...and Differences Edith Woodard Walden University Dr. Chappell PSYC-5240-1 Human Motivation March 13, 2012 Motivational Similarities and Differences 1. Motivational Similarities and Differences Human behavior is something that has become the focus of research all over the world. Everyone who is anyone wants to know what causes us as human beings “to do what we do, and to act the way we act.” Some say that “motivation is also a desire operating on the will and causing it to act.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2010, p.810). It is also considered to be “the primary driver of our behavior.” In times past “motivated behavior has also been studied as a rational attempt to achieve a specific articulated (or accessible) end or purpose, rather than as an attempt to fulfill an underlying emotionally-charged desire.” (Thrash & Elliot, 2001). “Most researchers believe that motivational theories explain the three interrelated aspects of human behavior which is the choice of a particular action, persistence with it and the effort expended on it, leaving it up to motivational psychologists to attest to these findings.” And to us motivation explains the why of our actions, and addresses the innermost parts of us which are our desires, or those buttons that are sometimes pushed that gives us that driving force to tackle things head on or maybe even act out of character. Our motivations say to us that we can make it especially when others tell us that we won’t, which makes...
Words: 1992 - Pages: 8
...Chapter 1: Introduction to Employee Motivation 1.1. Introduction An issue which usually generates a great deal of attention from most managers, administrators and those involved in Human Resources Management is the issue of how to successfully motivate employee. While it is true that aspects like staff recruitment, controlling, managing, leading, and many more are of great importance to the success of an organization, Employee Motivation is generally considered a core element in running a successful business. 1.2. Statement of the Problem This paper attempts to discover the most important theories and approaches behind employee motivation, present different types of motivation, discuss their importance and provide recommendations and solutions to solving problems of de-motivated or unmotivated employees. 1.3. The Nature and Importance of Motivation Managers and scholars alike have long been inspired in attempting to find out why some employees tend to work harder than others. The study of motivation helps managers understand this variance in performance. Furthermore, knowledge of what motivates people allows managers to take ‘constructive steps’ to improve their employees’ work performance[1]. Before understanding the different types of motivation, we need to examine closely the nature of motivation. The term motivation derives from the Latin word movere, meaning, ‘to move’. This means that no one can understand a person’s motivation until that person ‘behaves or literally...
Words: 6844 - Pages: 28
...1.0 Background of Company British American Tobacco (BAT) is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco group by global market share, with brands sold in around 180 markets. With more than 200 brands in their portfolio, they make the cigarette chosen by one in eight of the world’s one billion adult smokers. They hold robust market positions in each of their regions and have leadership in more than 50 markets. In 2011, their subsidiary companies sold 705 billion cigarettes. In the same year, their subsidiaries enabled governments worldwide to gather more than £30 billion in taxes, including excise duty on their products, almost nine times the Group’s profit after tax. BAT has sustained a significant global presence for over 100 years. BAT was founded in 1902 and by 1912 had become one of the world’s top dozen companies by market capitalisation. They have 46 cigarette factories in 39 countries and employ more than 55 000 people worldwide. Their workforce is strongly multi-cultural and they have a devolved structure, where each local company has a wide freedom of action and responsibility for its operations. Decisions are made as close as possible to the local stakeholders of each business, within a framework of principles, standards, policies, strategies and delegated authorities. BAT believes that because their products pose risks to health, it is all the more important to manage their business responsibly. Responsibility is an integral part of their strategy and through...
Words: 3393 - Pages: 14
...Motivation is the force that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger or enroll in college to earn a degree. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. Researchers have developed a number of different theories to explain motivation. Each individual theory tends to be rather limited in scope. However, by looking at the key ideas behind each theory, you can gain a better understanding of motivation as a whole. Instinct Theory of Motivation Poncho/Digital Vision/Getty Images According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal migration. These animals do not learn to do this, it is instead an inborn pattern of behavior. William James created a list of human instincts that included such things as attachment, play, shame, anger, fear, shyness, modesty and love. The main problem with this theory is that it did not really explain behavior, it just described it. By the 1920s, instinct theories were pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but contemporary evolutionary psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on human behavior. Incentive Theory of Motivation The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example...
Words: 559 - Pages: 3
...Theories of Motivation In the workforce today, there are many different viewpoints behind what motivates workers in their respective job functions. The work of Frederick Taylor, Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, and Frederick Herzberg have some of the most popular theories behind the motivation of workers and have been developed over the course of the past 100 years or so. However, it should be noted that all four of these respective theoretical approaches do not reach the same conclusions. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the views and theories of the four individuals mentioned above and to compare and contrast some of the similarities and differences as it pertains to the theories of motivation. The first theory of motivation that will be examined is the work of Frederick Taylor. Taylor put forward the idea that workers are motivated mainly by pay and financial income. His Theory of Scientific Management argued that workers need to be closely supervised because they do not naturally enjoy work. He argued that managers should break down production into a series of small tasks and that workers should then be given appropriate training and tools so they can work as efficiently as possible on one task at a time. Workers should be paid based off the number of items they produce in a set period of time. As a result workers are encouraged to work hard and maximize their productivity which equals a higher pay (Rue & Byars, 2014). Taylor's methods were widely adopted...
Words: 1368 - Pages: 6
...Motivation How important is pay for motivating workers? Motivation Studies Findings: * Pay and benefits are important in encouraging staff to work well * most important: work enjoyment, work challenges and recognition Points to think about * why do you think that pay and bonuses are not the most important factor for all workers? * explain why “loyalty” and “working harder” are important to a business * why do you think “recognition” is important to many workers? is it important to you? Motivation The intrinsic and extrinsic factors that stimulate people to take action that lead to achieving a goal. Intrinsic motivation Comes from within satisfaction derived from working on and completing a task. Extrinsic motivation Comes from outside external rewards associated with working on a task (pay and recognition). Indicators of poor staff motivation Unmotivated or demotivated staff will not perform effectively, offering only the minimum of what is expected. This will impact productivity levels and the competitiveness of the business. Signs will include: * absenteeism * lateness * poor performance * accidents * labour turnover * grievances * poor response rate Motivation theories Content theories Individuals are motivated by the desire to fulfil their inner needs. They focus on the human needs that energise and direct behaviour and how managers can create conditions that allow workers to satisfy them.This...
Words: 1016 - Pages: 5
...SOCIAL EXCHANGE AND EQUITY THEORY Social exchange and equity theory revolve around the balance between efforts and rewards in organizations. The individual-organization exchange relationship addresses the contributions and demands that each party makes in the relationship. A. Demands and Contributions 1. Demands Needs form the basis for the expectations or demands placed on organizations by individuals. Organizations express demands on individuals through job expectations, mission statements, and performance feedback. 2. Contributions Contributions are the basis for satisfying the demands expressed by the other party in the relationship. Individual contributions include knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional contacts. Organizational contributions include status, benefits, income, and affiliation. B. Adams’s Theory of Inequity Adams's developed a theory of social exchange that analyzes inequity in the workplace. Specifically, inequity is the situation in which a person perceives he or she is receiving less than he or she is giving, or is giving less than he or she is receiving. Individuals calculate an inputoutcome ratio for themselves and compare it with an inputoutcome ratio for another person. If the ratios are not equivalent, perceived inequity results. C. The Resolution of Inequity Individuals seek to resolve inequity because it produces tension. The seven strategies...
Words: 531 - Pages: 3
...McGregor’s X,Y Theory of Motivation In his 1960 management book, The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor made his mark on the history of organizational management and motivational psychology when he proposed the two theories by which managers perceive employee motivation. He referred to these opposing motivational methods as Theory X and Theory Y management. Each assumes that the manager's role is to organize resources, including people, to best benefit the company. However, beyond this commonality, they're quite dissimilar. Theory X Management According to McGregor, Theory X leadership assumes the following: • Work is inherently distasteful to most people, and they will attempt to avoid work whenever possible. • Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be directed. • Most people have little aptitude for creativity in solving organizational problems. • Motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels of Maslow's Needs Hierarchy. • Most people are self-centered. As a result, they must be closely controlled and often coerced to achieve organizational objectives • Most people resist change. • Most people are gullible and unintelligent. Essentially, theory x assumes that the primary source of most employee motivation is monetary, with security as a strong second. The Hard Approach and Soft Approach Under Theory X, management approaches to motivation range from a hard...
Words: 1905 - Pages: 8
...MOTIVATION AND MOTIVATION THEORY The term motivation is derived from the Latin word movere, meaning "to move." Motivation can be broadly defined as the forces acting on or within a person that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of goal-directed, voluntary effort. Motivation theory is thus concerned with the processes that explain why and how human behavior is activated. The broad rubric of motivation and motivation theory is one of the most frequently studied and written-about topics in the organizational sciences, and is considered one of the most important areas of study in the field of organizational behavior. Despite the magnitude of the effort that has been devoted to the study of motivation, there is no single theory of motivation that is universally accepted. The lack of a unified theory of motivation reflects both the complexity of the construct and the diverse backgrounds and aims of those who study it. To delineate these crucial points, it is illuminating to consider the development of motivation and motivation theory as the objects of scientific inquiry. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Early explanations of motivation focused on instincts. Psychologists writing in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries suggested that human beings were basically programmed to behave in certain ways, depending upon the behavioral cues to which they were exposed. Sigmund Freud, for example, argued that the most powerful determinants of individual behavior were those...
Words: 2377 - Pages: 10
...literature review As pointed by Vroom [1964], motivation is derived from the Latin word “movere”, which means “to move”. It is an internal force, dependent on an individual’s needs which derive him/her to achieve. Shulze and Steyn [2003] affirmed that in order to understand people’s behavior at work, managers or supervisors must be aware of the concept of needs or motives, which will help ‘move’ their staffs to act. According to Robbins [2001], motivation is a need-satisfying process which means that when an individual’s needs are satisfied or motivated by certain factors, the individual will exert superior effort toward attaining organizational goals. People primarily do what they do to meet their needs or wants. Understanding that people are motivated by self-interest is the key to understanding motivation. Theories of motivation can be divided to explain the behavior and attitude of employees. These include content theories, based on the assumption that people have individual needs which motivate their actions, and theorists such as Maslow [1954], McClelland [1961], Herzberg [1966] and Alderfer [1969] are renowned for their works in this field. In contrast to content theories, process theories identified relations among variables which make up motivation and involve works from Heider [1958], Vroom [1964], Adams [1965], Locke [1976], and Lawler [1973]. In addition, reinforcement theory [B.F.Skinner, 1938] that proposes the consequences of the behaviors that motivate the...
Words: 1994 - Pages: 8
...PERFORMER “Why is employee’s motivation important?” it is because in today’s economy recession, it is more important than ever to have better motivated employees. A motivated employee is a productive employee. A productive employee is a more profitable employee. When people are not motivated, they become less productive, less creative and which could make the company loss their assets. When an employee works hard and believes there will be some kind of reward and does not receive one, the employee can easily stop the motivation of wanting to perform their duty. In order to enhance the connection between performance and outcomes, managers should use systems that tie rewards very closely to performance. Employees who are working hard every day want to feel needed and appreciated. Leaders or managers need to make sure the employees get what they deserve so that they would not feel useless and might make them less motivated to work. Motivating employees requires creativity and an understanding of the areas where employee performance exceeds organization's expectations. Motivation also may come for bringing improvement before become major problems. In order to improve the connection between effort and performance, managers should get a training to improve employee capabilities and help employees believe that added effort will in fact lead to better performance. 2.1THE EXPECTANCY THEORY Figure 2.0 Victor H. Vroom proposed the Expectancy Theory in 1964. Victor H. Vroom was...
Words: 6073 - Pages: 25
...Motivation is certainly a topic that demonstrates the complexities of human nature. The simple question of, “What motivates you?” is quite loaded in terms of the highly individualized responses one would receive. As Psychology suggests by the numerous theories of motivation, each individual is clearly motivated by many different factors. It is through our motivation that defines us as individuals and propels us towards certain behaviors that satisfy various needs. “Psychologists use the term motivation to refer to the internal processes that activate, guide, and maintain behavior (often, over long periods of time)” (Baron, Kalsher, 2008, p. 298). Through firsthand experience, it is quite clear that motivations also change throughout the course of our lives. For example, the motivation for attending school and succeeding is now quite different for me then when I first attended college at 18. I did quite well in high school, graduating with honors in the top 5% of my class. However, as I entered college I was completely uncertain of what I wanted to do with my life. A combination of the expectancy theory and the goal-setting theory would explain why I did not complete college and dropped out after two years. It becomes quite clear that I did not link any expectations of desired outcomes from school because I did not set clear goals for my life. I simply attended college because that’s what one typically does after high school which was certainly not enough of a motivator...
Words: 492 - Pages: 2
...Philippines In Partial Fulfillment For the Requirements in ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MY PERSONAL THEORY OF MOTIVATION Submitted By: JENNIFER B. LANUZA MS Psychology II Submitted To: MR. EDWARD MACALMA May 2, 2012 THE “AI (AKO ITO)” THEORY “Life has many great options, but you don’t have to pick always what seems to be the best, just pick whatever makes you really happy, and it will be the best and perfect choice” In this imperfect world, we aim for perfection, but at the same time, we find our own place in the sun, finding meaning in what we do, and in return being happy and content with our decisions… and this includes decisions involving what work will provide us that kind of fulfilling feeling. Much has been theorized regarding what drives people to work… what motivates them to give their best in what they do while others do not really care about the quality and quantity of work so long as they could provide food on the table or receiving something from the services they render. Motivation will actually explain why people see their work as “just a job” (trabaho lang which connotes impersonal relationship with what they do), while others see it as a career (karera, which implies personal involvement and/or engagement in what they do). My personal theory of motivation, which I named AI, not the usual Artificial Intelligence stuff but more on “Ako Ito’, which represents that a person’s motivation to work tells something either consciously, subconsciously or even unconsciously of what...
Words: 1291 - Pages: 6
...Motivation Theories PSY/230 – Theories of Personality: I Think, Therefore Who Am I? (Axia) Motivation Theories Although I found all of the theories related to motivation very interesting, I most agreed with the intimacy motive. I cannot say that I have ever been truly motivated by desires for achievement and power. I have, on the other hand, found myself being motivated to achieve the private life of interpersonal communion. I have always felt more driven to find bonds with family and friends, creating a tight knit environment. Looking at the study of personality, I would score high on the PSE in the area of intimacy. I say this because I find myself taking part in conversations throughout the day where I am making more eye contact, through laughing, smiling, and holding conversations. I also prefer one-on-one exchanges over boisterous group activities. And when I am in a group, I tend to want to group to become one rather than one or two of the members dominating the conversation. In addition to feeling this way about myself, my friends have also referred to me as sincere, loving, and not self-centered. Of the theories of motivation, I least agree with achievement motivation. I never have had a drive to be more successful in my career. I have never really thrived on a personal challenge. In addition, I can say that no one has referred to me as restless, innovative, or drawn toward change and movement. I feel that I would have been more successful in making money if...
Words: 301 - Pages: 2
...Motivation Theory There are many different populations on which the Motivation theory is used, but the one that stands out the most is students in the classroom. In today’s society there are more and more children dropping out of school because they are not interested or motivated enough to finish. Unfortunately, there is no single magical formula for motivating students. Many factors affect a given student's motivation to work and to learn (Bligh, 1971; Sass, 1989). Teachers in the classroom are faced with many different problems when trying to motivate their students to learn the materials given to them. Problems stem from children not understanding the materials, distractions of home life, personal pastimes and peer interaction often hamper students' ability to focus. All of these problems are addressed through the Motivation theory. Educators can encourage motivation through both traditional and innovative methods. In many cases, motivated students achieve both classroom and personal goals following a concerted effort to encourage self-reliance. Unmotivated students may not want to do the work they are assigned, and are likely to receive lower scores on homework and tests. There are many different techniques and approaches that can be used to motivate children in the classroom to learn and accomplish goals. Researchers have begun to identify those aspects of the teaching situation that enhance students' self-motivation (Lowman, 1984; Lucas, 1990; Weinert...
Words: 455 - Pages: 2
