What is meant by Motivation in Principles and Practices of Management ?

 

What is motivation? 

Meaning- Motivation is an important element that motivates people to offer their best effort and help in achieving of organizational objectives. Employees with high motivation will be able to produce more, while those with low motivation will perform worse.

Definition-

According to W.G. Scott, “Motivation means stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals.”

1. Maslow's Theory of Motivation-

Maslow's hierarchy was frequently shown as a pyramid. The basic needs are found at the bottom of the pyramid.

(i)                 Physiological Needs- Air, food, shelter, and clothing are biological needs for human survival. The human body cannot function correctly if these needs are not fulfilled. These are the most important needs, according to Maslow, because they are the most basic need for survival.

(ii)               Safety Needs- Safety needs are at the second level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  Motivation comes from the need of law, order and protection from unpredictable and dangerous condition. People want order and control in their life. Financial security, police, and health security are some of the safety requirements.

(iii)             Social Needs- Maslow's hierarchy of social needs includes things like love, acceptance, and belonging. Human behavior is derived from the need for emotional relationships. Friendship, family, social groups, and community are some of the needs.

(iv)              Esteem Needs- Maslow's hierarchy of needs places esteem needs at the fourth level. A person's need for recognition, status, and respect is tied to their need for self-esteem.

(v)                Self-actualization needs- Self-actualization needs are the fifth and final level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It has to do with a person's full potential being achieved. At this level, people try to be the greatest they can possibly be.

Assumptions-      

 Human behavior is influenced by their needs.       

 People have various needs, and those needs are arranged in a hierarchy.   

People only move on to the next need after the first has been met.

           Criticism-     

            The hierarchy by Maslow does not remain permanent.   

            Between needs and behavior, there is no cause-and-effect relationship.

            Only one category's needs can be strong at a time while remaining unimportant.

1.         2. Herzberg’s Motivation- Hygiene Theory- 

T    This theory is improvement of Maslow’s theory. This is based on an empirical study conducted on around 200 accountant and engineers working in organizations in USA. Fredrick Herzberg, a prof. of psychology in Western Reserve University in USA proposed two factor theory in 1959.

(i)                  Hygiene factor                                    (ii) Motivation factor  

       (A)  Maintenance of Hygiene Factors- Maintenance factors are those whose presence does not motivate the employees to work with greater enthusiasm but their absence does discourage them. These factors are as follows-

(a)    Company’s policy and administration.

(b)   Technical inspection.

(c)    Mutual personal relation with inspector.

(d)   Mutual relation with other team members.

(e)   Salary

(f)     Personal life

(g)    Status

(h)   Working Conditions

(i)      Security of employment

(j)      Environment

These factors are necessary to maintain reasonable level of satisfaction in employees.

    (B)   Motivational Factors- These factors directly inspire the employees to work. These factors are-

(a)    Achievement

(b)   Recognition

(c)    Advancement

(d)   Job itself

(e)   Opportunities for growth

(f)     Responsibility

1.     3. Carrot and Stick Approach theory- 

      Carrot and Stick motivation is a motivational approach that involves offering a “carrot” i.e., a reward for good behavior and a “stick” (a negative consequence for poor behavior. It motivates staff by creating actionable goals and desired rewards for employees who can alter their behavior and performance. It is a simple and effective form of feedback for employees.

      4.  McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y- 

    In 1960, McGregor developed Theory X and Y, which suggested two aspects of human behavior at work, or, in other words, two different views of individuals: one negative, called Theory X, and the other positive, called Theory Y.  According to McGregor, the perception of managers on the nature of individuals is based on various assumptions.

Theory X

(i)                  Employee does not like work and tries to escape it whenever possible.

(ii)               Employees generally dislike responsibility.

(iii)             Employees does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled or warned with punishment so as to achieve organizational goals.

(iv)              Employees resist change and they need formal direction.

Theory Y-

(i)                  Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal. They exercise their physical and mental efforts in an inherit manner in their jobs.

(ii)                Employees may not require threat, coercion to work, but they can use self-direction and self-control.

(iii)              Employees can learn to accept and to seek responsibility.

(iv)              Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.   

     5.  Vroom’s Expectancy Theory- 

      People use the Vroom discussion to determine how much effort they will put into their employment. Man, being a rational human being, will try to increase the perceived value of such benefits. These employees are motivated to achieve a specific objective based on their personal preferences. In Vroom's model, there are three variables.

Motivation= Valence × Expectancy × Instrumentality

(i)                 Valence- Valence refers to the emotional orientations people hold with respect to outcomes.  The level of an employee's desire for extrinsic or intrinsic incentives. Employees' values must be discovered by management.

(ii)               Expectancy- Employees have different expectations and levels of confidence about their abilities. Employees require certain resources, training, and supervision, which management must decide.

(iii)             Instrumentality- The perception of employees as to whether they will actually get what they desire even if it has been promised by a manager. Management must ensure that promises of rewards are fulfilled and employees are aware of that.

According to Vroom, an employee's expectations, instrumentality, and valence beliefs mix psychologically to generate a motivating factor that causes the employee to perform in ways that bring pleasure while avoiding pain.

1.     6. Porter and Lawler model of motivation

The Porter and Lawler model of motivation is a more complete model. This concept has also been put to use in their research on managers. This is a multi-variate model that describes the connection between job attitudes and job performance.

            Assumptions-

(i)              It's a model with multiple variables. Individual behavior is influenced by a variety of elements both within and outside of the individual.

(ii)               Human beings are thought to be rational beings.

(iii)            Individuals have different wants, desires, and objectives.

(iv)              Individuals choose between various behaviors based on expectations, and this choice will result in the intended outcome.

Elements-

(i)                 Effort- Effort refers to the amount of energy which a person exerts on a job.

(ii)               Value of Reward- People first try to determine whether the rewards they are going to gain from accomplishing a job are attractive to them, and then they will put out more effort to complete the job.

(iii)             Perceived effort reward probability- People will try to maximize the probability of a specific amount of effort leading to a desired level of performance and the chance of that performance leading to certain kinds of rewards before they put out any effort.

(iv)              Performance- The desired level of performance will be determined by the amount of effort put forward. Two factors play a role in this:

(a) Ability

(b) Role Perception  

Ability includes the ability to perform a task in terms of knowledge, skills, and intelligence.

Role perception- What you think about your job in the company. It is perceived differently by different people.

(v)                Rewards- Certain results in the form of two types of incentives are the result of good performance.

            Extrinsic Rewards External benefits, such as money, recognition, or acclaim, are offered by people in the organization.

Intrinsic Rewards are inner feelings of job self esteem and sense of competence that individual feel when they do a good job.

(vi)              Satisfaction- At the end of the process, a person will compare his actual rewards to his perceived rewards. The individual will be content if the actual rewards meet or surpass the perceived equitable rewards, and unhappy if the actual rewards are fewer than the equitable rewards.

      7.  Ouchi’s Theory Z of Motivation-

      After conducting a comparative examination of Japanese and American management techniques, William Ouchi produced Theory Z. Theory Z is a motivational model that is integrated. Theory Z is a modern management approach that combines elements of the United States and Japan.

Features of Theory Z-

        (i) Mutual Trust- An effective organization requires a high level of trust. When there is trust in an organization, conflict is reduced to a minimum, and employees work together to achieve the organization's goals.

       (ii) Strong bond between Organization & Employees- A close link between employees and the organization, according to theory Z. Employees' career choices must be clearly defined so that they are aware of what they can achieve and how they can advance within an organization.

       (iii) Involvement of employees- Employee participation does not imply that they should be involved in all organizational decisions. All decisions that have an impact on employees. All decisions that affect employees must go through a participatory process in which employees and management sit down together, exchange ideas, and make decisions together.

     Conclusion-

           So, from above, we conclude that different scholars have their own different motivation theories. So, it is very difficult to choose a theory which is universally accepted.