What Is Motivation

In the most general of terms, motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an individual to
action toward a desired goal. Motivation can also be the reason for an individual's action or that
which gives purpose and direction to behavior. In other words, motivation is an incentive that
generates goal-directed behaviors.

Motivation Defined
Motivation has been defined as providing a drive to act to satisfy needs or
desires . Within the context of work, Pinder stated that work motivation is a set of
energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individuals being,
to initiate work-related behavior and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and
duration. According to Jenkins et al., motivation is intangible, a hypothetical
construct that is used to explain human behaviour. Motivation is commonly sourced
from intrinsic or extrinsic motives. Intrinsic motivation involves people doing an
activity because they find it interesting and derive spontaneous satisfaction from
the activity itself. Extrinsic motivation, in contrast, requires an instrumentality
between the activity and some separable consequences such as tangible or verbal
rewards; hence, satisfaction comes not from the activity itself but rather from the
extrinsic consequences to which the activity leads.

Motivational Theory
Motivation comes in many forms and what motivates one individual is not necessarily the same for
their team members. Therefore, it is important to understand how motivation differs among
individuals and how these differences affect the overall drive and determination of a team toward a
goal. To better understand the complexities of motivation researchers over the years have developed
a number of theories to try to explain why people behave in the ways that they do and to try to
predict what people actually will do, based on these theories. These theories, called motivational
theories are often split into two categories content theories and process theories.
Content theories are centered on finding what makes people tick or appeals to them. These
theories suggest that people have certain needs and/or desires which have been internalized as
they mature to adulthood. These theories look at what it is about certain people that make them want
the things that they do and what things in their environment will make them do or not do certain
things.
Process theories focus on how and by what goals people are motivated. Process theories of
motivation look at what people are thinking about when they decide whether or not to put effort into a
particular activity.

1)
Maslows hierarchy of needs theory suggests that humans have needs that
can be prioritized in a hierarchy. The lowest-order needs must be fulfilled before
people become concerned with higher-order needs.
(2)
Herzberg motivational theory shows that an individuals satisfaction with the
work is attributed to the job itself, while dissatisfaction is attributed to the work
environment.
(3)
Adams equity theory explains that people are motivated based upon whether
or not they believe they are being treated equitably. This belief is derived from a
comparison of friends and/or colleagues.
(4)
Vrooms expectancy theory explains that behavior is a result from conscious
choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and minimize
pain.
(5)
Reinforcement theory discusses that reinforced behavior will lead to repeated
performance. Reinforcements are factors that motivate.
(6)
Alderfers ERG theory categorizes Maslows hierarchy into existence needs,
relatedness needs, and growth needs. It also suggests that the hierarchical order of
needs will differ per individual, and multiple levels of need can be fulfilled
simultaneously.

Maslow's Needs Hierarchy Theory

The most widely used theory of motivation is the needs hierarchy theory. Abraham H. Maslow
proposed that all individuals have basic sets of needs that they strive to fulfill over the course of their
lives. Maslow's theory suggest that there are five needs categories: physiological, security, affiliation,
esteem, and self-actualization.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological needs. The lowest level of needs is satisfied by those things which sustain life.
These include needs for food, water, shelter and clothing. Managers who focus on these needs try to
motivate employees by offering wage increases, better working conditions, more leisure time, and
better fringe benefits.
2. Safety and security needs. When physiological needs are reasonably satisfied, the next level
needs, those for safety and security, begin to dominate an individual's behavior. A manager who
provides for this individual need focuses on providing job security, fringe benefits, and employee
protection against automation.

3. Social needs. The need for acceptance, affection, friendship, love, and a feeling of belonging are
all social needs. Managers address these needs by being supportive, emphasizing employee
acceptance by co-workers,extracurricular activities and following group norms.
4. Esteem needs. This describes the need an individual has to occupy a position in time and space
as a function of whom he is and of what he is capable. The individual seeks a feeling of achievement
or self-worth and recognition or respect from others. Managers who focus on esteem needs tend to
emphasize public awards and recognition.
5. Self-actualization needs. The highest level of needs is for fulfillment, self-realization and self
actualization.This is the need that one has to accomplish his or her full potential. Managers who
emphasize self-actualization may involve employees in designing jobs, make special assignments
that capitalize on employees' unique skills, or allow work crews to develop work procedures and
plans for implementation. Maslow's theory states the goals that people value and suggest types of
behavior that will influence the fulfillment of the various needs. The manager should come away from
this presentation with an understanding that individuals have needs and therefor they have natural
objectives that they want to achieve. The manager needs to focus on providing for these need.

McGregor Theory X And Theory

McGregor constructed a philosophy based on differing managerial practice and
presented a sharp contrast between two different sets of managerial assumptions
about people and identified them as theory X and theory Y which represents two
extreme ends of a continuum of beliefs.
Theory X set of assumptions about human behaviour suggest that people act to
realise basic needs and, hence, do not voluntarily contribute to organisational aims.
McGregor made an assumption that individuals are indolent, self-centred, resistant
to change, lack ambition, dislike responsibility and are nave. Managers are,
therefore, to direct and modify worker behaviour to meet organisational needs by
persuading; rewarding, punishing and controlling those who do not naturally strive
to learn and grow.
On the contrary, Theory Y view of worker behaviour sees people as motivated by
higher order growth needs. It is, therefore, the task of management to facilitate
individuals to act on these needs and grow in their job. Managements essential task
is to structure the job environment to allow people achieve their higher-order
individual goals and accomplishing the organizational objective. McGregor saw
theory Y as a way to align workers goals with that of the organization.

Herzberg Two Factor Theory

Herzberg researched into job-related satisfaction and dissatisfaction and came out
with a need-based model intended to provide direct managerial application. He in
this study, carried out interviews with accountants and engineers using the critical
incident technique. The technique is used to gather facts (incidents) from domain

experts or less experienced users of the existing system to gain knowledge of how
to improve it. the interviews were focus on two questions:
i. What made them feel good about their job?
ii. What made them feel bad?
The responses to the above questions reveal two different factors affecting
motivation and work and concluded that:
Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction derive from different sources.
Removing the source of dissatisfaction will not cause a person to be motivated to
produce better results. He in this sense of view blended the two premises into the
dual-factor explanation of motivation and referred to them as:
Hygiene factors: - These are the basic factors surrounding the job and can trigger
dissatisfaction when not adequate. The factors include job security, working
condition, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationships, adequacy of pay and
fringe benefits. These factors are extrinsic or external and when present produces a
neutral feeling with realisation that the basic maintenance needs are taken care of
and trigger dissatisfaction when lacking.
Motivators: - According to Herzberg, an individual feels the potential for
satisfaction if he or she is able to marshal momentous work motivation. These are
intrinsic and unique to every individual. It includes then concluded that, job
challenge; responsibility, opportunity growth, and recognition provide feelings of
satisfaction.

Alderfers Need Modified Theory

Alderfers modified need hierarchy theory was developed from Maslows hierarchy
need theory. It condensed the five levels of need in the hierarchy need into three
levels: existence; relatedness; and growth which emerged the other name as ERG
theory.
Existence needs: - They are concerned with sustaining human existence and
survival, and it covers physiological and safety needs.
Relatedness needs: - This focused on the relationships with the social environment
and it encompasses love, affiliation and a meaningful interpersonal relationships
safety and esteem needs.
Growth needs: - It is concerned with the development of potential, and cover
selfesteem and self-actualisation. Alderfer suggested that the individual progresses
through the hierarchy from existence needs, to relatedness and to growth needs as
the lower needs become satisfied. The activated need in his view is more than one
and therefore, suggested that individual need is more of continuum than
hierarchical. Alderfer postulated a two-way progression and cited a frustrationregression process as the downward trend. He said the lower level needs become

the focus of the individuals effort when continuous frustration is experienced in the
quest for higher level needs. He further suggested that lower level needs need not
to be completely satisfied before the emergence of a higher level. The ERG theory
states that an individual is motivated by one or more set of needs. In this sense if a
persons quest for a need is blocked, then attention should be focused on the
satisfaction of needs at other levels.
Alderfer's theory differs from Maslow's theory in that for Maslow's theory, the
process is one of fulfillment-progression, while Alderfer, the process is one of
fulfillment-progression and frustration-regression. Maslow states that unfulfilled
needs are motivators and that the next higher-level needs become activated only as
lower-level needs are satisfied. Alderfer states that if a person is continually
frustrated in attempts to satisfy growth needs relatedness needs will reemerge as a
major motivating force. The ERG theory has merit for a manager because if the
manager is unable to satisfy a higher level need, the manager should attempt to
redirect the subordinates behavior toward satisfying relatedness or existence needs.
The ERG theory, unlike Maslow's theory suggest that the manager can always
deploy means to satisfy lower-level needs if higher level needs are blocked, though
these lower-level needs may become less important to the individual over time. It
also suggests that different people have different degrees of strengths as related to
the three needs. This aspect of the ERG theory relates back to the behavioral
factors. Understanding an individual's personality and percoptions can provide
insight into what needs are more fitting to the individual.

McClellands Achievement Motivation Theory

McClelland achievement theory focused on the relationship between hunger needs
and the extent to which imagery of food dominated thought processes and
identified four main arousal-based, and socially developed, motives:
The Achievement motive;
The Power motive;
The Affiliative motive; and
The Avoidance motive.

The initial three motives correspond to Maslows self-actualisation, esteem and love
needs. The relative intensity of these is dependent on the individual and it also
varies between different occupations. With the perception that managers are higher
in achievement than affiliation, McClelland saw the achievement need (n-Arch) as
the most significant for the success and growth of any nation. He used Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT) and subjective judgement and identified four achievement
needs:

 A preference for moderate task difficulty: - Individual prefers moderate task

difficulty as an incentive and this serves as the best chance to do better. Tasks
which are too difficult and risky reduce the chance of success and of gaining need
satisfaction. Contrary to this, when the tasks are too easy and safe, there is little
challenge in task accomplishment and little satisfaction.
Personal responsibility for performance: - Individuals prefer to attain success
through their own efforts rather than teamwork or factors outside their control.
Satisfaction is derived from the accomplishment of the task and not from
recognition from others.
The need for feedback: - Individuals have a clear and unambiguous feedback on
how they perform. Feedback should be within reasonable time to enable individual
to assess them to determine success or failure in their accomplishment of goals
from which they derive satisfaction from.
Innovativeness: - They always seek moderately challenging tasks and tend to be
moving on always to more challenging things. There is a constant search for variety
and for information to find new ways of doing things. These make them restless and
avoid routine, and also tend to travel more.

McClelland further suggested that effective managers need to be successful leaders

and to influence other people. More so, they should possess a high need for power
and score high on inhibition. The power in this context is directed to the
organisation and concern for group goals and is being exercised on behalf of other
people. The theory suggested that n-Ach is not hereditary but as result from
environmental influence and has the possibility of training people to develop a
greater motivation to achieve.

TEAM DYNAMICS are the unconscious, psychological forces that influence the direction
of a teams behaviour and performance. They are like undercurrents in the sea, which can carry
boats in a different direction to the one they intend to sail.
Team dynamics are created by the nature of the teams work, the personalities within the team,
their working relationships with other people, and the environment in which the team works.
Team dynamics can be good - for example, when they improve overall team performance and/or
get the best out of individual team members. They can also be bad - for example, when they
cause unproductive conflict, demotivation, and prevent the team from achieving its goals.

Motivation and Team Dynamics

Almost all teams have members who are changing or transitioning in and out of the team; and
requirements and tasks within the team are constantly modified and becoming more focused on the
goal. In fact, teams that never change can become stagnant; this leads to decreased motivation
within the team. Therefore, monitoring the motivating factors within the team is vital to team success
and increased motivation for the future. The keys to successfully managing these motivating factors
in an environment of constant team dynamics require understanding the team members and team
goals, and providing consistent leadership throughout the project or life of the team.

Team Goals
Team goals can be short-term task-specific goals, long-term organizational goals or any combination
thereof. In addition, these goals may be constantly updated or changed, especially short-term taskspecific goals, as the business environment changes or as tasks and goals are accomplished.
An understanding of the team goals, in all varieties, is neither more nor less important as
understanding the team members who are trying to accomplish these goals. These two factors are
interdependent in determining the motivation tactics that should be employed to maximize success
within the team.

LEADERSHIP
A review of the leadership literature reveals an evolving series of 'schools of
thought' from Great Man and Trait theories to Transformational leadership.
Whilst early theories tend to focus upon the characteristics and behaviours of
successful leaders, later theories begin to consider the role of followers and the
contextual nature of leadership.

Great Man Theories

Based on the belief that leaders are exceptional people, born with innate qualities,
destined to lead. The use of the term 'man' was intentional since until the latter part
of the twentieth century leadership was thought of as a concept which is primarily
male, military and Western. This led to the next school of Trait Theories

Trait Theories
The lists of traits or qualities associated with leadership exist in abundance and
continue to be produced. They draw on virtually all the adjectives in the dictionary
which describe some positive or virtuous human attribute, from ambition to zest for
life

Behaviourist Theories
These concentrate on what leaders actually do rather than on their qualities.
Different patterns of behaviour are observed and categorised as 'styles of
leadership'. This area has probably attracted most attention from practicing
managers

Situational Leadership
This approach sees leadership as specific to the situation in which it is being
exercised. For example, whilst some situations may require an autocratic style,
others may need a more participative approach. It also proposes that there may be
differences in required leadership styles at different levels in the same organisation

Contingency Theory
This is a refinement of the situational viewpoint and focuses on identifying the
situational variables which best predict the most appropriate or effective leadership
style to fit the particular circumstances

Transactional Theory
This approach emphasises the importance of the relationship between leader and
followers, focusing on the mutual benefits derived from a form of 'contract' through
which the leader delivers such things as rewards or recognition in return for the
commitment or loyalty of the followers

Transformational Theory
The central concept here is change and the role of leadership in envisioning and
implementing the transformation of organisational performance.
From Great Man to Transformational Leadership
Each of these theories takes a rather individualistic perspective of the leader,
although a school of thought gaining increasing recognition is that of dispersed
leadership. This approach, with its foundations in sociology, psychology and politics
rather than management science, views leadership as a process that is diffuse
throughout an organisation rather than lying solely with the formally designated
leader. The emphasis thus shifts from developing leaders to developing

leaderful organisations with a collective responsibility for leadership. In the current

section we will focus primarily on the more traditional, individualistic views of the
leader as we feel these have greatest relevance to the development of
management and leadership standards.