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Human Behavior
Summary of Chapter 4: Motivation in Organizations
Introduction
For the successful management of people, each manager should have a general understanding of what his/her subordinates want or do not want, what are the external and internal motives of their behavior, their proportion, how they can be addressed, and what results can be expected from them. Based on this information, a manager should form a certain motivational structure of the behavior of his/her subordinates, develop their motives and desires nor weaken undesirable, and directly stimulate their actions.
Motivation in management is one of the main managerial functions. It attaches great importance to management theorists and practitioners. In addition, motivation is a kind of management, which encourages employees to work. It provides stimulation by external factors, the so-called material and moral incentives, as well as internal psychological motivations to work.
The Nature of Motivation
This part of the chapter discusses the notion of motivation, its importance, the motivational framework, and its historical perspectives. In the most general form, the motivation of human activity is a list of driving forces, which motivate the one to implement specific actions. These forces are both outside and inside and make the person consciously or unconsciously perform certain actions. Motivation is also defined as the process of encouraging people to work, which involves the use of motives of human behavior in order to achieve personal goals or objectives of the organization. Human behavior is determined by his/her motives (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010, p. 84).
Motive is the inner force that causes a person to perform certain actions or behave in a certain way. Motives appear as the human response factors of ones internal state and the external environment as well as external circumstances, situations, and conditions. Motives influence the human behavior; for example, ones activities are necessary for the organization to regulate the intensity of labor and labor itself; they also help encourage diligence and perseverance in achieving the set goals. Motives activities can be internal or external. External motives are related to a persons desire to possess his/her inappropriate objects. Internal motives are associated with the pleasure of an existing facility when the employee wishes to retain, or inconvenience that brings possession and, therefore, the desire to get rid of him/her.
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The ratio of different motives causes the behavior of people, creates motivational structure that is subjected to a focused form (the process of education). Every human motivational structure is separated and influenced by many factors: the level of wealth, social status, qualifications, position, value orientations, etc.
Need-Based Perspectives on Motivation
In this part, the author of the book discusses the need-based perspective on motivation that includes the hierarchy of needs, ERG theory, the dual-structure theory, and argues about other important needs in context of motivational theories. It is essential to recall that motive is internal motivation (pulse), which makes a person act in a certain way. It is known that the stimulation of human satisfaction is directly related to his/her various needs (physiological, spiritual, economic). Need is a conscious lack of something that gives the impulse to action, which is distinguished between the primary and secondary needs. Primary needs are laid down genetically, and secondary ones are produced during cognition and experience (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010, p. 86-87). Needs can be met through the rewards. Managers use external rewards and internal remuneration received by the work itself (the feeling of success).
According to Maslow's theory, there are five basic types of needs:
- physiological needs (level 1);
- safety needs (level 2);
- social needs (level 3);
- the need for respect and self-affirmation (level 4);
- the need for self-expression (level 5).
These requirements form a hierarchical structure that determines human behavior; the needs of a higher level do not motivate a person until the needs of the lower level are at least partially satisfied. As well as Maslow, Clayton Alderfer claims in his theory that human needs can be classified into separate groups. However, unlike the theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, he believed that there are three groups, and they relate to the needs of the groups of Maslow's theory:
- the need for existence (safety, physiology);
- need for communication (involvement, identity, security);
- need for growth (self-expression, association).
In accordance with the theory of hierarchy of needs, Alderfer (ERG theory) reflected the ascent from more specific to less specific needs. Herzberg's theory of motivation is based on the identification of human needs. According to Herzberg, besides the factors that lead to the sense of job satisfaction, there are co-factors the presence of which leads to dissatisfaction activity. Dual-structure theory of motivation developed by Frederick Herzberg is the concept of organization of work based on the two categories of factors:
health factors (also called hygiene factors);
motivators.
Therefore, all the theories discussed above are based on the existence of different types of needs and their relationship, which can be used in the development of incentive programs to encourage individual behavior and organizational structures.
Process-Based Perspectives on Motivation
This part of Chapter 4 claims that process-based perspectives on motivation are the equity theory and the expectancy theory, which include the Porter-Lawler model. According to the information in the chapter, the process-based theories of motivation do not deny the existence and influence on a person's needs. They indicate that people's behavior is shaped not only by their influence, but also is determined by perception, expectations related to the specific situation, and the possible consequences of the chosen type of behavior. They describe the dynamics of the interaction of different motives and examine how behavior can be encouraged and guided (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010, p. 95).
Process-based theory argues that human behavior is determined not only by the specific needs but also the conditions of preparation: with the expectation of obtaining the desired remuneration and with a fair evaluation. There are two types of process-based theories: the theory of expectations and the theory of justice, and the Porter-Lawler model. The process-based theories analyze how people allocate effort to meet their needs in the process of achieving the goals and how they choose a particular type of behavior (actions). It is also assumed that the role of motivational needs is considered from the point of view of how people focus their efforts on achieving results.
Learning-Based Perspectives on Motivation
Basing on the information discussed in the chapter part Learning-Based Perspectives on Motivation, the motivational aspects include the information on how learning occurs, reinforcement theory and learning, social learning in organization, and organizational behavior modification. Therefore, the most important factors for the effective functioning of the enterprise are stable and highly qualified staff. In order to solve these two problems at the same time, the company should ensure the effective training of the employees.
With the right approach, learning can be an important motivating factor that will hold as a long-term perspective for personnel retention and attraction of the new employees. After all, the timely and high-quality training, retraining, and advanced training of personnel can extend the range of theoretical knowledge and practical skills (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010, p. 102). This improvement is directly related to the performance of not only individual employees, but also the whole enterprise. It is proven that an increase in the level of employees education, skills, and/or abilities will lead to the increase of labor productivity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to clarify that the concept of motivation can be regarded as a set of forces that motivate a person to carry out activities with an expenditure of effort, at a certain level of diligence and good faith, and with a certain degree of persistence in the direction of achieving certain goals. Speaking of motivation, it should be noted that the efficiency of labor depends on the correct use of the strategy of the employees motivation. The modern approach to the motivational system usage should involve a skilful choice of a manager to influence staff in specific situations in the most effective ways.
