Module 1

Motivation

Notes

Course Outcome (CO) 1

Students should be able to justify the applicability of various theories of Motivation in given situation and
appraise the role of motivation in Team Behaviour.

MBA Semester 4
Course –
Topics Covered
1. Concept of Motivation
2. Maslow’s Theory of Motivation
3. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation
4. Application of Motivation Concept
5. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
6. Role of Motivation in Team Behaviour

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Module – 1
Motivation
1. Concept of Motivation

It has been established that motivation is well applicable to the work environment. Different factors motivate
the employees. However, these factors vary from country to country. Focus is on the application of motivation
through job design, job enrichment, job enlargement, de-jobbing environment, management by objectives,
employee recognition programmes, variable pay, flexible benefits, employee involvement programmes like
workers’ participation in management and quality circles and quality of work life.

Motivation may be defined as a planned managerial process, which stimulates people to work to the best of
their capabilities, by providing them with motives, which are based on their unfulfilled needs. The term
motivation is derived from the word ‘motive”. The word ‘motive’ as a noun means an objective, as a verb this
word means moving into action. Therefore, motives are forces which induce people to act in a way, so as to
ensure the fulfilment of a particular human need at a time. Behind every human action there is a motive.
Therefore, management must provide motives to people to make them work for the organization.

2. Maslow’s Theory of Motivation

One of the most popular needs theories is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow proposed
that motivation is the result of a person's attempt at fulfilling five basic needs: physiological, safety, social,
esteem and self-actualization. According to Maslow, these needs can create internal pressures that can
influence a person's behaviour.

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 Physiological needs are those needs required for human survival such as air, food, water, shelter, clothing
and sleep. As a manager, you can account for the physiological needs of your employees by

providing comfortable working conditions, reasonable work hours and the necessary breaks to use the
bathroom and eat and/or drink.

Safety needs include those needs that provide a person with a sense of security and well-being. Personal
security, financial security, good health and protection from accidents, harm and their adverse effects are all
included in safety needs. As a manager, you can account for the safety needs of your employees by providing
safe working conditions, secure compensation (such as a salary) and job security, which is especially important
in a bad economy.

Social needs, also called love and belonging, refer to the need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance.
Social needs are important to humans so that they do not feel alone, isolated and depressed. Friendships,
family and intimacy all work to fulfil social needs. As a manager, you can account for the social needs of your
employees by making sure each of your employees know one another, encouraging cooperative teamwork,
being an accessible and kind supervisor and promoting a good work-life balance.

Esteem needs refer to the need for self-esteem and respect, with self-respect being slightly more important
than gaining respect and admiration from others. As a manager, you can account for the esteem needs of your
employees by offering praise and recognition when the employee does well, and offering promotions and
additional responsibility to reflect your belief that they are a valued employee.

Self-actualization needs describe a person's need to reach his or her full potential. The need to become what
one is capable of is something that is highly personal. While I might have the need to be a good parent, you
might have the need to hold an executive-level position within your organization. Because this need is
individualized, as a manager, you can account for this need by providing challenging work, inviting employees
to participate in decision-making and giving them flexibility and autonomy in their jobs.

As the name of the theory indicates, Maslow believed that these needs exist in a hierarchical order. This
progression principle suggests that lower-level needs must be met before higher-level needs. The deficit
principle claims that once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator because an individual will take action
only to satisfy unmet needs. If you look at this pyramid you can see how Maslow's needs are organized with
basic physiological needs, such as air, food, water and sleep, at the bottom and the idea of self-actualization,
or when a person reaches the full potential in life, at the top.

3. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the motivatorhygiene
theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction

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 while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the opposite of
“Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-

a. Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation
at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are absent /
if these factors are non-existent at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene
factors are those factors which when adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not
make them dissatisfied. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as
dissatisfiers or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors
describe the job environment/scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the physiological needs which
the individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled. Hygiene factors include:
• Pay - The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and
competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain.
• Company Policies and administrative policies - The company policies should not be too rigid.
They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks,
vacation, etc.
• Fringe benefits - The employees should be offered health care plans (Mediclaim), benefits for
the family members, employee help programmes, etc.
• Physical Working conditions - The working conditions should be safe, clean and hygienic. The
work equipment should be updated and well-maintained.
• Status - The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and retained.
• Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his peers, superiors and
subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation
element present.
• Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the employees.

Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The
motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to work. These factors motivate the
employees for a superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in
performing the job. Employees find these factors

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 a. intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an
additional benefit. Motivational factors include:
• Recognition - The employees should be praised and recognized for their accomplishments by
the managers.
• Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of achievement. This depends on the
job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job.
• Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and advancement opportunities
in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well.
• Responsibility - The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work. The managers
should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control but retain
accountability.
• Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful, interesting and challenging
for the employee to perform and to get motivated.

4. Application of Motivation Concept

Application # 1. Job Design:

Job design is defined as the process of deciding on the content of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities;
on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques, systems and procedures and on the
relationships that should exist between the jobholder and his superiors, subordinates and colleagues.

Two important goals of job design are- (i) to meet the organisational requirements such as higher productivity,
operational efficiency, quality of product/service, etc. and (ii) to satisfy the needs of the individual employees
like interests, challenge, achievement or accomplishment, etc. Finally, the goal of the job design is to integrate
the needs of the individual with the organisational requirements.

Application # 2. Management by Objectives:

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a successful philosophy of management. It replaces the traditional
philosophy of ‘management by domination.’ It was popularised as an approach to planning by Peter F. Drucker
in 1954 in his famous book The Practice of Management. Since that time, it has acquired momentum and of late
it has become a movement.

Employee Recognition Programmes:

Rural Development Trust (RDT) is a pioneering voluntary organisation committed to the upliftment of rural poor
in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Ashok worked in RDT for two years during 1992-94, before doing
his MBA programme. He joined Hindustan Machine Tools in September 1996 after completing his MBA. Mr.
Ashok says, he was very happy in Rural Development Trust though his monthly salary was Rs. 1,500 rather than
in Hindustan Machine Tools where it is Rs. 10,000.

The reasons for this are:

His supervisor in RDT used to praise him for his committed work in the presence of his clients. Consequently,
his clients used to treat him as a great person. Further, his supervisor praised him in the annual functions twice
in the presence of the top management. His needs for recognition, prestige and achievement were satisfied
though his salary was not attractive in RDT.

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Organisations started recognizing the employees particularly after liberalization and globalisation in 1991.

Organisations announced a number of employee recognition programmes in order to motivate them:

i. Praising the employees in the presence of their colleagues regarding their achievements, excellent
performance, etc.

ii. Providing long-term employment and job security.

iii. Presenting awards in the annual functions to those employees who are committed, creative and innovative.

iv. Providing wage/salary increments, benefits, perks and special bonus.

v. Inviting the employee and his family members to the company’s annual functions and other functions.

vi. Giving special treatments to the employee and his family members for special events like birthday, marriage
day, etc.

vii. Honouring outstanding employees for their extraordinary accomplishments by giving them prestigious
company awards.

Application # 3. Sound Salary Administration:

Management has to formulate and administer the salary policies on sound lines as:

(i) Most of the employees’ satisfaction and work performance are based on pay;

(ii) Internal inequalities in pay are more serious to certain employees;

(iii) Employees compare their pay with that of others;

(iv) Employees act only on gross external inequities;

(v) Employee comparisons of pay are uninfluenced by levels of aspirations and pay history; and

(vi) Employees compare the pay of different employees with their skill, knowledge, performance, etc.

Objective of Salary Administration:

The objective of wage and salary administration are numerous and sometimes conflict with each other.

Within the orbit of this definition a continuum, of men management relationship can be conceived:

Workers’ Control → Joint Management → Joint Consultation

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Workplace Consultation → Management Supremacy

Application # 4. Group Interaction:

A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting with and interdependent on each other, which come
together to achieve particular objectives- groups may be formal or informal. Formal groups are defined and
formed by organisational structure with clear-cut assignment, responsibility, accountability rules and norms.

Informal groups are the natural formations in the work environment and form in response to the need for social
contact. Thus, these groups are not structured and determined by the organisation. These groups satisfy the
social needs of their members. The important aspects of group interaction are group goals, participation,
leadership norms and cohesiveness.

Application # 5. Quality Circle:

A quality circle has been defined as a ‘self-governing group of workers with or without their supervisors who
voluntarily meet regularly to identify, analyse and solve problems of their work field’. But there is a
misconception that quality circle and taskforce are one and the same, quality circle is not a taskforce and the
former is broader than the latter.

A taskforce is a group of most skilled employees selected and appointed by the management, engaged in various
functions, with an orientation to problem-solving. The QC is a voluntary association of workers engaged in
similar work with an orientation of human relations. QCs are formed to attain specific objectives.

Application # 6. Quality of Work-Life:

Employees at the grass roots level experience a sense of frustration because of low level of wages, poor working
conditions, unfavourable terms of employment inhuman treatment by their superiors and the like, whereas
managerial personnel feel frustrated because of alienation over their conditions of employment, interpersonal
conflicts, role conflicts, job pressures, lack of freedom in work, absence of challenging work, etc.

Certain values were attributed to work in the past. Years ago, work was worship and people had sincerity and
commitment to work. But today’s employee does not believe in such values of work. He works for his salary; he
works hard if the conditions of work are conducive and congenial and terms of employment are favourable to
him. As such, the work norms have been changing from time to lime.

Work norms in modern industrial society indicate that- (i) employee’s role in industry is different from his role
in the family; (ii) superior knows the best and he has the right to impose on the subordinates; (iii) rules are for
employees and they have to follow them and (iv) employer has the right to lay off the worker due to marketing
and technological factors.

5. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

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Extrinsic Motivation:

Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behaviour or engage in an activity because we want
to earn a reward or avoid punishment.

Intrinsic Motivation:

Intrinsic motivation is when you engage in a behaviour because you find it rewarding. You are performing an
activity for its own sake rather than from the desire for some external reward. The behaviour itself is its own
reward.

How Do Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation Influence Learning?

Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation play a significant role in learning. Experts have argued that education's
traditional emphasis on external rewards (such as grades, report cards, and gold stars) undermines any existing
intrinsic motivation that students might have.

Others have suggested that extrinsic motivators help students feel more competent in the classroom, which in
turn enhances their intrinsic motivation.8

"A person's interest often survives when a reward is used neither to bribe nor to control but to signal a job well
done, as in a "most improved player" award. If a reward boosts your feeling of competence after doing good
work, your enjoyment of the task may increase.

Rewards, rightly administered, can motivate high performance and creativity. And extrinsic rewards (such as
scholarships, admissions, and jobs that often follow good grades) are here to stay."

Extrinsic Motivation

• Participating in a sport to win awards

• Cleaning your room to avoid being reprimanded by your parents

• Competing in a contest to win a scholarship

• Studying because you want to get a good grade

Intrinsic Motivation

• Participating in a sport because you find the activity enjoyable

• Cleaning your room because you like tidying up

• Solving a word puzzle because you find the challenge fun and exciting • Studying a subject, you find

fascinating

6. Role of Motivation in Team Behaviour

The process of motivation plays a very important role in any organization, profit or non-profit. The managerial
process of direction is driven primarily by the process of motivation as it creates within the mind of an employee
the desire to work in the direction determined by the manager. The following aspects may be considered under
this head:

• Increases Productivity

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Motivation as a process leads to an increase in the productivity of the employee. Motivation meets the needs
of the employee and thereby creates the drive to work at the best of his abilities. A well-employed will be willing
to put in more effort towards the betterment of the organization than another disheartened employee.

• Ensures Organisational Efficiency

Motivation plays an important role in changing the attitudes of the employees in the organization. Indifferent
attitude is extinguished most efficiently by motivation. The presence of such a favourable attitude allows the
organization to thrive and be successful.

• Ensures Loyal Workforce

A well-motivated workforce is a loyal workforce. Motivated employees have high levels of morale and
commitment towards the organization and its goals and objectives. Motivation thus reduces employee turnover
and reduces the need for constant induction of new employees.

• Ensures a Reactive Workforce

Adapting to changing business environments is an important feature of any successful business. In order to react
to changes easily and to continue smooth functioning, an organization requires extensive loyalty and
commitment of its employees. This reduces resistance to the changes that the organization intends to make.
This in effect makes the organization efficient in adapting to changing needs.

• Facilitates Direction
The direction is an important managerial function and forms one of its core functionalities. Motivation as
already mentioned is a vital part of the direction. The direction is a process that involves directing or initiating
action according to a plan drawn up requires the employees to work wholeheartedly with commitment and
loyalty. The process of direction is thus possible only when the employees proceed in the direction that the
manager determines and this requires a motivated workforce.

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