Masters program

Organizational behavior & Development

Lecture 6
Motivation Concepts

by Dawit H. (Assistant professor)

After this lecture you should be able to :
Describe the three key elements of motivation.
Compare the early theories of motivation.
Understand the differences among goal-setting
theory, self-efficacy theory, reinforcement theory, and
expectancy theory.
Describe the forms of organizational justice,
including distributive justice, procedural justice, and
interactional justice.
What is Motivation?

 Motivation is a powerful force: It can drive employees

through encouragement and reward to accomplish
challenging goals. It can also drive employees to cheat
when they experience injustice or are threatened by
unattainable goals.
 As a manager, navigating and attempting to predict these
forces becomes a challenge, but knowing more about
different theories of motivation can help increase an
understanding of how motivation may operate and how
employees become motivated.

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Cont.

 In one survey, 69 percent of workers reported wasting

time at work every day, and nearly a quarter said they
waste between 30 and 60 minutes each day. How?
Usually by surfing the Internet and chatting with
coworkers.
 The same young student who struggles to read a
textbook for more than 20 minutes may devour a Harry
Potter book in a day. The difference is the situation. As
Persistence
we analyze the concept of motivation, keep in mind that
the level of motivation varies both between individuals
and within individuals at different times.

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Cont.

Motivation
The processes that account for an individual’s intensity,
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a
goal. While general motivation is concerned with effort
toward any goal, we’ll narrow the focus to
organizational goals.
Key Elements
Intensity: how hard a person tries
Direction: toward beneficial goal
Persistence: how long a person tries

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Cont.

Exhibit 7-1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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Hierarchy of Needs Theory

1. Physiological: Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, &

other bodily needs.
2. Safety-security: Security and protection from physical
and emotional harm.
3. Social-belongingness: Affection, belongingness,
acceptance, and friendship.
4. Esteem: Factors such as self-respect, autonomy, status,
recognition, and attention.
5. Self-actualization: Drive to become what we are capable
of becoming; includes growth, achieving our potential, &
self-fulfillment.

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Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Bottom-Line: Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction are not

Opposite Ends of the Same Thing!
Hygiene Factors --- Motivation Factors--
Extrinsic & Related to Intrinsic & Related to
Dissatisfaction Satisfaction

Hygiene Factors: Motivators:

Salary Achievement
Work Conditions Responsibility
Company Policies Growth

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Contrasting View of Satisfaction & Dissatisfaction

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Review question 1

1. According to Maslow, when does a need stop motivating?

A. It never stops motivating
B. When it is substantially satisfied
C. When one returns to a lower level need
D. When one chooses to move to a higher level need
E. Only when it is completely satisfied

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Contemporary Theories of Motivation

Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)

It is a theory stating that specific and difficult goals,
with self-generated feedback, lead to higher
performance.

But, the relationship between goals and performance

will depend on
1.Goal commitment -- “I want to do it & I can do it”
2.Task characteristics (simple, well-learned)
3.National culture

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Cont.

1. Goal Commitment: Goal-setting theory assumes an

individual is committed to the goal and determined not
to lower or abandon it.
 The individual believes he or she can achieve the goal
and wants to achieve it.
Goal commitment is most likely to occur when employees
expect that their efforts will pay off in goal attainment,
when people of higher status are watching & aware of
the goal, when accomplishing the goal is attractive to
them, & when they actively participate in goal setting.

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Cont.

2. Task Characteristics: Goals themselves seem to

affect performance more strongly when tasks are
simple rather than complex, and when the tasks are
independent rather than interdependent.
On interdependent tasks, group goals along with
delegation of tasks are preferable.
Paradoxically, goal abandonment following an initial
failure is more likely for individuals who self affirm
their core values, possibly because they internalize
the implications of failure more strongly than others
do.
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Cont.

3. National Culture: Setting specific, difficult,

individual goals may have different effects in
different cultures.
 In collectivistic & high power-distance cultures,
achievable moderate goals can be more motivating
than difficult ones.
 Assigned goals appear to generate greater goal
commitment in high than in low power-distance
cultures.

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Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy theory refers to an individual’s belief that he or

she is capable of performing a task.
The higher your self-efficacy, the more confidence you have
in your ability to succeed.
So, in difficult situations, people with low self-efficacy are
more likely to lessen their effort or give up altogether, while
those with high self-efficacy will try harder to master the
challenge. Self-efficacy can create a positive spiral in which
those with high efficacy become more engaged in their tasks
and then in turn increase performance, which increases
efficacy further.

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Four Ways of Increasing Self Efficacy

1.Enactive Mastery - If you’ve been able to do the job

successfully in the past, you’re more confident that
you can do it in the future.
2.Vicarious Modeling - becoming more confident
because you see someone else doing the task.
3.Verbal Persuasion - We become more confident
when someone convinces us we have the skills
necessary to be successful.
4.Arousal - Arousal leads to an energized state, so we
get “psyched up,” feel up to the task, & perform
better.
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Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory argues that behavior is a

function of its consequences.
It ignores the inner state of the individual and
concentrates solely on what happens when he or she
takes some action.
Assumptions:
Behavior is environmentally caused.
Behavior can be modified (reinforced) by providing
(controlling) consequences.
Reinforced behavior tends to be repeated.

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Equity Theory/organizational justice

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

Fig. 7.2 Models of organizational justice

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Cont.
Fig. 7.3 Equity Theory

Based on the this equity theory, employees who perceive

inequity will make one of the following six choices

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Cont.

1. Change inputs (exert less effort if underpaid or more if overpaid).

2. Change outcomes (individuals paid on a piece-rate basis can
increase their pay by producing a higher quantity of units of
lower quality).
3. Distort perceptions of self (“I used to think I worked at a
moderate pace, but now I realize I work a lot harder than
everyone else”).
4. Distort perceptions of others (“Mike’s job isn’t as desirable as I
thought”).
5. Choose a different referent (“I may not make as much as my
brother-in law, but I’m doing a lot better than my Dad did when
he was my age”).
6. Leave the field (quit the job).

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Expectancy Theory

Ethical Values and

Behaviors of Leaders

Bottom line
 All three links between the boxes must be satisfied. Thus,
 Individuals must feel that if they try, they can perform.
 If they perform, they will be rewarded.
 When they are rewarded, the reward will be something they
care about

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Cont.

The theory therefore focuses on three relationships

1. Expectancy: The effort–performance relationship. The
probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given
amount of effort will lead to performance.
2. Instrumentality: The performance–reward relationship. The
degree to which the individual believes performing at a
particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired
outcome.
3. Valence: The rewards–personal goals relationship. The
degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an
individual’s personal goals.

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Summary
Motivation describes the processes (e.g., intensity, direction, and
persistence) underlying how employees & other individuals in the
workplace direct their efforts toward a goal. Many early foundational
theories of motivation focused on the needs that employees have along
with the consequences of need satisfaction. More contemporary
theories focus on topics such as intrinsic & extrinsic motivation; setting
goals in organizations; self-efficacy; reinforcement; & our expectations
regarding effort, performance, reward, & outcome relationships.
Beyond these theories, various forms of organizational justice (e.g.,
distributive, procedural, & interactional), are important in motivating
employees. Overall, motivation underlies how & why employees exert
effort to engage in performance activities, which in turn meet personal
or organizational goals.

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Implications for Managers

Either set or inspire your employees to set specific, difficult

goals & provide quality, developmental feedback on their
progress toward those goals.
Try to align or tie employee goals to the goals of your
organization.
Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of
performance variables such as employee productivity,
absenteeism, and turnover.
When making decisions regarding resources in your
organization, make sure to consider how the resources are
being distributed, the fairness of the decision, & whether your
actions demonstrate that you respect those involved.

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Case 6

Peter Ronald is vice president of manufacturing and

operations of a medium-size pharmaceutical firm in the
Midwest. Peter has a Ph.D. in chemistry but has not
been directly involved in research and new-product
development for 20 years. From the “school of hard
knocks” when it comes to managing operations, Pat
runs a “tight ship.” The company does not have a
turnover problem, but it is obvious to Pat and other key
management personnel that the hourly people are
putting in only their eight hours a day.

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Cont.

They are not working anywhere near their full potential.

Peter is very upset with the situation because, with
rising costs, the only way that the company can
continue to prosper is to increase the productivity of its
hourly people.
Peter called the human resources manager, Chris
Lopez, and laid it on the line: “What is it with our
people, anyway? Your wage surveys show that we pay
near the top in this region, our conditions are
tremendous, and our fringes choke a horse.

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Cont.

Yet these people still are not motivated. What in the world do
they want?” Chris replied: “I have told you and the president
time after time that money, conditions, and benefits are not
enough. Employees also need other things to motivate them.
Also, I have been conducting some random confidential
interviews with some of our hourly people, and they tell me
that they are very discouraged because, no matter how hard
they work, they get the same pay and opportunities for
advancement as their coworkers who are just scraping by.”
Peter then replied: “Okay, you are the motivation expert; what
do we do about it? We have to increase their performance.”

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Cont.

1. Explain the “motivation problem” in this

organization in terms of the content models of
Maslow and Herzberg. What are the “other things”
that the human resources manager is referring to in
speaking of things besides money, conditions, and
fringe benefits that are needed to motivate
employees?
2. How would you respond to Peter’s last question and
statement if you were the human resources manager
in this company?

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End of Lecture 6

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