“Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of

effort toward attaining a goal.”.

The three key elements in our definition are intensity, direction, and persistence. Intensity describes
how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus on when we talk about motivation.
However, high intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job-performance outcomes unless the effort is
channeled in a direction that benefits the organization. Therefore, we con- sider the quality of effort as
well as its intensity. Effort directed toward, and consistent with, the organization’s goals is the kind of
effort we should be seek-ing. Finally, motivation has a persistence dimension. This measures how long a
person can maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
Douglas mcgeorge theory of x and y
Two factor theory by fredrick hazberg
Erg theory

David McCelland theory of need

McClelland’s theory of needs A theory That states achievement, power, and affiliation are three
important needs that help explain motivation.

McClelland’s theory of needs was developed by David McClelland and his associates. 13 It looks at three
needs:
● Need for achievement (nAch) is the drive to excel, to achieve in relationship to a set of standards.

● Need for power (nPow) is the need to make others behave in a way they would not have otherwise.

● Need for affiliation (nAff) is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.

McClelland and subsequent researchers focused most of their attention on nAch. High achievers
perform best when they perceive their probability of success as 0.5—that is, a 50–50 chance. They
dislike gambling with high odds because they get no achievement satisfaction from success that comes
by pure chance. Similarly, they dislike low odds (high probability of success) because then there is no
challenge to their skills. They like to set goals that require stretching themselves a little.

an individual's specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by one's life experiences.
He described three types of motivational need. A person's motivation and effectiveness in
certain job functions are influenced by these three needs.
1. Need for affiliation
2. Need for power
3. Need for achievement
1.Need for Affiliation [n-affil]
The n-affil person is 'affiliation motivated', and has a need for friendly relationships and is
motivated towards interaction with other people. They need harmonious relationships with
other people and need to feel accepted by other people. The affiliation driver produces
motivation and need to be liked and held in popular regard. These people are team players.
They tend to conform to the norms of their work group. High n-affil individuals prefer work that
provides significant personal interaction. They perform well in customer service and client
interaction situations.
2. Need for Power[n-pow]
The n-pow person is 'authority motivated'. This driver produces a need to be influential,
effective and to make an impact. There is a strong need to lead and for their ideas to prevail.
There is also motivation and need towards increasing personal status and prestige. A person's
need for power can be one of two types - personal and institutional. Those who need personal
power want to direct others, and this need often is perceived as undesirable. Persons who
Need institutional power (also known as social power) want to organize the efforts of others to
further the goals of the organization. Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to
be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.
3.Need for Achievement [n-ach]
The n-ach person is 'achievement motivated' and therefore seeks achievement, attainment of
realistic but challenging goals, and advancement in the job. There is a strong need for feedback
as to achievement and progress, and a need for a sense of accomplishment. People with a high
need for achievement seek to excel and thus tend to avoid both low-risk and high- risk
situations. Achievers avoid low-risk situations because the easily attained success is not a
genuine achievement. In high-risk projects, achievers see the outcome as one of chance rather
than one's own effort. High n-ach individuals prefer work that has a moderate probability of
success, ideally a 50% chance. They prefer either to work alone or with other high achievers

Goal setting motivation theory

A theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance.
Research on goal-setting theory in fact reveals impressive effects of goal specificity, challenge,
and feedback on performance.
People do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing toward their goals,
because it helps identify discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to
do—that is, feedback guides behavior. But all feedback is not equally potent. Self-generated
feedback—with which employees are able to monitor their own progress—is more powerful
than externally generated feedback
Self-Efficacy Theory
Self-efficacy (also known as social cognitive theory or social learning theory) refers to an
individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. 56 The higher your self-
efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to succeed. So, in difficult situations,
people with low self-efficacy are more likely to lessen their effort or give up altogether, while
those with high self-efficacy will try harder to master the challenge. 57 Self-efficacy can create a
positive spiral in which those with high efficacy become more engaged in their tasks and then,
in turn, increase performance, which increases efficacy further. 58 Changes in self-efficacy over
time are related to changes in creative performance as well. Individuals high in self-efficacy also
seem to respond to negative feedback with increased effort and motivation, while those low in
self-efficacy are likely to lessen their effort after negative feedback.
The researcher who developed self-efficacy theory, Albert Bandura, proposes four ways self-
efficacy can be increased: 61
1. Enactive mastery.
2. Vicarious modeling.
3. Verbal persuasion.
4. Arousal

According to Bandura, the most important source of increasing self-efficacy is enactive

mastery—that is, gaining relevant experience with the task or job. If you’ve been able to do the
job successfully in the past, you’re more confident you’ll be able to do it in the future.
The second source is vicarious modeling—becoming more confident because you see someone
else doing the task. If your friend slims down, it increases your confidence that you can lose
weight, too. Vicarious modeling is most effective when you see yourself as similar to the person
you are observing.
The third source is verbal persuasion: becoming more confident because someone convinces
you that you have the skills necessary to be successful. Motivational speakers use this tactic.
Finally, Bandura argues that arousal increases self-efficacy. Arousal leads to an energized state,
so the person gets “psyched up” and performs better. But if the task requires a steady, lower-
key perspective (say, carefully editing a manuscript), arousal may in fact hurt performance.

Reinforcement theory
A theory that says that behavior is a function of its consequences.

Job design theory

Research in job design suggests the way the elements in a job are organized can increase or
decrease effort and also suggests what those elements are.

The Job Characteristics Model Developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, the job
characteristics model (JCM) says we can describe any job in terms of five core job dimensions: 1
 1. Skill variety is the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so the
worker can use a number of different skills and talent. The work of a garage owner-operator
who does electrical repairs, rebuilds engines, does bodywork, and interacts with customers
scores high on skill variety. The job of a bodyshop worker who sprays paint 8 hours a day scores
low on this dimension.
2. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable
piece of work. A cabinetmaker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the
object, and finishes it to perfection has a job that scores high on task identity. A job scoring low
on this dimension is operating a factory lathe solely to make table legs.
3. Task significance is the degree to which a job affects the lives or work of other people. The
job of a nurse handling the diverse needs of patients in a hospital intensive care unit scores high
on task significance; sweeping floors in a hospital scores low.
4. Autonomy is the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, in-dependence, and
discretion in scheduling work and determining the procedures in carrying it out. A salesperson
who work each day and decides on the most effective sales approach for each customer
without supervision has a highly autonomous job. A salesperson who is given a set of leads each
day and is required to follow a standardized sales script with each potential customer has a job
low on autonomy.
5. Feedback is the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear
information about your own performance. A job with high feedback is assembling iPads and
testing them to see whether they operate properly. A factory worker who assembles iPads but
then routes them to a quality-control inspector for testing and adjustments receives low
feedback from his or her activities his or her own.
 Equity theory

A theory that says that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others
and then respond to eliminate any inequities.
There are four referent comparisons:
1. Self–inside. An employee’s experiences in a different position inside the current
organization.
2. Self–outside. An employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside the employee’s
current organization.
3. Other–inside. Another individual or group of individuals inside the organization.
4. Other–outside. Another individual or group of individuals outside the organization.

Based on equity theory, employees who perceive inequity will make one of six choices:
1. Change inputs (exert less effort if underpaid or more if overpaid).
2. Change outcomes (individuals paid on a piece-rate basis can increase their pay by producing
a higher quantity of units of lower quality).
3. Distort perceptions of self (“I used to think I worked at a moderate pace, but now I realize I
work a lot harder than everyone else.”).
4. Distort perceptions of others (“Mike’s job isn’t as desirable as I thought.”).
5. Choose a different referent (“I may not make as much as my brother-in-law, but I’m doing a
lot better than my Dad did when he was my age.”).
6. Leave the field (quit the job).

While most research on equity theory has focused on pay, some employ-
ees also look for equity in the distribution of other organizational rewards like
high-status job titles and large and lavishly furnished offices. 82

distributive justice Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among
individuals.
procedural justice The perceived fairness of the process used to determine the
distribution of rewards.

interactional justice The perceived degree to which an individual is treated with dignity,
concern, and respect. When people are treated in an unjust manner (at least in their own eyes),
they retaliate (for example, badmouthing a supervisor). 90 Because people intimately connect
interactional justice or injustice to the conveyer of the information, we would expect
perceptions of injustice to be more closely related to the supervisor. Generally, that’s what the
evidence suggests.

Expectancy theory
A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain 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. Victor vroom s theory.

The theory, therefore, focuses on three relationships

1. Effort–performance relationship. The probability perceived by the individual that exerting a

given amount of effort will lead to performance.
2. Performance–reward relationship. The degree to which the individual believes performing at
a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
3. Reward personal goals relationship. The degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an
individual’s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the
individual.