Final revision Flashcards
How did Taylor (1911) and Ford view motivation?
Pay was the sole motivator (piece-rate pay, $5 day).
Content theories of motivation
Focus on the work itself and how this motivates employees. Explore both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
Usefulness of content theories
They explore both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; consider the work environment; and suggest a multiplicity of ways to motivate.
Maslow (1943) Hierarchy of needs
Workers are motivated by the most basic unfulfilled need. Factors of motivation are dynamic.
BUT - research wasn’t intended for workplace setting.
Herzberg (1966) Two-factor theory
Motivating and hygiene factors.
Motivating factors = satisfaction.
Hygiene factors = dissatisfaction.
BUT - doesn’t consider that people may not start from the bottom, or may skip layers.
Process theories
Look at how a worker is motivated through external influences.
Adams (1963) equity theory
Workers are motivated dependent upon their perception of fairness - e.g. if they are being treated equally to co-workers.
BUT - it is difficult for managers to gauge someone’s perception of fairness - also assumes workers are always rewarded on performance.
Vroom (1964) expectancy theory
People are motivated to perform actions that they expect will lead to their desired goals.
BUT - can motivation really be viewed so mathematically?
Locke (1968) goal-setting theory
Setting specific, clear, stretching goals will motivate employees.
BUT - can encourage tunnel vision and rivalry.
Hughes (1951) workplace motivation
Humans are motivated by status rather than rewards - how we are perceived by others within society is what motivates us. It is expected of us to work, so therefore we do it.
Personality
The sum of total ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.
Jung (1923) introverts/extraverts
Places individuals on a scale which measures the degree to which someone is introverted or extraverted.
Introvert
Gains energy from within, works best alone.
Extravert
Gains energy from others, excels in team work.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (1962)
Questionnaire which uses 4 scales to place someone into one of 16 personality types:
introversion/extraversion, thinking/feeling, sensing/intuition, judgement/perception.
(Built on Jung’s ideas).
Nomothetic approach to personality
Personalities can be represented on a static framework/model as a set of standard traits/types.
Trait theories are based upon the traits themselves.
Type theories consider the specific traits associated with a personality type.
Five Factor Model/”Big Five” personalities (OCEAN)
Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.
Nomothetic usefulness
Recruitment and selection - questionnaires offer a fast and simple method for determining personality.
BUT - low predictive validity (40%)
Ideographic approach to personality
Personalities are complex and unique to individuals - dynamic, always being shaped by external forces.
Ideographic usefulness
Allows managers to gain a more complete view of personality - but it is more time consuming and costly.
BUT - Can also feed into issues with the interview process - halo/horns effect.
Freud (1927) psycho-dynamic approach to personality
Personality/behaviour is determined and affected by external factors: family/upbringing, school, university, the workplace, etc.
BUT - studies were carried out in clinical setting - little workplace validity.
Social-radical approach
Personality/behaviour are directly impacted and shaped by the organisation itself.
Nomothetic criticism
Nature vs. nurture debate - approach is biased. Doesn’t look at the impact of external factors.
Traits can be interdependent and affect one another so shouldn’t be measured as independent variables.
Formal groups
Created by managers to accomplish goals and serve the needs of the organisation - departments, quality circles, boards of directors, etc.
Informal groups
Not formed/planned by mangers.
An effective team needs…
The right people, with the right technical/team-working skills, in the right environment.
Katzenbach and Smith (1993) high performance teams
These teams will lead to greater productivity.
Social identity theory
To be a part of a team people need to forgo an individualistic outlook & see themselves as part of a team.
Tuckman (1977) stages of group formation
Famous team-building model.
Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning.
Tuckman (1977) two factors affecting group dynamics
Interpersonal relationships, task orientation.
Criticism of Tuckman’s (1977) stages of group formation
Too simplistic - assumes group formation occurs in clear-cut stages.
Kur (1996) team ‘faces’
Teams will put on ‘faces’ to feign high performance.
Belbin’s (2010) team roles
Success = someone performing each of the 9 team roles.
Criticism of Belbin’s (2010) team roles
Self-assessment questionnaire - people lie.
Furnham at al (1993) criticism of Belbin’s team roles
His original research has limited evidence; questionnaire is vague.
Barry and Steward (1997) personality balance
Effective team = balance of introverted and extraverted personalities - complementary leader/follower roles can be carried out.
Janis (1972) groupthink
Individuals start to think as a group - norm for consensus overrides logical thinking.
How to combat groupthink (Janis, 1972)
Managers: encourage critical evaluation and open mindedness.
Organisational culture
The shared beliefs and values that guide the thinking and behaviour of members.
Schein (2010) cultural iceberg
artefacts = tangible, easiest to change, least significant (e.g. buildings, staff uniforms).
values = originate from founder, passed on through mission statements.
underlying assumptions = deepest layer, changing them can cause anxiety, defence mechanisms.
Hofstede (1980) 6 cultural dimensions
power-distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, indulgence/restraint, long-term orientation, masculinity/femininity.
100,000 IBM employees, 50 countries.
BUT - only one firm - is it valid?
Handy (2009) 4 cultural categories
Power culture = zeus role culture = apollo task culture = athena personal culture = dionysius BUT - generalised. accuracy depends on ability to identify culture & ignores subcultures.
Strong culture
deeply embedded into org; set of core values; break barriers of self-interest.
Wilmott (1993) criticism of strong cultures
They hold a form of slavery and control over workers.
Weak culture
core values are unclear; causes inconsistent behaviour; costly for organisations in terms of more bureaucracy required & loss of sales due to inconsistent customer experience.
Behaviourist view of learning
learning can be maintained through rewards and punishments - reward needs to be continuous.
Taylor’s (1911) view on learning
Saw learning as a threat - reduced learning to workers learning how to do one repetitive task.
Learning organisation and Organisational learning - brings competitive advantages
More innovative and capable of responding to change.
They excel at knowledge sharing, undertake double-loop learning, etc.
