14.
Motivation- theories and
principles
Which Needs Motivate Human Beings
Organic needs or physiological motives
Wants
Emotions as motives
Definition
• Motivation means a process of
stimulating people to action to
accomplish desired goals”.
Definition
The goal directed, need satisfying behaviour is called motivation.
It is a process of initiating a conscious and purposeful action.
Motive means an urge or combination of urges to induce conscious or
purposeful action.
Motives, arising out of natural urges or acquired interests, or dynamic
forces that affect thoughts, emotions and behaviour. Eg. Motive for a
murder.
Nature of Motivation
1. Motivation is an internal feeling which influences the human behavior.
2. Motivation is affected by way the individual is motivated.
3. Motivation results in achieving goals positively in the organization.
4. Motivation is related to satisfaction.
5. Motivation can be positive and negative.
6. Motivation is a complex process as the individuals are heterogeneous in
their expectations, perceptions and reactions.
7. Motivation is stronger when it springs from a person’s needs which are
consistent with his values.
Content Theories: The content Process Theories: The process
theories find the answer to theories deal with “How” the
what
motivates an individual and motivation occurs, i.e.
is concerned with process motivation
and
individual
wants. Following
needstheorists have of
following theories were giventhein
given their theories of motivation this context:
in content perspective: and
1.Maslow – Hierarchy Of Needs 1.Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
2.Adam’s Equity Theory
2.Herzberg’s Motivation-hygiene
3.Goal Setting Theory
Theory
4.Reinforcement Theory
3.Mcclelland’s Needs Theory
4.Alderfer’s ERG Theory
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
• Most well-known theory of motivation
• Proposed by Abraham Maslow.
• He hypothesized that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy
of five needs.
• Physiological ,
• Safety,
• Social,
• Esteem and
• Self actualization
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor has proposed two models i.e., Theory X and Theory Y.
Under Theory X, managers believe that employees inherently dislike work
and must therefore be directed or even coerced into performing it.
In this type of theory, workers generally shirk work and do not like to work.
They avoid responsibility and need to be directed.
While under theory y , manager assume that employees can view
work as being as natural as rest or play and therefore the average
person can learn to accept, and even seek responsibility.
Good motivation makes workers readily accept responsibility and
self-direction.
TWO FACTOR THEORY
• Proposed by Psychologist Frederick Herzberg
• Also called as Motivation-hygiene theory.
• A theory that relates intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and associate
extrinsic factors with job dissatisfaction.
Two factors
• Motivation or Content factors- related to higher level needs
• Context /Hygiene/Maintenance factors-related to lower level needs
• Satisfaction is affected by motivators and dissatisfaction by hygiene factors
Hygiene factors Motivation Factors
The factors that help prevent The factors that lead to
dissatisfaction. job satisfaction and higher
They do not lead to higher levels of motivation.
levels of motivation but These factors are neutral if
dissatisfaction exists without
they are not activated.
them.
They are primarily intrinsic
The factors are primarily
extrinsic: factors:
company's policies Achievement
and administration Recognition
quality of supervision Responsibility
working conditions Advancement
interpersonal relations
salary
Status
job security
MCCLELLAND’S ACQUIRED NEEDS THEORY
David McClelland’s achievement motivation theory states that a
person has need for three things but people differ in degree in which
the various needs influence their behaviour.
Need for Power is the need to make others behave in a way in
which they would not have behaved otherwise; the desire to control
others
Need for Affiliation-the desire for maintaining friendly and close
interpersonal relationships.
Need for Achievement is the drive to excel , to achieve in relation
ERG THEORY OF ALDERFER
• Clayton Alderfer attempted to rework Maslow’s need hierarchy to align it more
closely with empirical research.
• Three group of core needs
Existence needs- provision of basic health requirements
Relatedness –desire for relationships
Growth -desire for personal development
Expectancy Theory
• Proposed by Victor Vroom.
• The theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a specific 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.
• Motivation is thus a combination of:
– Valence: The value of the perceived outcome (What's in it for me?)
– Instrumentality: The belief that if I complete certain actions then I will
achieve the outcome. (Clear path?)
– Expectancy: The belief that I am able to complete the actions. (My
capability?)
The theory focuses on three things:
• Efforts and performance relationship
• Performance and reward relationship
• Rewards and personal goal relationship
Individual effort Individual
performance
Organizational
Performance
rewards
Organizational
Personal goal
rewards
Equity theory
• Put forward by John Stacey Adams
• Equity: ratio of input and output
• A theory says that individuals compare their job inputs and
outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate
needs.
Inequitable Dissatisfaction, reduced output,
reward departure from organization
Balance or
imbalance of Equitable reward Continuation at the same level of
reward output
More than
Harder work discounted reward
Equitable reward
Goal Setting theory
• In the late 1960’s Edwin Locke proposed that intentions to work
towards a goal are a major source of work motivation.
• The theory states that specific and difficult goals, with feedback,
lead to higher performance.
• This theory emphasises that all behavior is motivated and
motivation is a goal directed process.
• Locke found that conditions necessary for goal accomplishment
change on the basis of feedback, goal commitment, ability and
task complexity.
Reinforcement Theory
• Developed by B.F. Skinner.
• It argues that the behavior of people is largely determined by its consequence.
• The reinforcement theory suggests that managers should try to structure the
contingencies of rewards and punishments on the job in such a way that the
consequences of effective job behavior are positive while the consequences of
ineffective work behavior are negative or unpleasant.
• The focus of this approach is upon changing or modifying the behavior of people
on the job.
Motivation techniques
• Incentives: It is an inducement which arouse one to action in a desired way
Use of money as incentive as wages, salaries, bonus, retirement benefits,
medical reimbursement etc
• Job enrichment: A person does a variety of tasks rather than a few routine activities.
This results in doing more of the job; the person also has some autonomy as to how
to do these tasks, and assumes responsibility for quality of performance.
• Job enlargement: Making a job larger in scope by combining additional task
activities into each job through expansion, called horizontal loading.
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