Motivation Theories
Motivation Theories
Motivation Theories
1, JanuaryJune, 2014
Introduction
In this era of globalization and liberalization, employees are becoming the competitive advantage
for business. A business may manage with mediocre employees but competent employees can
propel an average business to greater heights. Likewise, bad employees can cause flourishing
business empires to collapse. In a tight labor market, keeping good employees and developing
employee loyalty becomes increasingly important and a continuing challenge. Now-a-days it is
quite challenging to get the right people for the job is very hard.
With the tight labor market, employers therefore need a strategy to retain their key experts and
crucial skilled workers. As prospective employers continuously bid for top performers,
management strategies must therefore give due consideration and sufficient resource allocation to
keep employees motivated and satisfied. The idea is that the satisfied employee is less likely to
pursue greener pastures. Thus, implementing desirable human resource management policies will
have a positive effect on employee loyalty. (Wan, 2009)
Lecturer, Dept. of Humanities & Social Sciences, Dhaka University of Eng. & Tech., Bangladesh
Graduate Student of MBA, Institute of Business Administration, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
***
Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, ASA University Bangladesh
**
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Methodology
The study is done based on secondary information. Here we use different theoretical references
most of them are from secondary data sources. We try to use information from diverse origins
such as journals, literature reviews and electronic media. This study is descriptive and
qualitative in nature.
Theories on Motivation
Motivation is a way of creating high level of enthusiasm to reach organizational goals, and this
situation is accommodated by satisfying some individual need. Basically, motivation refers to
achieving organizational main goals by satisfying individual employees needs or demands.
According to Pinder (1998 in Ambrose & Kulik, 1999) work motivation may be regarded as a set
of internal and external forces that initiate work-related behavior, and determine its form,
direction, intensity and duration. The concept relates to the work context specifically, and
includes the influence on work behavior of both environmental forces, and those inherent in the
person. In the workplace, work motivation presents as an invisible, personal and hypothetical
construct that manifests itself in the form of observable, and therefore measurable, behaviors.
Improving productivity is one big challenge that engages the attention of employers, whether
private or public by devising appropriate mechanism for motivating their workers. The
seriousness of this challenge can be understood from the managements perception of the strong
functional correlation between employee motivation and organizational productivity. For years,
employers of labor have been experimenting with different strategies in an attempt to relate
effectively, the motivation of workers to their work contribution.
Ouchi, W. G. (1987) has explained the importance of motivation as related to productivity. He
explored the reasons why Japans national productivity is soaring. He went further to say that the
secret of the Japanese success is the great concern Japanese managers show for the well-being
and development of workers. The fact that motivation is the most important factor for
productivity and quality is not a new discovery. It has been pointed out for the first time by the
studies conducted by Elton Mayo around 1930. Since then there have been several studies that
confirmed the same results in several industries including the software development one. (Ouchi,
1987)
Motivation is very important for the managers and officers to know and understand why people
behave differently at workplace and how to manipulate their behavior so that they exert their best
efforts to achieve organizational goals. It is the goal of managers at every stratum to have
employees motivated so that work can progress at desired rate, pace and time.
If employees feel that their inputs such as efforts, commitment, loyalty, trust, and enthusiasm to
the organization are fairly and adequately rewarded by outputs such as financial and non-financial
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benefits or incentives, they remain motivated and continue to provide inputs towards higher
productivity. Employees get de-motivated due to the perceived absence of such equity. (Ahmad,
Mukaddes, Rashed, & Samad, 2010)
We begin by looking at three early motivation theories: Maslows hierarchy of needs, Herzberg
Motivation/Hygiene theory and Victor Vrooms Expectancy theory. Although more valid
explanations of motivation have been developed, these early theories are important because they
represent the foundation from which contemporary motivation theories were developed and
because many practicing managers still use them.
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The core of this theory lies in the fact that when one need is fulfilled, its strength diminishes and
the strength of the next level increases. (Latham 2007, 31) Maslow does note that one level of
needs doesnt have to be totally fulfilled before a person moves to the next level. The individual
can be partly satisfied with one level and still seek for satisfaction at the next level. (Salanova &
Kirmanen, 2010)
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Hygiene Factors
Hygiene factors, or dissatisfiers, are those that the employee expects to be in good condition. As
motivators are those that at present cause satisfaction, hygiene factors are those that dont cause
satisfaction but if they are lacking, it causes job dissatisfaction. Salaries or wages must be
equivalent to those salaries that other people in the same industry or geographical area get. The
status of the person must be recognized and maintained. Employees must feel that their job is as
secured as it is possible in the current economical situation. The working conditions should be
clean, sufficiently lit and safe in other way. Sufficient amount of fringe benefits like health,
pension and child care must be provided and compensation in general equivalent to the amount of
work done. Policies and administrative practices such as flex hours, dress code, vacation
schedules and other scheduling affect workers and should be run efficiently. These factors relate
to the content of the work and if they are in proper form, it tends to eliminate job dissatisfaction.
(Ellis 2005, 83). The main finding of Herzberg is that the opposite of satisfaction is not
dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. (Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010)
Expectancy Theory
The concept of expectancy was originally formulated by Vroom and it stands for the probability
that action or effort will lead to an outcome. The concept of expectancy was defined in more
detail by Vroom as follows: Where an individual chooses between alternatives which involve
uncertain outcomes, it seems clear that his behavior is affected not only by his preferences among
these outcomes but also by the degree to which he believes these outcomes to be possible.
Expectancy is defined as momentary belief concerning the likelihood that a particular act will be
followed by a particular outcome. Expectancies may be described in terms of their strength.
Maximal strength is indicated by subjective certainty that the act will be followed by outcome,
while minimal strength is indicated by the subjective certainty that the act will not be followed by
the outcome. (Vroom, 1964)
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Motivation in this case is likely when a clearly perceived and usable relationship exists between
performance and outcome, and the outcome is seen as a means of satisfying needs. It suggests
that there are two factors determining the effort people put in their jobs. The first is the value of
the rewards to individuals, and the extent to which these rewards satisfy their needs for security,
social esteem, autonomy, and self-actualization. The second is the probability that the rewards
depend on the effort, as perceived by individuals, their expectations about relationship between
effort and reward. Thus, the greater the value of a set of the awards and the higher the probability
that receiving each of these rewards depends upon effort, the greater the effort will be in a given
situation. (Armstrong 2006, 259-260)
Fundamental to all the popular theories of motivation is the notion that employees are motivated
to perform better when offered something they want, something they believe will be satisfying.
However, offering the employees something they believe will be satisfying is necessary, but not
enough. They must believe that it is possible to achieve what they want. Employees are not
motivated to perform better when managers focus on the offering and ignore the believing.
Employees confidence that they will get what they want involves three separate and distinct
beliefs. The first belief is that they can perform well enough to get what is offered. The second is
that they will get it if they perform well. The third belief is that what is offered will be satisfying.
Each of these three beliefs deals with what employees think will happen if they put effort to
perform. The first belief deals with the relationship between effort and performance, the second
with the relationship between performance and outcomes, and the third with the relationship
between outcomes and satisfaction. All these beliefs are interrelated because an employee effort
leads to some level of performance, the performance leads to outcomes, and the outcomes lead to
some amount of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In conclusion, the Expectancy theory of
motivation requires the fulfillment of the following conditions: employees are motivated to
perform only when they believe that effort will lead to performance, performance will lead to
outcomes, and the outcomes will lead to satisfaction. (Green 1992, 1-4)
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Motivating employees is one of the important issues in every aspect of any organizational
environment. The overall performance of an organization surely depends on the motivated
workers of the company. That is why Human Resource Management is highly concentrating on
this matter. In any case of the motivational theory some common ground or procedure should be
followed that are we have to define or specify the performance or to what extent an employee
should show his or her performance. The specific performance should be assessed through a
mechanism and it should be defined earlier. After that there should be proper working
environment within the organization and adequate resources should be provided to the employees
to get the job done. Getting the right people in the right place and setting them in accordance is
also a challenge for any motivational theory. After that management should concentrate on the
reward system which should be fair, transparent and equal for the same level of employees. And
they should specify about the types of reward system they are going to use within the
organization. So these are the common aspects we can find out in any sorts of motivational
system or methods.
Conclusion
In the end we can say that motivation is the mechanism which ultimately influences people or
employees to behave in certain ways. And in any kind of organization whether it is charitable or
service oriented or manufacturing organization always management has to concern about
motivational issue, along with environmental or ability factors, that determines the individual
performance. And individual performance is very much connected with the productivity or output
of the organization. Here in this write-up we are trying to find out the common ground of the
early and contemporary theories of motivation which ultimately helps us to better implication of
motivational theories in practical scenario. And successful implementation of the theory will
definitely ensure positive minded employees and which ultimately ensures the success of an
organization. So motivation is one of the vital factors for development of an organization.
Motivation can change the profit figure of the organization such as its improving productivity.
And in the end, it ensures the betterment of the overall economic condition of a county.
References
Ahmad, S., Mukaddes, A. M., Rashed, C. A., & Samad, M. A. (2010). Implementation of motivation - Theory in
apparel industry. International Journal of Logistics and Supply Chain Management , 103-108.
Ouchi, W. (1987). Management in action, Theory Z, is it the key to the motivation? In W. Ouchi,
Fundamentals of Managements (6th ed.). Homewood Juinpis: Business Publication Inc.
Ricky W. Griffin, Management, Tenth Edition, 2007.
Salanova, A., & Kirmanen, S. (2010). Employee Satisfaction and Work Motivation Research in Prisma
Mikkeli. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences .
Stephen P. Robbins & Mary Coulter, Management, Eleventh Edition, 2012.
Wan, H. L. (2009). Employee Loyalty at the Workplace: The Impact of Japanese Style of Human Resource
Management,. International Journal of Applied HRM , 3 (1).