Motivation

…the driving force

Latin word movere means ‘to move’

“An internal process that activates, guides, and

maintains behavior over time” (Baron, 2001; Zimbardo, 1999)
 Relevance of Motivation

Organizational
For individuals and for organizations,
it causes ‘goal-setting’
thereby resulting in
‘achievement’, ‘deviant workplace behavior’, ‘aggression’

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 Basic Functions of Motivation
1. To Relate Biology to Behavior
– e.g., Why do you eat?
– Internal states of deprivation trigger bodily response
– Bodily homeostasis

2. To Account for Behavioral Variability

– e.g., Why one employee performs better on a project
compared to other employee with similar ability and
knowledge?
– Motivational influences (generally called ‘interest’)

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3. To Assign Responsibility for Actions
– Personal responsibility – resembles – internal motivation
– e.g., people are seen less responsible when they were
externally forced for a particular task

4. To Explain Perseverance Despite Adversity

– Recall – Behrman – his masterpiece
– Why organisms perform certain behavior even when its
extremely difficult
– Motivation – explains – why you work despite being
exhausted

The question arises that, “at times I am not internally

willing, still I am required to perform” – is it still
motivation?
…the answer lies in Forms of Motivation 5
 Forms of Motivation
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic
• Extrinsic
– Stemming from external factors
– Push motivation
– Performing activities because they yield results (e.g., exams,
studying)
– Leads to separable outcomes
• Intrinsic
– Are internally driven
– Pull motivation
– Performing certain activities because they are inherently
interesting or enjoyable (e.g. reading, shopping)
– The ‘process’ itself

Can the same task be intrinsic as well as extrinsically

motivating?

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Can the same task be internally as well as externally
motivating?
• What happens when external rewards are given for
performing intrinsically motivating task?
 Intrinsic motivation reduces (probably because, they are now
targeted at the ‘end-state’ external rewards)
 Thus, it may actually diminish performance
 Exceptions, e.g., renowned painters, musicians ???

• The two forms of motivation are compatible when,

 External rewards are seen as ‘recognition’ or feedback, rather
‘bribes’  When monetary payments are inherent to the task's
content their presence (vs. absence) increases intrinsic
motivation, whereas when they constitute the task's exogenous
consequence their presence (vs. absence) decreases intrinsic
motivation toward the task

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Can the motivation shift from extrinsic to intrinsic?
Functional Autonomy

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Explanations of Motivation
in organizational context

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Explanations of motivation can be broadly categorized into two:
1. Drive based (pushed) – Biological Motives
• Drive reduction
• Arousal theory

2. Need based (pulled) – Social Motives

• Goal Setting
• McClelland’s theory of Needs
• Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory
• Equity Theory
• Expectancy Theory
• Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
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 Goal Setting theory
• Emphasizes cognitive factors (rather than drive or arousal)
– Views that, “motivation can be strongly influenced by
setting up of specific goals”
– e.g., people setting up day-to-day goals as - I’ll go to sleep only
after I complete this report
• This explanation emerged out of an experimental study
Results: participants performed on a task when they were
given specific goals; as compared to those who were
just told “do your best” (Wood & Locke, 1990)

• Employees are best motivated when:

Specific, Challenging, and Attainable
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 McClelland’s Theory of Needs
Behavior of most individuals is motivated by three needs,
1. Need for Achievement (nAch)
– Prefer moderately difficult and challenging tasks  because
they prefer success above everything
– Value concrete feedback
2. Need for Affiliation (nAff)
– Develop and maintain warm and friendly relations
– Often develop internal conflicts (because their nAff interferes
with role requirements)
3. Need for Power (nPow)
– Prefer environment in which they can influence activities or
thoughts of others
– Actively seek leadership positions

*McClelland et al. (1953) 12

 Equity theory
• Originally for understanding ‘inequity’ in social
exchange
• Individuals are motivated to maintain fair or equitable
relationships with other relevant/comparable persons (Adams, 1965)
• Employees’ seek to maintain a state of equilibrium,
Input / Output (of self) = Input / Output (of
comparable others) (Adams, 1965, 1966)
• Underlying assumptions (Carrell & Dittrich, 1978)
1. belief that individuals value fair treatment
2. belief of fair treatment creates motivation to further maintain
fairness
3. social comparison where equity or inequity is perceived in
comparison to co-workers or comparable others 13
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 Expectancy Theory
• Individuals are motivated when they expect that their
effort and performance on the job will result in
desired outcomes (Vroom, 1964)
– In other words people will engage in work they find
attractive (leading to favorable consequences) and
achievable

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What we know:

Dissatisfaction Satisfaction

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What we know:

Dissatisfaction Satisfaction

What Herzberg says:

Dissatisfaction NO Dissatisfaction

NO Satisfaction Satisfaction
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 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
• Also called as the "content theory" of motivation
– Analyzed the job attitudes of accountants and engineers who
were asked to recall when they had felt positive or negative at
work and the reasons why

• Hence, suggests a two-step approach to

understanding employee motivation and satisfaction
1. Hygiene Factors are based on the need to for a
business to avoid unpleasantness at work (Org.
Level)
1. e.g. Company policy, administration, wages, salaries, quality of
supervision, inter-personal relations, working conditions
2. Motivator Factors are based on an individual's
need for personal growth (Individual Level)
1. e.g., status, opportunity for advancement, recognition,
responsibility, challenge 17
To provide a reasonable conclusion, and to present a
global account of motivation…

…we close with an explanation that in general sense

talks about the forces of motivation which are present
in almost all individuals

…the most celebrated of all perspectives Maslow’s Need

Hierarchy

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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

• Suggests that human motives exist in a hierarchy

• So, basic needs to be satisfied first
Biological needs  Social needs  Psychological needs
• Specifically, deficiency needs (e.g., hunger) must be satisfied before the
growth needs (e.g., esteem)

*Maslow, A. H. (1970) Pyramid

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self-
Higher actualization
Achieving potential,
Order/ Self-fulfillment
Growth
Needs Esteem Needs
Respect, Achieve success,
Recognition

Social Needs
Need to belong, Affiliation,
Lower Attachment
Order/
Deficiency Safety Needs
Security, Comfort, Freedom of fear
Needs

Physiological Needs
Hunger, Thirst, Shelter, Sleep

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“a musician must make music, an artist must
paint, a poet must write, if he is to be
ultimately at peace with himself. What a
man can be, he must be”
- Abraham H. Maslow (1970)

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 Implementing these theories in Organizations

• Job rotation Wow! I just want to learn new things

• Job enlargement I want more things to do!
• Job enrichment I want more elements to make it challenging!
• Flexi-time (flexibility of time is reward for this person)
• Job sharing (he doesn't minds sharing the credit for success, maybe he values
affiliation more)

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