1. Module Two: The
Individual
PART FOUR:
-MOTIVATION THEORIES
-MOTIVATION APPLICATIONS
Pre pare d by : Had elzein M. Elfatih 20 12

2. MOTIVATION HIGHLIGHTS
 Definition and elements of motivation,
 Early theories of motivation:
- Hierarchy of Needs Theory
- Theory X and Theory Y
- Two Factor Theory
 Contemporary theories of motivation:
- Goal Setting Theory
- Reinforcement Theory
- Equity Theory
 Motivation Application; three ways:
- Job design
- Employee involvement
- Using rewards to motivate employees

3.  Motivation refers to the processes
that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence
of effort towards attaining a goal.
 Three elements to motivation:
- Intensity: how hard a person tries
(how much effort),
- Direction: channeling and guiding
effort (focus),
- Persistence: maintaining effort(how
long ).

4. Early Motivation Theories
1. Hierarchy of Needs Theory: Maslow identified a hierarchy of
five needs: Lower Order Needs: physiological and safety
needs that are satisfied externally, and Higher Order Needs are
needs that are satisfied internally such as social, esteem and
self actualization needs. As each need is substantially
satisfied, the next need becomes dominant.
2. Theory X and Theory Y: McGregor identified employees
belonging to Theory X as those who dislike work, are
lazy, dislike responsibility and must be coerced to work. Theory
Y: McGregor identified employees belonging to Theory Y as
those who like work, are creative, seek responsibility and
exercise self- direction. McGregor suggested Theory Y is more
valid in practice than Theory X, and so he introduced topics
like participative decision making and challenging jobs.
 Both Maslow’s and McGregor’s theories have no empirical
evidence.
3. Two Factor Theory: Herzberg made a survey with one question
“what do people want from their jobs” and concluded that
people relate intrinsic factors
(achievement, advancement, responsibility) to job satisfaction
and success while associates extrinsic factors
(supervision, pay, policies) with dissatisfaction and failure .
Also known as motivation hygiene theory, it identified
hygiene factors as conditions that surround the job and when
adequate cause satisfaction(promotion, personal growth and
recognition).

5. Contemporary Motivation Theories
1. Goal Setting Theory: says that specific and difficult goals
with feedback lead to higher performance, because goals
direct focus, energize and persistent. A practical example
of this theory is Management By Objectives: a program
with specific goals participatively set for an explicit time
with feedback, it involves cascading overall objectives
into specific and individual ones.
2. Reinforcement Theory: argues that behaviour is
environmentally caused and that reinforcers control
behaviour: encourage desired behaviours by rewards and
discourage undesired behaviours by punishment. It takes
a behaviouristic approach rather than a cognitive
approach(opposite of goals setting theory)
3. Equity Theory: says that individuals compare their job
inputs(education, experience, effort) and
outcomes(salary, promotion, recognition) with those of
others and then respond to eliminate any inequities:
- O/IA > O/IB: inequity resulting from being over rewarded.
- O/IA = O/IB : equity
- O/IA < O/IB : inequity resulting from being under rewarded.
 Responses to inequity include changing input or
outcome, choosing a different comparison or leaving the
field.

6. Motivation through Job Design
 Job Design: the way job elements are organized. These
elements can act to increase or decrease efforts.
 The Job Characteristics Model was designed by Hackman and
Oldham and it proposes five core dimensions which describe a
job:
Core Dimensions Critical Personal and Work
Psychological States Psychological States Outcomes
Outcomes
Skill Variety (number of tasks, skills and
activities in one job)
Task Identity(degree of job’s
completion of a whole and an identifiable
Meaningful •High intrinsic
piece of work)
Work motivation
Task Significance (degree of job’s substantial •High job performance
impact on the lives or work of other people •High job satisfaction
•Low absentee
ism and turnover
Autonomy (degree of Responsibility
substantial freedom, independence and for outcomes
discretion while performing a job
Feedback (degree of obtaining direct and Knowledge of
clear information about job performance) Results

7. Motivation through Job Design
J o b R e d e s i g n a n d A l t e r n a t i v e Wo r k A r r a n g e m e n t s
 Job Redesign is done through:
1. Job Rotation: also called cross- training, it is the periodic
shifting of an employee from one task to another, at the
same level and with similar skill requirements. Reduces
boredom, increases flexibility but involves big training costs.
2. Job Enrichment: refers to the vertical expansion of jobs. It
increases the degree to which the worker controls the
planning, execution, and evaluation of the work.
 Alternative Work Arrangements are done through:
1. Flextime: dividing work hours into core and flexible work
hours to reduce absenteeism, yet it is not applicable to every
job. (exhibit 8-3 P. 282)
2. Job Sharing: two or more persons split the 40- hour- a- week
job. (acquiring skilled people who can not work fully but
difficult to find to find compatible pairs).
3. Telecommuting: working from home at least two days a
week on a computer linked to the office (the virtual office) it
is appropriate for mobile and knowledge related jobs.
Results in higher productivity, less turnover, improved
morale and less office space costs, yet it makes supervision
more difficult , it has an “out of sight out of mind” effect and
it increases feelings of isolation.

8. Motivation by Job Involvement
 Employee Involvement refers to using
employees’ input to increase their commitment
to the organization’s success.
 Examples of employee involvement programs
are:
- Participative Management: a process in which
subordinates share a significant degree of
decision making power with their immediate
superiors(MBO).
- Representative Participation: a system in which
workers participate in organizational decision
making through a small group of representative
employees. Examples are work councils and
board representatives.
- Quality Circles: developed in Japan, they are
work groups of employees who meet regularly to
discuss their quality problems, investigate
causes, and recommend solutions.

9. Motivation by Rewarding
Extrinsic Rewards: pay programs (direct and
indirect financial rewards)
 Extrinsic rewards can be offered by variable pay
programs and flexible benefits:
1. Variable Pay Program: a pay plan that bases a portion of an
employee’s pay on some individual and/ or organizational
measure of performance. It includes individual - based
pay and organizational based pay programs:
 Individual- based pay programs include:
- Piece- Rate Pay: a pay plan in which workers are paid a
fixed sum for each unit of production/ work completed.
- Merit- Based Pay: a pay plan based on performance
appraisal ratings.
- Bonus: a pay plan that rewards employees for recent
performance rather than historical performance.
- Skill- Based Pay: a pay plan that sets pay levels on the
basis of how many skills employees have or how many
jobs they can do.

10. Motivation by Rewarding
Extrinsic Rewards: pay programs (direct and
indirect financial rewards)
 Organizational based pay programs
include:
- Profit Sharing Plan: giving rewards
based on some established formula
designed around a company’s
profitability.
- Gainsharing: a company established
benefits plan in which employees
acquire stock, usually below the market
prices.
2. Flexible Benefits: a benefits’ plan that
allows each employees to put together a
benefits package individually tailored to
his or her own needs and situation.

11. Motivation by Rewarding
Intrinsic Rewards: Employee Recognition Programs
 Research suggested that financial rewards can
be more motivating in the short run, but in the
long run, non-financial rewards are more
motivating.
 Intrinsic rewards are offered in the form of
employee recognition programs.
 Through employee recognition
programs, specific behaviours are
encouraged, recognized and rewarded.
 Such programs can range from a verbal praise:
“good job” to a widely publicized formal
programs (the best employee award)
 Employee recognition programs are
inexpensive and motivating yet they are often
subject to manipulation by
management, especially when there are no
clear criteria for good performance.