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 Social Information Processing Model (SIP)

 Concepts of the SIP Model

– Employees adopt attitudes and behaviors in response
to the social cues provided by others (e.g., coworkers)
with whom they have contact.
– Employees’ perception of the characteristics of their
jobs is as important as the actual characteristics of
their jobs.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–20

 Equity Theory

Equity Theory
Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes
with those of others and then respond to eliminate
any inequities.

Referent
Comparisons:
Self-inside
Self-outside
Other-inside
Other-outside

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 Equity Theory (cont’d)

Choices for dealing with inequity:

1. Change inputs (slack off)
2. Change outcomes (increase output)
3. Distort/change perceptions of self
4. Distort/change perceptions of others
5. Choose a different referent person
6. Leave the field (quit the job)

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–22

 Equity Theory (cont’d)

Propositions relating to inequitable pay:

1. Overrewarded hourly employees produce
more than equitably rewarded employees.
2. Overrewarded piece-work employees
produce less, but do higher quality piece
work.
3. Underrewarded hourly employees produce
lower quality work.
4. Underrewarded employees produce larger
quantities of lower-quality piece work than
equitably rewarded employees

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–23

 Equity Theory (cont’d)

Distributive Justice
Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of
rewards among individuals.

Procedural Justice
The perceived fairness of the process to determine
the distribution of rewards.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–24

 Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom)

The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way
depends on the strength of an expectation that the
act will be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–25

 Expectancy Theory Relationships

 Effort–Performance Relationship
– The probability that exerting a given amount of effort
will lead to performance.
 Performance–Reward Relationship
– The belief that performing at a particular level will lead
to the attainment of a desired outcome.
 Rewards–Personal Goals Relationship
– The degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an
individual’s goals or needs and the attractiveness of
potential rewards for the individual.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 6–26

 Exhibit 4-5 How Does Expectancy Theory
Work?

My professor offers me $1 million if I memorize the textbook by tomorrow morning.

Expectancy Instrumentality Valence

Effort Performance Link Performance Rewards Link Rewards Personal Goals

Link
No matter how much effort My professor does not look There are a lot of wonderful things
I put in, probably not possible like someone who has $1 million I could do with $1 million
to memorize the text in 24
hours
E=0 I=0 V=1

Conclusion: Though I value the reward, I will not be motivated to do this task.

Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of

Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-27
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
 Exhibit 4-6
Steps to Increasing Motivation, Using
Expectancy Theory

Improving Expectancy Improving Instrumentality Improving Valence

Improve the ability of the Increase the individual

’s belief that
individual to perform performance will lead to reward
•Make sure employees have skills •Observe and recognize performance
for the task •Deliver rewards as promised
• Provide training •Indicate to employees how previous
•Assign reasonable tasks and goals good performance led to greater
rewards
Make sure that the reward is
meaningful to the individual
•Ask employees what rewards they
value
•Give rewards that are valued

Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of

Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-28
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
 Putting It All Together
 What we know about motivating employees in organizations:
– Recognize individual differences.
– Employees have different needs.
– Don’t treat them all alike.
– Spend the time necessary to understand what’s important to each
employee.
– Use goals and feedback.
– Allow employees to participate in decisions that affect them.
– Link rewards to performance.
– Check the system for equity.

Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of

Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-29
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
 Exercise on Motivation Theories

 Jesse has been underperforming at work, coming

in late, and causing some problems with the other
workers. Previously, Jesse had been one of your
star employees. Using any 2 theories, your group
should explain what steps you might take to
motivate Jesse to perform better.

– Describe the plan to motivate Jesse.

– You may make assumptions about the cause of Jesse’s
behavior at work.

Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of

Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-30
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
 Theories to Apply
 Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene (Two-Factor) Theory
 Expectancy
 Goal-Setting Theory
 Equity
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Expectancy Theory

Chapter 4, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of

Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition
4-31
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada