Motivation is, according to the Real Academia de la Lengua Española, the “mental preparation of an action to cheer or animate to do it with interest and conscientiousness” . It’s how the people feels cheered about doing something in order to awake and sustain certain behaviors, especially when it is goal oriented.
Image taken from http://pollitoworld.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html, accessed on August 30th 2010.
• Internal needs: in which there are two main thinkers: Max Weber, who said that (as of the Protestantism) the work was necessary to achieve satisfaction, as the Protestants believe that salvation comes from the hard work instead of the sacrifice; and Sigmund Freud, who said that the motivation was part of the unconscious nature of the humans.
Image taken from http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/tag/no-motivation/, accessed on August 30th 2010.
• External incentives: those incentives come from external factors, such as interests and economic gaining, timing and controlling as proposed by Frederick Taylor and the self interest against the collective interests.
Image taken from http://myownhometown.blogspot.com/2008/05/motivation.html, accessed on August 30th 2010.
Some of the main motivational theories are:
1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: He divided the needs into five main needs:
Image taken from http://mktg343.pbworks.com/Maslow%27s-Hierarchy, accessed on August 30th 2010.
From this theory raises the Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor, in which the theory X explains the lower needs (in which the people dislike working and the motivation is centered on payments and security) and the theory Y explains the higher needs (in which the people like working and the main motivations are the job satisfaction and achievement of commitments).
2. McClelland’s need theory: This theory says that there are three main needs for a worker, the achievement, in which the motivation is the challenge and feedback; the affiliation, in which the motivation is the cooperative and harmonious environment; and the power, in which the main motivation is the chance to manage others.
Image taken from http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/LEAD/McClelland.html, accessed on August 30th 2010.
3. Herzberg’s two-factor theory: the satisfaction or dissatisfaction at work depends on two main factors: Motivation factors, such as the recognition and challenge; and the Hygiene factors, such as job security and salaries.
Image taken from http://www.examstutor.com/business/resources/studyroom/people_and_organisations/motivation_theory/7-makingconnections.php, accessed on August 30th 2010.
4. Expectancy theory: explained by Vroom (1932) in which he said that the motivation is the result of the effort, performance and reward.
Source: Class presentation Motivation from Cristina Robledo.
1. What are the Hawthorne Studies? Explain its importance for studying motivation at the workplace and its influence over diverse motivation theories. (Include key findings and limitations) (max. 500 words)
The Hawthorne studies are researches that were held on the Western Electric’s Hawthorne (Chicago, Illinois) from 1927 to 1932 in which some investigators from the company and the Harvard University examined how the changes in the work environment (such as the lighting, music and other variables) and the economical incentives affected the performance of the workers on the production area. The results that the studies showed were that slight changes of the environmental conditions didn’t affect considerably the performance of the workers, unless the changes were so drastic that they couldn’t do their jobs normally. However, the economical incentives stimulated the performance of the whole group instead of the individual one. [1]
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Its importance for studying motivation at the workplace is that these studies show which the real motivations for the employees are, in order to perform in the best way possible, instead of just taking into account the different motivation theories and don’t apply anything on the real world. Also it´s important because this study reveals the specific motivations of certain group instead of taking general conclusions, therefore the managers will know how to motivate that specific group and to improve their performance.
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The influence that these studies have over the different motivation theories is that they put into practice the different concepts of each theory and also complements with practical facts from each group of work inside a company or a factory. These studies are important because they help to bring the theoretical factors into a more realistic and practical point of view and to make the managers to consider which are the most favorable motivational factors that will help the company as a whole to increase the performance.
2. Based on the class activity about "Flight 001: Motivating Employees", please answer the following question:
¿Which motivation theory do you think has the most relevance for understanding the behavior of Amanda Shank and fostering her motivation at work? (Max. 500 words)
According to the reviews in class and the readings, the theory that has the most relevance for understanding the behavior of Amanda Shank in Flight 001 is the Theory Y from Douglas McGregor, because her main motivation at work had more challenges than in her previous job, also she was considered a valuable member of the organization and those facts made her to appreciate and enjoy her work. Additionally, she was proactive in her job, such as giving full reports about the performance of the customers after the addition of some fees, which made her boss to consider her a worker with great potential and capabilities of rise in position. According to the theory Y, the main motivations come from assuming responsibility and contributing to the organization’s goals, through achievement of the commitments and the creativity, which Amanda had in the job at Flight 001.
However, there are some other motivation theories that are relevant in order to recognize the behavior of Amanda Shank on work. The McClelland’s need theory also explains this situation, as the Achievement need is shown in this case. The Acquired needs for Achievement are excellence, challenging goals and persistence and is obtained by having challenging projects (but with reachable goals) and having the respective feedback from the boss, which Amanda had in this job. It is constantly said in the case that Amanda was not pursuing a fortune by working and that the money was not her main goal when working, but to have recognition and feedback from her boss.
Another theory that applies for this situation is the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, since her three basic level needs were achieved; her main objective was to achieve the esteem needs (which are the achievement, job status, work responsibilities and to improve her reputation).
The reading is available at: Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You. South-Western College Publication, 7th. Pp. 1178-179.
[1] General idea taken from http://www.beechmontcrest.com/hawthorne_studies.htm. Accessed on August 23rd 2010.
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