Contemporary Theories of Motivation

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Contemporary Theories of Motivation

• Gonzalo Campuzano
• Enrique Flores

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OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Early Theories of Motivation (Overview)
• Goal Setting Theory
• MBO Programs
• Equity Theory
• Expectancy Theory
• Integrating Contemporary Theories of Motivation
• References
• Questions Answers

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• 55 of U.S. employees have
• no enthusiasm for their job.
• As cited in D. Jones, Firms spend Billions to
  Fire Up Workers With Little Luck, USA Today,
  May 10, 2001

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INTRODUCTION

• Motivation is the result of the interaction of
  the individual and the situation.
• Individuals differ in their basic motivational
  drive.
• i.e. Texbook Vs. Novel
• The level of motivation varies both between
  individuals and within individuals at different
  times.
• Motivation The process that account for an
  individuals intensity, direction, and
  persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
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EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

• 1950s
• Hierarchy of needs theory
• Theories X and Y
• The two-factor theory.
• They represent a foundation from which
  contemporary theories have grown.
• Practicing managers still regularly use this
  theories and their terminology in explaining
  employee motivation.
• Contemporary way of thinking

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GOAL-SETTING THEORY

• Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and
  how much effort will need to be expended.
• In order to increase performance
• Set specific goals.
• Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher
  performance than does easy goals.
• Provide feedback.
• An individual is committed to the goal when he
  believes he can achieve the goal, and wants to
  achieve it.

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MBO PROGRAMSPutting Goal-Setting T. Into
Practice

• Converting overall organizational objectives into
  specific objectives for organizational units and
  individual members.
• Four ingredients common to MBO programs
• Goal specification.
• Participation in decision making.
• An explicit time period.
• Performance feedback.
• Failures may come from
• Unrealistic expectations regarding results.
• Lack of commitment by top management.
• Cultural incompatibilities.
• Fujitsu

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EQUITY THEORY

• Employees make comparison of their job inputs and
  outcomes relative to those of others
• When employees perceive inequity, the can
• Change their inputs.
• Change their outcomes.
• Distort perceptions of self.
• Distort perception of others.
• Choose a different referent
• Leave the field

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EQUITY THEORY

• Given payment by time
• Overrewarded employees will produce more than
  will equitably paid employees.
• Underrewarded employees will produce less or
  poorer quality of output.
• Given payment by quantity of production
• Overrewarded employees will produce fewer, but
  higher-quality, units than will equitably paid
  employees.
• Underrewarded employees will produce a large
  number of low-quality units in comparison with
  equitably paid employees.

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EQUITY THEORYConclusions

• Motivation is influenced significantly by others
  rewards as well as by ones own rewards.
• Inequities created by overpayment do not seem to
  have a very significant impact on behaviour.
• Most research has focused on pay, but employees
  seem to look for equity in the distribution of
  other rewards.
• Historically, equity theory focused on
  distributive justice. But increasingly equity is
  thought of from the standpoint of organizational
  justice.
• Managers should consider openly sharing
  information on how allocation decisions are made,
  following consistent and unbiased procedures.

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EXPECTANCY THEORY

• 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 the outcome to
  the individual.
• The theory focuses on three relationships
• 1. Effort-performance.
• 2. Performance-reward.
• 3. Rewards-personal goals.

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EXPECTANCY THEORY

• Giving maximum effort not always means being
  recognized.
• Good performance appraisal not always leads to
  organizational rewards.
• Rewards are not always found attractive by
  employees
• Managers limited in the rewards they can
  distribute.
• Managers incorrectly assume that all employees
  want the same.

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EXPECTANCY THEORYConclusions

• The key is the understanding of an individuals
  goal and the linkage between the three
  relationships.
• There is no universal principle for explaining
  everyones motivations.

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INTEGRATING CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

• Many theories are complementary.
• Its basic foundation is the expectancy model.

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REFERENCES

• Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behavior,
  12th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
• D. Jones, Firms spend Billions to Fire Up
  Workers With Little Luck, USA Today, May 10,
  2001
• 1 T.R. Mitchell, Matching Motivational
  Strategies with Organizational Contexts,
  Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 19, pp
  60-62
• P.C. Early, P. Wojnaroski, and W. Prest, Task
  Planning and Energy Expended Explorations of How
  Goals Influence Performance, Journal of Applied
  Psychology, Feb 1987.
• J. Greenberg and S. Ornstein, High Status Job
  Title as Compensation for Underpayment A Test of
  Equity Theory, Journal of Applied Psychology,
  May 1983.

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Questions Answers