Motivation in Organizations

Question 1

Performance = f(____________ + Motivation + _____________)

Answer 1

• Ability
• Environment

Question 2

Maslow’s (1954) _______________ was derived from his observations while working as a humanistic clinical psychologist and interest in the study of healthy (“normal”) individuals.

Answer 2

Need Hierarchy Theory.

Question 3

Maslow’s theory proposes that motivation is the result of five basic instinctual needs:

• Physiological
• ______________
• Social (Belongingess and Love)
• ______________
• Self-Actualization

Answer 3

• Safety
• Esteem

Question 4

Alderfer (1972) developed his theory as an alternative to Maslow’s approach and reduced Maslow’s five need to 3: _______________, _______________, and ________________ (ERG).

Answer 4

• Existence
• Relatedness
• Growth

Question 5

______________ theory has generally received more empirical support than ________________ theory.

Answer 5

• ERG
• Need Hierarchy

Question 6

McClelland (1965) used the _________________________ (TAT) to identify needs that underlie job motivation. Results suggested that basic needs are culturally determined and that 3 needs often act as motivators in work settings.

Answer 6

Thematic Aperception Test.

Question 7

The need for ________________ refers to the need to surpass standards of excellence and to advance and grow. Individuals with a high degree of this need are goal- and task-oriented.

Answer 7

Achievement.

Question 8

The need for _______________ refers to the need to control or influence others. McClelland distinguished between ________________ (which is used to benefit others) and ________________ (which is used to benefit oneself) and proposed that effective leaders have a high need for the former.

Answer 8

• Power
• Socialized power
• Personalized power

Question 9

The need for ________________ refers to the need to establish warm and close relationships with other people. Individuals high in this need work best in teams and in jobs that require them to work well with others.

Answer 9

Affiliation.

Question 10

Of the three needs, the ___________________(nACH) has been investigated the most.

Answer 10

Need for achievement.

Question 11

Employees with high nACH usually choose tasks of _____________ difficulty and risk, apparently because success on these task depends more on ___________ than on uncontrollable factors.

Answer 11

• Moderate
• Effort

Question 12

High nACH employees prefer frequent, ____________ feedback, and view _______________ as a source of feedback and recognition.

Answer 12

• Concrete
• Monetary rewards

Question 13

Because high nACH employees prefer to assume personal responsibility rather than delegate work, they are likely to make good ______________ and entrepreneurs, but not good ______________.

Answer 13

• Salespeople
• Managers

Question 14

Herzberg’s ___________________ is a theory of both satisfaction and motivation, and, in contrast to most other theories, it describes satisfaction and dissatisfaction as independent attitudes.

Answer 14

Two-factor theory.

Question 15

Using a ____________________ technique that involved having engineers and accountants identify specific work experiences that contributed to their satisfaction and dissatisfaction, Herzberg derived ___ basic needs.

Answer 15

• Critical-incidents
• 2

Question 16

_________________ needs have little effect on job satisfaction and motivation, but produce dissatisfaction when they are unfulfilled.

Answer 16

Lower-level needs.

Question 17

Factors that satisfy lower-level needs are called ______________ (job context) factors and include pay, benefits, co-worker relationships, supervision, job security, and physical work conditions.

Answer 17

Hygiene.

Question 18

_____________________ increase job satisfaction and motivation when they are fulfilled but do not cause dissatisfaction when they are unfulfilled.

Answer 18

Higher-level needs.

Question 19

Factors that satisfy higher-level needs are referred to as ____________ (job content) factors and include opportunities for responsibility, advancement, recognition, and achievement.

Answer 19

Motivator.

Question 20

Herzberg’s theory ________________ been fully supported by the research. There is evidence that _____________ are more potent than _______________ in producing motivation and satisfaction, but there is evidence that both types of factors affect satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Answer 20

• Has not
• Motivators
• Hygiene factors

Bonus: Herzberg’s theory has also been criticized as being method-bound.

Question 21

An important contribution of Herzberg’s work was his development of _______________ as a way to increase worker motivation. This involves combining several jobs into a larger job so that the employee performs a meaningful unit of work and is given greater responsibility, freedom, autonomy, and control.

Answer 21

Job enrichment.

Question 22

Studies suggest that job enrichment’s strongest impact is on __________________, and that its effects vary from individual to individual.

Answer 22

Job satisfaction.

Question 23

Enrichment is _______________ by younger and well-educated employees, employees who have the skills needed to perform the enriched job, and employees high in nACH, and it can _________________ in employees with low nACH.

Answer 23

• Usually welcomed
• Elicit anxiety and frustration

Question 24

In contrast to job enrichment, _______________________ entails increasing the job’s horizontal loading by increasing the number and variety of tasks. It can reduce boredom, but does not usually have a substantial impact on satisfaction and motivation.

Answer 24

Job enlargement.

Question 25

According to Locke and Latham’s (1990) ______________, employees are motivated to achieve goals they have consciously accepted and are, therefore, committed to. It suggests that participation in goal-setting is really only necessary whenever employees are not likely to accept assigned goals.

Answer 25

Goal-setting Theory.

Question 26

Goal-setting theory predicts that specific goals and moderately difficult goals (those that have about a ___% chance of being accomplished) produce _________ levels of productivity than easy, general, or ambiguous goals, and that the ______________ effect of moderately difficult goals on productivity is strongest for simple tasks.

Answer 26

• 50%
• Higher
• Positive

Question 27

Studies suggest that a combination of _____________ plus ______________ is superior in terms of improving productivity than either alone.

Answer 27

• Goal-setting
• Feedback

Question 28

Research on group versus individual goals suggests that when the task requires workers to work independently, ______________ goals are usually preferable; however, when the task depends on the cooperation and interdependence of group members, ___________ goals are more effective and a combination of the two may be no more effective than ___________ goals alone.

Answer 28

• Individual
• Group
• Group

Question 29

Self-set goals are associated with greater goal commitment for people with ________________, while assigned goals produce greater commitment for people with _______________.

Answer 29

• High nACH
• Low nACH

Question 30

Adams (1963) _______________ emphasizes the impact of social comparison on motivation and proposes that employees compare the ratio of their own inputs (skills, experience, education, etc.) to outcomes (financial and nonfinancial rewards) to the input/outcome ratios of others who are performing similar jobs.

Answer 30

Equity theory.

Question 31

According to _______________, an employee will work hard if he or she:

a) Believes that high effort will lead to successful task performance (high ____________)
b) Believes that successful performance will lead to rewards (high ______________)
c) Views the rewards as desirable (positive __________)

Answer 31

• Expectancy theory
• Expectancy
• Instrumentality
• Valence

Question 32

Bandura’s (1986, 1997) _____________________ emphasizes the self-regulation of behavior and proposes that it involves four processes.

Answer 32

Social cognitive theory.

Question 33

SCT - _________________: The individual establishes personal goals that represent a desired behavioral state, with the nature of these goals being influenced by the individual’s past experiences and self-efficacy beliefs.

Answer 33

Goal-setting.

Question 34

SCT - _________________: After setting goals, the individual monitors his/her goal-related behaviors.

Answer 34

Self-observation.

Question 35

SCT - __________________: The individual uses information obtained during self-observation to compare current behaviors to behavioral goals.

Answer 35

Self-evaluation.

Question 36

SCT - _____________________: Self-evaluation results in both positive and negative reactions.

Answer 36

Self-reaction.