WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION

Transcription

1 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION The relationship between the organisation and its members is influenced by what motivates them to work and the rewards and fulfilment they derive from it. The nature of the work organisation, styles of leadership and the design and content of jobs can have a significant effect on the satisfaction of staff and their levels of performance. The manager needs to know how best to elicit the co-operation of staff and direct their efforts to achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation. Learning outcomes After completing this chapter you should be able to: explain the meaning and underlying concept of motivation; detail main types of needs and expectations of people at work; explain frustration-induced behaviour and possible reactions to frustration at work; examine main theories of motivation and evaluate their relevance to particular work situations; review the meaning, nature and dimensions of job satisfaction; assess broader influences on motivation and job satisfaction; evaluate the relationship between motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Critical reflection Some writers argue that people do not lack motivation, only the right triggers to motivate them. Some claim that motivation can only come from within and attempts from other people to motivate you have little lasting influence. What are your views? In your own words, what motivates you most?

2 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION THE MEANING OF MOTIVATION The study of motivation is concerned, basically, with why people behave in a certain way. The basic underlying question is Why do people do what they do? In general terms, motivation can be described as the direction and persistence of action. It is concerned with why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period and in the face of difficulties and problems. 1 From a review of motivation theory, Mitchell identifies four common characteristics which underlie the definition of motivation: 2 Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon. Every person is unique and all the major theories of motivation allow for this uniqueness to be demonstrated in one way or another. Motivation is described, usually, as intentional. Motivation is assumed to be under the worker s control, and behaviours that are influenced by motivation, such as effort expended, are seen as choices of action. Motivation is multifaceted. The two factors of greatest importance are: (i) what gets people activated (arousal); and (ii) the force of an individual to engage in desired behaviour (direction or choice of behaviour). The purpose of motivational theories is to predict behaviour. Motivation is not the behaviour itself and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action and the internal and external forces which influence a person s choice of action. On the basis of these characteristics, Mitchell defines motivation as the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours. A fuller definition is given by the Chartered Management Institute: Motivation is the creation of stimuli, incentives and working environments that enable people to perform to the best of their ability. The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. In return managers should expect more in the form of productivity, quality and service. 3 Underlying concept of motivation The underlying concept of motivation is some driving force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfil some need or expectation. This concept gives rise to the basic motivational model, which is illustrated in Figure 7.1. People s behaviour is Figure 7.1 A simplified illustration of the basic motivational model 253

3 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL determined by what motivates them. Their performance is a product of both ability level and motivation. Performance = function (ability motivation) Kreitner et al. suggest that although motivation is a necessary contributor for job performance, it is not the only one. Along with ability, motivation is also a combination of level of skill, knowledge about how to complete the task, feelings and emotions, and facilitating and inhibiting conditions not under the individual s control. 4 However, what is clearly evident is that if the manager is to improve the work of the organisation, attention must be given to the level of motivation of its members. The manager must also encourage staff to direct their efforts (their driving force) towards the successful attainment of the goals and objectives of the organisation. NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS AT WORK But what is this driving force and what is it that people really want from work? What are people s needs and expectations and how do they influence behaviour and performance at work? Motivation is a complex subject, it is a very personal thing, and it is influenced by many variables. Farren reminds us of the 12 human needs that have been around since the beginning of recorded history: family, health and well-being, work/career, economic, learning, home/shelter, social relationships, spirituality, community, leisure, mobility, and environment/safety. Work and private life in the new millennium will continue to revolve around the 12 human needs. 5 The various needs and expectations at work can be categorised in a number of ways for example the simple divisions into physiological and social motives or into extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits, security, promotion, contract of service, the work environment and conditions of work. Such tangible rewards are often determined at the organisational level and may be largely outside the control of individual managers. Intrinsic motivation is related to psychological rewards such as the opportunity to use one s ability, a sense of challenge and achievement, receiving appreciation, positive recognition and being treated in a caring and considerate manner. The psychological rewards are those that can usually be determined by the actions and behaviour of individual managers Higher set of motivational needs According to Kets de Vries, the best-performing companies possess a set of values that creates the right conditions for high performance; he questions whether in such best companies there is something more going on that touches upon a deeper layer of human functioning, causing people to make an extra effort. The emphasis is on widening choice that enables people to choose more freely, instead of being led by forces of which they are unaware; and it is a motivational needs system on which such choice is based. Kets de Vries suggests that in addition to the motivation needs system for physiological needs, sensual and enjoyment needs, and the need to respond to threatening situations, companies that get the best out of their people are characterised by a system based on a higher set of motivational needs: attachment/affiliation concerning the need for engagement and sharing, a feeling of community and a sense of belonging to the company; and exploration/assertion concerning the ability to play and work, a sense of fun and enjoyment, the need for self-assertion and the ability to choose. 7

4 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Figure 7.2 Needs and expectations of people at work A three-fold classification Given the complex and variable nature of needs and expectations, the following is a simplistic but useful, broad three-fold classification as a starting point for reviewing the motivation to work (see Figure 7.2): Economic rewards such as pay, fringe benefits, pension rights, material goods and security. This is an instrumental orientation to work and concerned with other things. Intrinsic satisfaction derived from the nature of the work itself, interest in the job, and personal growth and development. This is a personal orientation to work and concerned with oneself. Social relationships such as friendships, group working and the desire for affiliation, status and dependency. This is a relational orientation to work and concerned with other people. A person s motivation, job satisfaction and work performance will be determined by the comparative strength of these sets of needs and expectations and the extent to which they are fulfilled. For example, some people may make a deliberate choice to forgo intrinsic satisfaction and social relationships (particularly in the short term or in the earlier years of their working life) in return for high economic rewards. Other people are happy to accept comparatively lower economic rewards in favour of a job that has high intrinsic satisfaction and/or social relationships. Social relationships would appear to be an important feature for many people, especially, for example, for those working in the hospitality industry where interactions with other people and the importance of supportive working relationships and good teamwork can be strong motivators at work. 8 MONEY AS A MOTIVATOR Earlier writers, such as F. W. Taylor, believed in economic needs motivation. Workers would be motivated by obtaining the highest possible wages through working in the most efficient and productive way. Performance was limited by physiological fatigue. For Taylor, motivation 255

5 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL was a comparatively simple issue what the workers wanted from their employers more than anything else was high wages. This approach is the rational economic concept of motivation. The ideas of F. W. Taylor and his rational economic needs concept of motivation (discussed in Chapter 2) and subsequent approaches to motivation at work have fuelled the continuing debate about financial rewards as a motivator and their influence on productivity. Where there is little pleasure in the work itself or the job offers little opportunity for career advancement, personal challenge or growth, many people may appear to be motivated primarily, if not exclusively, by money. Weaver suggests that for many hourly workers in the hospitality industry, such as dishwashing, waiting or housekeeping staff, the work does not change much among different companies and there is little attachment to a particular company. For such staff, Weaver proposes a Theory M programme of motivation based on direct cash rewards for above-average performance. A percentage base is calculated from the average performance of workers on the staff. 9 Yet we frequently see pronouncements from prominent business figures that motivation is about much more than money. Work is about letting people know they are important, their hard work and efforts matter, and they re doing a good job. And this kind of recognition, in fact, can sometimes be more important than money. Gary Kusin, CEO, FedEx Kinko s 10 The short answer appears to be that for the vast majority of people, money is clearly important and a motivator at work but to what extent and how important depends upon their personal circumstances and the other satisfactions they derive from work. The bottom line is surely the extent to which money motivates people to work well and to the best of their abilities. Although pay may still make people tick, there are now a number of other important influences on motivation. For many people, the feeling of being recognised and valued appears more important than money in motivating them to stay in a particular job. (See the discussion of Herzberg s two-factor theory of motivation later in this chapter.) BROADER INTRINSIC MOTIVATION Popular press reports appear to indicate that many people are increasingly motivated by broader concerns such as their work/life balance (discussed in Chapter 3), opportunities for flexible working, career advancement and personal development and growth, and a feeling of identification with the values of the organisation. The motivation to work is also influenced by the changing nature of the work environment and the concept of the psychological contract, which was discussed in Chapter 1. If your staff do something good, tell them. And then tell them again. And again. Keep it up. Put it in writing. Send them a memo something they can keep. Put it in the company newsletter. Add a note to their file. Whatever, but make it widely known they did good. This is a quick and cheap method of praising and motivating your team and it lets everyone know you are monitoring, praising, motivating As Grayson and Hodges point out, historically loyalty was bought and employers offered gradual progression up the hierarchy, a decent salary and job security in return for a hard day s work. Increasingly, motivation is based on values rather than purely on financial reward. 12 However, according to Gratton finding intrinsically motivating tasks is not easy.

6 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Finding tasks and experiences that are intrinsically motivating sounds relatively straightforward but in fact it requires a heightened awareness of who we are. Without this emotional self-awareness we have no capacity to judge whether the tasks available to us could be intrinsically motivating... Finding intrinsically motivating tasks also requires the companies of which we are members to communicate the tasks available and to encourage volunteering. 13 Waller refers to the importance today of identity and that work inevitably plays a key role on shaping identity. Waller questions how much of ourselves do we put into our job. He points out that not long ago, a job was something you did to put bread on the table but nowadays (global financial situation apart) people in a cushy job with a decent salary, paid holiday, pension, health care and a well-stocked sandwich trolley will jack it all in, saying It s not really me. If people are getting absorbed by their work-life, they expect their job to help them to discover and develop themselves. 14 Critical reflection It s all very well talking about a contented workforce, praise and recognition but at times of high unemployment, rapid change or uncertainty a secure job, increased training and steady income are the true motivators. In the real world money is the most potent need and strongest motivator. Can you argue convincingly against this contention? FRUSTRATION-INDUCED BEHAVIOUR What happens if a person s motivational driving force is blocked and they are unable to satisfy their needs and expectations, and what is the likely effect on their work performance? There are two possible sets of outcomes: constructive behaviour or frustration (see Figure 7.3). Constructive behaviour Constructive behaviour is a positive reaction to the blockage of a desired goal and can take two main forms: problem-solving or restructuring. Figure 7.3 A basic model of frustration 257

7 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Problem-solving is the removal of the barrier for example finding an alternative means of undertaking a task, repairing a damaged machine or bypassing an unco-operative superior. Restructuring, or compromise, is the substitution of an alternative goal, although such a goal may be of a lower or different order for example taking an additional part-time job because of failure to be promoted to a higher grade, or reassessing the work/life balance. Note: Even if a person engages in constructive behaviour in response to a barrier or blockage, it could be said that the person was frustrated, if only mildly or in the short term, in an attempt to satisfy a desired goal. However, the term frustration is usually interpreted as applying to negative responses to a barrier or blockage which prevents satisfaction of a desired goal. Frustration (negative responses) Frustration is a negative response to the blockage of a desired goal and results in a defensive form of behaviour. There are many possible reactions to frustration caused by the failure to achieve a desired goal. These can be summarised under four broad headings: aggression, regression, fixation and withdrawal. 15 However, these categories are not mutually exclusive. Most forms of frustration-induced behaviour at work are a combination of aggression, regression and fixation. Aggression is a physical or verbal attack on some person or object, for example striking a supervisor, rage or abusive language, destruction of equipment or documents, or malicious gossip about a superior. This form of behaviour may be directed against the person or object that is perceived as the source of frustration, that is the actual barrier or blocking agent. However, where such a direct attack cannot be made, because, for example, the source of frustration is not clear or not specific, or where the source is feared, as with a powerful superior, aggression may be displaced towards some other person or object. With displaced aggression the person may find an easier, safer person or object as a scapegoat for the outlet of frustration for example picking arguments with colleagues, being short-tempered with subordinates, shouting at the cleaners or kicking the waste-paper bin. A more constructive form of displaced aggression is working off frustrated feelings through demanding physical work or sport, or perhaps by shouting/cursing when alone or in the company of an understanding colleague. Regression is reverting to a childish or more primitive form of behaviour for example sulking, crying, tantrums or kicking a broken machine or piece of equipment. Fixation is persisting in a form of behaviour which has no adaptive value and continuing to repeat actions which have no positive results for example the inability to accept change or new ideas, repeatedly trying a door that is clearly locked or a machine which clearly will not work, or insisting on applying for promotion even though not qualified for the job. Withdrawal is apathy, giving up or resignation for example arriving at work late and leaving early, sickness and absenteeism, refusal to accept responsibility, avoiding decisionmaking, passing work over to colleagues or leaving the job altogether. Factors influencing frustration Among the factors which determine an individual s reaction to frustration are the: level and potency of need (see, for example, Maslow s theory of motivation, discussed below); degree of attachment to the desired goal; strength of motivation; perceived nature of the barrier or blocking agent; and personality characteristics of the individual. 258

8 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION It is important that managers attempt to reduce potential frustration, for example through: effective recruitment, selection and socialisation; training and development; job design and work organisation; equitable HRM policies; recognition and rewards; effective communications; participative styles of management; attempting to understand the individual s perception of the situation. Proper attention to motivation and to the needs and expectations of people at work will help overcome boredom and frustration-induced behaviour. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION There are many competing theories that attempt to explain the nature of motivation. These theories may all be at least partially true and help to explain the behaviour of certain people at certain times. The issue of motivation is often most acute for younger people starting on their career, for people at mid-career positions or for those who find limited opportunities for promotion or further advancement. For employers there may be difficulties in motivating staff both in the longer term and in the short run. It is because of the complexity of motivation and the fact that there is no ready-made solution or single answer to what motivates people to work well that the different theories are important to the manager. They show there are many motives that influence people s behaviour and performance. Collectively, the different theories provide a framework within which to direct attention to the problem of how best to motivate staff to work willingly and effectively. Criticisms and reservations It is important to emphasise, however, that these various theories are not conclusive. They all have their critics (this is particularly true of the content theories of motivation) or have been subject to alternative findings that purport to contradict original ideas. Many of these theories were not intended initially to have the significance that some writers have subsequently placed upon them. It is always easy to quote an example that appears to contradict any generalised observation on what motivates people to work. Despite these reservations the different theories provide a basis for study and discussion, and for review of the most effective motivational style (see Figure 7.4). You don t motivate individuals. You provide them with an environment to be self-motivated. It is a personal decision, but it s management s job to provide the right environment. Kathy Schofield, Director of Human Resources, HFC Bank 16 The manager, therefore, must judge the relevance of these different theories, how best to draw upon them, and how they might effectively be applied in particular work situations. The manager should be aware of at least the main theories of motivation. Content theories and process theories The usual approach to the study of motivation is through an understanding of internal cognitive processes that is, what people feel and how they think. This understanding should help the manager to predict likely behaviour of staff in given situations. These different cognitive theories of motivation are usually divided into two contrasting approaches: content theories and process theories. 259

9 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Figure 7.4 An overview of main theories of work motivation Content theories attempt to explain those specific things that actually motivate the individual at work. These theories are concerned with identifying people s needs and their relative strengths, and the goals they pursue in order to satisfy these needs. Content theories place emphasis on the nature of needs and what motivates. Process theories attempt to identify the relationship among the dynamic variables that make up motivation. These theories are concerned more with how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained. Process theories place emphasis on the actual process of motivation. These theories are discussed later in this chapter. CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Major content theories of motivation include: Maslow s hierarchy of needs model; Alderfer s modified need hierarchy model; Herzberg s two-factor theory; McClelland s achievement motivation theory. MASLOW S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY 260 A useful starting point is the work of Maslow and his theory of individual development and motivation, published originally in Maslow s basic proposition is that people are

10 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Figure 7.5 Maslow s hierarchy of needs model wanting beings, they always want more, and what they want depends on what they already have. He suggests that human needs are arranged in a series of levels, a hierarchy of importance. Maslow identified eight innate needs, including the need to know and understand, aesthetic needs and the need for transcendence. However, the hierarchy is usually shown as ranging through five main levels, from, at the lowest level, physiological needs, through safety needs, love needs and esteem needs, to the need for self-actualisation at the highest level. The hierarchy of needs may be shown as a series of steps but is usually displayed in the form of a pyramid (see Figure 7.5). This is an appropriate form of illustration as it implies a thinning out of needs as people progress up the hierarchy. Physiological needs. These include homeostasis (the body s automatic efforts to retain normal functioning) such as satisfaction of hunger and thirst, the need for oxygen and to maintain temperature regulation. Also sleep, sensory pleasures, activity, maternal behaviour and, arguably, sexual desire. Safety needs. These include safety and security, freedom from pain or threat of physical attack, protection from danger or deprivation, the need for predictability and orderliness. Love needs (often referred to as social needs). These include affection, sense of belonging, social activities, friendships, and both the giving and receiving of love. Esteem needs (sometimes referred to as ego needs). These include both self-respect and the esteem of others. Self-respect involves the desire for confidence, strength, independence and freedom, and achievement. Esteem of others involves reputation or prestige, status, recognition, attention and appreciation. Self-actualisation needs. This is the development and realisation of one s full potential. Maslow sees this as What humans can be, they must be or becoming everything that one is capable of becoming. Self-actualisation needs are not necessarily a creative urge and may take many forms which vary widely from one individual to another. Once a lower need has been satisfied, it no longer acts as a strong motivator. The needs of the next higher level in the hierarchy demand satisfaction and become the motivating influence. Only unsatisfied needs motivate a person. Thus Maslow asserts that a satisfied need is no longer a motivator. Not necessarily a fixed order Although Maslow suggests that most people have these basic needs in about the order indicated, he also makes it clear that the hierarchy is not necessarily a fixed order. There will be 261

11 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL a number of exceptions to the order indicated. For some people there will be a reversal of the hierarchy, for example: Self-esteem may seem to be more important than love to some people. This is the most common reversal of the hierarchy. It is often based on the belief that the person most loved is strong, confident or inspires respect. People seeking love try to put on a show of aggressive, confident behaviour. They are not really seeking self-esteem as an end in itself but for the sake of love needs. For some innately creative people the drive for creativity and self-actualisation may arise despite lack of satisfaction of more basic needs. Higher-level needs may be lost in some people who will continue to be satisfied at lower levels only: for example, a person who has experienced chronic unemployment. Some people who have been deprived of love in early childhood may experience the permanent loss of love needs. A need which has continued to be satisfied over a long period of time may be undervalued. For example, people who have never suffered from chronic hunger may tend to underestimate its effects, and regard food as rather an unimportant thing. Where people are dominated by a higher-level need this may assume greater importance than more basic needs. People with high ideals or values may become martyrs and give up everything else for the sake of their beliefs. Maslow claims that the hierarchy is relatively universal among different cultures, but he recognises that there are differences in an individual s motivational content in a particular culture. Degrees of satisfaction Maslow points out that a false impression may be given that a need must be satisfied fully before a subsequent need arises. He suggests that a more realistic description is in terms of decreasing percentages of satisfaction along levels of the hierarchy. For example, arbitrary figures for the average person may be: satisfied 85 per cent in physiological needs; 70 per cent in safety needs; 50 per cent in love needs; 40 per cent in esteem needs; and 10 per cent in self-actualisation needs. There is a gradual emergence of a higher-level need as lower-level needs become more satisfied. The relative importance of these needs changes during the psychological development of the individual. Maslow subsequently modified his views by noting that satisfaction of self-actualisation needs by growth-motivated individuals can actually enhance these needs rather than reduce them. Furthermore, he accepted that some higher-level needs may still emerge after long deprivation of lower-level needs rather than only after their satisfaction. Evaluation of Maslow s theory Based on Maslow s theory, once lower-level needs have been satisfied (say at the physiological and safety levels), giving more of the same does not provide motivation. Individuals advance up the hierarchy as each lower-level need becomes satisfied. Therefore, to provide motivation for a change in behaviour, the manager must direct attention to the next higher level of needs (in this case, love or social needs) that seek satisfaction. Applications to the work situation There are a number of problems in relating Maslow s theory to the work situation. These include the following: People do not necessarily satisfy their needs, especially higher-level needs, just through the work situation; they satisfy them through other areas of their life as well. Therefore the manager would need to have a complete understanding of people s private and social lives, not just their behaviour at work. 262

12 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION There is doubt about the time that elapses between the satisfaction of a lower-level need and the emergence of a higher-level need. Individual differences mean that people place different values on the same need. For example, some people prefer what they might see as the comparative safety of working in a bureaucratic organisation to a more highly paid and higher status position, but with less job security, in a different organisation. Some rewards or outcomes at work satisfy more than one need. Higher salary or promotion, for example, can be applied to all levels of the hierarchy. Even for people within the same level of the hierarchy, the motivating factors will not be the same. There are many different ways in which people may seek satisfaction of, for example, their esteem needs. Maslow viewed satisfaction as the main motivational outcome of behaviour. But job satisfaction does not necessarily lead to improved work performance. A useful basis for evaluation Although Maslow did not originally intend that the need hierarchy should necessarily be applied to the work situation, it remains popular as a theory of motivation at work. Despite criticisms and doubts about its limitations, the theory has had a significant impact on management approaches to motivation and the design of organisations to meet individual needs. It is a convenient framework for viewing the different needs and expectations that people have, where they are in the hierarchy, and the different motivators that might be applied to people at different levels. The work of Maslow has drawn attention to a number of motivators and stimulated study and research. The need hierarchy model provides a useful base for the evaluation of motivation at work. For example, Steers and Porter suggest a list of general rewards and organisational factors used to satisfy different needs (see Table 7.1). 18 Saunders contends that despite the time that has elapsed, Maslow s theory remains watertight. When prehistoric man first took shelter in a cave and lit a fire, he was satisfying his lowest physiological and safety needs. When a Buddhist achieves a state of nirvana, she is satisfying the fifth and highest self-actualisation... The cave these days might be a three-bedroom semi with garden and Table 7.1 Applying Maslow s need hierarchy Needs levels General rewards Organisational factors 1 Physiological Food, water, sex, sleep a Pay b Pleasant working conditions c Cafeteria 2 Safety Safety, security, stability, protection a Safe working conditions b Company benefits c Job security 3 Social Love, affection, belongingness a Cohesive work group b Friendly supervision c Professional associations 4 Esteem Self-esteem, self-respect, prestige, status a Social recognition b Job title c High-status job d Feedback from the job itself 5 Self-actualisation Growth, advancement, creativity a Challenging job b Opportunities for creativity c Achievement in work d Advancement in the organisation Source: Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. Motivation and Work Behaviour, fifth edition, McGraw-Hill (1991), p. 35. Reproduced with permission from the McGraw-Hill Companies. 263

13 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL off-street parking, but the fact remains that once we ve got enough to feed, clothe and house our families money is a low-level motivator for most people. The dash for cash is soon replaced by the desire for recognition, status and ultimately (although Maslow reckoned that a lot of us never get this far) the need to express yourself through your work. 19 Critical reflection John Adair points out that presenting Maslow s hierarchy as a pyramid model gives the impression that the greatest needs are in the lower levels. Adair suggests that the pyramid should be inverted as physiological needs, for example, are limited but there are fewer limitations the further up you go. 20 How would you best explain and present Maslow s hierarchy of human needs? ALDERFER S MODIFIED NEED HIERARCHY MODEL A modified need hierarchy model has been presented by Alderfer. 21 This model condenses Maslow s five levels of need into only three levels based on the core needs of existence, relatedness and growth (ERG theory) (see Table 7.2 on p. 267). Existence needs are concerned with sustaining human existence and survival and cover physiological and safety needs of a material nature. Relatedness needs are concerned with relationships to the social environment and cover love or belonging, affiliation and meaningful interpersonal relationships of a safety or esteem nature. Growth needs are concerned with the development of potential and cover self-esteem and self-actualisation. 264 A continuum of needs Like Maslow, Alderfer suggests that individuals progress through the hierarchy from existence needs to relatedness needs to growth needs as the lower-level needs become satisfied. However, Alderfer suggests these needs are more a continuum than hierarchical levels. More than one need may be activated at the same time. Individuals may also progress down the hierarchy. There is a frustration regression process. For example, if an individual is continually frustrated in attempting to satisfy growth needs, relatedness needs may reassume most importance. The lower-level needs become the main focus of the individual s efforts. Alderfer proposed a number of basic propositions relating to the three need relationships. Some of these propositions followed Maslow s theory, some were the reverse of the theory. A number of studies were undertaken to test these propositions across different samples of people in different types of organisations. Results from the studies were mixed. For example, the proposition that the less existence needs are satisfied the more they will be desired received constant support from all six samples. However, the proposition that satisfaction of existence needs activates desire for relatedness needs was not supported in any of the six samples. Satisfaction of needs Unlike Maslow s theory, the results of Alderfer s work suggest that lower-level needs do not have to be satisfied before a higher-level need emerges as a motivating influence. The results, however, do support the idea that lower-level needs decrease in strength as they become satisfied. ERG theory states that an individual is motivated to satisfy one or more basic sets

14 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION of needs. Therefore if a person s needs at a particular level are blocked, attention should be focused on the satisfaction of needs at the other levels. For example, if a subordinate s growth needs are blocked because the job does not allow sufficient opportunity for personal development, the manager should attempt to provide greater opportunities for the subordinate to satisfy existence and relatedness needs. HERZBERG S TWO-FACTOR THEORY Herzberg s original study consisted of interviews with 203 accountants and engineers, chosen because of their growing importance in the business world, from different industries in the Pittsburgh area of America. 22 He used the critical incident method. Subjects were asked to relate times when they felt exceptionally good or exceptionally bad about their present job or any previous job. They were asked to give reasons and a description of the sequence of events giving rise to that feeling. Responses to the interviews were generally consistent and revealed that there were two different sets of factors affecting motivation and work. This led to the two-factor theory of motivation and job satisfaction. Hygiene and motivating factors One set of factors are those which, if absent, cause dissatisfaction. These factors are related to job context, they are concerned with job environment and extrinsic to the job itself. These factors are the hygiene or maintenance factors ( hygiene being used as analogous to the medical term meaning preventive and environmental). They serve to prevent dissatisfaction. The other set of factors are those that, if present, serve to motivate the individual to superior effort and performance. These factors are related to job content of the work itself. They are the motivators or growth factors. The strength of these factors will affect feelings of satisfaction or no satisfaction, but not dissatisfaction. The opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction but, simply, no dissatisfaction (see Figure 7.6). The hygiene factors can be related roughly to Maslow s lower-level needs and the motivators to Maslow s higher-level needs (see Table 7.2). To motivate workers to give of their best, the manager must give proper attention to the motivators or growth factors. Herzberg emphasises that hygiene factors are not a second-class citizen system. They are as important as the motivators, but for different reasons. Hygiene factors are necessary to avoid unpleasantness at work and to deny unfair treatment. Management should never deny people proper treatment at work. The motivators relate to what people are allowed to do and the quality of human experience at work. They are the variables which actually motivate people. The work of Herzberg indicates that it is more likely good performance leads to job satisfaction rather than the reverse. Evaluation of Herzberg s work Herzberg s theory is, however, a source of frequent debate. There have been many other studies to test the theory. The conclusions have been mixed. Some studies provide support for the theory. However, it has also been attacked by a number of writers. There are two common general criticisms of Herzberg s theory. One is that the theory has only limited application to manual workers. The other is that the theory is methodologically bound. It is often claimed that the theory applies least to people with largely unskilled jobs or whose work is uninteresting, repetitive and monotonous, and limited in scope. Yet these are the people who often present management with the biggest problem of motivation. Some workers do not seem greatly interested in the job content of their work or with the motivators or growth factors. A second, general criticism concerns methodology. It is claimed that the critical incident method, and the description of events giving rise to good or bad feelings, influences the 265

15 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Figure 7.6 Representation of Herzberg s two-factor theory results. People are more likely to attribute satisfying incidents at work, that is the motivators, as a favourable reflection on their own performance. The dissatisfying incidents, that is, the hygiene factors, are more likely to be attributed to external influences and the efforts of other people. Descriptions from the respondents had to be interpreted by the interviewers. This gives rise to the difficulty of distinguishing clearly between the different dimensions and to the risk of possible interviewer bias. Despite such criticisms, there is still evidence of support for the continuing relevance of the theory. According to Crainer and Dearlove: Herzberg s work has had a considerable effect on the rewards and remuneration packages offered by corporations. Increasingly, there is a trend towards cafeteria benefits in which people can choose from a range of options. In effect, they can select the elements they recognise as providing their own motivation to work. Similarly, the current emphasis on self-development, career management and self-managed learning can be seen as having evolved from Herzberg s insights. 23 Whatever the validity of the two-factor theory, much of the criticism is with the benefit of hindsight, and Herzberg did at least attempt an empirical approach to the study of motivation 266

16 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Table 7.2 Linking Maslow s, Alderfer s and Herzberg s theories of motivation Maslow s hierarchy of needs Alderfer s ERG theory Herzberg s two-factor theory PHYSIOLOGICAL SAFETY EXISTENCE HYGIENE FACTORS LOVE ESTEEM SELF-ACTUALISATION RELATEDNESS GROWTH MOTIVATORS at work and job satisfaction. Furthermore, his work has drawn attention to the importance of job design in the quality of work life. McCLELLAND S ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION THEORY McClelland s work originated from investigations into the relationship between hunger needs and the extent to which imagery of food dominated thought processes. From subsequent research McClelland identified four main arousal-based, and socially developed, motives: the Achievement motive; the Power motive; the Affiliative motive; the Avoidance motive. 24 The first three motives correspond, roughly, to Maslow s self-actualisation, esteem and love needs. The relative intensity of these motives varies between individuals. It also tends to vary between different occupations. Managers appear to be higher in achievement motivation than in affiliation motivation. McClelland saw the achievement need (n-ach) as the most critical for the country s economic growth and success. The need to achieve is linked to entrepreneurial spirit and the development of available resources. Use of projective tests Research studies by McClelland use a series of projective tests Thematic Apperception Tests (TATs) to gauge an individual s motivation. For example, individuals are shown a number of pictures in which some activity is depicted. Respondents are asked to look briefly (10 15 seconds) at the pictures and then to describe what they think is happening, what the people in the picture are thinking and what events have led to the situation depicted. 25 An example of a picture used in a projective test is given in Assignment 2 at the end of this chapter. The descriptions are used as a basis for analysing the strength of the individual s motives. People with high achievement needs Despite the apparent subjective nature of the judgements, research studies tend to support the validity of TAT as an indicator of the need for achievement. 26 McClelland has, over years of empirical research, identified four characteristics of people with a strong achievement need (n-ach): a preference for moderate task difficulty, a preference for personal responsibility for performance, the need for feedback, and innovativeness. 267

17 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL They prefer moderate task difficulty and goals as an achievement incentive. This provides the best opportunity of proving they can do better. If the task is too difficult or too risky, it would reduce the chances of success and of gaining need satisfaction. If the course of action is too easy or too safe, there is little challenge in accomplishing the task and little satisfaction from success. They prefer personal responsibility for performance. They like to attain success through the focus of their own abilities and efforts rather than by teamwork or chance factors outside their control. Personal satisfaction is derived from the accomplishment of the task and recognition need not come from other people. They have the need for clear and unambiguous feedback on how well they are performing. A knowledge of results within a reasonable time is necessary for self-evaluation. Feedback enables them to determine success or failure in the accomplishment of their goals and to derive satisfaction from their activities. They are more innovative. As they always seek moderately challenging tasks they tend always to be moving on to something a little more challenging. In seeking short cuts they are more likely to cheat. There is a constant search for variety and for information to find new ways of doing things. They are more restless and avoid routine and also tend to travel more. Characteristics of achievement motivation The extent of achievement motivation varies between individuals. Some people rate very highly in achievement motivation. They are challenged by opportunities and work hard to achieve a goal. Money is not an incentive but may serve as a means of giving feedback on performance. High achievers seem unlikely to remain long with an organisation that does not pay them well for good performance. Money may seem to be important to high achievers, but they value it more as symbolising successful task performance and goal achievement. McClelland s research has attempted to understand the characteristics of high achievers. He suggests that n-ach is not hereditary but results from environmental influences and he has investigated the possibility of training people to develop a greater motivation to achieve. 27 McClelland suggests four steps in attempting to develop achievement drive: Striving to attain feedback on performance. Reinforcement of success serves to strengthen the desire to attain higher performance. Developing models of achievement by seeking to emulate people who have performed well. Attempting to modify their self-image and to see themselves as needing challenges and success. Controlling day-dreaming and thinking about themselves in more positive terms. McClelland was concerned with economic growth in underdeveloped countries. He has designed training programmes intended to increase the achievement motivation and entrepreneurial activity of managers. McClelland and Burnham has also suggested that as effective managers need to be successful leaders and to influence other people, they should possess a high need for power. 28 However, the effective manager also scores high on inhibition. Power is directed more towards the organisation and concern for group goals and is exercised on behalf of other people. This is socialised power. It is distinguished from personalised power that is characterised by satisfaction from exercising dominance over other people, and personal aggrandisement. PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION 268 Process theories, or extrinsic theories, attempt to identify the relationships among the dynamic variables that make up motivation and the actions required to influence behaviour and actions. They provide a further contribution to our understanding of the complex nature of work motivation. Many of the process theories cannot be linked to a single writer, but major approaches and leading writers under this heading include:

18 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Figure 7.7 Expectancy theory: the motivational link expectancy-based models Vroom, and Porter and Lawler; equity theory Adams; goal theory Locke; attribution theory Heider and Kelley (discussed in Chapter 6). Expectancy theories of motivation The underlying basis of expectancy theory is that people are influenced by the expected results of their actions. Motivation is a function of the relationship between: 1 effort expended and perceived level of performance; and 2 the expectation that rewards (desired outcomes) will be related to performance. There must also be: 3 the expectation that rewards (desired outcomes) are available. These relationships determine the strength of the motivational link (see Figure 7.7). Performance therefore depends upon the perceived expectation regarding effort expended and achieving the desired outcome. For example, the desire for promotion will result in high performance only if the person believes there is a strong expectation that this will lead to promotion. If, however, the person believes promotion to be based solely on age and length of service, there is no motivation to achieve high performance. A person s behaviour reflects a conscious choice between the comparative evaluation of alternative behaviours. The choice of behaviour is based on the expectancy of the most favourable consequences. Expectancy theory is a generic theory of motivation and cannot be linked to a single individual writer. There are a number of versions and some of the models are rather complex. More recent approaches to expectancy theory have been associated with the work of Vroom and of Porter and Lawler. VROOM S EXPECTANCY THEORY Vroom was the first person to propose an expectancy theory aimed specifically at work motivation. 29 His model is based on three key variables: valence, instrumentality and expectancy (VIE theory or expectancy/valence theory). The theory is founded on the idea that people prefer certain outcomes from their behaviour over others. They anticipate feelings of satisfaction should the preferred outcome be achieved. 269

19 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Valence The feeling about specific outcomes is termed valence. This is the attractiveness of, or preference for, a particular outcome to the individual. Vroom distinguishes valence from value. A person may desire an object but then gain little satisfaction from obtaining it. Alternatively, a person may strive to avoid an object but find, subsequently, that it provides satisfaction. Valence is the anticipated satisfaction from an outcome. This may differ substantially from value, which is the actual satisfaction provided by an outcome. The valences of certain outcomes may be derived in their own right, but more usually they are derived from the other outcomes to which they are expected to lead. An obvious example is money. Some people may see money as having an intrinsic worth and derive satisfaction from the actual accumulation of wealth. Most people, however, see money in terms of the many satisfying outcomes to which it can lead. Instrumentality The valence of outcomes derives, therefore, from their instrumentality. This leads to a distinction between first-level outcomes and second-level outcomes. The first-level outcomes are performance-related. They refer to the quantity of output or to the comparative level of performance. Some people may seek to perform well for its own sake and without thought to expected consequences of their actions. Usually, however, performance outcomes acquire valence because of the expectation that they will lead to other outcomes as an anticipated source of satisfaction second-level outcomes. The second-level outcomes are need-related. They are derived through achievement of first-level outcomes that is, through achieving high performance. Many need-related outcomes are dependent upon actual performance rather than effort expended. People generally receive rewards for what they have achieved rather than for effort alone or through trying hard. On the basis of Vroom s expectancy theory it is possible to depict a general model of behaviour (see Figure 7.8). Figure 7.8 Basic model of expectancy theory 270

20 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Expectancy When a person chooses between alternative behaviours which have uncertain outcomes, the choice is affected not only by the preference for a particular outcome but also by the probability that such an outcome will be achieved. People develop a perception of the degree of probability that the choice of a particular action will actually lead to the desired outcome. This is expectancy. It is the relationship between a chosen course of action and its predicted outcome. Expectancy relates effort expended to the achievement of first-level outcomes. Its value ranges between 0, indicating zero probability that an action will be followed by the outcome, and 1, indicating certainty that an action will result in the outcome. Motivational force The combination of valence and expectancy determines the person s motivation for a given form of behaviour. This is the motivational force. The force of an action is unaffected by outcomes which have no valence or by outcomes that are regarded as unlikely to result from a course of action. Expressed as an equation, motivation (M) is the sum of the products of the valences of all outcomes (V ), times the strength of expectancies that action will result in achieving these outcomes (E). Therefore, if either, or both, valence or expectancy is zero, then motivation is zero. The choice between alternative behaviours is indicated by the highest attractiveness score. M = n E V There are likely to be a number of outcomes expected for a given action. Therefore, the measure of E V is summed across the total number of possible outcomes to arrive at a single figure indicating the attractiveness for the contemplated choice of behaviour. THE PORTER AND LAWLER EXPECTANCY MODEL Vroom s expectancy/valence theory has been developed by Porter and Lawler. 30 Their model goes beyond motivational force and considers performance as a whole. They point out that effort expended (motivational force) does not lead directly to performance. It is mediated by individual abilities and traits, and by the person s role perceptions. They also introduce rewards as an intervening variable. Porter and Lawler see motivation, satisfaction and performance as separate variables and attempt to explain the complex relationships among them. Their model recognises that job satisfaction is more dependent upon performance, than performance is upon satisfaction. Explanation of relationships These relationships are expressed diagrammatically (see Figure 7.9) rather than mathematically. In contrast to the human relations approach which tended to assume that job satisfaction leads to improved performance, Porter and Lawler suggest that satisfaction is an effect rather than a cause of performance. It is performance that leads to job satisfaction. Value of reward (Box 1) is similar to valence in Vroom s model. People desire various outcomes (rewards) which they hope to achieve from work. The value placed on a reward depends on the strength of its desirability. Perceived effort reward probability (Box 2) is similar to expectancy. It refers to a person s expectation that certain outcomes (rewards) are dependent upon a given amount of effort. Effort (Box 3) is how hard the person tries, the amount of energy a person exerts on a given activity. It does not relate to how successful a person is in carrying out an activity. The amount of energy exerted is dependent upon the interaction of the input variables of value of reward and perception of the effort reward relationship. 271

21 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Figure 7.9 The Porter and Lawler motivation model Source: From Porter, L. W. and Lawler, E. E. Managerial Attitudes and Performance (1968), p Copyright 1968 Richard D. Irwin Inc. Reproduced with permission from the McGraw-Hill Companies. 272 Abilities and traits (Box 4). Porter and Lawler suggest that effort does not lead directly to performance but is influenced by individual characteristics. Factors such as intelligence, skills, knowledge, training and personality affect the ability to perform a given activity. Role perceptions (Box 5) refer to the way in which individuals view their work and the role they should adopt. This influences the type of effort exerted. Role perceptions will influence the direction and level of action which is believed to be necessary for effective performance. Performance (Box 6) depends not only on the amount of effort exerted but also on the intervening influences of the person s abilities and traits, and their role perceptions. If the person lacks the right ability or personality, or has an inaccurate role perception of what is required, then the exertion of a large amount of energy may still result in a low level of performance or task accomplishment. Rewards (Boxes 7A and 7B) are desirable outcomes. Intrinsic rewards derive from the individuals themselves and include a sense of achievement, a feeling of responsibility and recognition (for example Herzberg s motivators). Extrinsic rewards derive from the organisation and the actions of others and include salary, working conditions and supervision (for example Herzberg s hygiene factors). The relationship between performance and intrinsic rewards is shown as a jagged line. This is because the extent of the relationship depends upon the nature of the job. If the design of the job permits variety and challenge, so that people feel able to reward themselves for good performance, there is a direct relationship. Where job design does not involve variety and challenge, there is no direct relationship between good performance and intrinsic rewards. The wavy line between performance and extrinsic rewards indicates that such rewards do not often provide a direct link to performance. Perceived equitable rewards (Box 8). This is the level of rewards people feel they should fairly receive for a given standard of performance. Most people have an implicit perception about the level of rewards they should receive commensurate with the requirements and demands of the job, and the contribution expected of them. Self-rating of performance links directly with the perceived equitable reward variable. Higher levels of self-rated performance

22 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION are associated with higher levels of expected equitable rewards. The heavily arrowed line indicates a relationship from the self-rated part of performance to perceived equitable rewards. Satisfaction (Box 9). This is not the same as motivation. It is an attitude, an individual s internal state. Satisfaction is determined by both actual rewards received and perceived level of rewards from the organisation for a given standard of performance. If perceived equitable rewards are greater than actual rewards received, the person experiences dissatisfaction. The experience of satisfaction derives from actual rewards that meet or exceed the perceived equitable rewards. LAWLER S REVISED EXPECTANCY MODEL Following the original Porter and Lawler model, further work was undertaken by Lawler (see Figure 7.10). 31 He suggests that in deciding on the attractiveness of alternative behaviours, there are two types of expectancies to be considered: effort performance expectancies (E P) and performance outcome expectancies (P O). The first expectancy (E P) is the person s perception of the probability that a given amount of effort will result in achieving an intended level of performance. It is measured on a scale between 0 and 1. The closer the perceived relationship between effort and performance, the higher the E P expectancy score. The second expectancy (P O) is the person s perception of the probability that a given level of performance will actually lead to particular need-related outcomes. This is measured also on a scale between 0 and 1. The closer the perceived relationship between performance and outcome, the higher the P O expectancy score. Motivational force to perform The multiplicative combination of the two types of expectancies, E P and the sum of the products P O, determines expectancy. The motivational force to perform (effort Figure 7.10 An illustration of the Lawler expectancy model 273

23 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL expended) is determined by multiplying E P and P O by the strength of outcome valence (V). E(Effort) = (E P) [(P O)V] The distinction between the two types of expectancies arises because they are determined by different conditions. E P expectancy is determined in part by the person s ability and selfconfidence, past experience and the difficulty of the task. P O expectancy is determined by the attractiveness of the outcomes and the belief about who controls the outcomes, the person him/herself or other people. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS OF EXPECTANCY THEORIES There are a number of versions of expectancy theory. The main elements tend to be very similar, however, and this suggests the development of a generally accepted approach. Expectancy models are not always easy to understand, or to apply. There are many variables which affect behaviour at work. A problem can arise in attempting to include a large number of variables or in identifying those variables which are most appropriate in particular situations. Expectancy theory does, however, draw attention to the complexities of work motivation. It provides further information in helping to explain the nature of behaviour and motivation in the work situation, and helps to identify problems in performance. Expectancy theory indicates that managers should give attention to a number of factors, including the following: Use rewards appropriate in terms of individual performance. Outcomes with high valence should be used as an incentive for improved performance. Attempt to establish clear relationships between effort performance and rewards, as perceived by the individual. Establish clear procedures for the evaluation of individual levels of performance. Pay attention to intervening variables such as abilities and traits, role perceptions, organisational procedures and support facilities, which, although not necessarily direct motivational factors, may still affect performance. Minimise undesirable outcomes which may be perceived to result from a high level of performance, such as industrial accidents or sanctions from co-workers, or to result despite a high level of performance, such as short-time working or layoffs. Porter and Lawler also emphasise that the expectancy model is just a model and that expectancy theory applies only to behaviours which are under the voluntary control of the individual. The two general types of choices over which individuals have voluntary control of work performance in organisations are: 1 the amount of effort and energy expended; and 2 the manner in which they go about performing their work. There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself. You always have a choice about the attitude you bring to the job. World famous Pike Place Fish Market, Seattle 32 Critical reflection Expectancy theories of motivation appear to make sense in the classroom and form the basis of an interesting academic debate, but it is unlikely the practising manager will be impressed or take much notice. What do you think? How would you explain the potential benefits of expectancy theory to a sceptical manager? 274

24 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION EQUITY THEORY OF MOTIVATION One of the major variables of satisfaction in the Porter and Lawler expectancy model is perceived equitable rewards. This leads to consideration of another process theory of motivation equity theory. Applied to the work situation, equity theory is usually associated with the work of Adams. 33 Equity theory focuses on people s feelings of how fairly they have been treated in comparison with the treatment received by others. It is based on exchange theory. Social relationships involve an exchange process. For example, a person may expect promotion as an outcome of a high level of contribution (input) in helping to achieve an important organisational objective. People also compare their own position with that of others. They determine the perceived equity of their own position. Their feelings about the equity of the exchange are affected by the treatment they receive when compared with what happens to other people. Most exchanges involve a number of inputs and outcomes. According to equity theory, people place a weighting on these various inputs and outcomes according to how they perceive their importance. When there is an unequal comparison of ratios the person experiences a sense of inequity. Behaviour as a consequence of inequity A feeling of inequity causes tension, which is an unpleasant experience. The presence of inequity therefore motivates the person to remove or to reduce the level of tension and the perceived inequity. The magnitude of perceived inequity determines the level of tension. The level of tension created determines the strength of motivation. Adams identifies six broad types of possible behaviour as consequences of inequity (see Figure 7.11): Changes to inputs. A person may increase or decrease the level of their inputs, for example through the amount or quality of work, absenteeism, or working additional hours without pay. Figure 7.11 An illustration of Adams s equity theory of motivation 275

25 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Changes to outcomes. A person may attempt to change outcomes such as pay, working conditions, status and recognition, without changes to inputs. Cognitive distortion of inputs and outcomes. In contrast to actual changes, people may distort, cognitively, their inputs or outcomes to achieve the same results. Adams suggests that although it is difficult for people to distort facts about themselves, it is possible, within limits, to distort the utility of those facts: for example, the belief about how hard they are really working, the relevance of a particular qualification, or what they can or cannot obtain with a given level of pay. Leaving the field. A person may try to find a new situation with a more favourable balance, for example by absenteeism, request for a transfer, resigning from a job or from the organisation altogether. Acting on others. A person may attempt to bring about changes in others, for example to lower their inputs or accept greater outcomes. Or the person may cognitively distort the inputs and outcomes of others. Alternatively, a person may try to force others to leave the field. Changing the object of comparison. This involves changing the reference group with whom comparison is made. For example, where another person with a previously similar outcome input ratio receives greater outcomes without any apparent increase in contribution, that other person may be perceived as now belonging to a different level in the organisation structure. The comparison need not necessarily be made with people who have the same inputs and outcomes. The important thing is a similar ratio of outcomes to inputs. Under the control of the manager The manager may seek to remove or reduce tension and perceived inequity among staff by influencing these types of behaviour for example by attempting to change a person s inputs or encouraging a different object of comparison. People measure and compare their total inputs and outcomes so, for example, a working parent may prefer greater flexibility in working hours in return for lower monetary rewards. However, there are likely to be only two courses of action under the direct control of the manager. Outcomes can be changed by, for example, increased pay, additional perks or improved working conditions, or by instigating a person leaving the field through transfer, resignation or, as an extreme measure, dismissal. It is important to remember that equity theory is about the perceived ratio of inputs to outputs and these perceptions may not reflect the reality of the situation. The ultimatum game The ultimatum game is an economic behavioural game that can arguably be related to the concept of equity theory. 34 Two participants, A and B, are given the opportunity to split a given sum of money between them. The game is played anonymously and once only. One person (A) has to decide to make a one-time, take it or leave it, offer to B (ultimatum). If the other person (B) agrees to the division, both A and B keep their share of the money. However, if the offer is rejected neither person receives anything. Experiments indicate that if A offers around 50% of the money then B will accept the offer. But if A offers a noticeably lesser amount than 50%, B will typically refuse the offer in which case neither participant receives anything. One might expect B to accept because even a lesser amount, whatever the offer, is better than nothing. Can you see how this might be related to perceptions of equity theory? Viewers of the ITV1 television quiz programme Divided, in which contestants have to agree how to divide a cash prize, may see a similarity with the ultimatum game. GOAL THEORY 276 Another theory usually considered under the heading of motivation to work is goal theory, or the theory of goal-setting (see Figure 7.12). This theory is based mainly on the work of

26 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Figure 7.12 An illustration of Locke s theory of goal-setting Locke. 35 The basic premise of goal theory is that people s goals or intentions play an important part in determining behaviour. Locke accepts the importance of perceived value, as indicated in expectancy theories of motivation, and suggests that these values give rise to the experience of emotions and desires. People strive to achieve goals in order to satisfy their emotions and desires. Goals guide people s responses and actions. Goals direct work behaviour and performance and lead to certain consequences or feedback. Locke subsequently pointed out that goal-setting is more appropriately viewed as a motivational technique rather than as a formal theory of motivation. 36 Goal-setting and performance The combination of goal difficulty and the extent of the person s commitment to achieving the goal regulates the level of effort expended. People with specific quantitative goals, such as a defined level of performance or a given deadline for completion of a task, will perform better than people with no set goal or only a vague goal such as do the best you can. People who have difficult goals will perform better than people with easier goals. Gratton refers to stretch goals which are ambitious, highly targeted opportunities for breakthrough improvements in performance. These goals should stem from critical success indicators and come from deep discussions within the company, and from collaboration within and across task forces, and lead to the development of activities and tactics to achieve the goals. 37 People lacking positive motivation at work may also help gain improved results and a better sense of achievement by setting themselves specific goals and identifying tasks directly related to their work and measurable targets of time and performance. Practical implications for the manager Goal theory has a number of practical implications for the manager: Individuals lacking in motivation often do not have clear goals. Specific performance goals should systematically be identified and set in order to direct behaviour and maintain motivation. Goals should be set at a challenging but realistic level. Difficult goals lead to higher performance. However, if goals are set at too high a level or are regarded as impossible to achieve, this can lead to stress and performance will suffer, especially over a longer period. Complete, accurate and timely feedback and knowledge of results is usually associated with high performance. Feedback provides a means of checking progress on goal attainment and forms the basis for any revision of goals. 277

27 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Goals can be determined either by a superior or by individuals themselves. Goals set by other people are more likely to be accepted when there is participation. Employee participation in the setting of goals may lead to higher performance. Much of the theory of goal-setting can be related to the system of management by objectives (discussed in Chapter 12). MBO is often viewed as an application of goal-setting, although it was devised originally before the development of goal-setting theory. However it is viewed, the theory of goal-setting provides a useful approach to work motivation and performance. And Hannagan goes so far as to suggest: At present goal-setting is one of the most influential theories of work motivation applicable to all cultures. 38 ATTRIBUTION THEORY A more recent approach to the study of motivation is attribution theory. Attribution is the process by which people interpret the perceived causes of behaviour. This was discussed in Chapter 6. RELEVANCE TODAY FOR THE MANAGER Given that most major theories of motivation date back many years it is inevitable that questions will be raised about their relevance today. Reis and Pena question whether motivating people to work in the 21st century with theories conceived during the past hundred years is likely to be feasible. They conclude that the core message is that managers should reconsider the outdated motivational patterns utilised to maintain role performance in organisations and adopt a fresh motivation formula for the 21st century based on friendship, work and respect. 39 However, we have seen from the discussions above that there still appears to be general support for the theories and, perhaps ironically, particularly for the early theories of Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland. A Chartered Management Institute checklist maintains that these theories are still valid today. A basic understanding of their main principles will provide the background for building a climate of honesty, openness and trust. 40 From a 12-year study of the use of management concepts in technical organisations, Flores and Utley found the work of Maslow and McGregor the most popular motivational theories and also refer to the relationship between Maslow and Herzberg and the successful implementation of quality systems. 41 Whatever the relevance of the different theories of motivation, to what extent do individuals have control over their own level of motivation or how much is dependent upon the leadership they encounter? Adair reassesses the theories of Maslow and Herzberg in terms of action-centred leadership, which is discussed in Chapter 10. Adair also argues that the extent to which you can motivate anyone else is limited and refers to the fifty-fifty rule of motivation, that is: Fifty percent of motivation comes from within a person and 50% from his or her environment, especially from the leadership encountered there. The fifty-fifty rule in motivation does not claim to indentify the different proportions in the equation exactly. It is more like a rough and ready rule of thumb. In effect it says no more than a substantial part of motivation lies with a person while a substantial part lies, so to speak, outside and beyond control. 42 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION 278 Another possible approach to motivation is that of organisational behaviour modification (OBMod). This is the application of learning principles to influence organisational

28 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION behaviour. In particular it can be seen as a form of Skinner s operant conditioning, or reinforcement theory, discussed in Chapter 5. Reinforcement is a feature of the behaviourism approach and shaped by environmental influences. The reward for a particular form of behaviour is likely to result in the reinforcement of that behaviour. A negative outcome or lack of acknowledgement for the behaviour is likely to mean that the behaviour will stop. Luthans and Kreitner suggest that OBMod represents a merging of behavioral learning theory on the one hand and organizational behavior theory on the other. 43 According to Luthans and Kreitner, a major premise of OBMod is that positive consequence management is much more effective than negative consequence management. Organisations that encourage the members to learn and undertake desired behaviours and not to undertake undesired behaviours follow five main steps: 1 Identify the observable, objective and measurable behaviours relevant to the desired organisational performance. 2 Measure the frequency with which those behaviours actually occur under normal conditions. Provide baseline performance data as a point of reference to compare with changes in step 5. 3 Determine the antecedents of the behaviours, the reinforcements to encourage patterns of behaviour and the consequences that follow from those behaviours. 4 Develop an intervention strategy for change in order to strengthen desirable behaviours and weaken undesirable behaviours, through the use of operant conditioning and reinforcement theory including punishment if necessary. 5 Measure and evaluate systematically (using the same measure as in step 2) the extent to which the frequency of desired behaviours and undesired behaviours have changed, and improvements in organisational performance. Applications of OBMod To what extent can OBMod be applied effectively to improve motivation and performance in work organisations? OBMod works best for behaviours that are specific, objective and countable. There have been a number of studies in the United States that indicate positive results in behaviours that improved performance in reducing errors, attendance and punctuality, health and safety and customer service. 44 In a study of a Russian textile factory, following the OBMod approach, workers were subjected to two forms of intervention extrinsic rewards and social rewards. The extrinsic rewards provided valued American products, such as clothing, music tapes and hard-to-get foods, for improved performance. Social rewards such as attention, recognition and praise from supervisors were for performing specified actions such as checking looms, undertaking repairs and helping others. Both the extrinsic and social interventions led to highly significant increases in performance. This contrasted with a previous participative job design approach that involved asking workers for ideas for improving performance and enriching their jobs that did not work. The researchers suggest cultural issues and the workers past experiences may explain the failure of the participative intervention strategy, and that the OBMod approach has wider application. 45 Although there appear to be a number of supporters in America, in the UK it is a controversial concept. Critics claim that OBMod is not an accepted theory of motivation and that there are too many individual differences for people to be treated as subjects of operant conditioning. OBMod is concerned only with shaping. There is the added criticism of a Big Brother approach with excessive management manipulation and control over employees, more in line with scientific management (recall the discussion in Chapter 2). This in turn could also have the added disadvantage of discouraging individual initiative and adaptability to change circumstances. Workers subject to OBMod programmes may tend to ignore those aspects of voluntary behaviours, such as social support or assistance to colleagues, that are not subject to direct reward and reinforcement. 279

29 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL THE MOTIVATION OF KNOWLEDGE WORKERS Recent advantages in telecommunications and in scientific and technological knowledge have led to greater emphasis on the knowledge and expertise of staff and the importance of creativity. Tampoe suggests that at the core of the new industrial trend are the knowledge workers those employees who apply their theoretical and practical understanding of a specific area of knowledge to produce outcomes of a commercial, social or personal value. The performance of knowledge workers should be judged on both the cleverness of ideas and the utility and commercial value of their applied knowledge. Creativity is necessary and needs to be encouraged but should be bounded by commercial realism. This presents management with a new challenge of how to motivate the knowledge workers. 46 Tampoe suggests that the personal motivation of knowledge workers is based on the value they place on the rewards they expect to earn at work. In addition to the individual s own motivation, the performance of knowledge workers is dependent upon four key characteristics (see Figure 7.13): task competence; peer and management support; task and role clarity; and corporate awareness. The challenge to management is to ensure the effectiveness of the four key variables and to recognise the need for staff to supervise and manage themselves and the wider rewards expected by knowledge workers. A climate of creativity Lucas draws attention to skills shortages as one of the biggest challenges facing employers in the new millennium. In order to attract and keep talented individuals, the so-called knowledge workers, organisations cannot rely simply on a pay rise or cash bonus but have to be more creative about the way they structure remuneration packages. Individual performancerelated pay is still the most widely used reward strategy, but attention is also given to employee share ownership, competence-related pay and team reward and also to non-cash incentives such as gift vouchers. However, Lucas points out that employees, especially high flyers, rank challenging and interesting work and freedom higher on their motivational list than money Figure 7.13 Motivating knowledge workers Source: Tampoe, M. Knowledge Workers: The New Management Challenge, Professional Manager, Institute of Management, November 1994, p. 13. Reproduced with permission from Chartered Management Institute. 280

30 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION and performance-related pay. Research suggests that most organisations haven t recognised the need to identify and tap into their employees personal motivators. 47 A report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development draws attention to the management of knowledge workers, highlighting the importance of autonomy, challenging work and sharing in the creation of organisational values. With the development of new technology it is important to motivate employees to capture, share and transfer knowledge. 48 Whitmore suggests that in order to create a climate for creativity among employees, recognition must be given to the importance of two human needs that rise above all others and exist independent of race, creed and culture the need for self-belief and the development of emotional intelligence; and the ever-present need that every human being has for a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. Self-belief and meaningful work are the fundamental bedrocks that underlie business performance. Of course, pay and conditions are important too, but we know that. It is these two others that are barely recognised... but business leaders ignore them at their peril. 49 CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF MOTIVATION Whatever the popularity of different theories of motivation, doubts are raised about their universality on the ground that they have not adequately addressed the factor of culture. 50 Are theories of motivation universally applicable or are there meaningful differences in motivation at work, or in life more generally, in different societies? Many readers may feel able to recognise perceived variations in extrinsic, intrinsic and relational aspects of motivation as a result of experience of foreign cultures. Do similarities in workplace attitudes and behaviour outweigh differences? A number of writers have questioned whether motivational theories and models originating in one culture are amenable to transference to other parts of the world. Francesco and Gold devote a substantial proportion of a discussion of motivation to examining the extent to which American motivation theories are applicable outside the United States. When discussing Maslow s contribution to this topic and, in particular, the concept of a hierarchy of needs, Francesco and Gold suggest: In an international context the circumstances and values of a particular culture can influence the ordering and importance of needs. The values of individualism and collectivism can make the hierarchy more or less relevant. 51 In evaluating McClelland s work, Francesco and Gold question whether the meaning of an underlying concept, in this case achievement, can even be understood worldwide in the sense it was intended: Another concern with Learning Needs Theory is that the concept of achievement is difficult, if not impossible, to translate into languages other than English. 52 A study of motivation and job satisfaction among hotel workers in Brazil found that a number of Herzberg s hygiene and motivating factors did not affect job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A main cause of this difference appeared to be the influence of organisational culture. 53 It has already been suggested that one criticism of content theories of motivation centres on its relative applicability in different circumstances, and the suggestion that there may be variations across cultures falls within this line of reasoning. However, perhaps less obviously, process theories of motivation have also been criticised for being culturebound. As they focus on process rather than content, such theories may appear to be more applicable in diverse cultural contexts. Nonetheless it has been suggested that process theories of motivation contain certain inbuilt assumptions that are themselves culturally derived. Adler reminds us that expectancy models of motivation assume that individuals believe that they can, to some extent, control their environment and influence their fate. If, as in the cases of more fatalistic cultures such as China, people do not have the same sense of 281

31 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL internal attribution, the expectancy model may have less force and therefore less applicability. When Adams s equity theory is applied across the world, differences in interpretation have been recorded. 54 Chen suggests that while individualistic cultures place a high regard on equity, collectivist cultures value equality more than equity. Again we see here the possibility that while a theory of motivation may be essentially valid in principle, it is legitimate to think about the ways in which national culture can intervene in terms of its interpretation in different societies. 55 Critical reflection Motivation and job satisfaction are very subjective and affected by many variables including cultural influences, unknown domestic situations and personal relationships outside of work. Generalised management models cannot meet all individual circumstances and are therefore a complete waste of your study time. To what extent do you agree? JOB SATISFACTION The meaning and nature of job satisfaction Attempting to understand the nature of job satisfaction and its effects on work performance is not easy. Job satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted concept, which can mean different things to different people. It is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Job satisfaction is more of an attitude, an internal state. It could, for example, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement, either quantitative or qualitative. It is often suggested that job satisfaction is necessary in order to achieve a high level of motivation and performance. However, although the level of job satisfaction may well affect strength of motivation, this is not always the case. The relationship between job satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy. One view, associated with the early human relations approach, is that satisfaction leads to performance. An alternative view is that performance leads to satisfaction. Reeves draws attention to the relationship between accomplishment at work and the need to work harder. All this busy-ness and stress is creating more heat than light. It is a sign not of work being too hard but too shallow. Human nature is driven by a desire to accomplish things, and so the fewer opportunities for accomplishment a job contains, the more likely we are to fill the void by tearing around in a frenzy in an effort to persuade ourselves and others that our work has a purpose, that it is important Dimensions of job satisfaction There is some doubt whether job satisfaction consists of a single dimension or a number of separate dimensions. Some workers may be satisfied with certain aspects of their work and dissatisfied with other aspects. Job satisfaction is itself a complex concept and difficult to measure objectively. The level of job satisfaction is affected by a wide range of variables relating to individual, social, cultural, organisational and environmental factors. Individual factors include personality, education and qualifications, intelligence and abilities, age, marital status, orientation to work. Social factors include relationships with co-workers, group working and norms, opportunities for interaction, informal organisation. Cultural factors include underlying attitudes, beliefs and values.

32 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Organisational factors include nature and size, formal structure, HR policies and procedures, employee relations, nature of the work, technology and work organisation, supervision and styles of leadership, management systems, working conditions. Environmental factors include economic, social, technical and governmental influences. These different factors all affect the job satisfaction of certain individuals in a given set of circumstances but not necessarily in others. For example in times of economic depression and fears of high unemployment, job security is likely to be the prominent concern for many members of staff. According to the FreshMinds survey discussed in Chapter 3, when it comes to job satisfaction it pays to be older. Apparently 100 per cent of older boomers (born between 1946 and 1963) are satisfied with their job, but only 66 per cent of Generation Y (typified by travel first, then a career) feel the same way. And Generation Y want more at work such as gym membership and sabbaticals. 57 A survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that organisational culture and values emerged as very strong motivational drivers, and a manager s relationship with their line manager had a powerful impact on job satisfaction and related measures. 58 Five contractual areas Mumford examines job satisfaction in two ways: 1 in terms of the fit between what the organisation requires and what the employee is seeking; and 2 in terms of the fit between what the employee is seeking and what they are actually receiving. On the basis of various schools of thought on job satisfaction, Mumford identifies five contractual areas by which this organisational/employee relationship can be examined: the knowledge contract, the psychological contract, the efficiency/reward contract, the ethical contract and the task structure contract (see Table 7.3). 59 Table 7.3 Five contractual areas relating to job satisfaction The knowledge contract The psychological contract The efficiency/rewards contract The ethical (social value) contract The task structure contract The firm Needs a certain level of skill and knowledge in its employees if it is to function efficiently Needs employees who are motivated to look after its interests Needs to implement generalised output, quality standards and reward systems Needs employees who will accept the firm s ethos and values Needs employees who will accept technical and other constraints which produce task specificity or task differentiation The employee Wishes the skills and knowledge they bring with them to be used and developed Seeks to further interests private to self, e.g. to secure: achievement, recognition, responsibility, status Seeks a personal, equitable effort reward bargain and controls, including supervisory ones, which are perceived as acceptable Seeks to work for an employer whose values do not contravene their own Seeks a set of tasks which meets their requirements for task differentiation, e.g. which incorporate variety, interests, targets, feedback, task identity and autonomy Source: Mumford, E. Job Satisfaction: A Method of Analysis, Personnel Review, vol. 20, no. 3, p. 14, Copyright Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission. 283

33 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL The work environment An increasingly important issue affecting job satisfaction and efficiency is the nature of the work environment and workplace facilities. Handy argues that an inspired workplace will result in inspired workers and draws attention to the importance for work performance of the atmosphere, quality and style of buildings and offices. 60 A 2003 study by the Chartered Management Institute reports on UK managers attitudes to and experiences of their physical working environment. The study was undertaken among a random sample of 4,000 managers across all levels and sectors and size of organisation. Topics addressed included hours worked, commuting and travel, flexible working, the existing and preferred layout of offices and the use of new technologies. Concerns were expressed about the need for more quiet areas, under-equipped meeting rooms, lack of adequate meeting space, and their offices not making a good impression on clients and visitors. Nearly half of those surveyed would relinquish one week s annual leave for a better office, and sizeable numbers would forgo 1,000 in salary or private medical insurance for a significantly upgraded workspace. And even if the role, salary and benefits were no better, 45 per cent would contemplate changing companies in return for an improved work environment. 61 More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin s success. I am aware that the idea of business being fun and creative goes right against the grain of convention, and it s certainly not how they teach it at some of those business schools, where business means hard grind and lots of discounted cash flows and net present values... For us, our employees matter most. It just seems common sense to me that, if you start off with a happy, well motivated workforce, you re much more likely to have happy customers. And in due course the resulting profits will make your shareholders happy. Richard Branson 62 According to De Vita, well-being at work pays because employees who are happy and healthy take fewer days off sick, are more productive and more likely to stay with their organisation. The starting point to supporting and promoting well-being in the workplace has to be good people management and effective work organisation. Good line management is the most important of the characteristics of a high-quality workplace that has high levels of commitment and low absence rates. 63 Flexible working arrangements An increasingly significant aspect of motivation and job satisfaction is flexible working. According to CIPD, This relates to an organisation s working arrangements in terms of working time, working location and the pattern of working. 64 Moves towards greater flexibility may afford opportunities for employees to have more freedom and control over their working arrangements and have noticeable effects on their job satisfaction and performance. Flexible working arrangements are discussed in Chapter 15. Broader approaches Broader approaches to job satisfaction aim to give the person improved empowerment and job enrichment through greater autonomy and authority over the planning, execution and control of their work. It focuses attention on intrinsic satisfaction. Job enrichment increases the complexity of the work. It should provide the person with a more meaningful and challenging job and offer greater opportunities for psychological growth. The main methods of achieving job enrichment include the following: permitting workers greater freedom and control over the scheduling and pacing of their work as opposed to machine pacing; 284

34 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION allowing workers to undertake a full task cycle, build or assemble a complete product or component, or deliver a complete service; providing workers with tasks or jobs which challenge their abilities and make fuller use of their training, expertise and skills; giving workers greater freedom to work in self-managing teams with greater responsibility for monitoring their own performance and the minimum of direct supervision; and providing workers with the opportunity to have greater direct contact with clients, consumers or users of the product or service. In an organisation, empowerment means that each staff member is responsible for creating that organisation s culture. There aren t many motivating forces more potent than giving your staff an opportunity to exercise and express their idealism. Anita Roddick 65 ALIENATION AT WORK One main approach to job satisfaction is in terms of frustration and alienation at work. Job satisfaction can be seen as the obverse of frustration at work (discussed earlier in this chapter). Alienation refers to the detachment of the person from their work role. The concept of alienation at work is associated originally with the views of Marx. 66 He saw the division of labour in pursuit of profit, and exploitation by employers, as a denial of the workers need for self-expression. Workers become estranged from the product of their work. Work no longer provided a satisfying experience in itself, but represented a means of satisfying other external demands. The concept of alienation has been extended by Blauner. 67 He describes alienation in terms of four dimensions: powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation and self-estrangement. Powerlessness denotes the workers lack of control over management policy, immediate work processes, or conditions of employment. Meaninglessness stems from standardisation and division of labour. It denotes the inability to see the purpose of work done or to identify with the total production process or finished product. Isolation is not belonging to an integrated work group or to the social work organisation and not being guided by group norms of behaviour. Self-estrangement is the failure to see work as an end in itself or as a central life issue. Workers experience a depersonalised detachment and work is seen solely as a means to an end. In recent years attention to job satisfaction has also become more closely associated with broader approaches to improved job design and work organisation, and the quality of working life movement, and with stress and the work/life balance (discussed in Chapter 3). A concept map of job satisfaction is set out in Figure A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF JOB ENRICHMENT Attempts to improve intrinsic motivation must not only include considerations of job characteristics but also take account of individual differences and attributes, and people s orientation to work. A popular and comprehensive model of job enrichment has been developed by Hackman and Oldham (see Figure 7.15). 68 The model views job enrichment 285

35 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Figure 7.14 Concept map of job satisfaction Source: Copyright 2008 The Virtual Learning Materials Workshop. Reproduced with permission. 286

36 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION Figure 7.15 A job characteristics model of work motivation Source: Hackman, J. R. and Oldham, G. R. Work Redesign, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. (1980), Figure 4.6, p. 90. Reproduced with permission from Pearson Education, Inc. in terms of increasing five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. These core job characteristics create three psychological states: experienced meaningfulness of the work; experienced responsibility for the outcomes of the work; and knowledge of the actual results of the work activities. Five core dimensions The five core job dimensions can be summarised as follows: skill variety the extent to which a job entails different activities and involves a range of skills and talents; task identity the extent to which a job involves completion of a whole piece of work with a visible outcome; task significance the extent to which a job has a meaningful impact on other people, either inside or outside the organisation; autonomy the extent to which a job provides freedom, independence and discretion in planning the work and determining how to undertake it; feedback the extent to which work activities result in direct and clear information on the effectiveness of job performance. An example of a job with little enrichment could be that of a production assembly line worker or a kitchen porter, where all five core characteristics are likely to score low. An example of an enriched job could be that of a parish priest who draws upon a wide range of social skills and talents, who can usually identify with the whole task and whose job has clear and important meaning and significance. There is a very high level of autonomy and likely to be direct and clear feedback. 287

37 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Motivating potential score From these five core job dimensions, Hackman and Oldham have developed an equation which gives a single index of a person s job profile. By answering a questionnaire the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and by giving a score (between 1 and 7) to each job dimension, the person can calculate an overall measure of job enrichment, called the motivating potential score (MPS). Examples of questions from the JDS are: How much variety is there in your job? To what extent does your job involve doing a whole and identifiable piece of work? In general, how significant or important is your job? How much autonomy is there in your job? To what extent does doing the job itself provide you with information about your work performance? MPS = {Skill variety + Task identity + Task significance} 3 Autonomy Feedback The first three job dimensions of skill variety, task identity and task significance are averaged, since it is the combination of these dimensions which contributes to experienced meaningfulness of work. The remaining two job dimensions, autonomy and feedback, stand on their own. Since scores for skill variety, task identity and task significance are additive, this means that the absence of one dimension can be partially offset by the presence of the other dimensions. However, if either autonomy or feedback is absent then, because of the multiplicative relationship, the MPS would be zero. The job would offer no potential to motivate the person. Empirical support for the model Empirical support for the model is mixed. From their studies, Hackman and Oldham claim that people with enriched jobs and high score levels on the Job Diagnostic Survey experienced more satisfaction and internal motivation. The core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity and task significance combined to predict the level of experienced meaningfulness of the work. The core dimensions of autonomy and feedback did not relate so clearly to experienced responsibility and knowledge of results. Some of the other dimensions were as good, or better, in predicting these psychological conditions. In general, however, the results of their studies showed that jobs that scored high on the core dimensions were associated with high levels of personal and work outcomes. Luthans et al. report on evidence from a number of studies of American workers that the job design approach leads to improvement in motivation and performance, but also that the approach did not work in the Russian factory study discussed earlier in this chapter. 69 In a study of a sample of six hotels (with between 35 and 65 bedrooms) in Great Yarmouth, Lee-Ross undertook an examination of the reliability of the JDS among seasonal workers. From an analysis of 163 questionnaires, Lee-Ross concludes that in general, reliability scores were compatible with those of Hackman and Oldham. The JDS appears to hold just as well for hotel workers as for workers in other industries. 70 Based on integrating Hackman and Oldham s job characteristics model with Maslow s hierarchy of needs, Roe et al. propose a general model of work motivation, tested with Bulgarian, Hungarian and Dutch workers. The model indicates that situational characteristics lead to critical psychological factors, inducing two main motivational factors job involvement and organisational commitment which in turn lead to two proximal outcomes of work motivation effort and job satisfaction which affect performance, stress and tendency to leave the organisation. Although there were some differences that draw attention to cultural variables, there was also a large degree of similarity in results across the three countries

38 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION CONTEXTUAL FACTORS IN JOB DESIGN The different methods of job design are not necessarily separate approaches. They are interrelated and there is some overlapping among them. For example, goal-setting is sometimes viewed as another approach to job design. Goal-setting involves building goals, feedback and incentives into the structure of the job. In addition, there are many other associated (contextual) factors which affect job design, including, for example: organisational culture, structure, systems of management and style of leadership, trade unions, HR policies and procedures, communications, group norms, ergonomics, the management of change, and the working environment. The potential benefits of improved job design are unlikely to be realised if attention is focused on the content of jobs alone. Of equal, if not more, importance is the process by which redesign is carried out. This has led to recognition of the importance of management style and, increasingly, of organisation culture. 72 Central to improving the quality of working life is a participative, open style of management involving employees in decisions that affect them, including the design or choice of technology. Management should attempt to develop a relationship of trust among all members and sections of the organisation and a meaningful partnership approach with trade unions. Theories of work motivation and job satisfaction have influenced management systems and styles of leadership, and developments in HR policies and procedures. The human resource management function is centred on people s needs while working in an organisation and ways in which their work promotes or frustrates the fulfilment of these needs. 73 The practice of modern human resource management is directed towards providing conditions under which people work willingly and effectively, and contribute to the success of the organisation. This involves concern for employee motivation and job satisfaction. Critical reflection Individuals have a variety of changing, and often conflicting, needs and expectations which they attempt to satisfy in a number of ways at different times. What are the most powerful influences on your own work motivation and job satisfaction? How do you think these will change in five years time? SYNOPSIS The study of motivation is concerned, basically, with why people behave in a certain way. The underlying concept of motivation is some driving force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfil some need or expectation. Individuals have a variety of changing, and often competing, needs and expectations which they attempt to satisfy in a number of ways. If a person s motivational driving force is blocked and they are unable to satisfy their needs and expectations, this may result either in constructive, problem-solving behaviour or in frustration-induced behaviour. There are many competing theories that attempt to explain motivation at work. The different theories may be divided into two contrasting groups: content theories and process theories. Content theories place emphasis on what motivates and are concerned with identifying people s needs and their relative strengths, and the goals they pursue in order to satisfy these needs. Main content theories include Maslow s hierarchy of needs model, Alderfer s modified need hierarchy model, Herzberg s two-factor theory and McClelland s achievement motivation theory. Process theories place emphasis on the actual process of motivation. These theories are concerned with the relationships among the dynamic variables that make up motivation, and with how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained. Many of the process 289

39 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL theories cannot be linked to a single writer, but major approaches under this heading include expectancybased models, equity theory, goal theory and attribution theory. Another possible approach to motivation is organisational behaviour modification (OBMod). These different theories are not conclusive. However, it is because of the complexity of motivation that these different theories are important to the manager, and many writers still expound their relevance today. They help demonstrate the many motives that influence people s behaviour at work. They provide a framework within which to direct attention for how best to motivate and reward staff to work willingly and effectively. One major doubt concerning the different theories of motivation is about their universality, on the grounds that they do not adequately address the factor of culture. Attempting to understand the nature of job satisfaction and links with work performance is not easy. Although the level of job satisfaction may well affect the strength of motivation, this is not always the case. Job satisfaction is more of an internal state and could be associated, for example, with a feeling of personal achievement. Job satisfaction is a complex concept and difficult to measure objectively. The level of job satisfaction is affected by a wide range of individual, social, organisational and cultural variables. Broader approaches to satisfaction aim to give the person improved empowerment and job enrichment through greater autonomy and control over their work. Attention has also been given to a comprehensive model of job enrichment and five core dimensions. Moves towards greater flexibility may have noticeable effects on job satisfaction and performance of staff. Despite many theories and studies there are still doubts as to how best to manage an organisation so that staff have both high job satisfaction and productivity. Account must also be taken of contextual factors, including management style and culture, and developments in human resource management. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1 Explain what you understand by the underlying concept of motivation. Summarise the main needs and expectations to be taken into account in considering the motivation of people at work. 2 What do you understand by frustration-induced behaviour? Give a practical example, preferably from your work experience, of each of the main forms of this behaviour. 3 Critically assess the practical value of Maslow s hierarchy of needs model to improving the motivation of people at work. Give examples of the extent to which the theory could meaningfully be applied to staff in your own organisation. 4 Debate critically the validity of the contention that the motivation for staff to work well depends on more than a high salary and good working conditions. 5 Explain your understanding of expectancy-based theories of motivation. Use a simple diagram to help explain an expectancy theory of your choice. What implications do expectancy theories of motivation have for the manager? 6 Give detailed practical examples of situations in which each of the following theories of motivation might be appropriate: (i) achievement motivation; (ii) equity theory; (iii) goal theory. 7 What exactly do you understand by job satisfaction? What are the main dimensions of job satisfaction? Give specific examples of causes of both job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction that you have experienced. 8 Evaluate critically the relationship between motivation, job satisfaction and effective work performance. Give reasons in support of your views. 290

40 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION MANAGEMENT IN THE NEWS Top marks for the best employee awards FT Rhymer Rigby Employee of the month (or the week, or the year) awards have a bad image. They are popularly associated with low-paid, low-status service sector jobs a dollop of worthless recognition on top of an already low-value package. Implemented properly, they can be a valuable form of recognition that motivates staff, especially in today s rewardconstrained climate. Handled wrongly, however, they can backfire and foster cynicism. Stephen Carella, a team leader at Kwik-Fit Financial Services, an insurance intermediary, was its Employee of the Year It was a goal I d set myself at the start of the year, he explains. Once he had won six employee of the month awards, he knew he was in with a good chance. He adds: It s a great incentive and what really motivated me is the recognition you get. It s a fantastic thing to put on your CV. Mr Carella was presented with his award at a dinner for 100 of the company s top performers and their partners at Edinburgh s Balmoral Hotel. He also received a cash prize of 10,000. It was, he says, the best night of my life. The scheme, explains Brendan Devine, KFFS group managing director, has been running for four years and is part of a complex structure of recognition. Each department has an employee of the month award, which accords privileges such as free food in the staff bistro, gym membership and parking. From these are drawn quarterly qualifiers who could make it on to a shortlist for employee of the year. It s part of an overall strategy to identify who top performers are, says Mr Devine, adding that at the dinner, the 34 departmental winners of the annual title also receive awards and 1,000. In a way, the recognition is the most important part though [the] reward goes beyond your pay packet. Ben Williams, a corporate psychologist, says such schemes can be valuable but cautions that they must be implemented properly. He says: By and large they re a good thing and encourage beliefs and behaviours the company might want to promote such as high sales or great customer care. In industries where people move round, they can encourage them to stay. However, he says: You need to avoid a celebrity-like cult of the individual. Teams need to be considered together. If everyone s a high performer, it can be divisive to only reward the single highest performer. There is also the vexed question of recognition versus material reward. The key is getting the underlying corporate culture right. If it is wrong, says Williams, recipients can be made to look obsequious sycophants, Employee award schemes can be a valuable form of recognising the contributions of employees but if handled badly can backfire and foster cynicism. How can employers strike the right balance in both deciding what to do and what to avoid? like swots at school. Still, no matter what you do, there will always be groups that are damning about such recognition: That s one of the reasons to give cash rewards you get buy-in from the cynical brigade. But for all the organisations that take these considerations on board, there are still plenty that do not. I was the best-performing employee of the quarter, says one salesman at another company, and I went up on stage and was given a 20 M&S voucher which makes you feel a bit like a monkey performing for bananas. He spent his voucher on strawberries and a few months later he won employee of the year. Soon after he left the company. Source: Rigby, R. Top Marks for the Best Employee Award, Financial Times, 11 May Copyright 2009 The Financial Times Limited, reproduced with permission. Discussion questions 1 What evidence is there in the article that employee award schemes can help meet the needs and expectations of people at work outlined in Figure 7.2? 2 Explain which two motivation theories you think are most useful for a manager who is planning an employee award scheme both to decide what to include in the scheme and what to avoid. Source: istockphoto 291

41 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1 a List, as far as possible in rank order, the specific needs and expectations that are most important to you as an individual. (Do not include basic physiological needs such as to satisfy thirst or hunger, or a minimal standard of accommodation.) b Explain, briefly, to what extent these needs and expectations are met currently by your present work situation and/or to what extent you anticipate they will be met by your future career ambitions. c Think of any work experience that you have had even a short-term, vacation or part-time job. Briefly describe those aspects of the job and/or experiences that: (i) motivated you to work well and to the best of your ability; and (ii) had a demotivating influence on your behaviour and performance. Be prepared to share your feelings and comments as part of a class discussion. ASSIGNMENT 2 a Write a brief description of what you think is happening to the people in the picture and what you think will happen to them in the future. b After you have written your description, compare your response with those of your colleagues. PERSONAL AWARENESS AND SKILLS EXERCISE Objectives Completing this exercise should help you to enhance the following skills: Analyse and review what determines motivation to work. Reflect upon your perceptions about the motives of other people. Take account of individual needs and expectations at work. Exercise 1 First, undertake Assignment 1 and bear in mind your responses to the assignment. Exchange accounts with a partner before proceeding further. 292

42 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION 2 Now assume you are the newly appointed general manager of a privately owned 50-room seaside hotel with restaurant. You have been brought in as a trouble shooter and at interview you were informed there is serious concern about the generally poor level of work performance, that morale is low and there is a disturbing high level of staff turnover. Detail fully the likely actions you would take to help overcome the present situation. Indicate clearly the priorities you would have in mind. Make clear any necessary, reasonable assumptions. Explain how you might draw upon those theories/studies you consider relevant. 3 Write, fully and honestly, the extent to which there is disparity between your own motives and, based on the above, motivating other people. How would you explain and rationalise differences? 4 Compare and discuss critically accounts with your partner, and be prepared to explain and justify your views. Discussion How far did you avoid generalisations about what motivates other people? What assumptions did you make about the work ethic of staff at the hotel? To what extent where you able to distance your own motivations? What conclusions do you draw from this exercise? CASE STUDY Don t get mad, get on-line! In 2005 the word blog, meaning an on-line journal or web log which is regularly updated by the author, entered the Oxford English Dictionary for the first time. Figures collected by internet monitoring organisations suggest that by the time the word made it into the dictionary there were about 30 million blogs in existence, and the numbers were increasing at the rate of about 70,000 per day. 74 Add to this the emergence of social networking and communication sites such as Facebook and Twitter and there has never been such a wide range of possible ways to launch personal thoughts into a waiting cyberworld. Not all are about work, but the fact that life in the office or workplace is a significant part of many people s lives means that many blogs, posts and tweets include references to work, bosses, colleagues and customers alongside other normal daily experiences, opinions about news events and so on. A number of blogs are specifically about work, and these are the ones which tend to hit the headlines, usually when an employee gets into trouble for airing their opinions about the organisation they work for in the blogosphere. Why do individuals blog about work? At one level, blogging is no different from gossip. Many bloggers expect to have small audiences, possibly of like-minded Is it acceptable to blog, post or tweet about your company? Social networking and communication sites provide a wide range of ways to share personal thoughts in a public venue resulting in organisational responses that can range from accepting to creative to hostile. people who have similar experiences to discuss; the content of blogs may be much like the discussions with colleagues that are routinely held in the round the water cooler or coffee machine, or with friends in a pub or Source: CJG/Alamy 293

43 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL bar after work. Most blogs include opportunities for and on-line discussion, and so become a lively mix of intimate diary items and chatroom-style comments. For some authors the aim is to give an insight into their working life, perhaps discussing a type of job which many people know about but few really understand. In the UK, at least one chief police constable and a number of ambulance service workers are known to blog primarily about their work. 75 However, many see it as a way of letting off steam about aspects of their work which enrage them, be it the organisation, their individual managers, their annoying colleagues or as often the absurd behaviour of members of the general public and customers in particular. 76 This can make blogging a particularly risky activity, at least if the blogger wishes to keep their job. Careless blogging can get you dooced In 2004 Ellen Simonetti hit the headlines 77 when she was sacked by her employer, the American Delta Airlines, essentially for identifying them as the company about which she was blogging on her Queen of the Sky website. The offence which got her sacked was not the blog itself, but the fact that by posting photographs of herself draped across the seats of an aircraft in her uniform (pictures which were described by the company as inappropriate ) she identified the organisation itself, and therefore was considered to have brought it into disrepute. In January 2005, in a similar British case, Joe Gordon, an employee of Waterstone s bookshop in Edinburgh of 11 years standing, was dismissed for gross misconduct 78 after bringing the company into disrepute by complaining about his evil boss at the fictionalised but nevertheless sufficiently recognisable bookstore Bastardones in his blog The Wolamaloo Gazette. 79 The term doocing has since been used to describe the phenomenon of being sacked for blogging, a fate which also befell Catherine Sanderson or La Petite Anglaise who was dismissed from the Parisian branch of British accounting firm Dixon Wilson in July 2006 for committing the real and serious offence of blogging mischievously but anonymously about her boss and colleagues. 80 As with Simonetti, it was when she posted photographs of herself on the site that the company decided that she, and therefore it, could be identified, and that it had to act against its employee. Market Sentinel offers an internet monitoring service (much like that of a press agency) to companies who want to know what is being posted about them, and be alerted to potential threats posed to their brand image in cyberspace. This too can result in disciplinary action as 13 cabin crew at Virgin Atlantic discovered to their cost when they were dismissed for posting derogatory comments about Virgin customers on Facebook. 81 Learning to love bloggers Not every organisation has reacted with hostility to bloggers. The chief constable and the ambulance workers mentioned above are at least tolerated and at best supported by their employers (the chief constable s blog is hosted by the North Wales Police website). The same was also true for Robert Scoble, at Microsoft, whose blog (Scobleizer) not only turned him into a cyber-celebrity, but also acted to help humanise the previously monolithic corporate face of the company. 82 Other organisations have actively embraced blog culture, and sought to use it to their advantage, mainly to aid recruitment. Dell, the US computer giant, has also created its own blog (Direct2Dell) as a means of engaging with customer criticism. An increasing number of organisations have recognised the impossibility of controlling employees private blogs, but have offered guidance and codes of practice for their workforce as a means of setting out company policy and thereby setting boundaries of acceptable behaviour. IBM, for example has developed a set of eleven guidelines for its staff, some of which are summarised below: 83 Know and follow IBM s Business Conduct Guidelines. IBMers are personally responsible for their posts. You must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of IBM. Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws. Don t provide IBM s or another s confidential or other proprietary information. Don t use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity etc.; and show proper consideration for others privacy and topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory such as politics and religion. Don t pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes and don t alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. A great many organisations have seized the opportunity to communicate with staff, customers, members and others via website-based blogs. Organisational consequences: possibilities and challenges IBM s approach, the development of guidelines for employees, is increasingly being seen as the way forward for organisations which are concerned about blogging. It prevents them from appearing heavyhanded, avoids the adverse publicity that can sometimes be stirred up by a sacking, and might also preclude legal challenges, for instance on the grounds of unfair dismissal, or as an attempt to curtail freedom of 294

44 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION speech. Simonetti, Gordon and Sanderson all challenged their dismissals using employment tribunals or their equivalents, opening the question of the validity of dismissal for blogging. The existence of company guidelines which have clearly been breached by a blogger is likely to support an employer s case for dismissal. The UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development considers that there are occasions when blogging might be easily identifiable as a disciplinary offence but would not necessarily support a dismissal; for instance, the abuse of company equipment and time by workers blogging or tweeting on the job might not be deemed to warrant dismissal by an employment tribunal unless the post additionally caused harm to the organisation s reputation and interests. 84 On the other hand, disclosure of confidential information might well breach company data protection policies; and dismissal for libellous or defamatory comments might stand up to the test of a tribunal. The spectre of cyber-bullying is another concern, since social networking sites like Facebook have the potential for defamatory and libellous comments and even illicit recordings to be posted for circulation to a specified group. Similarly, it seems possible that if employees are using blogs to air their work grievances rather than using the more normal (and in the UK statutorily required) grievance procedures, then they might well be risking fair dismissal. However, it is also worth considering how far disgruntled employees blogs indicate that organisational grievance procedures or other employee feedback mechanisms (such as attitude surveys) are not operating very successfully and that important information about employee morale and job dissatisfaction is being overlooked. Finally it might also be necessary to consider how far blogs are acceptable as a form of whistleblowing, and whether employees who use blogs in this way would be protected by relevant legislation such as the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) of 1998 in the UK. The PIDA extends protection to whistleblowers, but normally on the basis that they have already exhausted internal organisational methods of raising their concerns before going public. Here again, blogs might be of enormous value to senior managers within an organisation whose ability to monitor the reality of working life in relation to aims regarding (for example) employee morale or issues of corporate social responsibility is limited. The last word should perhaps go to an anonymous blogger who reported to Personnel Today magazine: Blogging with its potential audience of millions, is an easy way to exercise my creativity and make my views heard. I m dissatisfied with my job and unhappy with the way recent restructuring and management decisions have led to low morale, although I do not have an evil boss like the Waterstone s employee. Most of my work-related moans on my blog are minor, everyday niggles about annoying colleagues or the dull nature of my employment, but I am not afraid to occasionally pull out the big guns over issues I feel passionately about. 85 Your tasks 1 Using a basic model of expectancy theory such as that in Figure 7.8 or one of goal-setting theory such as Locke s (Figure 7.12) assess the various motivational forces which might be operating when employees blog about their employer. 2 It seems that for some people, blogging about work can be viewed as a form of frustration-induced behaviour. Critically review the process of blogging as a method of expressing job dissatisfaction. How do you think managers should respond to cases of work-related blogging by frustrated employees? 3 Organisational responses to employee blogs or Facebook posts outlined in the case might be categorised as either hostile (sack and sue); accepting (control and monitor); or creative (encourage and use). For each of these approaches, identify some basic guidelines for handling cases such as those of Simonetti, Gordon and Sanderson, bearing in mind the motivational effects that your proposals might have on both bloggers and other employees. 295

45 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL Notes and references 1 Krech, D., Crutchfield, R. S. and Ballachey, E. L. Individual in Society, McGraw-Hill (1962). 2 Mitchell, T. R. Motivation: New Directions for Theory, Research, and Practice, Academy of Management Review, vol. 7, no. 1, January 1982, pp Motivating Your Staff in a Time of Change, Checklist 068, Chartered Management Institute, March Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. and Buelens, M. Organizational Behaviour, first European edition, McGraw-Hill (1999). 5 Farren, C. Mastery: The Critical Advantage, in Chowdhury, S. (ed.) Management 21C, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2000), p See, for example, Rudolph, P. A. and Kleiner, B. H. The Art of Motivating Employees, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 4, no. 5, 1989, pp. i iv. 7 Kets de Vries, M. Beyond Sloan: trust is at the core of corporate values in Pickford, J. (ed.) Financial Times Mastering Management 2.0, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2001), pp For a fuller discussion, see Mullins, L. J. Hospitality Management and Organisational Behaviour, fourth edition, Longman (2001). 9 Weaver, T. Theory M: Motivating with Money, Cornell HRA Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 3, November 1988, pp Kusin, G. A 360-Degree Spin, Hemisphere United, October 2005, p Templar, R. The Rules of Management, Pearson Prentice Hall (2005), p Grayson, D. and Hodges, A. Everybody s Business: Managing Risks and Opportunities in Today s Global Society, Financial Times (2001), p Gratton, L. Hot Spots, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2007), p Waller, D. Are You What You Do?, Management Today, October 2008, pp See, for example, Brown, J. A. C. The Social Psychology of Industry, Penguin (1954 and 1986). 16 Cited in Crainer, S. Re-engineering the Carrot, Management Today, December 1995, p Maslow, A. H. A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review, 50, July 1943, pp and Maslow, A. H. Motivation and Personality, third edition, Harper and Row (1987). 18 Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. Motivation and Work Behaviour, fifth edition, McGraw-Hill (1991). 19 Saunders, A. Keep Staff Sweet, Management Today, June 2003, p Adair, J. Leadership and Motivation, Kogan Page (2006). 21 Alderfer, C. P. Existence, Relatedness and Growth, Collier Macmillan (1972). 22 Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. B. The Motivation to Work, second edition, Chapman and Hall (1959). 23 Crainer, S. and Dearlove, D. (eds) Financial Times Handbook of Management, second edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2001), p McClelland, D. C. Human Motivation, Cambridge University Press (1988). 25 For examples of pictures, see Osland, J. S., Kolb, D. A. and Rubin, I. M. Organizational Behaviour: An Experimental Approach, seventh edition, Prentice Hall (2001). 26 See, for example, Spangler, W. D. Validity of Questionnaire and TAT Measures of Need for Achievement: Two Meta-Analyses, Psychological Bulletin, July 1992, pp McClelland, D. C. Business Drive and National Achievement, Harvard Business Review, vol. 40, July August 1962, pp McClelland, D. C. and Burnham, D. H. Power Is the Great Motivation, Harvard Business Review, vol. 54, March April 1976, pp Vroom, V. H. Work and Motivation, Wiley (1964); also published by Krieger (1982). 30 Porter, L. W. and Lawler, E. E. Managerial Attitudes and Performance, Irwin (1968). 31 Lawler, E. E. Motivation in Work Organizations, Brooks/ Cole (1973). 32 Lundin, S., Paul, H. and Christensen, J. Fish: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, Hyperion Press (2001), p Adams, J. S. Injustice in Social Exchange, in Berkowitz, L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental and Social Psychology, Academic Press (1965). Abridged in Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. Motivation and Work Behavior, second edition, McGraw-Hill (1979), pp Werner, G., Schmittberger, R. and Schwarze, B. An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 3, no. 4, December 1982, pp Locke, E. A. Towards a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, vol. 3, 1968, pp Locke, E. A. Personal Attitudes and Motivation, Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 26, 1975, pp Gratton, L. Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2000), p Hannagan, T. Management, fourth edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2005), p Reis, D. and Pena, L. Reengineering the Motivation to Work, Management Decision, vol. 39, no. 8, 2001, pp Motivating Your Staff in a Time of Change, Management Checklist 068, Chartered Management Institute, March Flores, G. N. and Utley, R. Management Concepts in Use a 12-Year Perspective, Engineering Management Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, September 2000, pp Adair, J. Leadership and Motivation, Kogan Page (2006), p Luthans, F. and Kreitner, R. Organisational Behavior Modification and Beyond, second edition, Scott Foresman (1985), p Stajkovic, A. D. and Luthans, F. Differential Effects of Incentive Motivators on Work Performance, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 44, no. 3, 2001, pp Luthans, F., Stajkovic, A., Luthans, B. C. and Luthans, K. W. Applying Behavioral Management in Eastern Europe, European Management Journal, vol. 16, no. 4, August 1998, pp Tampoe, M. Knowledge Workers The New Management Challenge, Professional Manager, November 1994, pp

46 CHAPTER 7 WORK MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION 47 Lucas, E. Turning On the Knowledge Workers, Professional Manager, May 1999, pp Managing Knowledge Workers: The HR Dimension, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, January Whitmore, Sir J. Breaking Down the Barriers to Management Creativity, Manager, The British Journal of Administrative Management, May/June 2002, pp See, for example, Cheng, T., Sculli, D. and Chan, F. S. Relationship Dominance Rethinking Management Theories from the Perspective of Methodological Relationalism, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 16, no. 2, 2001, pp Francesco, A. M. and Gold, B. A. International Organizational Behavior, second edition, Pearson Prentice Hall (2005), p Ibid., p Sledge, S., Miles, A. K. and Coppage, S. What Role Does Culture Play? A Look at Motivation and Job Satisfaction among Hotel Workers in Brazil, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 19, no. 2, September 2008, pp Adler, N. J. International Aspects of Organizational Behaviour, third edition, South Western College Publishing (1997). 55 Chen, C. C. New Trends in Reward Allocation Preferences: A Sino-US Comparison, The Academy of Management Journal, vol. 38, no. 2, 1995, pp Reeves, R. Reality Bites, Management Today, May 2003, p Stern, S. My Generation Management Today, March 2008, pp Worrall, L. and Cooper, C. The Quality of Working Life 2007, Chartered Management Institute, October Mumford, E. Job Satisfaction: A Method of Analysis, Personal Review, vol. 20, no. 3, 1991, pp Handy, C. Boring Workplace, Boring Worker, Management Today, November 1997, p The Workplace Survey, Chartered Management Institute, March 2003; Myerson, J. Workspace Heaven?, Management Today, June 2003, pp Branson, R. Losing My Virginity, Virgin Publishing (1998), pp. 431, De Vita, E. Best Fit, Management Today, September 2008, pp Flexible Working: The Implementation Challenge, CIPD, October 2005, p Roddick, A. Business As Unusual, Thorsons (2000), p Marx, K. The Notion of Alienation, in Coser, L. A. and Rosenburg, B. Sociological Theory, Collier Macmillan (1969), pp Blauner, R. Alienation and Freedom, University of Chicago Press (1964). 68 Hackman, J. R. and Oldham, G. R. Work Redesign, Addison-Wesley (1980). 69 Luthans, F., Stajkovic, A., Luthans, B. C. and Luthans, K. W. Applying Behavioral Management in Eastern Europe, European Management Journal, vol. 16, no. 4, August 1998, pp Lee-Ross, D. The Reliability and Rationale of Hackman and Oldham s Job Diagnostic Survey and Job Characteristics Model among Seasonal Hotel Workers, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 17, 1998, pp Roe, R. A., Zinovieva, I. L., Dienes, E. and Ten Horn, L. A. A Comparison of Work Motivation in Bulgaria, Hungary and the Netherlands: Test of a Model, Applied Psychology: An International Review, vol. 49, 2000, pp See, for example, Cartwright, J. Cultural Transformation, Financial Times Prentice Hall (1999). 73 See, for example, Torrington, D., Hall, L. and Taylor, S. Human Resource Management, sixth edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2005). 74 Personnel Today Blogging: Waste of Time or Corporate Tool?, published 21 March 2006 and available at (accessed 28 July 2009). 75 The Chief Constable of North Wales at and two blogs by members of the London Ambulance service, Random Acts of Reality ( and Nee Naw ( 76 E.g. waiterrant.net for those in the restaurant trade. 77 BBC News website US Blogger Fired by Her Airline, dated 3 November 2004 (accessed 28 July 2009). 78 Personnel Today Don t Blog Your Way into Trouble, published 17 January 2005 and available at (accessed 28 July 2009). 79 The Wolamaloo Gazette, 80 Smith-Spark, L. How to Blog and Keep Your Job, BBC news website, 20 July 2006 (accessed 28 July 2009). 81 BBC News website Crew Sacked over Facebook Posts, 31 October Watkins, D. How Big Business Barged In On the Bloggers, The Guardian, 20 March For the full guidelines and discussion about how they should be managed, visit IBM_Blogging_Policy_and_Guidelines.pdf. 84 Spencer, S. Illegal Blogging, People Management, 27 January Personnel Today Don t Blog Your Way Into Trouble, published 17 January 2005 and available at INSTANT ACCESS TO INTERACTIVE LEARNING Now that you have finished reading this chapter, visit MyManagementLab at to find more learning resources to help you make the most of your studies and get a better grade. 297

47 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT Below you will find the title and abstract of a recent article in an academic journal which explores a topic relevant to the chapters in Part 2. Inkpen, A. Knowledge Transfer and International Joint Ventures: The Case of NUMMI and General Motors, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 29, 2008, pp Abstract Using a case study of NUMMI, a joint venture between General Motors (GM) and Toyota, this research note examines alliances and knowledge transfer with a focus on the organizational processes used to transfer knowledge. The results suggest two possible explanations for the knowledge transfer outcome. The primary explanation is that the systematic implementation of knowledge transfer mechanisms can overcome the stickiness and causal ambiguity of new knowledge. A second explanation is that creating successful knowledge transfer should be viewed from a change management perspective in which trial and error learning experiences and experimentation support the transfer outcome. Commentary Ideas about organisational learning and knowledge transfer are gaining increasing significance in a world where tacit knowledge (the everyday assumptions, habits and experiences which individuals acquire during the experience of work) often holds the key to effective performance or improvements in organisational processes. The article describes a specific experiment designed to promote knowledge transfer of the Toyota Production System (TPS) into General Motors (GM) which began in The joint venture site, a disused GM manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, allowed Toyota access to experience of managing an American workforce and gave GM the opportunity to study successful Japanese manufacturing processes at close hand. The experience is described, and the problems of the initial phase (to about 1990) might seem to suggest that in the short term the experiment was unsuccessful. However, it is also made clear that senior management commitment from 1992 onwards resulted in a better organised process, and the development of an effective network of TPS-experienced managers within GM. This network supported the creation of a systematic knowledge transfer process that ultimately enhanced GM s performance. The article might prompt you to consider the following questions. What was the nature of the initial problems encountered by the Fremont experienced managers when attempting to transfer their new knowledge back into GM? The article explains how the creation of a specific set of activities by the Technical Liaison Office helped to improve the knowledge transfer process. How did these activities contribute to its effectiveness? What are the implications of the article s findings for the social aspects of managing knowledge transfer within an organisation? Does knowledge transfer always have to take so long? Can anything be learned from the article which would help an organisation speed up the process? 298

48 PART 2 CASE STUDY Philanthropy: the resurgence of personal social responsibility? Something rather spectacular happened on 26 June 2006: Warren Buffet, the world s second wealthiest man, announced that he intended to give 85 per cent of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There, it will join the billions that Bill Gates, the world s wealthiest man, has already pledged, to make an enormous sum of money to support good works around the world. A few months earlier, the late Anita Roddick, who founded and built up Body Shop International, had announced her intention to give away half of her fortune. Philanthropy has long been a noble and admirable part of the capitalist tradition and now seems to be back in the news. Why is this sort of philanthropy of interest to students of organisational behaviour? Several reasons can be suggested: Firstly, of course, the wealth that is given away is often the result of setting up and running an organisation that successfully fulfils its purpose over a long period: the profits that flow to the owner result from customers choosing and paying for its output. Also, the generosity of wealthy individuals makes an interesting contrast with the more familiar concept of corporate social responsibility, which sometimes involves donations of company, rather than personal money. The charitable foundations, together with their external relationships, are of interest in their own right. The word philanthropy is derived from the Greek and is defined as love of humankind; the disposition or effort to promote the happiness of and well-being of one s fellow-people. 1 The practice of philanthropy was well-established before that of capitalism of course, but the early stages of the growth of the American economy saw a significant surge in the social custom of philanthropy. Although it may have been no part of their aim, the names of some of America s most significant philanthropists are as well-known for their giving as for the business careers that made the money. Two celebrated examples from the same era provide a view of the way a philanthropic life can be lived. From Carnegie and Rockefeller to Bill and Melinda Gates Andrew Carnegie ( ) was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. He was the son of a weaver and Bill Gates and his wife set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with part of the personal fortune he had earned from the success of Microsoft. the family emigrated to the United States in Like many at that time, Carnegie started work at the age of 13 doing a number of jobs until 1865, when he started his own business. This was to become the foundation of the steel industry in Pittsburgh and the origin of Carnegie s fortune. At the turn of the new century, Carnegie sold the business for $480m and spent the rest of his life devoted to his philanthropic interests. These were diverse, but centred around the theme of the provision of public libraries and education. 2 Over his life, Carnegie gave away more than $350m (multiply by about twenty for today s values). Some of the quotes attributed to him 3 show the combination of hard-nosed business acumen and the strong sense of social duty that characterises this type of philanthropist: And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department. Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar. Source: Adrian Wyld/AP/ Press Association Images 299

49 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL As will be seen, similar sentiments and values continue to motivate today s philanthropists. John D. Rockefeller ( ) was born in the United States to a farming family. In his business career, he founded and developed the Standard Oil Company, which became the leading force in the fast-growing oil industry. At the age of 57, Rockefeller decided that he should step aside from the day-to-day leadership of Standard Oil and devote himself to philanthropy. This had been important to him from his early life, but also because of his religious convictions and his approach to finance: I believe it is every man s religious duty to get all he can honestly and to give all he can. Like Carnegie, his philanthropic interests centred on education, with substantial donations to found and develop universities and research institutes, as well as the establishment of trusts and foundations for the improvement of education at all levels. Over his life, he gave away some $540m. 4 Again, some of the quotes attributed to the man 5 show a mixture of hardheadedness and generosity that is far from sentimental: Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it. I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty. The emerging philanthropists of the twenty-first century have often made their money through businesses that were not even heard of in the lifetimes of Carnegie and Rockefeller. Bill Gates, for example, is one of the founders of the enormously successful Microsoft Corporation, whose information products are about as far from steel and oil as can be imagined. This case is mainly concerned with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which was established in 1994 with an initial gift of about $94m from the two founders. 6 It grew rapidly from 1999 to a value of $29.2bn by 2005, by which time a cumulative total of $10.2bn had been awarded. In 2006, it had 270 employees in three offices (Seattle, Washington and Delhi). The organisation is organised around its three main priorities, which are: global development; global health; and US programmes. In a letter published on the Foundation s website, 7 Bill and Melinda Gates explain their aims in respect of global health, pointing out that health is fundamental to economic development: When health takes hold, life improves by all measures. Conversely, poor health aggravates poverty, poverty deepens disease, and nations trapped in this spiral will not escape without the world s help. In Africa, the cost of malaria in terms of treatment and lost productivity is estimated to be $12 billion a year. The continent s gross domestic product could be $100 billion higher today if malaria had been eliminated in the 1960s. And if HIV infection rates continue at their present levels, the world will likely see 45 million new infections by 2010 and lose nearly 70 million people by That s 70 million of the most productive members of society health workers, educators, and parents. Therefore, the foundation s Global Health program works to ensure that lifesaving advances in health are created and shared with those who need them most. Our primary focus areas are HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, child survival and childhood immunization, and maternal and reproductive health. To begin, we invest heavily in research to help discover new and better products, particularly vaccines. The foundation also supports work to develop products that can be manufactured and distributed. Then, once a product is developed, we work to make sure that there are systems in place to adopt and sustain these new drugs as they become available. The foundation is a major supporter of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). This alliance has provided basic immunizations to over 8 million children who would not otherwise have been immunized. As a result, GAVI has already saved an estimated 500,000 children s lives. In the world of business, as opposed to philanthropic foundations, there has been growing interest in recent years in the subject of corporate governance: what the business is aiming to do and how it can be sure that its actions are consistent with those aims. It has been common for wealthy individuals to adopt a corporate format in making good works happen, often by setting up and then directing a dedicated foundation to look after both the strategic and operational aspects of the task. This seems to acknowledge the benefits of the corporate approach in terms of efficiency and the ability to recruit and apply specialist skills, while still retaining control by the founder or the founding family. It is also easy to appreciate how focused and effective such an organisation can be in pursuing the goals of the founder, and to acknowledge the possibility that an effective philanthropic foundation may be at least as effective as, say, a government or international agency. As will already be clear, some of the world s philanthropic foundations have multinational corporation-sized (even government-sized) budgets, meaning that the issue of governance is rightly of some concern to the society within which these organisations operate. One does not need to be a fan of James Bond movies to appreciate that very rich individuals using their wealth to pursue their private aims is not in itself guaranteed to be in the general interest. In fact, foundations often go to some lengths to communicate their values and aims publicly. BMGF has adopted two key values: 300

50 PART 2 CASE STUDY PHILANTHROPY: THE RESURGENCE OF PERSONAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY All lives no matter where they are being led have equal value. To whom much has been given, much is expected. These values are the basis for fifteen principles that guide BMGF in its operations: 8 This is a family foundation driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family. Philanthropy plays an important but limited role. Science and technology have great potential to improve lives around the world. We are funders and shapers we rely on others to act and implement. Our focus is clear and limited and prioritizes some of the most neglected issues. We identify a specific point of intervention and apply our efforts against a theory of change. We take risks, make big bets, and move with urgency. We are in it for the long haul. We advocate vigorously but responsibly in our areas of focus. We must be humble and mindful in our actions and words. We seek and heed the counsel of outside voices. We treat our grantees as valued partners, and we treat the ultimate beneficiaries of our work with respect. Delivering results with the resources we have been given is of the utmost importance and we seek and share information about those results. We demand ethical behaviour of ourselves. We treat each other as valued colleagues. Meeting our mission to increase opportunity and equity for those most in need requires great stewardship of the money we have available. We leave room for growth and change. As can be seen, these principles relate to the foundation in its external dealings (with other agencies, for example, with the public in general or with its grantees, i.e. recipients of aid), but also in its internal relationships (ethical behaviour, respect and professional standards). BMGF is also committed in these principles to communicating clearly what it is aiming to do and what it has achieved. Something of the founder s sense of responsibility was evident in the comments that Bill Gates made at the announcement of Warren Buffet s donation to the Foundation. Gates joked that there was something more scary about the possibility of making a mistake with Buffet s money than with his own. 9 These are not sentiments that politicians are often heard to express, making an interesting contrast with the mainstream government-funded approach to social projects that has come to dominate the past fifty years. Warren Buffet and Anita Roddick Warren Buffet s fortune was made through the Berkshire Hathaway organisation, which for many years has been The world s most generous man? In 2006 Warren Buffet, the world s second wealthiest man, promised to give 85 per cent of his fortune to support good works around the world. very successful in providing investment management services for its clients. Buffet himself is famously moderate in his lifestyle, with a liking for a diet of burgers and Cherry Coke. His extraordinary wealth was recently augmented by his firm decision not to get involved in the late-90s dotcom boom and subsequent bust: his policy has always been to concentrate on business fundamentals and to invest for the long term. He also has a long-standing reputation for pithy quotes and one attributed remark seemed to sum up the chaos caused by the collapse of rapid stock market growth and the series of corporate scandals that followed: It s only when the tide goes out that you can see who s been swimming without their trunks on. From remarks made by Buffet at the announcement of his association with the Gates Foundation, 10 it seems clear that he had been thinking about an involvement in philanthropy for some time. Some of his motivation is bound up with the American tradition of philanthropy by wealthy individuals, including the notion that there is something problematic ( almost un-american as he put it 11 ) about the idea that huge wealth should result from accidents of birth. Children should be left wealthy enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing. He had also become very impressed by the approach taken by BMGF and by Bill and Melinda themselves: the announcement coincided with that of the succession plans for Gates leadership of Microsoft, which will allow Gates to devote more time Source: Seth Wenig/AP/Press Association Images 301

51 PART 2 THE INDIVIDUAL to the Foundation. Buffet has become a trustee of the Foundation and jokingly promised at the launch not to assess Gates efforts more than once a day. At the same meeting, both men acknowledged the inspirational value that the news of the donation could have: one questioner suggested that the success of organisations like BMGF could do much to improve public confidence in charitable donation in general and perhaps increase the willingness of a far wider spectrum of people to give. The decision by the UK entrepreneur Anita Roddick to join the ranks of business-based philanthropists added some interesting features to the discussion. Roddick was something of a business celebrity for much of her career, having founded and built up the very successful Body Shop International, a business whose market appeal was always strongly centred on the values of its founder. Its campaigns against animal testing of cosmetics and in favour of fair trade, for example, became prominent during the 1990s. Explaining that she did not want to die rich, Roddick announced at the end of 2005 that she intended to give away half her 100m fortune, much of which resulted from the sale of her business to L Oréal. This extraordinarily generous act does not register very far up the world league table of philanthropy, but nonetheless represents a significant step for the UK. Anita Roddick had often been sharply critical of some aspects of business life in the UK, especially where she had assessed attitudes as being selfish and shorttermist. But, in her view, the rich have to look after the poor, and I don t think in our society we have any understanding of that. Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, who built a business based on caring values, gave half of her wealth away. Source: Jean/Empics Entertainment/Press Association Images A BBC article 12 commented at the time that personal philanthropy was less prominent in the UK than in America, possibly because people in the UK regard it as a government responsibility to look after the poor, with projects financed from general taxation and with additional contributions from companies under the heading of corporate social responsibility. This is not to suggest that government programmes and corporate donations are by any means unimportant in the United States, but rather to emphasise how unusual personal philanthropy has been in the UK. The article suggested that personal philanthropy might be assuming greater prominence in the UK because of a growing belief that the state is no longer providing an adequate safety net. Whatever the truth of this suggestion, the prospect of more significant philanthropic foundations in the UK will raise some interesting questions of how public and private agencies can learn to work together in identifying priorities and designing programmes of action to address social problems. Corporate versus personal philanthropy Many large businesses in the UK have made significant donations to charity from corporate funds, which may be partly motivated by a desire for approval from some stakeholder groups. However, alongside the well-known company names have been some large donations from less prominent companies. One report in 2006, 13 for example, suggested that TCI, a leading hedge fund business, had become one of the most generous UK donors to charity, despite the very limited public awareness of the hedge fund sector among the UK public. TCI seems to have been designed by its founder to generate funds for charity in this way, but other corporate donations are made from company profits. As such, corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility in general has come in for criticism from some quarters, on the basis that it amounts to acts of generosity using other people s money (specifically, that of the shareholders, who own the company). The economist Milton Friedman has been forcefully suggesting for some decades that business should get on with the business of business: making money for its owners through successfully marketing products and services within the law. From this point of view, donations to charity by individuals making choices about their own funds are more desirable than acts of corporate generosity using other people s funds. In reality, public opinion seems to be sympathetic towards the idea of corporate donations to charity, whatever scepticism may sometimes be expressed about motives. However, from any reasonable point of view, there remains an important difference between giving personally and approving corporate gifts: the difference, perhaps, between signing your own and a company cheque. 302

52 PART 2 CASE STUDY PHILANTHROPY: THE RESURGENCE OF PERSONAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY At a BMGF conference, Bill Gates alluded to the celebrated work of Adam Smith, the Scottish economist who first explained the general benefits of free markets in identifying and providing for needs effectively and efficiently. From these ideas have come the modern economies that provided the context in which organisations like Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway and Body Shop International can generate large amounts of wealth, mainly through providing products and services that are attractive enough to cause people to choose to spend their own money on them. In short, this is the main reason why recent generations have in most cases been richer than their predecessors. The tradition of philanthropy on the part of wealthy individuals is by no means contrary to the desirability of free and fierce competition: rather, wealth generation and philanthropy can only go hand in hand. What is perhaps less well known about Adam Smith is his significant contribution to moral philosophy. Perhaps the way to bring this discussion to a close is with a quote from the beginning of Adam Smith s Theory of Moral Sentiments, which was highlighted by Bill Gates in explaining the basic importance of philanthropy: How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. Philanthropic foundations are organisations that are interesting in their own right, in respect of the origin of their funds, in their interaction with other types of organisation and, of course, in the effects they have on the societies within which they operate. Your tasks Philanthropic foundations have often been set up to concentrate efforts in addressing particular types of need (improving educational facilities, for example). How are these organisations likely to perform as learning organisations and why? Considering the BMGF s statement of principles included in the case, how effective is this organisation likely to be in attracting and harnessing a diverse range of talents and experience among its employees and partners? To some extent, philanthropic foundations are engaged in the same types of social projects as government agencies. How might approaches to employee motivation differ between the two types of organisation? What could either type of organisation usefully learn from the other? Notes and references 1 New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993). 2 (accessed 30 July 2009). 3 (accessed 30 July 2009). 4 (accessed 30 July 2009). 5 (accessed 30 July 2009). 6 (accessed 30 July 2009). 7 (accessed 30 July 2009). 8 (accessed 30 July 2009). 9 (accessed 30 July 2009). 10 See video clips at (accessed 30 July 2009) (accessed 30 July 2009) (accessed 30 July 2009) (accessed 30 July 2009). 303

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