Motivation

Question 1

What did Peter Drucker do?

Answer 1

Identified the skills for managers to succeed in their roles: time management, knowing how + where to apply talents, prioriting and planning and ability to make decisions

Question 2

What were Peter Drucker’s key beliefs?

Answer 2

• Employees are most important asset
• Managers primary role is to enable people to perform
• Employees need ongoing training not just formal education

Question 3

What is Peter Drucker’s strategy?

Answer 3

• Decentralise and delayer
• Take an interest
• Value employees
• Offer ongoing training
• Create a community
• Rewards

Question 4

What is Peter Drucker’s management by objectives?

Answer 4

• Believes a lack of goals = lack of job satisfaction
• Heart of MBO is participative goal setting
• Goal is set with line manager so each employee understands what is expected

Question 5

What are the advantages of MBO?

Answer 5

• greater job satisfaction
• clear sense of direction
• improved communication and coordination
• employee understands what is expected
• can be linked to rewards

Question 6

What are the disadvantages of MBO?

Answer 6

• more time consuming - two way process
• must be realistic objectives, targets can’t be too high
• depends on the type of organisaion and nature or workers

Question 7

What were Tom Peter’s beliefs?

Answer 7

• Believed you must focus on people, customers and action for success
• Executives too focused on numbers, control and bureaucracy

Question 8

What was Tom Peter’s strategy?

Answer 8

• Acknowledging employee’s efforts
• Involving employees in decisions
• Encouraging participation
• Try and offer job security

Question 9

What are the disadvantages of Tom Peter’s strategy?

Answer 9

He has been accused of inconsistency, first championing a large business and then a said a smaller more flexible firm was better

Question 10

What factors affect a motivational method?

Answer 10

• culture
• nature of workforce
• manager’s profile and skills and leadership style
• resources available

Question 11

What did Edwin Locke propose in 1968?

Answer 11

Goal setting theory - setting appropriate goals for employees can be useful and a powerful tool of motivation

Question 12

What were Locke’s five principals important for goal setting?

Answer 12

• Clarity
• Challenge
• Feedback
• Task complexity
• Commitment

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of goal setting theory?

Answer 13

• mere setting of goals will not motivate
• employee and group goals must be alligned
• could be pressurising
• requires monitoring
• manageras need to be supportive not critical
• new or complex tasks: may be difficult to set goals

Question 14

What was Frederick Taylor’s scientific management?

Answer 14

Motivated using a scientific approach = principles he believed in could be replicated and applied in most industrial settings. Believed that money motivated.

Question 15

How did Taylor devise his scientific management?

Answer 15

Observed employees doing their jobs to see exactly what tasks were being performed. Broke tasks down to ensure a high division of labour.

Question 16

What happened once Taylor broke the tasks down?

Answer 16

Those who were best suited to each job would be recruited and trained to perform the specialised task. Employees would be paid on a piece rate

Question 17

What are the limitations of Taylor’s approach?

Answer 17

• Interested in productive efficiency not motivation

- Job satisfaction not considered at the time

Question 18

What was Elton Mayo’s Human Relations Management?

Answer 18

Atlered working conditions such as lighting, breaks and choice of who to work with as well as paying attention to employees and saw increase in productivity

Question 19

Why was Mayo against the piece rate?

Answer 19

Believed that employees thought the firm would reduce thier pay if they increased their output by too much

Question 20

What did Mayo conclude?

Answer 20

Employees respond to changes in working environment
Recognition and consultation is important to employees
Employees like to work in groups
Communication affects productivity

Question 21

What are the limitations of Mayo’s Human Relations Management?

Answer 21

Several variables were often changed at the same time so it is difficult to identify the exact cause of the change in productivity
It took part at the beginning of the twentieth century so is difficult to apply to now

Question 22

What is the difference between content theories and process theories?

Answer 22

Content theories are concerned with identifying the needs of an individual and using motivation to fulfil these needs, process theories deal with how motivation occurs

Question 23

What is David McCllelands three needs theory?

Answer 23

That employees either have a need for achivement, a neew for power or a need for affiliation and that if one is more dominant it affects their behaviour

Question 24

What did McClelland believe about the three needs?

Answer 24

Categories weren’t mutually exclusive but there would usually be a bias towards one but this could be altered by shaping needs through training.

Question 25

What is the need for achievement; N-Ach as described by McClelland?

Answer 25

A - prefers challenging goals in order to feel a sense of achievement
B - likes to work on a task where the results are based on effort
C - likes to work with others driven by N-Ach
D - likes to receive regular feedback

Question 26

What is the need for power; N-Pow as described by McClelland?

Answer 26

A - likes to influence, encourage or dominate others
B - places a value on the business hierarchy
C - enjoys recognition and status
D - likes to win

Question 27

What is the need for affiliation; N-Aff as described by McClelland?

Answer 27

A - likes teamwork and being accepted by others
B - is people interested rather than task orientated
C - adheres to the culture of the workplace
D - prefers to take a cooperative approach to work

Question 28

What is a summary of the three needs by McClelland?

Answer 28

Ach: wants progression and to achieve firm’s goals
Pow: likes being in charge and being a manager
Aff: team player, enjoys social interaction and culture

Question 29

What are the limitations of McClellands theory?

Answer 29

• A bias towards a need may not mean they are suited to the job
• May not be motivated by what their needs say they will be

Question 30

What are hygiene factors from Herzberg’s two factor theory?

Answer 30

Factors that cause job dissatisfaction but they do not motivate employees or cause job satisfaction
E.G pay, pensions, working conditions and the relationship with the manager

Question 31

What are motivating factors from Herzberg’s two factor theory?

Answer 31

Motivators relate to the job itself not the environment. Must have hyigene factors before can be motivated.
E.G responsibility, recognition, meaningful and rewarding work, opportunity for promotion

Question 32

Wha are the limitations of Herzberg’s two factor theory?

Answer 32

• Designed in manufacturing industry, not necessarily true of today’s large tertiary industry
• Applies on model to all people, not all people are motivated or dissatisfied by the same thing
• Some people are motivated by hygiene factors

Question 33

What is Maslow’s heirachy of needs?

Answer 33

Each layer of the hierarchy must be met for the next to be met. Unsatisfied needs are a motivating factor but if lower needs aren’t met then an employee won’t be focused on the higher needs.

Question 34

What are the layers of Maslow’s heirachy?

Answer 34

Physiochological needs - fair wage, breaks
Safety needs - health and safety, protection
Social needs - teamwork, consultation
Esteem needs - opportunity for promotion/leadership
Self Actualisation - appraisal, training, achievement

Question 35

What are the limitations of Maslow’s theory?

Answer 35

• Not designed for the business world
• Not necessarily true that all employees seek self actualisation through work
• Could be argued that social needs are as fundamental as safety needs

Question 36

What is Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory?

Answer 36

Force = valence x expectancy x instrumentality
Valence - value placed on reward
Expectancy - confidence in being able to do task
Instrumentality - will rewards be delivered?

Question 37

What are the limitations of Vroom’s expectancy theory?

Answer 37

• Not applicable where rewards aren’t associated with performance
• Some workers will do a task anyway without thinking they will get a reward or believing they can do it