THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

INTRODUCTIONMOTIVATION is the process that accounts for a persons intensity, direction and persistence of effort towards attaining the goals.

The three terms mean- Intensity- how hard a person is trying to achieve a

specific goal. Direction- what a person is trying to achieve. Persistence- how long a person is trying to attain

the goal.

--CONTINUATION--Mechanism of motivation

NEEDS WANTS TENSION

ACTIONSATISFACTION

Give rise to Can cause tension

Give rise to

Results in

As shown above human motives leads to motivation.

MOTIVATORS

MOTIVATORS are things which induce or instigate an individual to perform. motivators like identified rewards or incentives which drive to satisfy these needs/wants.

A motivator is something that influences an individual’s behavior and makes a difference in what a person will do.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION

MOTIVATIONIt is the desire to satisfy a want (achieve an outcome).

SATISFACTIONIt is a feeling experienced when the outcome/goal has been achieved.

MOTIVATION RESULTS SATISFACTION

A person might have high degree of satisfaction but low degree of motivation or vice-versa.

THEORIES

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY

Given by ABRAHAM MASLOW. He concluded that

human needs are divided into five groups and form a hierarchy. as each need is sequentially satisfied, the next need becomes

dominant.

The hierarchy is called MASLOW'S PYRAMID.

--CONTINUATION-- Five needs are divided as-

Lower order- Needs satisfied externally. It include safety and physiological needs.

e.g.- pay, union contract, etc.

Higher order- Needs satisfied by person internally. It includes social, esteem and self actualization needs.

Has little empirical support.

E.R.G. THEORY

Given by ALDERFERE. It is considered as extension of theory of needs. It divides human needs into three core groups.

According to Alderfer more than one need may be operative at one time unlike Maslow ‘s theory which states that needs follow a hierarchy.

If the gratification of higher level needs is satisfied , the desire to fulfill lower level needs increases.

Several studies have supported ERG theory. e.g. Natives of Spain and Japan place social needs before physiological requirements.

THEORY X AND THEORY Y Given by DOUGLAS McGREGOR. In this theory consider two human beings :

one basically negative labeled as theory X.other basically positive labeled y

TWO FACTOR THEORY Given by FREDERICK HERZBERG. The theory states that two factors that affect motivation are hygiene

factors and motivator factors.

--CONTINUATION--

FAILURES Procedure used is restricted to methodology. When people are doing

(intrinsic) well they take all the credit but for the failure they blame others(extrinsic).

A person may dislike a part of their job but overall it is acceptable i.e. overall satisfaction issue is not considered.

McCLELLAND'S LEARNED NEED THEORY Given by McCLELLAND. Also called acquired needs theory. Ti states that achievement, affiliation and power are three important needs that

help explain motivation.

--CONTINUATION--

When jobs have a high degree of personal responsibility and feedback and intermediate degree of risk, high achievers are strongly motivated.

A high need to achieve does not necessarily make someone a good manager. People with high achievement needs are interested in how well they do personally and not in influencing others to do well.

The needs for affiliation and power tend to be closely related to managerial success.

Best managers are those which have high need for power and low need for affiliation.

GOAL-SETTING THEORY

--CONTINUATION-- Feedback

People do better when they get feedback on the progress they are making.

Also helps us to identify discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to do.

Self-generated feedback is very important as a person monitors his own progress.

According to this theory an individual is fully committed to the goals and is determined not to lower or abandon the goal. This means an individual believes he/she can achieve the goal and wants to achieve it.

This theory is culture bound. It is for the counties like U.S. and Canada where employees are reasonably independent.

REINFORCEMENT THEORY This theory is not strictly a theory of motivation , it provides a

powerful means of analysis of what controls behavior and for this reason is considered in discussion of motivation.

This theory states that behavior is something which is environmentally caused. It is counter point of goal-setting theory.

it ignores the inner state of the individual and consent solely on what happens to a person when he or she take some action.

it ignore feelings, attitude. Expectations and other cognitive variables that affect behavior.

It also suggest that people will explore a variety of possible behaviors , in any given situation and then selects most appropriate behavior.

It concludes that this results in pleasant consequences is more likely to be repeated and behavior that results in unpleasant consequences is less likely repeated.

CONCLUSION

The standpoint taken is that people work better when they are highly motivated and there is direct relationship between quality and levels of motivation; the volume and quality of work decline when motivation is lower or when de-motivation is present.

The need to motivate and be motivated are complementary to each other.