Chapter 4a: Motivation THEORIES

Question 1

What is motivation?

3 main parts, explain them a bit

Answer 1

The INTENSITY, DIRECTION ,AND PERSISTENCE of one’s efforts towards attaining a goal

Direction: effort that’s consistent with organizational goals

Intensity: how hard u try

Persistence: How long you can maintain the effort

Question 2

Types of motivators?

Two, explain a bit

Answer 2

1. Extrinsic Motivation
   - Engaging for a tangible reward: pay, promotion, praise, punishment
   “Study to get good grades, work for a paycheque”
2. Intrinsic Motivation
   - Engage for activities sake (no tangible rewards
   - be motivated because you enjoy it and to prove something to yourself
   “Study to learn, work for a sense of accomplishment”

Question 3

Motivations Theories

3, and what are their relations with each other?

Answer 3

1. Needs Theories
   WHAT motivates workers (needs, incentives)
2. Process Theories
   HOW different factors motivate people
3. Response Theories
   HOW people response to rewards

They compliment each other, instead on contradictions

Question 4

Needs Theories of Motivation

• What is the basic idea
• The four different theories

Answer 4

1. Individuals have needs, then when they are unsatisfied, will result in motivation. (To get it)
2. Maslow’s heirarchy of needs
3. Alderfers’s ERG theory
4. McClelland’s theory of needs
5. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Question 5

MASLOW: Maslow’s 5 levels of hierarchy (From the bottom)

5

Answer 5

(From the bottom)
1. Physiological (thirst, hunger)

2. Safety (security, protection from harm)
3. Social (belongingness, acceptance, friends)
4. Esteem (internail - self respect, external - status, attention)
5. Self Actualization - self fulfillment, achieving potentials, the desire to become

Question 6

MASLOW: 3 main points about the theory?

Answer 6

1) Needs are innate, universal, and unchanging
2) The lower/lowest needs have the strongest effect

3) It Must move in a hierarchy ****
- When lower is satisfied, next level becomes the primary motivator
- Can’t move to next level until lower are satisfied

Question 7

MASLOW: Why is the hierarchy methods good and bad? (2) (basically all bad)

Answer 7

• Intuitive and easy to understand
• Research doesn’t validate the theory:
• Little support for the need of hierarchy
• data collection/interpretation was criticized.

Extra:

• Behavior driven by multiple needs
• People are both happy/unhappy in some extent in ALL areas
• People have different hierarchies
• Unique needs for unique folks!

Question 8

ALDERFER’S ERG

1) WHAT IS IT
2) Three core groups?

Answer 8

1. Reworking of Maslow’s hierarchy to fit research.
2. • Existence (basic material existence requirements)
   • Relatedness (desire to maintain relationships)
   • Growth (inner desire for personal development)

Question 9

ALDERFER’S ERG: Good and bad?

2

Answer 9

1. Removed hierarchical assumptions
   - all three can be motivators at once, don’t rely on each other

Does slightly better job than maslow’s pyramid

2. • Not very accurate, even if it does do Better than maslow’s EMPIRICALLY

Extra:
Frustration Regression Hypothesis
- if one of the groups in blocked, the importance of the other two increases
- Might cause focus on lower level needs if higher needs are somehow blocked

Question 10

McClellands’s Theory of Needs

1) What is it
2) Three categories( explain a bit)

Answer 10

1. People have varying levels of each of 3 needs: (varying types of needs)

• Need for achievement
  The drive to excel and achieve
  (Good for jobs with responsiblity and moderate risk - not good managers, good entrepreneurs)
• Need for Power
  Desire to exert control and lead
  (Good managers, must have low affiliation levels though)
• Need for affiliation
  Desire for friendly and close relationships
  Seeking approval, avoiding confrontation. Pleasing others so -> bad at hard-decisions.

Question 11

THEORY OF NEEDS: Good and bad? (2)

Answer 11

1. Good empirical support
   Theory Is consistent with knowing individual differences among people
2. Mixed empirical support

Question 12

Herzberg;s Two factor Theory of Satisfaction

1) What is it
2) what is it made of (2)

Answer 12

1. A theory that separates satisfaction and dissatisfaction (They should not be on the same scale!)

2) Hygiene Factors -> Dissatisfaction to No Dissastisfaction
Extrinsic things: company policies, pay, work conditions

Motivators -> No satisfaction to Satisfaction
Intrinsic things: Growth, responsibility, personal achievement

EXTRA:
Tl;dr: Hygiene factors must be met to avoid dissatisfaction but will not lead to satisfaction.
Motivator factors lead to satisfaction. 6po

Question 13

TWO_FACTOR: bad and bad? (2)

Answer 13

1. Not really a theory of motivation

2. Assumes link between satisfaction and productivity that wasn’t measured/proven

Question 14

What are the two process theories of Motivation?

1) What is it
2) What are they

Answer 14

1) Theories that look at the actual process of motivation

• Expectancy theory
• Goal setting theory

Question 15

EXPECTANCY THEORY:

1) Basic premise? (1)
2) Formula for effort and the components? (3)

Answer 15

1. Motivation totally depends on how much we want something and how likely we think we can get it
2. Effort - Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valuance
   (If any of them is zero, there is no effort)

Question 16

EXPECTANCY THEORY:

1) How to inc. expectancy?
2) How to inc. Instrumentality?
3) Increasing Valence?

Answer 16

1)
- Make sure employees are up to the challenge
- match job to the person
- Train them
- Give feedback on performance

2)
- Explain the link between the reward and the performance
- Deliver on promises
- be “visible” in recognizing performance

3)
- Use rewards that employees value (ask them!)

Question 17

GOAL SETTING THEORY:

1) basic premise?
2) Aspects of the goal? (2 things)

Answer 17

Theory that SPECIFIC and DIFFICULT (but attainable) goals lead to higher performance

2)
- Specificity of goal:
Instead of “do you best” be specific - “Do this within this”

• Difficulty of goal:
  Adjust effort for goal difficulty - work less for easier goals, vise verse & the more difficult, the better unless impossible

Question 18

GOAL-SETTING THEORY:

1) 5 aspects of SMART GOALS?
2) Explain them a bit (5)

Answer 18

1. Specific
   Clear to understand
2. Measurable
   - Employees know the performance scale
   - (works better for more simple jobs, not complex jobs)
3. Attainable!
   * remember if expectancy is 0, effort in general is 0
4. Relavent
   - goals need to be relavent and similar with firm organizational goals
5. Time Bound
   - needs to have a deadline!

Question 19

GOAL-SETTING THEORY:

4 things about goals and performance?

Answer 19

1. Goal commitment
   - The more public, the better!
2. Difficulty
   - Difficulty is subjective - use past performance as scale
3. Self-set (voluntary set) goals rather than assigned goals
   - Increases self “goal acceptance” which significantly affects performance
   - Still pay attention to goal congruence
   - might play the game - setting lower goals to look good
4. Self-efficacy
   Belief that you can complete the task

Question 20

Bandura’s self efficacy theory?

1) What is it
2. What is higher efficacy related to? (4 things, just give a few)

Answer 20

1. Individuals belief that they can capably perform the task
2. • Great confidence
   • Higher likelihood of accepting a challenge
   • Greater persistence
   • Better responses to negative feedback

Question 21

How to increase self efficacy?

3 things, explain them a bit

Answer 21

1. Enactive mastery
   “Practice makes perfect”
   - Gain relavent experience
2. Vicarious modeling
   - Increasing confidence by seeing other perform the task
   - Most effective when the person completing tasks is similar to you
3. Verbal Persuasion
   - Pygmalion effect (“Teacher-expectancy effort - Basically self fulfilling prophecy

Question 22

GOAL SETTING THEORY:
- Side effects to goal setting?
(6 things)

Answer 22

1. Goal’s focus is so narrow you overlook important features
   (Inattentional blindness, tunnel vision)
2. Too many goals
   - lose track, only focus on one
3. Inappropriate time-horizon
   - “Myopic Behavior”: short term targets at the expense of long term growth
4. Goals may increase risky behavior
5. Goals can inspire unethical Behavior
   - I.E. Car mechanics overcharging for work and completing and charging for unnecessary repairs
6. Increases extrinsic motivation, but can harm intrinsic motivation

Question 23

ADAMS EQUITY THEORY:
1) Basic premises?

2) 2 main points of the theory?

Answer 23

1. Individuals want balance between what they put in (inputs I.e. Effort, experience) and what they get out from it (money, promotions) - compared to others.

Basically: you (input/output) = other(input/output) ?? (Is it fair?
- you usually compare with others in the company or others in similar professions

2.
Social Comparison; comparing ur input/output what others to get rid of inequities (unfairness)

Relativity of rewards: not only the amount of the rewards but about what it it’s in comparison with what others receive.

Question 24

EQUITY THEORY:

1) When ratios are equal?
2) When ratios are unequal? (Underawarded/ overs worded)
3) what does inequity drive people to do?

Answer 24

1. Equal:
   No tensions -situation is unfair
2. Unequal:
   - tensions
   - under-rewarded. - feel angry
   - over-rewarded feel guilt
3. Tensions with inequity bring people to try and make it fair (complain, etc)

EXTRA: primates hate inequity too!

Question 25

EQUITY THEORY: A few examples on correcting inequity feelings?

Answer 25

1. Reduce input (less organizational citizenship)
2. Increase your outcomes (ask for a raise)
3. Change our perceptions (starts thinking others perks aren’t rlly valuable)
4. Leave the field (quit!)

Question 26

Good and bad things about EQUITY THEORY?

1) good
2) bad
3) bad: what does it and doesn’t it explain?

Answer 26

1) good at predicting Behavior in situations with unequal distribution of rewards (pay)

2) Issues:
- based on perception: your inputs may seem different to others
- difficult to put in practice

3)
Explains only some feelings of fairness
- Procedural justice is JUST AS important as distributive justice!