Download Chapter 09 Motivation

Chapter 9 - Motivation
Chapter 09
Motivation
CHAPTER CONTENTS
Learning Objectives
Key Definitions/Terms
Chapter Overview
Lecture Outline
Powerpoint Slides
Discussion Q&A
Case Topics
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO 9-1. Explain what motivation is and why managers need to be concerned
about it.
LO 9-2. Describe from the perspectives of expectancy theory and equity
theory what managers should do to have a highly motivated
workforce.
LO 9-3. Explain how goals and needs motivate people and what kinds of
goals are especially likely to result in high performance.
LO 9-4. Identify the motivation lessons that managers can learn from
operant conditioning theory and social learning theory.
LO 9-5. Explain why and how managers can use pay as a major motivation
tool.
KEY DEFINITIONS/TERMS
employee stock option: A financial instrument that
entitles the bearer to buy shares of an
organization’s stock at a certain price during a
certain period or under certain conditions.
extinction: Curtailing the performance of
dysfunctional behaviors by eliminating whatever is
reinforcing them.
extrinsically motivated behavior:
Behavior that is performed to acquire material or
social rewards or to avoid punishment.
equity: The justice, impartiality, and fairness to
which all organizational members are entitled.
equity theory: A theory of motivation that focuses
on people’s perceptions of the fairness of their
work outcomes relative to their work inputs.
goal-setting theory: A theory that focuses on
identifying the types of goals that are most effective
in producing high levels of motivation and
performance and explaining why goals have these
effects.
expectancy: In expectancy theory, a perception
about the extent to which effort results in a certain
level of performance.
Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory: A need
theory that distinguishes between motivator needs
(related to the nature of the work itself) and hygiene
needs (related to the physical and psychological
context in which the work is performed) and
proposes that motivator needs must be met for
motivation and job satisfaction to be high.
expectancy theory: The theory that motivation will
be high when workers believe that high levels of
effort lead to high performance and high
performance leads to the attainment of desired
outcomes.
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need for power: The extent to which an individual
desires to control or influence others.
inequity: Lack of fairness.
input: Anything a person contributes to his or her
job or organization.
negative reinforcement: Eliminating or removing
undesired outcomes when people perform
organizationally functional behaviors.
instrumentality: In expectancy theory, a
perception about the extent to which performance
results in the attainment of outcomes.
operant conditioning theory: The theory that
people learn to perform behaviors that lead to
desired consequences and learn not to perform
behaviors that lead to undesired consequences.
intrinsically motivated behavior:
Behavior that is performed for its own sake.
outcome: Anything a person gets from a job or
organization.
learning: A relatively permanent change in
knowledge or behavior that results from practice or
experience.
overpayment inequity: The inequity that exists
when a person perceives that his or her own
outcome-input ratio is greater than the ratio of a
referent.
learning theories: Theories that focus on
increasing employee motivation and performance
by linking the outcomes that employees receive to
the performance of desired behaviors and the
attainment of goals.
positive reinforcement: Giving people outcomes
they desire when they perform organizationally
functional behaviors.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: An arrangement of
five basic needs that, according to Maslow,
motivate behavior. Maslow proposed that the
lowest level of unmet needs is the prime motivator
and that only one level of needs is motivational at a
time.
prosocially motivated behavior: Behavior that is
performed to benefit or help others.
punishment: Administering an undesired or
negative consequence when dysfunctional behavior
occurs.
merit pay plan: A compensation plan that bases
pay on performance.
self-efficacy: A person’s belief about his or her
ability to perform a behavior successfully.
motivation: Psychological forces that determine
the direction of a person’s behavior in an
organization, a person’s level of effort, and a
person’s level of persistence.
self-reinforcer: Any desired or attractive outcome
or reward that a person gives to himself or herself
for good performance.
need: A requirement or necessity for survival and
well-being.
social learning theory: A theory that takes into
account how learning and motivation are influenced
by people’s thoughts and beliefs and their
observations of other people’s behavior.
need for achievement: The extent to which an
individual has a strong desire to perform
challenging tasks well and to meet personal
standards for excellence.
underpayment inequity: The inequity that exists
when a person perceives that his or her own
outcome-input ratio is less than the ratio of a
referent.
need theories: Theories of motivation that focus on
what needs people are trying to satisfy at work and
what outcomes will satisfy those needs.
valence: In expectancy theory, how desirable each
of the outcomes available from a job or
organization is to a person.
need for affiliation: The extent to which an
individual is concerned about establishing and
maintaining good interpersonal relations, being
liked, and having the people around him or her get
along with each other.
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vicarious learning: Learning that occurs when the
learner becomes motivated to perform a behavior
by watching another person performing it and being
reinforced for doing so; also called observational
learning.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter describes what motivation is, the psychological forces that encourage it, and why
managers need to promote high levels of it for an organization to be effective and achieve its goals. It
examines important theories of motivation: expectancy theory, needs theories, equity theory, goalsetting theory, and learning theories. The theories are complementary, since each approaches the topic
from a different perspective. Only by considering all of the theories together can managers gain a
thorough understanding of the many issues involved in encouraging high levels of motivation
throughout an organization. Finally, the chapter considers the use of pay as a motivation tool.
LECTURE OUTLINE
Management Snapshot (pp. 285-286 of text)
High Motivation at SAS
How Can Managers Encourage and Maintain High Levels of Employee Motivation?
SAS is the world’s largest privately owned software company, with over 11,000 employees worldwide and
approximately $2.3 billion in revenue. Every indicator suggests that the employees are highly motivated and
perform well. Managers approach motivation from the perspective that the employees must enjoy the work they
perform and sense that they are making meaningful contributions. Creativity is encouraged at SAS. Over 20% of
annual revenues are committed to R&D and their long-term focus helps ensure that SAS can weather economic
downturns. SAS employees can also change jobs to prevent boredom. SAS value their employees and create a
work environment that will be conducive to creativity, high motivation, and well-being of employees. Wellness
and work-life centers help employees achieve a sense of balance in their lives. SAS trusts its employees who are
allowed to determine their own work schedules and have unlimited sick days. Employees at SAS are not
expected to work excessive hours. Since the company was founded, CEO James Goodnight has been committed
to motivating employees to develop creative and high quality products that meet customers’ needs.
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
I. The Nature of Motivation
TEXT REFERENCE
A. Motivation may be defined as psychological forces that
determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an
organization.
1. Motivation is central to management because it
explains why people behave the way they do.
2. The direction of a person’s behavior refers to the
many possible behaviors a person could engage in.
3. Effort refers to how hard people work.
4. Persistence refers to whether people keep trying or
give up when faced with roadblocks.
B. Motivation can come from intrinsic or extrinsic sources.
1. Intrinsically motivated behavior is behavior that
is performed for its own sake. The source of
motivation is actually performing the desired behavior,
and motivation comes from doing the work itself.
2. Extrinsically motivated behavior is behavior that
is performed to acquire material or social rewards or to
avoid punishment.
3. Prosocially motivated behavior is behavior that is
performed to benefit or help others.
4. People join and are motivated to work in
organizations to obtain outcomes.
a. An outcome is anything a person gets from a
job or organization.
b. Some outcomes, such as autonomy or a feeling
of accomplishment, result in intrinsically
motivated behavior.
c. Other outcomes, such as pay and job security,
result in extrinsically motivated behavior.
5. Organizations hire people in order to obtain inputs.
a. An input is anything a person contributes to his
or her job or organization.
6. Managers use outcomes to motivate people to
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Management Insight:
Motivating Employees at Enterprise
Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the biggest car
rental company in North America, was
founded by Jack Taylor in 1957. One key
to Enterprise’s success is how it
motivates its employees to provide
excellent customer service. As part of the
training program, new hires learn all
aspects of the company’s business and
how to provide excellent customer
service. They learn how they can
personally provide great service,
increasing their expectancy levels.
Promotions are highly valent outcomes
for many employees. Enterprise also uses
Financial incentives to motivate
employees. All in all, employees are
highly motivated because of their high
levels of expectancy, instrumentality, and
valence. Linking two highly valent
outcomes, pay and promotions, to
performance leads to high
instrumentality.
(Box in text on pp. 292-293).
Chapter 9 - Motivation
contribute their inputs to the organization.
a. Giving people outcomes when they contribute
inputs aligns the interests of employees with the
goals of the organization.
7. Managers seek to ensure that people are motivated
to contribute important inputs to the organization, that
these inputs are put to good use or focused in the
direction of high performance, and that high
performance results in workers obtaining the outcomes
they desire.
II. Expectancy Theory
A. Expectancy theory posits that motivation will be high
when workers believe that high levels of effort lead to high
performance and high performance leads to the attainment
of desired outcomes. Expectancy theory identifies three
major factors that determine a person’s motivation level:
expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.
B. Expectancy: It is a person’s perception concerning the
extent to which effort will result in a certain level of
performance.
1. A person’s level of expectancy determines whether
he or she believes that a high level of effort will result
in a high level of performance.
2. Members of an organization will be motivated to
put forth a high level of effort only if they think that
doing so will lead to high performance. Therefore,
managers need to make sure their subordinates believe
that if they try hard, they can actually succeed.
3. Managers can also boost subordinates’ expectancy
levels by providing training so that people have the
expertise they need for high performance.
C. Instrumentality: Instrumentality, the second major
concept in expectancy theory, is a person’s perception
concerning the extent to which performance at a certain
level will result in the attainment of outcomes.
1. Employees will be motivated to perform at a high
level only if they think high performance will lead to
desirable outcomes.
D. Valence: Expectancy theory acknowledges that people
differ in their preferences for outcomes.
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
1. Valence refers to how desirable each of the
outcomes available from a job or organization is to a
person.
2. To motivate organizational members, managers
need to determine which outcomes have high valence
for them.
E. Bringing It All Together: High motivation results
from high levels of expectancy, instrumentality, and
valence.
1. If any one factor is low, motivation is likely to be
low.
2. Managers should strive to ensure that employees’
levels of expectancy, instrumentality, and valence are
high so that they will be highly motivated.
III. Need Theories
According to needs theories, people are motivated to obtain
outcomes at work that will satisfy their needs.
A. A need is a requirement or necessity for survival and
well-being.
1. Needs theories suggest that, in order to motivate a
person to contribute valuable inputs to a job and
perform at high level, a manager must determine what
needs the person is trying to satisfy at work and ensure
that the person receives outcomes that help to satisfy
those needs.
2. There are several needs theories. Each attempts to
describe needs that people try to satisfy at work.
3. In doing so, they provide managers with insights
about what outcomes motivate workers to perform at
high levels and contribute inputs to help the
organization achieve its goals.
B. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Psychologist Abraham
Maslow proposed that all people seek to satisfy five basic
kinds of needs: physiologicalsafety, belongingness,
esteem, and self-actualization needs.
1. These constitute a hierarchy of needs, with the most
basic needs at the bottom.
2. According to Maslow, the lowest level of unmet
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
needs is the prime motivator of behavior.
3. Once a need is satisfied, it ceases to operate as a
source of motivation. If and when one level is
satisfied, needs at the next highest level will motivate
behavior.
4. Research does not support Maslow’s contention that
there is a need hierarchy or that only one level of
needs can be motivational at a time. However, a key
conclusion still can be drawn from it: People try to
satisfy different needs at work.
5. In an increasingly global economy, it is important
for managers to understand that citizens of different
countries often differ in the needs they seek to satisfy
though work.
C. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory: Frederick
Herzberg focused on two factors: outcomes that can lead
to high levels of motivation and job satisfaction and
outcomes that can prevent people from being dissatisfied.
1. According to Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory,
people have two sets of needs or requirements:
motivator needs and hygiene needs.
2. Motivator needs are related to the nature of the work
itself and how challenging it is.
a. Outcomes such as interesting work and
responsibility help to satisfy motivator needs.
b. To have a highly motivated and satisfied
workforce, managers should take steps to ensure
that employees’ motivator needs are being met.
3. Hygiene needs are related to the physical and
psychological context in which the work is performed.
a. Hygiene needs are satisfied by outcomes such as
pleasant working conditions, pay, and job security.
b. When hygiene needs are not met, workers are
dissatisfied.
c. However, satisfying hygiene needs alone does
not result in high levels of motivation or job
satisfaction.
d. For motivation and job satisfaction to be high,
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
motivator needs must also be met.
4. Many research studies have failed to support
Herzberg’s propositions.
a. Nevertheless, Herzberg’s formulations have
contributed to the understanding of motivation in
at least two ways:
i. they helped focus the management’s
attention on the distinction between
intrinsic motivation and extrinsic
motivation, and
ii. they helped prompt managers to study how
jobs can be designed to be more
intrinsically motivating.
D. McClelland’s Needs for Achievement, Affiliation,
and Power: Psychologist David McClelland has
extensively researched the needs for achievement,
affiliation, and power.
1. The need for achievement is the extent to which an
individual has a strong desire to perform challenging
tasks well and to meet personal standards of
excellence.
2. The need for affiliation is the extent to which an
individual is concerned about establishing and
maintaining good interpersonal relations, being liked,
and having other people around them who get along
with each other.
3. The need for power is the extent to which an
individual desires to control or influence others.
4. Research suggests that having high needs for
achievement and power are assets to first-line and
middle managers, and that a high need for power is
especially important for upper managers.
5. A high need for affiliation may not always be
desirable in managers and other leaders because it
might cause them to focus too much on being liked by
others, rather than on high performance.
E. Other Needs: Clearly, other needs motivate workers
beyond those described by these three theories.
1. For example, more and more workers are feeling the
need for work-life balance.
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2. Also, recent research indicates that being exposed to
nature may be another important need.
IV. Equity Theory
Equity theory is a theory of motivation that concentrates on
people’s perception of the fairness of their work outcomes
relative to their work inputs. It focuses upon how people
perceive the relationship between the outcomes they receive
and the inputs they contribute.
A. According to J. Stacy Adams, who formulated the
equity theory, what is important in determining motivation
is the relative rather than the absolute level of outcomes a
person receives and inputs a person contributes.
1. Motivation is influenced by the comparison of one’s
own outcome-input ratio with the outcome-input ratio
of a referent.
2. The referent could be another person or a group
who are perceived to be similar to oneself.
3. One’s perceptions of outcomes and inputs, not any
objective indicator of them, are the key determinants
of motivation.
B. Equity: Equity exists when a person perceives his or
her own outcome-input ratio to be equal to a referent’s
outcome-input ratio.
1. Under conditions of equity, if a referent receives
more outcomes than you, then the referent contributes
proportionately more inputs to the organization.
2. When equity exists, people are motivated to
continue contributing their current levels of inputs in
order to receive their current levels of outcomes.
3. Under conditions of equity, if people wish to
increase their outcomes, they are motivated to increase
their inputs.
C. Inequity: Inequity, or lack of fairness, exists when a
person’s outcome-input ratio is not perceived to be equal
to a referent’s.
1. Inequity creates pressure or tension inside people
and motivates them to restore equity by bringing the
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
two ratios back into balance.
2. Underpayment inequity exists when a person’s
own outcome-input ratio is perceived to be less than
that of a referent.
3. Overpayment inequity exists when a person
perceives that his or her own outcome-input ratio is
greater than that of a referent.
D. Ways to Restore Equity: Both underpayment inequity
and overpayment inequity create tension that motivates
most people to restore equity.
1. When people experience underpayment inequity,
they may be motivated to lower their inputs or they
may be motivated to increase their outcomes.
2. When people experience overpayment inequity,
they may try to restore equity by changing their
perceptions of their own or their referents’ inputs or
outcomes.
3. When experiencing inequities, choosing a more
appropriate referent might bring the ratios back into
balance.
4. When people experience underpayment inequity,
they can change their perceptions of their own or the
referents’ inputs or outcomes.
5. Motivation is highest when as many people as
possible in an organization perceive that they are being
equitably treated.
V. Goal-Setting Theory
Goal-setting theory suggests that the goals that organizational
members strive to attain are prime determinants of their
motivation.
A. A goal is what a person is trying to accomplish through
his or her efforts and behaviors. In order to result in high
motivation and performance, goals must be specific and
difficult.
1. Specific goals are often quantitative.
2. Difficult goals are hard but not impossible to attain.
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3. Both easy and moderate goals have less
motivational power than difficult goals.
4. It is important that subordinates accept the goals
managers set for them and that they are committed to
them. Also, it is important for organizational members
to receive feedback concerning how they are doing.
5. Specific, difficult goals motivate people to
contribute greater input to their jobs, to be more
persistent, and to focus their inputs in the right
direction.
6. The fact that their goals are specific and difficult
frequently causes people to develop action plans for
reaching them.
B. Research suggests that specific, difficult goals may
detract from performance under certain conditions.
1. When people are performing complicated and very
challenging tasks, difficult goals may actually impair
performance.
2. All of a person’s attention must be focused on
learning the complicated and difficult tasks
3. Once a person has learned the tasks, the assignment
of specific, difficult goals is likely to have its usual
effects.
VI. Learning Theories
A. Learning theories focus on increasing employee
motivation and performance by linking the outcomes that
employees receive to the performance of desired behaviors
and the attainment of goals.
1. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent
change in a person’s knowledge or behavior that
results from practice or experience.
2. Learning takes place when people learn to perform
certain behaviors to receive certain outcomes.
B. Operant Conditioning Theory: According to operant
conditioning theory, developed by psychologist B. F.
Skinner, people learn to perform behaviors that lead to
desired consequences and learn not to perform behaviors
that lead to undesired consequences.
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According to Skinner, managers can motivate
organizational members to perform in ways that help an
organization achieve its goals by linking the performance
of specific behaviors to the attainment of specific
outcomes.
Operant conditioning theory provides four tools that
managers can use to motivate high levels of performance
and prevent workers from engaging in behaviors that
detract from organizational effectiveness, such as
absenteeism.
1. Positive Reinforcement: Positive reinforcement
gives people outcomes they desire when they perform
organizationally functional behaviors.
a. Desired outcomes, called positive reinforcers,
include any outcomes that a person desires, such
as pay, a promotion, or praise.
b. Organizationally functional behaviors are
behaviors that contribute to organizational
effectiveness.
2. Negative Reinforcement: Negative reinforcement
is the elimination or removal of undesired outcomes
when people perform organizationally functional
behaviors.
a. Undesired outcomes are called negative
reinforcers.
b. When negative reinforcement is used,
people are motivated to perform behaviors
because they want to avoid undesired
outcomes such as criticism, unpleasant
assignments, or the threat of losing their job.
c. Whenever possible, managers should try to
use positive reinforcement, since the use of
negative reinforcement can create an
unpleasant work environment and a negative
culture in the organization.
d. Identifying the Right Behaviors for
Reinforcement: It is important that managers
identify the right behaviors for reinforcement.
Managers must be sure to reinforce only those
behaviors over which subordinates have control and
that contribute to organizational effectiveness.
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Chapter 9 - Motivation
3. Extinction: Managers can curtail the performance
of dysfunctional behaviors of organizational members
by eliminating whatever is reinforcing the behaviors.
This is called extinction.
4. Punishment: Managers cannot always use extinction
as a means of eliminating dysfunctional behaviors.
a. Sometimes they do not have control over whatever
is reinforcing the undesired behavior or they cannot
afford the time needed for extinction to work. In such
cases, punishment may be required.
b. Punishment is administering an undesired or
negative consequence when dysfunctional
behavior occurs.
i. When employees are performing dangerous
behaviors or behaviors that are illegal or
unethical, their behavior must be eliminated
immediately.
c. Punishments used by organizations can include
verbal reprimands, pay cuts, or firings.
d. Sometimes punishment can have unintended side
effects, such as resentment, loss of self-respect, or a
desire for retaliation. Therefore, it should be used only
when necessary.
e. To avoid unintended side effects of punishment,
managers should:
i. downplay the emotional element involved in
punishment.
ii. Try to punish dysfunctional behaviors as
soon after they occur as possible.
iii. Try to avoid punishing someone in front of
others.
f. Often negative reinforcement and punishment
are confused with each other. The major
differences between the two are:
i. negative reinforcement is used to promote
the performance of functional behaviors while
punishment is used to stop the performance of
dysfunctional behaviors
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ii. negative reinforcement entails the removal
of a negative consequence while punishment
entails the administration of negative
consequences.
C. Social Learning Theory: Social learning theory
extends operant conditioning’s contribution to managers’
understanding of motivation by explaining vicarious
learning, self-reinforcement, and self-efficacy.
1. Vicarious learning, also called observational
learning, occurs when the learner becomes motivated
to perform a behavior by watching another person
perform it.
a. It is a powerful source of motivation on many
jobs in which people learn to perform functional
behaviors by watching others.
b. People are more likely to be motivated to
imitate the behavior of models that are highly
competent, receive attractive reinforcers, and are
friendly.
c. To promote vicarious learning, managers should
strive to have the learner meet the following
conditions:
i. The learner observes the model performing
the behavior.
ii. The learner accurately perceives the
model’s behavior.
iii. The learner remembers the behavior.
iv. The learner has the skills and abilities
needed to perform the behavior.
v. The learner sees or knows that the model is
positively reinforced for the behavior.
2. Self-Reinforcement: Sometimes organizational
members motivate themselves through selfreinforcement.
a. Self-reinforcement occurs when people control
their own behavior by setting goals for themselves
and then reinforcing themselves when the goal is
achieved.
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b. Self-reinforcers are any desired or attractive
outcomes or rewards that people can give to
themselves for good performance, such going to a
movie or taking time out for a golf game.
c. When members of an organization manage their
own behavior, managers do not need to spend as
much time trying to motivate and control behavior.
3. Self-Efficacy: Self-efficacy is a person’s belief
about his or her ability to perform a behavior
successfully.
a. People are not motivated if they do not think
they can actually perform at a high level.
b. The greater the level of self-efficacy, the greater
is the level of motivation and performance.
VII. Pay and Motivation
1. Managers often use pay to motivate employees to
perform at a high level and attain their work goals.
Pay is used to motivate workers at all levels within the
organization. ay can also be used to motivate people
to join the organization and remain with the
organization.
2. Each of the theories previously discussed in this
chapter alludes to the importance of pay. As these
theories suggest, pay should be distributed so that high
performers receive more pay than low performers.
merit pay plan is a compensation plan that bases pay
on performance.
3. Once managers have decided to use a merit pay
plan, they face two important choices:
a. whether to base pay on individual, group, or
organizational performance, and
b. whether to use salary increases or bonuses.
A. Basing Merit Pay on Individual, Group, or
Organizational Performance: Managers can base merit
pay on individual, group, or organizational performance.
1. When individual performance can be accurately
determined, individual motivation is likely to be
highest when pay is based on individual performance.
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2. When the attainment of organizational goals hinges
on members’ working closely together, group- or
organization-based plans may be more appropriate
than individual based plans.
3. It is possible to combine elements of an individualbased plan with a group or organization based plan so
that each individual is motivated, while also
motivating all individuals to work well together.
B. Salary Increase or Bonus? Managers can distribute
merit pay in the form of a salary increase or a bonus on top
of regular salaries.
1. Bonuses, however, tend to have greater motivational
impact because:
a. the absolute level of salaries are typically based
on factors unrelated to current performance,
b. a salary increase may be affected by other
factors in addition to performance, and
c. salary levels tend to vary less than performance
levels.
2. Bonuses give managers more flexibility because
unlike salary increases, bonus levels can be reduced
when organizational performance lags. Bonus plans
have a greater motivational impact than salary
increases because the amount of a bonus can be
directly linked to performance and can vary from year
to year and from employee to employee.
3. In addition to pay raises and bonuses, high-level
managers and executives are sometimes granted
employee stock options.
a. Employee stock options are financial
instruments that entitle the bearer to buy shares of
an organization’s stock at a certain period or under
certain conditions.
C. Examples of Merit Pay Plans: Managers can choose
among several merit pay plans, depending on the work that
employees perform and other considerations.
1. When using piece-rate pay, managers base
employees’ pay on the number of units each employee
produces.
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2. When using commission pay, managers base pay on
a percentage of sales.
3. The Scanlon plan focuses on reducing expenses.
Organizational members are encouraged to develop
and implement cost- cutting strategies because a
percentage of the cost savings achieved is distributed
back to employees.
4. Under profit sharing, employees receive a share of
an organization’s profits.
MOTIVATION AND CREATIVITY
In a large studio at the headquarters of Hallmark Cards Inc., Robert Hurlburt bent over a potter’s wheel.
His fingers stained with clay, his face clenched in concentration, Hurlburt was completely out of his
element. And in his 17 years at Hallmark, he had never been happier. A metal engraver by trade, Hurlburt
was in the midst of a three-month rotation into an artist’s heaven—carte blanche to do whatever he
wanted to regenerate his creative spirit. After three weeks in the ceramics shop, Hurlburt was producing
pots and vases that looked like the work of a professional. His work likely will only end up on a shelf at
his home, but if Hurlburt’s mood is any indication, Hallmark is likely to see a payoff when he returns to
his regular duties. “It has given me an opportunity to get back to thinking wild, crazy things,” he said.
Keeping its artists and writers happy and creative is a top priority at Hallmark, the nation’s largest
greeting card seller with $3.4 billion in sales in 1996. Each Father’s Day, Americans snap up
approximately 99 million cards. Hallmark traditionally captures about 42 percent of the market.
Sabbaticals like Hurlburt’s are only one way that Hallmark tries to help workers be creative. Staffers can
desert Hallmark’s midtown Kansas City headquarters for a downtown loft, where teams of writers and
artists get away from phones to exchange ideas. They may spend days in retreat at a farm in nearby
Kearney, Missouri, taking part in fun exercises like building birdhouses.
Some go farther afield, sent by the company on trips overseas to soak up atmosphere and culture. Not all
the methods are high budget. For the creators of the irreverent Shoebox line, there are free movie passes
and daily screenings of the hippest television shows.
Hallmark isn’t the only greeting company that makes a special effort to tweak, coax, and nourish its
creative staff. Its biggest competitor, American Greetings Corp., operates similar programs. “No
company, especially one that relies on ideas, can afford to do otherwise,” says Calvin Moyer, executive
director of the American Creative Association., a nonprofit group in Hockessin, Del., that encourages
creativity throughout society.
“Hiring talented people isn’t enough,” Moyer said. “It’s like planting blueberries or apple trees in your
backyard. They’ll probably grow and produce fruit but if you fertilize and prune them, you’ll have not
just fruit, but great fruit.”
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Controlling Hallmark’s creative staff of about 700 is the responsibility of Marita Wesley-Clough, a 20year company veteran who was named director of creative strategy about a year ago. Wesley-Clough
sounded like the philosophy major she was in college as she tried to explain her job, describing herself
alternately as a shepherd, a midwife and a water bearer. “It’s sort of like catching the wind,” she said.
“The road to creative strategy isn’t a clear one.”
Nurturing the creative spirit reaches its wackiest heights at the Shoebox Cards division, where a team of
seven writers and four editors usually starts the day by watching a tape of the previous night’s David
Letterman show. They flip through magazines and sometimes even work out in the middle of the
workday. It sounds like fun, but there are deadlines. The group is expected to turn out 70 cards per week.
To do that, they generate an average of 150 pieces of writing per day.
At the end of the day, the staff’s efforts are sifted at a raucous conference led by chief editor Steve
Finken. With a practiced ear for the staff’s reaction, Finken reads each card aloud and swiftly separates
them into two piles. The reject pile is much larger than the save pile.
Hallmark perennially ranks high on lists of the best U.S. companies to work for. Despite massive
restructuring to improve efficiency, writers and artists still seem to have a great time. However, the
competitive pressure that is typical of any business exists at Hallmark. Each card’s success is rated
through surveys and information gathered by electronic cash registers, and the staff knows exactly how
well their work is doing.
The appetite for new products must be fed, and the need to be thoughtful, witty, caring, wise, and a dozen
other things every day is unceasing. It can be a grind. Hurlburt said he felt his artistic impulses narrowing
after 17 years. When he gets back to work after a few more weeks of puttering, he said, “I don’t know if
I’ll be a better engraver, but I’ll be more creatively applied.”
MASLOW’S FURTHER STUDY OF MOTIVATION
Anyone who has taken Psychology 101 knows about Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. People,
Maslow found, strive to fulfill progressively higher levels of need, from nourishment, safety, love, and
esteem to “self-actualization.”
It’s less well known that Maslow, in the early 1960s, also delved deeply into management and economics.
Setting up shop in a southern California electronics plant, he produced a journal that applied the concept
of self-actualization to both the workplace and the marketplace. “This is by far Maslow’s best book,” says
Peter Drucker, perhaps the foremost management authority today. “It had an enormous impact on me.”
Yet after a limited run, Maslow’s book slipped into obscurity.
What made Maslow’s book so special—and why did it vanish? In 1962, a few years after postulating the
hierarchy of needs, the Brandeis University professor took a summer sabbatical at a company in Del Mar,
California called Non-Linear Systems. The company made voltmeters in a converted blimp hangar. The
owner, Andy Kay, had noticed that workers were most productive at the end of the line, where the finality
of the assembly provided a sense of accomplishment. So Kay broke his work force into teams, each
responsible for an entire product.
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Maslow was amazed at the spirit and productivity of the plant and picked up a tape recorder to capture
these reactions. The result was a journal, initially called “Summer Notes.” In these journals, Maslow
coined the phrase “enlightened management” to describe the work conditions leading to selfactualization, or the achievement of one’s full potential, such as trust, teamwork, and recognition. Teams,
he found, made better workers, and better workers made better teams. “Creativity flowing from ambiguity
and knowledge breeds knowledge,” said Maslow.
By 1963, Maslow had given mimeographed copies of “Summer Notes” to several fellow academics. His
friend Warren Bennis, a prominent university dean and business theorist, urged him to publish the journal
commercially. “It was very radical for the time,” Bennis recalls. Yet, he adds, “it never caught on.”
The main reason was its title. Maslow’s term for a society of self-actualizing people was “eupsychia,” so
he gave his book the ghastly title of “Eupsychian Management: A Journal.” Bennis and Drucker tried to
dissuade him, but Maslow was proud of his wordsmithing. The book was reprinted several times during
the early 1970s, but they were small runs. Only the terms “synergy” and “enlightened management”
endured.
RECOGNITION: MAKING HEROES
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of the book The Change Masters, has concluded that companies often
make the mistake of equating pay with rewards. Pay is not a reward for outstanding performance; it is a
compensation for doing the job in the first place. A reward should be a special gain for special
achievements. Compensation is a right; recognition is a gift.
Recognition—saying thank you in public and perhaps giving a tangible gift along with the words—has
multiple functions beyond simple courtesy. To the employee, recognition signifies that someone noticed
and someone cares. To the rest of the organization, recognition creates role models—heroes—and
communicates the standards. Kanter’s management consulting firm has also found a remarkable
correlation between recognition and innovation.
Some basic rules should be followed in handing out praise and recognition:
1. Deliver recognition and reward in an open and publicized way. If not made public, recognition
loses much of its impact and defeats much of its purpose.
2. Timing is crucial. Recognize contribution throughout a project and reward it close to the time an
achievement is realized. Time delays weaken the impact of most rewards.
3. Tailor recognition and reward to the unique needs of the people involved. Have several recognition
and reward options to enable managers to acknowledge accomplishment in ways appropriate to the
particulars of a given situation.
4. Deliver recognition in a personal and honest manner. Avoid providing recognition that is too
“slick” or overproduced.
5. Strive for a clear, unambiguous, and well-communicated connection between accomplishments
and rewards. Be sure people understand why they receive rewards and the criteria used to
determine rewards.
6. Recognize recognition. That is, recognize people who recognize others for doing what is best for
the company.
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Celebrating and publicizing employee achievements need not be expensive. Professor Kanter suggests
some simple, low-cost ways to make employees “heroes,” such as having coffee with an employee or
group of employees that you do not normally see, or letting employees attend important meetings in your
place when you’re not available.
Other suggestions include:
1. Send a letter to every team member at the conclusion of their work, thanking them for their
contribution.
2. Mention an employee’s outstanding work or ideas during your staff meetings or at meetings with
your peers and management.
3. Create a “Best Accomplishments of the Year” booklet, and include everyone’s picture, name, and
statement of their best achievement.
4. Show a personal interest in the development and career of an employee after a special achievement
by asking them how you can help them take the next step.
5. Invite employees to your home for special celebrations, and recognize them in front of their
colleagues and spouses.
MANAGEMENT IN ACTION
DISCUSSION
1. Discuss why two people with similar abilities may have very different expectancies for performing at a
high level.
Expectancy is a person’s perception about the extent to which effort (an input) will result in a certain level
of performance. Two people with similar abilities may have very different expectancies for performing at
a high level. One employee may think that a high level of effort will lead to high performance, while
another may think that a high level of effort will not result in high performance.
These employees may have similar abilities, but their managers may not provide the same motivation for
the two employees. Managers who encourage their employees and express confidence in their ability to
perform at a high level will likely have employees with higher expectancies than managers who do not
encourage or support their employees. Also, the employees may receive different training, another factor
in expectancy level. Managers who provide training to ensure that employees have the expertise needed
for high performance, will have employees with higher expectancies than managers who do not provide
training for their employees.
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2. Describe why some people have low instrumentalities even when their managers distribute outcomes
based on performance.
Instrumentalities include perceptions that people have about the extent to which performance at a certain
level will result in the attainment of outcomes. One important aspect of instrumentality is the linking of
outcomes to performance. Employees will only be motivated to perform at a high level if they think high
performance will lead to (is instrumental for attaining) rewards and benefits.
Besides linking outcomes to performance, managers need to clearly communicate this linkage to
subordinates. Managers who only apply the outcome aspect, but do not clearly communicate to
employees how this works and the steps necessary to achieve desired outcomes, are missing the other half
of the equation. Consequently, these managers may have employees with low instrumentalities, despite
their efforts to base outcomes on performance.
3. Analyze how professors try to promote equity to motivate students.
Equity theory is a motivation theory that concentrates on fairness and people’s perception of the fairness
of their work outcomes relative to their inputs. Equity is achieved when a person perceives that his or her
own outcome-input ratio is equal to a referent’s outcome-input ratio.
Professors try to promote equity to motivate students by establishing standards of performance in their
courses. A professor should specify the inputs that will be required for a student to achieve certain
outcomes. For example, the amount of work, effort, class participation, and enthusiasm needed to get an
“A” in a course should be equal for all students. If one student contributes significantly more inputs that
another student, that student should receive a higher grade, or outcome. A student who fails to contribute
even minimal requirements of input should not be allowed to pass the course, a desired outcome. By
standardizing these specifications and refraining from giving some students “special treatment,”
professors can help ensure that students will feel that their input-outcome ratio is equal to a referent’s
ratio, be it another student, or their own ratios in other courses. Motivation is highest when as many
people as possible perceive that they are being equitably treated.
4. Describe three techniques or procedures that managers can use to determine whether a goal is
difficult.
A goal is what a person is trying to accomplish through his or her efforts and behavior. Difficult goals are
hard but possible to attain.
One technique that managers can use to determine if a goal is difficult is to look at the number of people
who achieve the goal. If practically everyone achieves a goal, it is likely an easy rather than a difficult
goal. Moderate goals are also more easily attainable than difficult goals, with about half of the people able
to attain these goals. By comparison, difficult goals are those that less than half of the people attain.
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Another technique is for managers to examine how motivation is affected by the goal. Difficult goals
motivate people to contribute more inputs to their jobs. They cause people to put forth high levels of
effort. Difficult goals cause people to be more persistent when they run into difficulties than easy,
moderate, or vague goals. If the goal is having these effects on employee behavior, it is probably a
difficult goal.
One other technique is to examine the direction toward which employees focus their inputs. Specific,
difficult goals let people know on what they should be focusing their attention. Managers can determine if
employees are developing action plans to help them attain the goal and effectively manage their time. If
the goal is motivating this kind of behavior, it is probably a difficult goal.
5. Discuss why managers should always try to use positive reinforcement instead of negative
reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement gives people outcomes they want when they perform behavior that contributes to
organizational effectiveness. Negative reinforcement also encourages members to perform
organizationally functional behavior, but does this by eliminating or removing undesired outcomes once
the functional behavior is performed. People are motivated by negative reinforcement because they want
to stop receiving undesired outcomes.
Managers should always try to use positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement for a variety
of reasons. Negative reinforcement can create a very unpleasant workplace characterized by threats and
control. People do not like to be nagged, threatened, or exposed to other negative outcomes as a
“motivation” for doing their jobs. Employees who are subjected to negative reinforcement may resent
their managers and try to get back at them through sabotage of their work, if they quit or are fired.
ACTION
6. Interview three people who have the same kind of job (such as salesperson, waiter/waitress, or
teacher), and determine what kinds of needs each is trying to satisfy at work.
A requirement or necessity for survival and well-being is called a need. People are motivated to obtain
outcomes at work that will satisfy their needs.
Three waitresses at a mid-priced restaurant were asked about the kinds of needs they are trying to satisfy
at work. Each woman said that they were working to pay their rent and bills, which is a physiological
need as described by Maslow. Two waitresses are working part-time while they go to school and are not
looking to make waitressing a career. The other one is a full-time waitress who desires the security and
stability of a consistent income, along with safe working conditions. These are safety needs, as described
by Maslow.
Besides these “lower level” needs, the waitresses admitted that they valued the friendships they had made
in the restaurant, and enjoyed working there because they liked interacting with customers, managers, and
other restaurant staff. Maslow would call the needs satisfied through these interactions as belongingness
needs.
One waitress is training to be a manager, and is trying to fulfill the need to improve her skills and
abilities, and engage in meaningful work. This kind of need can be categorized as an esteem need in
Maslow’s hierarchy.
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7. Interview a manager in an organization in your community to determine the extent to which the
manager takes advantage of vicarious learning to promote high motivation among subordinates.
Social learning theory considers how learning and motivation are influenced by people’s thoughts and
beliefs and their observations of other people’s behavior. One component of this theory is vicarious
learning. This is a method by which people are motivated by observing other people perform a behavior
and be reinforced for doing so.
Jake Bertram is a manager at men’s clothing store in a large city. He uses vicarious learning to teach his
less experienced salespeople how to interact with customers and sell more merchandise. The salespeople
are paid on commission, and Jake would like to see his employees sell a lot of clothing to help the store
and increase their own paychecks.
Jake has new staff members observe the behavior of highly competent and experienced salespeople. The
new staffers watch the salesperson approach customers, direct them to certain items, make suggestions,
and offer assistance. They accurately perceive this behavior as leading to higher sales and more repeat
business. They then commit this information to memory and use it when they interact with their own
customers. Since the new staffers have already received formal training, they have the skills and abilities
to perform these behaviors. By observing the experienced salesperson, they see that these behaviors lead
to positive reinforcements such as higher commissions, praise from the store manager, and bonuses and
discounts for clothing.
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