Organizational Behavior

Dr. Karim Kobeissi

Islamic University of Lebanon - 2014

Chapter

SIX

Motivation Concepts

What Is Motivation?
Motivation
Motivation is the process that account for an individuals intensity,
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.

Key Elements
1. Intensity: How hard a person tries
2. Direction: Toward beneficial goal
3. Persistence: How long a person tries

What Is Motivation?

Direction

Intensity

Persistence

I - Early Theories of Motivation

Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Maslow)
There is a hierarchy of five needs:
Physiological Needs: includes hunger, thirst,
Safety Needs : security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
Social Needs : Affection, belonging, friendship..
Esteem Needs : internal factors such as self respect, autonomy, status
Self-actualization Needs : The drive to become what one is capable of
becoming.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Lower-Order Needs

Higher-Order Needs

Needs that are satisfied

externally; physiological
and safety needs

Needs that are satisfied

internally; social, esteem,
and
self-actualization
needs

Self
Esteem

Social
Safety
Physiological

Assumptions of Maslows Hierarchy

Movement Up the Pyramid
As each need is substantially satisfied, the next need
becomes dominant Individuals cannot move to the next
higher level until all needs at the current (lower) level are
satisfied.
Maslow Application
If you want to motivate someone, you need to

understand what level of the hierarchy that person

is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or
above that level.

Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor said that managers hold one of two sets of assumptions about
human nature: either Theory X or Theory Y.
Seeing people as irresponsible and lazy, managers who follow Theory X assume the following:
1. Employees inherently dislike work and will try to avoid it.
2. Since employees dislike work, they must be forced, controlled, or threatened to achieve goals.
3. Employees avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction, if possible.
4. Most workers place security above all other work-related factors and will display little ambition.
Since they see people as responsible and careful, managers who follow Theory Y assume the
following:
1. Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play.
2. When committed to their objectives, people will exercise self-direction and self-control
3. The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility.
4. Many workers besides managers have innovative decision-making skills.
No hard evidence confirms that either set of assumptions is universally true. It is more likely that
the assumptions of Theory X or Theory Y may or may not be appropriate, depending on the
situation at hand.

Having Little Ambition

Theory X
Managers See Workers as

Disliking Work
Avoiding Responsibility
Self-Directed

Theory Y

Enjoying Work

Managers See Workers as

Accepting Responsibility

Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory

Bottom Line: Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not
opposites of the same thing!
Hygiene
Factors
Salary
Work
Conditions

Separate Constructs

Company
Policies

Hygiene Factors Extrinsic

and Related to Dissatisfaction
Motivation Factors Intrinsic
and Related to Satisfaction

Motivators
Achievement
Responsibility

Growth

Herzberg Application
When hygiene factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied; neither they
will be satisfied If we want to motivate people on their jobs, we should stress
on the factors that are associated to the work itself or with outcomes directly
derived from it, such as promotional opportunities for growth, recognition

Contrasting Views of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

David McClellands Theory of Needs

Need for Achievement

Need for Affiliation

The drive to excel, to achieve

in relation to a set of
standards, to strive to succeed

The desire for friendly

and close personal
relationships

Need for Power

The need to make others
behave in a way that they
would not have behaved
otherwise

Bottom Line
Individuals have different levels
of needs in each of these areas,
and those levels will drive their
behavior and explain how they
should be motivated.

Matching High Achievers and Jobs

High achievers are strongly motivated when jobs have a high

degree of personal responsibility and feedback and an
intermediate degree of risk.

II- Contemporary Theories of Motivation

Cognitive Evaluation Theory
Providing an extrinsic reward for behavior that had been previously only
intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease the overall level of motivation.
OB research suggests that people who pursue work goals for intrinsic
reasons are more satisfied with their jobs and may perform better
Managers need to provide intrinsic rewards (e.g., make the work interesting,
provide recognition, support) in addition to extrinsic incentives (e.g. money).

Hint:
For this theory, think about how fun it is
to read in the summer, but once reading is
assigned to you for a grade, you dont
want to do it!

Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)

The goal setting theory is a cognitive approach, proposing that an
individuals purposes direct his behavior.

Basic Premise: specific and difficult goals, with self-generated

feedback, lead to higher performance.

But, the relationship between goals and performance will depend on:
Goal commitment I want to do it & I can do it
Participation in goal setting will ideally increase commitment.

Task characteristics (simple, well-learned).

National culture1 (Japan Vs Lebanon).

Goal Setting in Action: MBO Programs

Management By Objectives Programs

Based on Goal Setting Theory
The organizations overall objectives are translated
into specific objectives for each succeeding level
(that is divisional, departmental, individual) in the
organization.

Cascading of Objectives

What Is MBO?
Management by Objectives (MBO)
A program that encompasses specific goals,
participatively set, for an explicit time period, with
feedback on goal progress

Key Elements
1. Goal specificity
2. Participative decision making

3. An explicit time period

4. Performance feedback

Linking MBO and Goal-Setting Theory

MBO

Goal-Setting Theory

Goal Specificity

Yes

Yes

Goal Difficulty

Yes

Yes

Feedback

Yes

Yes

Participation

Yes

No
(qualified)

Self-Efficacy Theory
The self efficacy theory refers to an individuals feeling
that s/he can perform a task (e.g. I know I can!)
Enhances probability that goals will be achieved

Not to be confused with:

Self-esteem, which is:
Individuals degree of liking or disliking themselves

Self-Efficacy Theory (con)

Managers can help their employees achieve high levels of self
efficacy by bringing together goal setting theory and self efficacy
theory.
When a manager sets difficult goals for employees may lead
employees to have a higher level of self efficacy and also leads
them to set higher goals for their own performance. Research has
shown that setting difficult goals for people communicates
confidence. For example imagine that your boss sets a high goal
for you, and you learn it is higher than the goals she has set for
you co-workers. How would you interpret this? As long as you
dont feel youre being picked on, you probably would think, Well
I guess my boss thinks Im capable of performing better than
others. This sets into motion a psychological process where youre
more confident in yourself (higher self efficacy), and you set
higher personal goals, causing you to perform better.

Self-Efficacy and Goal Setting

Four Ways of Increasing Self-efficacy (Bandura)

1. Enactive Mastery : Gaining relevant experience with the task or job.
2. Vicarious Modeling: Becoming more confident because you see
someone else performing the task. Vicarious modeling is most
effective when you see yourself similar to the person you are
observing.
3. Verbal Persuasion: Becoming more confident because someone
persuaded you that you have the skills necessary to perform the
task.
4. Arousal: Arousal leads to an energised state, which drives a person
to complete a task. The person gets "psyched up" and performs
better. But when arousal is not relevant, then arousal hurts
performance.

The Humber Rescue team illustrate

the importance of enactive
mastery in increasing self- efficacy.
The River Humber in the North of
England is said to be one of the

most dangerous navigable rivers in

the world. Training is vital as it

increase the crews confidence to

succeed in their tasks.

Reinforcement Theory
According to reinforcement theory, a behaviour that leads to a

positive consequence (reward) tends to be repeated, while a

behaviour that leads to a negative consequence (punishment)
tends not to be repeated.

Assumptions:
Behavior is environmentally caused.

Managers can influence and change an employees behaviour /

performance through properly scheduled rewards or punishment.

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

Referent Comparisons:
Self-inside: An employees experience in a different position inside his
present organization.
Self-outside: An employees experience in a different position outside the
present organization.
Other-inside: Another employee or group of employees inside the
employees present organization.
Other-outside: Another employee or employees outside the employees
present organization.

Equity Theory (con)

Equity Theory (con)

Employees Choices for dealing with inequity:
1. Change inputs (e.g., exert less effort).
2. Change outcomes (e.g., individuals paid on a piece
rate basis can increase their pay by producing a
higher quantity of units of lower quality).
3. Distort/change perceptions of self
4. Distort/change perceptions of others
5. Choose a different referent person
6. Leave the field (quit the job)

Equity Theory (con)

Propositions relating to inequitable pay:
1. Over-rewarded hourly employees produce more than
equitably rewarded employees.
2. Over-rewarded piece work employees produce less, but
do higher quality piece work.
3. Under-rewarded hourly employees produce lower quality
work.
4. Under-rewarded employees produce larger quantities of
lower-quality piece work than equitably rewarded
employees.

Expectancy Theory
Currently, one of the most widely accepted explanations of motivation is Victor
Vroom's expectancy theory. Essentially, the expectancy theory argues that 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 outcome to the individual. It includes three variables or
relationships:
1.

Attractiveness: the importance that the individual places on the potential

outcome or reward that can be achieved on the job. This considers the
unsatisfied needs of the individual.

2. Performance-reward linkage: the degree to which the individual believes that

performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired
outcome.
3. Effort-performance linkage: the probability perceived by the individual that
exerting a given amount of effort will lead to performance.

Expectancy Theory (con)

Bottom Line
All three links between the boxes must be intact or motivation will not occur.
Thus,

Individuals must feel that if they try, they can perform and
If they perform, they will be rewarded and
When they are rewarded, the reward will be something they care about.

Putting It All Together