CHAPTER FOUR

Motivation Concepts and Their Applications

Introduction
Motivation refers to the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity, and
persistence of voluntary behavior. Motivated employees are willing to exert a particular
level of effort (intensity), for a certain amount of time (persistence), toward a particular
goal (direction).

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Technically, the term motivation can be traced to the Latin word mover, which means “to
move.” This meaning is evident in the following comprehensive definition:
Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need
that activates behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.
Thus the key to understanding the process of motivation lies in the meaning of, and
relationships among needs, drives, and incentives. Needs set up drives aimed at incentives.
In a systems sense, motivation consists of these three interacting and interdependent
elements:

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 1. Needs: Needs are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological imbalance.
For example, a need exists when cells in the body are deprived of food and water or
when the personality is deprived of other people who serve as friends or companions.
Although psychological needs may be based on a deficiency, sometimes they are not. For
example, an individual with a strong need to get ahead may have a history of consistent
success.
2. Drives: With a few exceptions, drives, or motives (the two terms are often used
interchangeably), are set up to alleviate needs. A physiological drive can be simply defined as
a deficiency with direction. Physiological and psychological drives are action oriented and
provide an energizing thrust toward reaching an incentive. They are at the very heart of the
motivational process. The examples of the needs for food and water are translated into the
hunger and thirst drives, and the need for friends becomes a drive for affiliation.
3. Incentives: At the end of the motivation cycle is the incentive, defined as anything that will
alleviate a need and reduce a drive. Thus, attaining an incentive will tend to restore
physiological or psychological balance and will reduce or cut off the drive. Eating food,
drinking water, and obtaining friends will tend to restore the balance and reduce the
corresponding drives. Food, water, and friends are the incentives in these examples.
These dimensions of the basic motivation process serve as a point of departure for the content and
process theories of work motivation. After discussion of primary, general, and secondary motives,
those work-motivation theories, more directly related to the study and application of organizational
behavior and human resource management are examined.
Primary motives: Such motives are variously called physiological, biological, unlearned, or primary.
Two criteria must be met in order to be included in the primary classification: It must be unlearned,
and it must be physiologically based. These include hunger, thirst, sleep, avoidance of pain, sex, and
maternal concern. Although the precedence of primary motives is implied in some motivation theories,
there are many situations in which general and secondary motives predominate over primary motives.
General motives: There are a number of motives that lie in the grey area between the
primary and secondary classifications. To be included in the general category, a motive must
be unlearned but not physiologically based. Whereas the primary needs seek to reduce the
tension or stimulation. Thus, these needs are sometimes called “stimulus motives.” The

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motives of curiosity, manipulation, activity, and affection seem to best meet these criteria
for this classification. General motives are more relevant to organizational behavior than are
primary motives.
Secondary motives: The secondary drives are questionably the most important to the study
of human behavior in organizations. As human society develops economically and becomes
more complex, the primary drives and to a lesser degree the general drives give way to the
learned secondary drives in motivating behavior. Secondary motives are closely tied to the
learning concepts. In particular, the learning principle of reinforcement is conceptually
related to motivation. The relationship is obvious when reinforcement is divided into
primary and secondary categories and is portrayed as incentives.
A motive must be learned in order to be included in the secondary classification. Need for
power, achievement, affiliation, security and status are important secondary needs.

4.1. Work-Motivation Approaches (Theories)

In order to understand organizational behavior; the basic motives must be recognized and
studied. However these serve as only background foundation for the more directly relevant work-
motivation approaches. We have three major approaches of motivation namely- the content
theory, process theory, and contemporary theories of motivation.

4.2.1. THE CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

The content theories of work motivation attempt to determine what is that motivates people at
work. The content theorists are concerned with identifying the needs/drives that people have and
how these need/drives are prioritized. They are concerned with the types of incentives or goals
that people strive to attain in order to be satisfied and perform well. Content theories do not
necessarily predict work motivation or behavior, but are still important to understand what
motivates people at work. They explain the dynamics of employee needs; why people have
different needs at different times; understanding which we can discover what motivates them.

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 Content theories of motivation compared

4.2.1.1.
4.2.1.2.
4.2.1.3.
4.2.1.4.

MASLOW’S NEEDS HIERARCHY THEORY

Abraham H. Maslow suggested that people have a complex set of exceptionally strong needs,
which can be arranged in a hierarchy. Underlying this hierarchy are the following basic
assumptions:
 A satisfied need does not motivate. However, when one need is satisfied, another
need emerges to take its place, so people are always striving to satisfy some need.
 The needs network for most people is very complex, with a number of needs affecting
the behavior of each person at any one time.
 Lower level needs must be satisfied, in general, before higher level needs are activated
sufficiently to drive behavior.
 There are more ways to satisfy higher level needs than lower level needs.
This theory postulates five needs categories: physiological, security, affiliation, esteem, and self-
actualization. Figure above shows these five needs categories, arranged in Maslow's hierarchy.
Physiological Needs
The needs for food, water, air, and shelter are all physiological needs and constitute the lowest
level in Maslow's hierarchy. People concentrate on satisfying these needs before turning to higher
order needs. Managers should understand that, to the extent that employees are motivated by

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physiological needs, their concerns do not center on the work they are doing. They will accept any
job that serves to meet their needs. Managers who focus on physiological needs in attempting to
motivate subordinates assume that people work primarily for money and are primarily concerned with
comfort, avoidance of fatigue, and the like. These managers try to motivate employees by offering wage
increases, better working conditions, more leisure time, longer breaks, and better fringe benefits.
Security Needs
The needs for safety, stability, and absence of pain, threat, or illness are all security needs. Like
physiological needs, unsatisfied security needs cause people to be preoccupied with satisfying them.
People who are motivated primarily by security needs value their jobs mainly as a defense against
the loss of basic need satisfactions. Managers who feel that security needs are most important to
their employees focus on them by emphasizing rules and regulations, job security, and fringe benefits.
Managers whose subordinates have strong security needs will not encourage innovation in solving
problems and will not reward risk taking. The employees, in turn, will strictly follow rules and
regulations.
Affiliation Needs
The needs for friendship, love, and a feeling of belonging are all affiliation needs. When physiological
and security needs have been satisfied, affiliation needs emerge and motivate people. Managers must
realize that, when affiliation needs are the primary source of motivation, people value their work as an
opportunity for finding and establishing warm and friendly interpersonal relationships. Managers who
believe that their subordinates are striving primarily to satisfy these needs are likely to act in a more
supportive and permissive way, emphasizing employee acceptance by co-workers, extracurricular
activities (such as organized sports programs and company picnics), and group norms.
Esteem Needs
Both personal feelings of achievement and self-worth and recognition or respect from others meet
esteem needs. People with esteem needs want others to accept them for what they are and to perceive
them as competent and able. Managers who focus on esteem needs in their attempts to motivate
employees tend to emphasize public rewards and recognition for services. Acknowledgment of the
work's difficulty and the skills required for doing it successfully characterizes the managers'
recognition of employees. These managers may use lapel pins, articles in the company paper,
achievement lists on the bulletin board, and the like to promote their employees' pride in their work.
Self-Actualization Needs

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Self-fulfillment is the meeting of self-actualization needs. People who strive for self-actualization
experience acceptance of themselves and others and increased problem-solving ability. Managers who
emphasize self-actualization may involve employees in designing jobs, make special assignments that
capitalize on employees' unique skills, or provide leeway to employee groups in planning and
implementing work procedures.
Managerial Implications
Research has found that top managers generally are more able to satisfy their esteem and self-
actualization needs than are lower level managers
Line managers perceive greater fulfillment of security, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization needs
than do staff managers. The largest differences between line and staff managers occur in meeting esteem
and self-actualization needs.
Top managers tend to have more challenging jobs and an opportunity for self-actualization. Lower
level managers, on the other hand, tend to have more routine jobs, which makes satisfying higher level
needs more difficult. Employees who have little or no control over their work (such as assembly-line
workers) may not even experience higher level needs in relation to their jobs.
Fulfillment of needs differs according to the job a person performs, a person's age or race, the size of
the company, and the cultural background of the employee. Young workers (25 or younger) have
greater deficiencies in meeting esteem and self-actualization needs than do older workers (36 or older).
At lower levels of management, managers of small companies are less deficient in meeting their needs
than are managers who work for larger companies; however managers at upper levels in large
companies are more satisfied than their counterparts in small companies.

4.2.1.5. Alderfer’s Erg Theory

Clay Alderfer agrees with Maslow that individuals have a hierarchy of needs. But instead of the five
categories of needs suggested by Maslow, Alderfer's ERG Theory holds that the individual has three sets
of basic needs: existence, relatedness, and growth. Alderfer describes them as follows:
 Existence needs, or material needs, which are satisfied by food, air, water, pay, fringe benefits, and
working conditions.
 Relatedness needs, or needs for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships with co-
workers, superiors, subordinates, friends, and family.
 Growth needs, or needs that are expressed by an individual's attempt to find opportunities for

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 unique personal development by making creative or productive contributions at work.
The arrangement of these categories of needs is similar to Maslow's. Existence (E) needs are similar to
Maslow's physiological and safety needs; relatedness (R) needs are similar to Maslow's affiliation
needs; and growth (G) needs are similar to Maslow's esteem and self-actualization needs.
However, the two theories differ in their views of how way people satisfy the different sets of needs.
Maslow states that unfilled needs are motivators and that the next higher level need is not activated
until the preceding lower level need is satisfied. Thus a person progresses up the needs hierarchy as
each set of lower level needs is satisfied. In contrast, ERG theory suggests that in addition to this
fulfillment-progression process, a frustration-regression process is at work at the same time. That is,
if a person is continually frustrated in attempts to satisfy growth needs, relatedness needs will re-emerge
as a major motivating force. The individual will return to satisfying this lower level need instead of
attempting to satisfy growth needs, and frustration will lead to regression. Figure below illustrates these
relationships.

The solid line indicates a direct relationship between the set of needs, desire, and needs satisfaction. The
dotted line represents what happens when a set of needs is frustrated. For example, if a person's
growth needs are frustrated, the importance of relatedness needs increases. The same behavior that
had led to the frustration of growth needs now becomes the means for the person to satisfy
relatedness needs. The frustration-regression process assumes that existence, relatedness, and
growth needs vary along a continuum of concreteness, with relatedness being the most concrete and
growth being the least concrete. Alderfer further assumes that when the lesser concrete needs are not

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met, more concrete need fulfillment is sought. (Note that the direction of the dotted lines in Figure
above is downward from needs frustration to needs importance.)
Managerial Implications
The ERG theory states that individuals will be motivated to engage in behavior to satisfy one of the
three sets of needs. Thus Alderfer's ERG theory provides an important insight for managers. If a
manager observes that a subordinate's growth needs are blocked, perhaps because the job doesn't
permit satisfaction of these needs or the company lacks the resources to satisfy them, the manager
should attempt to redirect the subordinate's behavior toward satisfying relatedness or existence
needs.
Because it is relatively new, very few research studies have tested the ERG theory of motivation.
However, several studies support the concept of the three sets of needs in the ERG theory, rather than
the five categories of needs in Maslow s hierarchy. Some of the most interesting findings are:
 Individuals with parents who have more education had greater growth needs than did
individuals with parents who have less education.
 Men had higher strength of existence needs and lower strength of relatedness needs than
did women.
 Blacks showed significantly greater strength of existence needs than did whites.

4.2.1.6. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

The motivator-hygiene theory is one of the most controversial theories of motivation, probably
because of two unique features. First, the theory stresses that some job factors lead to satisfaction,
whereas others can only prevent dissatisfaction. Second, it states that job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction do not exist on a single continuum.

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Frederick Herzberg and his associates examined the relationship between job satisfaction and
productivity in a group of accountants and engineers. Through the use of semi structured
interviews, they accumulated data on various factors that these employees said had an effect on their
feelings about their jobs. Two different sets of factors emerged: motivators and hygiene’s.
Motivator and Hygiene Factors
The first set of factors, motivator factors, includes the work itself, recognition, advancement, and
responsibility. They are associated with an individual's positive feelings about the job and are
related to the content of the job itself. These positive feelings, in turn, are associated with the
individuals' experiences of achievement, recognition, and responsibility in the past. They are
predicated on lasting rather than temporary achievement in the work setting.
The second set of factors, hygiene factors, includes company policy and administration, technical
supervision, salary, working conditions, and interpersonal relations. They are associated with an
individual's negative feelings about the job and are related to the context or environment in which
the job is performed. That is, these are extrinsic factors, or factors external to the job. In contrast,
motivators are intrinsic factors, or internal factors directly related the job.
Viewed somewhat differently, extrinsic outcomes are largely determined by the company (for
example, salary, policies and rules, and fringe benefits). They serve as rewards for high
performance only if the organization recognizes high performance. On the other hand, intrinsic
outcomes (for example, a feeling of accomplishment after successful task performance) are
largely internal to the individual. The organization's policies have only an indirect impact on them.
Thus by defining exceptional performance, an organization may be able to influence individuals
to feel that they have performed their tasks exceptionally well.
This theory also states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not a single continuum but are on a
separate and distinct continua, as indicated in the figure above. Thus the concept is that a person
can be satisfied and dissatisfied at the same time. Hygiene factors, such as working conditions and
salary, cannot increase or decrease job satisfaction; they can only affect the amount of job
dissatisfaction.
Relation to Maslow's Need Hierarchy
Herzberg's theory is closely related to Maslow's need hierarchy. The hygiene factors are preventive
and environmental in nature, and they are roughly equivalent to Maslow's lower-level needs . These
hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction, but they do not lead to satisfaction. In effect, they bring

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motivation up to a theoretical zero level and are a necessary "floor" to prevent dissatisfaction, and they
serve as a takeoff point for motivation. By themselves, the hygiene factors do not motivate. Only the
motivators motivate employees on the job. They are roughly equivalent to Maslow's higher-level
needs. According to Herzberg's theory, an individual must have a job with a challenging content
in order to be truly motivated.
Contribution to Work Motivation
Herzberg's two-factor theory casts a new light on the content of work motivation. Up to this
point, management had generally concentrated on the hygiene factors. When faced with a
morale problem, the typical solution was higher pay, more fringe benefits, and better working
conditions. However, as has been pointed out, this simplistic solution did not really work.
Management are often perplexed because they are paying high wages and salaries, have an
excellent fringe-benefit package, and provide great working conditions, but their employees are
still not motivated. Herzberg's theory offers an explanation for this problem. By concentrating
only on the hygiene factors, management is not motivating their personnel.
There are probably very few workers or associates who do not feel that they deserved the raise they
received. On the other hand, there are many dissatisfied associates and managers who feel they
did not get a large enough raise. This simple observation points out that the hygiene factors seem
to be important in preventing dissatisfaction but do not lead to satisfaction. Herzberg would be the
first to say that the hygiene factors are absolutely necessary to maintain the human resources of an
organization. However, as in the Maslow sense, once "the belly is full" of hygiene factors, which
is the case in most modern organizations, dangling any more in front of employees will not
motivate them. According to Herzberg's theory, only a challenging job that has the opportunities
for achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and growth will motivate personnel.

4.2.1.7. Mc. Clelland’s learned needs theory

McClelland has proposed a theory of motivation that is closely associated with learning concepts.
He believes that many needs are acquired from the culture. Three of these learned needs are the
need for achievement (n Ach), the need for affiliation (n Aff), and the need for power (n Pow).
McClelland contends that when a need is strong in a person, its effect is to motivate the person to
use behavior that leads to its satisfaction. For example, having a high n Ach encourages an
individual to set challenging goals, to work hard to achieve the goals, and to use the skills and

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abilities needed to achieve them.
Based on research results, McClelland developed a descriptive set of factors that reflect a high
need for achievement. These are:
1. The person likes to take responsibility for solving problems.
2. The person tends to set moderate achievement goals & is inclined to take calculated risks.
3. The person desires feedback on performance.
The need for affiliation reflects a desire to interact socially with people. A person with a high need
for affiliation is concerned about the quality of important personal relationships, and thus, social
relationships take precedence over task accomplishment. A person with a high need for power,
meanwhile, concentrates on obtaining and exercising power and authority. He or she is concerned
with influencing others and winning arguments. Power has two possible orientations according to
McClelland. It can be negative in that the person exercising it emphasizes dominance and
submission. Or power can be positive in that it reflects persuasive and inspirational behavior.
The main theme of McClelland's theory is that these needs are learned through coping with one's
environment. Since needs are learned, behavior, which is rewarded, tends to recur at a higher
frequency. Managers who are rewarded for achievement behavior learn to take moderate risks and
to achieve goals. Similarly, a high need for affiliation or power can be traced to a history of
receiving rewards for sociable, dominant, or inspirational behavior. As a result of the learning
process, individuals develop unique configurations of needs that affect their behavior and
performance.
4.2.2. Process Theories of Motivation
The process theories of motivation are concerned with answering the questions of how individual
behavior is energized, directed, maintained, and stopped. In other words, they are more
concerned with the cognitive antecedents that go into motivation or effort, and, more important,
with the way they relate to one another.
4.2.2.1. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory Of Motivation

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Vroom defines motivation as a process governing choices among alternative forms of voluntary
activity.

In his view, most

behaviors are considered to be under the voluntary control of the person & consequently are
motivated. Figure below summarizes the Vroom’s model. It is necessary to define the terms of
the theory and explain how they operate.
First-level & Second-level Outcomes: First-level outcomes resulting from behavior are those
associated with doing the job itself and include productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and quality
of productivity.
The second-level outcomes are those events (rewards or punishments) that the first-level
outcomes are likely to produce, such as merit pay increases, group acceptance or rejection,
promotion, and termination.
Valence
Valence means the strength of an individual’s preference for a particular outcome. An outcome
is positively valet when it is preferred and negatively valets when it is not preferred or is
avoided. An outcome has a valence of zero when the individual is indifferent to attaining or not
attaining it.

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Instrumentality
Another major input into the valence is the instrumentality of the first-level outcome in obtaining
a desired second-level outcome. Instrumentality is the perception by an individual that first level
outcomes (performance) are associated with second-level outcomes (rewards/punishment).
Instrumentality can be negative, suggesting that attaining a second-level outcome is less likely if
a first-level outcome has occurred, or positive, suggesting that the second-level outcome is more
likely if the first-level outcome has been obtained.
Expectancy
The belief that a particular level of effort will be followed by a particular level of performance is
called expectancy. In other words, it refers to the individual’s belief regarding the likelihood or
subjective probability that a particular behavior will be followed by a particular outcome.
Expectancy can take values ranging from 0, indicating no chance that an outcome will occur
after the behavior or act, to +1, indicating perceived certainty that a particular outcome will
follow a behavior or act.
Expectancy relates efforts to first-level outcomes, whereas instrumentality relates first-level
outcomes and second-level outcomes. In other words, expectancy in Vroom’s theory is
probability (ranging from 0 to +1) that a particular action or effort will lead to a particular first-
level outcome. Instrumentality refers to the degree to which a first-level outcome will lead to a
desired second-level outcome. In summary, the strength of the motivation to perform a certain
act will depend on the algebraic sum of the products of the valences for the outcomes (which
include instrumentality) times the expectancies.
4.2.3. Contemporary Theories of Work Motivation
Although it is recognized that work-motivation theories are generally categorized into content
and process approaches, equity and procedural justice theories have emerged in recent years and
command most of the attention.

4.2.3.1. J. Stacy Adam’s Equity Theory

Equity theory refers to an individual’s subjective judgements about the fairness of the reward she
or he got, relative to the inputs (which may include many factors such as effort, experience,
education, and so on), in comparison with the rewards of others.
The essence of equity (which also means "fairness") theory is that employees compare their
efforts and rewards with those of others in similar work situations. This theory of motivation is

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based on the assumption that individuals are motivated by a desire to be equitably treated at
work. The individual works in exchange for rewards from the organization. Four important terms
in this theory are:
1. Person. The individual for whom equity or inequity is perceived
2. Comparison other. Any group or persons used by Person as a referent regarding the ratio of
inputs and outcomes
3. Inputs. The individual characteristics brought by Person to the job. These may be achieved
(e.g., skills, experience, learning) or ascribed (e.g., age, sex, race)
4. Outcomes. What Person received from the job (e.g., recognition, fringe benefits, pay)
Equity occurs when employees perceive that the ratios of their inputs (efforts) to their outputs
(rewards) are equivalent to the ratios of other employees. Inequity exists when these ratios are
not equivalent; an individual’s own ratio of inputs to outcomes could be greater than, or less
than, that of other.

Consequences of Inequity
Employees are motivated to reduce or eliminate their feelings of inequity by correcting the
inequitable situation. There are six possible ways to reduce feelings of inequity. Notice,
however, that the strategy used depends on the persons past experience as well as whether
they are under or over rewarded.
1. Changing inputs—under rewarded workers tend to reduce their effort and
performance if these outcomes don't affect their paycheck. Overpaid workers

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 sometimes (but not very often) increase their inputs by working harder and producing
more.
2. Changing outcomes—People with under reward inequity might ask for more desired
outcomes, such as a pay increase. If this does not work, some are motivated to join a
labor union and demand these changes at the bargaining table. Others misuse sick leave
for more paid time off. At the extreme, some people steal company property or use
facilities for personal use as ways to increase their outcomes.
3. Changing perceptions—Employees may distort inputs and outcomes to restore equity
feelings. Over rewarded employees typically follow this strategy because it's easier to
increase their perceived inputs (seniority, knowledge, etc.) than to ask for less pay!
4. Leaving the field—some people try to reduce inequity feelings by getting away from
the inequitable situation. Thus, equity theory explains some instances of employee
turnover and job transfer. This also explains why an under rewarded employee might
take more time off work even though he or she is not paid for this absenteeism.
5. Acting on the comparison other—Equity is sometimes restored by changing the
comparison others inputs or outcomes. If you feel over rewarded, you might encourage
the referent to work at a more leisurely pace. If you feel under rewarded, you might
subtly suggest that the overpaid co-worker should be doing a larger share of the
workload.
6. Changing the comparison other—If we can't seem to alter the outcome/ input ratio
through other means, we might eventually replace the comparison other with
someone having a more compatible outcome/input ratio. As was mentioned earlier,
we sometimes rely on a generalized comparison other, so feelings of inequity may be
reduced fairly easily by adjusting the features of this composite referent.

Managerial Implications
Managers should treat employees equitably. When individuals believe that they are not being
treated fairly, they will try to correct the situation and reduce tension by means of one or more of
the six types actions discussed above.

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People make decisions concerning equity only after they compare their inputs and outcomes with
those of comparable employees. These others may be employees of the same organization or of
other organization. The latter presents a major problem for managers.
Women, and members of minority groups, have argued for pay based on comparable worth.
Comparable worth means that individuals holding jobs that require similar qualifications and
involve similar level of effort should receive equal pay.
The equity theory development goes beyond expectancy theory as a cognitive explanation of
work motivation and serves as a departure for more specialized areas of current interest such as
procedural justice.
The Carrot and Stick Approach to Motivation
A very widely known motivational concept is the ‘Carrot and Stick’ approach. Many managers
see motivation in terms of this notion and so their efforts to motivate is limited to asking the
question; should I bribe people or simply threaten them? However when put into practice, this
concept is found to be more complicated than this. To motivate is to change behavior. How can
you change the behavior of people, both as individuals and as a group or team? Using the carrot
and stick approach, there are two ways; behavior is changed by force or by choice through the
use of incentives.
The ‘stick’ or fear is a good motivator and when used at the correct times can be very helpful. In
that context, fear has always been the ‘convenient’ choice of Malaysian managers and
organizations. When all else fails, the stick approach is somehow most attractive as it usually
produces instantaneous compliance and hence immediate results. Fear is also attractive as in the
short term; an employee’s performance may be improved without any need for incentives or
financial remuneration.
Fear however has its weaknesses in that an organization motivated by fear is prone to mutiny. It
can also be stressful for employees. It is extrinsic, which means that the motivation only works
while the motivator is present. When the motivator goes, the motivation also usually goes. Fear
is also only useful on a short-term basis, as it needs to be applied in ever-increasing doses. In a
worst-case scenario, fear motivation can backfire and could even lead to cases of sabotage.
On the other hand, people contribute or become more productive because they are offered
incentives i.e. the carrot approach. The major advantage with this is that it can work very well as
long as the incentive is attractive enough. A good illustration of this concept is by using the well-

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known analogy of a donkey with a carrot dangling in front, and with a cart behind. In this
instance, the carrot serves as the incentive. However, the carrot will only serve as an incentive if:
 The donkey is hungry enough
 The carrot is sweet enough
 The load is light enough
 A combination of the above
If any of the above is not satisfied, then the carrot will not serve as an incentive. On the
assumption that the conditions are satisfied, there is still the question of letting the donkey take a
bite of the carrot from time to time, otherwise it is going to get discouraged. A new scenario will
then develop in that if the donkey gets to eat the whole carrot and is now not hungry anymore;
putting another carrot in front of it will not serve as an incentive, until it gets hungry again. This
is very often seen in organizations where salespersons on meeting their quota, stop working as
their motivation is only limited to meeting that target.
Once the donkey has eaten the carrot, the next carrot may not be as attractive an incentive as the
first. On the other hand changing the incentive to another vegetable may not necessarily motivate
unless the donkey perceives it as a better incentive than the carrot. This is another very important
element in motivation and that is the reward must be perceived as attractive enough. Otherwise,
it will not serve its purpose effectively, and may in fact backfire. For example, if someone is
elected the employee of the month and is then given RM 10/ as a reward, this will serve to de-
motivate as it is considered to be below perceived expectations.
Is money the best ‘carrot’?
There is also the often-asked question of what is the best ‘carrot’? The obvious answer to this
seems to be money. People need money to feed, clothe, and house themselves and their families:
this being the basic assumption of Maslow’s theory. Hence, organizations have always based
their motivational schemes on this premise that the more money you give to employees, the
harder they will work. But is this true?
In her article ‘Managing People: Lessons from Matsushita Konosuke, “ Professor Etsu Inaba of
the Asian Institute of Management, spoke of a survey that she conducted of middle managers
working in well-managed companies in four Asian countries i.e. Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Indonesia. All the respondents of this survey received salaries slightly higher than
the industry average. They could join their company’s competitors at salaries of between 30 and

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50% more. When asked ‘What would make you stay with the company you are working for
now?” their replies were:
 Clear growth potential for the company
 A career development plan for employees
 Professionalism in management
Money was important but it did not appear to be the only concern for the respondents as they
were proud of the company that they were working for.
The findings of the above survey were complemented by a survey carried out by New York
based consulting firm Towers Perrin. In that survey one of the main questions asked was "What
is the biggest long-term motivator for you?" The results were different from the survey done in
Asia, but money was still not the number one factor. The responses in ranking were as follows:
i. Working for a leader with vision and values.
ii. Pay raises and bonuses.
iii. Being given greater responsibility.
iv. Developing the respect of subordinates and peers.
v. Being given recognition from supervisors and managers.
Simply put, money is not the reason why these respondents want to work. In that context, a
billionaire like Bill Gates and two generations after him could live very comfortably with all the
money that he presently has, and yet he is known to be a workaholic. Quite clearly, a monthly
paycheque is not the main motivation for people like him or the people mentioned previously, to
go to work.
Money is important, but it does not override the fact that there are other factors that may be
better motivators at the appropriate times. In that context, no motivating factor can be looked at
in isolation. No factor by itself will serve to motivate perpetually. There must be a combination
of factors which when used together will serve to achieve the overall objective of increasing or at
least sustaining the motivational levels of employees. Organizations, which recognize this, will
be well on their way to having motivated employees.
4.3. Implication of motivation for performance and satisfaction
Positive employee motivation has far reaching consequences in terms of organizational
performance and productivity.

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An organization, in order to achieve optimum performance from its employees, must have not
only employees with the required skills and abilities but also the motivation and willingness to
perform.
To motivate employees the management uses several important ways such as rewards, job
design, self-leadership, empowerment, and performance feedback.
1) Reward Systems
Organizations can offer two types of rewards: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards include
rewards associated with the job itself, such as challenging assignments, responsibility,
autonomy, and opportunities for growth. Extrinsic awards include all other rewards that are
typically external to the job’s content, such as higher pay, a promotion, a larger office, and a new
job title.
Financial rewards are a fundamental part of the employment relationship. Organizations
distribute money and other benefits in exchange for the employees availability, competencies,
and behaviors.
Rewards help to align individual goals with corporate goals and to provide a return to the
individual’s contribution. An effective reward system must create a high quality of work life,
encourage organizational effectiveness by rewarding better performance, and pay attention to the
needs of individuals.
2) Job Design
Jobs that are designed to permit satisfaction of important employee needs are likely to be those in
which people become motivated to give out their best. OB scholars usually emphasize the job
itself as the preferred source of motivation.
A job is a set of tasks performed by one person. Job design is the process of assigning tasks to a
job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs.
Traditional approach to job design relied heavily on job specialization. Job specialization
subdivides work into separate jobs for different people. Job specialization increases work
efficiency because employees master the tasks quickly, spend less time changing tasks, require
less training, and can be matched more closely with jobs best suited to their skills. However, job
specialization may reduce work motivation, create mental health problems, lower product/service
quality, and increase costs through discontentment pay, absenteeism, and turnover.

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Contemporary job design strategies reverse job specialization through job rotation, job
enlargement, and job enrichment. Three main strategies potentially increase the motivational
potential of jobs: job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.
Job Rotation It is the practice of moving employees from one job to another typically for short
periods of time. For example, consider ‘Photo Desta’ where one employee interacts with
customers, another operates the photo finishing machine, and a third puts the photos into
envelopes and files them for pickup. Job rotation would occur when employees move around
those three jobs every few hours or days.
Job Enlargement It is the practice of increasing the number of tasks employees performs within
their job. Instead of rotating employees through different jobs, job enlargement combines tasks
into one job. Two or more complete jobs combined into one or just add one or two more tasks to
existing job. This technique hopes to alter the scope of work.
Job Enrichment It occurs when employees are given more responsibility for scheduling,
coordinating, and planning their own work. Crucially, it involves a measure of vertical expansion
so that the person has some authority over the planning, execution, and control of the work.
3) Self-Leadership
It is the process of influencing oneself to establish the self-direction, and self-motivation needed
to perform the task. It takes the view that individuals mostly regulate their own actions through
the behavioral and cognitive (thought) activities.
The five elements of self-leadership are: personal goal setting, constructive thought patterns,
designing natural rewards, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Constructive thought patterns
include self-talk and mental Imaging.

4) Empowerment
Managers over the last two decades have increasingly sought to motivate employees by
empowering them. Empowerment means creating conditions in which employees perceive
themselves as competent and in control of performing meaningful tasks.
Besides delegating responsibility, managers can empower employees by sharing information
freely and by minimizing red tape and other roadblocks to effective performance. Presumably,

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because empowerment enhances self-efficacy, empowered employees will work creatively,
diligently, and productively.
5) Performance Feedback
Appropriate feedback about performance can enhance motivation. Employees self-efficacy can
boost by hearing their successes. And receiving objective information about their performance
can help employees determine how they must adjust their behavior to achieve desired outcomes.
The most common way organizations provide performance feedback is through regular
performance appraisals. Managers can also offer informal feedback such as praise and
suggestions for improvement.

Integrating the Motivation Theories

As you can see rewards, needs, cognitions, satisfaction, and performance are all integral to the
discussion of motivation. Understanding the linkage between satisfaction and performance will
help integrate all the views we have discussed.
Job Satisfaction
Formally defined, job satisfaction is the degree to which individuals feel positively or
negatively about their jobs. It is an attitude or emotional response to one’s tasks as well as to the
physical and social conditions of the workplace. At first glance, and from the perspective of
Herzberg’s two-factor theory, some aspects of job satisfaction should be motivational and lead to
positive employment relationships and high levels of individual job performance. But as we will
discuss, the issues are more complicated than this conclusion suggests.
On a daily basis, managers must be able to infer the job satisfaction of others by careful
observation and interpretation of what they say and do while going about their jobs. Sometimes,
it is also useful to examine more formally the levels of job satisfaction among groups of workers,
especially through formal inter- views or questionnaires. Increasingly, other methods are being
used as well such as focus groups and computer-based attitude surveys.
Among the many available job satisfaction questionnaires that have been used over the years,
two popular ones are the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the Job Descriptive
Index (JDI). Both address aspects of satisfaction with which good managers should be concerned
for the people reporting to them. For example, the MSQ measures satisfaction with working

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conditions, chances for advancement, freedom to use one’s own judgment, praise for doing a
good job, and feelings of accomplishment, among others.
The five facets of job satisfaction measured by the JDI are:
 The work itself—responsibility, interest, and growth.
 Quality of supervision—technical help and social support.
 Relationships with co-workers—social harmony and respect.
 Promotion opportunities—chances for further advancement.
 Pay—adequacy of pay and perceived equity vis-à-vis others.

Job Satisfaction, Retention and Performance

The importance of job satisfaction can be viewed in the context of two decisions people make
about their work. The first is the decision to belong-that is, to join and remain a member of an
organization. The second is the decision to perform- that is, to work hard in pursuit of high levels
of task performance. Not everyone who belongs to an organization performs up to expectations.
The decision to belong concerns an individual’s attendance and longevity at work. In this sense,
job satisfaction influences absenteeism, or the failure of people to attend work. In general,
workers who are satisfied with the job itself have more regular attendance and are less likely to
be absent for unexplained reasons than are dissatisfied workers. Job satisfaction can also affect
turnover, or decisions by people to terminate their employment. Simply put, dissatisfied workers
are more likely than satisfied workers to quit their jobs.
What is the relationship between job satisfaction and performance? There is considerable debate
on this issue, with three alternative points of view evident: (1) satisfaction causes performance,
(2) performance causes satisfaction, and (3) rewards cause both performance and satisfaction.
Argument: Satisfaction Causes Performance: If job satisfaction causes high levels of
performance, the message to managers is quite simple: To increase employees’ work
performance, make them happy. Research, however, indicates that no simple and direct link
exists between individual job satisfaction at one point in time and work performance at a later
point. This conclusion is widely recognized among OB scholars, even though some evidence
suggests that the relationship holds better for professional or higher level employees than for
nonprofessionals or those at lower job levels. Job satisfaction alone is not a consistent predictor
of individual work performance.

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Argument: Performance Causes Satisfaction- If high levels of performance cause job
satisfaction, the message to managers is quite different.
Five facets of job satisfaction
Cussing first on peoples’ job satisfaction, attention should be given to helping people achieve
high performance; job satisfaction would be expected to follow. Research indicates an empirical
relationship between individual performance measured at a certain time period and later job
satisfaction. A basic model of this relationship, based on the work of Edward E. Lawler and
Lyman Porter, maintains that performance accomplishment leads to rewards that, in turn, lead to
satisfaction.
In this model rewards are intervening variables; that is, they “link” performance with later
satisfaction. In addition, a moderator variable-perceived equity of rewards further affects the
relationship. The moderator indicates that performance will lead to satisfaction only if rewards
are perceived as equitable. If an individual feels that his or her performance is unfairly rewarded,
the performance- causes-satisfaction relationship will not hold.
Argument: Rewards Cause Both Satisfaction and Performance This final argument in the job
satisfaction-performance controversy is the most compelling.
It suggests that a proper allocation of rewards can positively influence both performance and
satisfaction. The key word in the previous sentence is proper. Research indicates that people who
receive high rewards report higher job satisfaction. But research also indicates that performance-
contingent rewards influence a person’s work performance. In this case, the size and value of the
reward vary in proportion to the level of one’s performance accomplishment. Large rewards are
given for high performance; small or no rewards are given for low performance. And whereas
giving a low performer only small reward initially may lead to dissatisfaction, the expectation is
that the individual will make efforts to improve performance in order to obtain greater rewards in
the future.
The point is that managers should consider satisfaction and performance as two separate but
interrelated work results that are affected by the allocation of rewards. Whereas job satisfaction
alone is not a good predictor of work performance, well-managed rewards can have a positive
influence on both satisfaction and performance.

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Factors Affecting Motivation
Factors that affect work motivation include: Individual differences and Organizational practices.
Individuals differ in their personal needs, values and attitudes, interests, and abilities that the
people bring to their jobs. Organizational practices that affect work motivation include: the rules,
policies, managerial practices, and reward systems of an organization.
Hence, managers must consider how these factors interact to affect employee job performance.

Self test questions.

Explain the difference of following terminologies:
 Job enrichment
 Job enlargement
 Job description
 Job qualification

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