Chapter 6

Motivational
Needs, Processes,
and Applications

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives

Define the motivation process.

Identify the primary and secondary needs.

Discuss the major theories of work motivation.

Present the motivational application of job

design.

Describe the motivational application of goal

setting.
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The Basic Motivation Process

Motivation is a process that starts with a

physiological or psychological deficiency or need
that activates a behavior or a drive that is aimed
at a goal or incentive.

It consists of three interacting and interdependent

elements:
Needs
Drives
Incentives
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Primary Motives

Criteria for a motive to be included in the primary

classification:

It must be unlearned.

It must be physiologically based.

The most commonly recognized primary motives

include hunger, thirst, sleep, avoidance of pain,
sex, and maternal concern.

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Table 6.1 - Examples of Key Secondary Needs

Source: Adapted from Gary Yukl, Skills for Managers and Leaders, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 1990, p 41. The examples of need for status were not
covered by Yukl.
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Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motives

Extrinsic motivators:

Are tangible and visible to others.

Include pay, benefits, and promotions.

Include the drive to avoid punishment, such as

termination or being transferred.

Are usually contingency based.

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Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motives (Continued)

Are necessary to attract people into the organization

and to keep them on the job.

Are often used to inspire workers to achieve at higher

levels or to reach new goals, as additional payoffs are
contingent on improved performance.

They do not explain every motivated effort made by

an individual employee.

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Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motives (Continued)

Intrinsic motivators

Are internally generated.

Include feelings of responsibility, achievement, and

accomplishment.

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Figure 6.2 - The Theoretical Development of

Work Motivation

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Figure 6.3 - Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

A Hierarchy of
Work Motivation

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Table 6.2 - Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory

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Critical Analysis of Herzbergs Theory

Contributions:

The job design technique of job enrichment.

Extended Maslows needs hierarchy concept to make

it more applicable to work motivation.

Drew attention to the importance of job content

factors in work motivation.

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Critical Analysis of Herzbergs Theory (Continued)

Herzbergs theory oversimplifies the complexities

of work motivation.

Both the hygiene factors and satisfiers could be

substantially different when comparing groups.

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Figure 6.5 - The Porter-Lawler Motivation

Model

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The Porter-Lawler Expectancy Theory of Work

Motivation

Implications for practice

Attempts to be more applications oriented.

Contributions to work motivation

Helps overcome barriers such as ability, practicality,

interdependence, and ambiguity.

Helps determine reward values, define desired

performance, achieve attainability, and link valued
rewards to performance.
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Equity Theory of Work Motivation

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Equity Theory of Work Motivation (Continued)

Equity as an explanation of work motivation

Striving to restore equity

Research support for equity in workplace

Fairly supportive

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The Relationship between Equity Theory and

Organizational Justice

The equity theory serves as the foundation for the

common thread of perceived fairness among the
following dimensions of justice:

Distributive justice; Procedural justice; Interactional

justice

Organizational justice can help explain why

employees retaliate against both inequitable
outcomes and inappropriate processes.
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Attribution Theory

Attribution refers to how people explain the cause

of anothers or their own behavior.

There are two general types of attributions that

people make: dispositional attributions and
situational attributions.

Attribution theory is concerned with the

relationship between personal social perception
and interpersonal behavior.
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Attribution Theory (Continued)

Using locus of control, work behavior may be

explained by whether employees perceive their
outcomes as controlled internally or externally.

Attributions are related to organizational

symbolism.

This theory contributes a great deal to the better

understanding of work motivation and
organizational behavior.
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Figure 6.6 - Kelleys Model of Attribution

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Attribution Errors

Fundamental attribution error

Self-serving bias

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Other Work Motivation Theories: Control and

Agency

Control theory: Degree that individuals perceive

they are in control of their own lives, or are in
control of their jobs.

Agency theory: Interests of principals and agents

diverge or may be in conflict with one another.

Helps better understand the motivation of managers

in todays organizations.

Criticism: Strongly emphasizes the roles that various

forms of extrinsic motives play in shaping behaviors.
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Motivational Application Through Job Design

Job rotation

Involves moving employees from one relatively

simple job to another after short time periods.

Advantages include: reduced odds of injury, increased

flexibility, greater awareness of operations.

Disadvantage: each individual task eventually

becomes as boring as the rest of the simple tasks.

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Motivational Application Through Job Design

(Continued)

Job enlargement

Involves increasing the number of tasks each

employee performs.

Reduces the efficiency with which tasks are

completed.

Does not necessarily result in improved employee

satisfaction and commitment.

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Motivational Application Through Job Design

(Continued)

Job

enrichment

Is concerned with designing jobs that include a

greater variety of work content.

Require a higher level of knowledge and skill.

Give workers more autonomy and responsibility in

terms of planning, directing, and controlling their own
performance.

Provide the opportunity for personal growth and a

meaningful work experience.
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Figure 6.7 - The Hackman-Oldham job

Characteristics Model of Work Motivation

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Figure 6.8 - Specific Guidelines for Redesigning Jobs for the

More-Effective Practice of Human Resource Management

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Motivational Application Through Goal Setting

Goal setting is the process of motivating

employees by establishing effective and
meaningful performance targets.

Goals provide a directional nature to peoples

behavior and guide their thoughts and actions to
one outcome rather than another.

Goal setting can be used to create psychological

contracts with employees.
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Figure 6.9 - Model for Relating Goals to

Performance and Satisfaction

Source: Adapted from Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation, American Psychologist, Vol. 57,
No. 9, 2002, p. 714.
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Other Performance Management Application

Techniques Associated with Goal Setting

Learning goal orientation

Performance goal orientation

Benchmarking

Stretch target

Goal source

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Questions

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