MOTIVATION : NEED,

CONTENT AND PROCESS

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
Work Motivation Approaches
The content Theories of Motivation
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory of Motivation
Alderfers ERG Theory.
The Process Theory Of Motivation
Vrooms Expectancy Theory of Motivation.
The Porter-Lawler Model
Contemporary Theories Of Motivation.
Cognitive Evaluation Theory
Goal-Setting Theory
Self-Efficacy Theory
Reinforcement Theory
Equity Theory.

WORK MOTIVATION APPROACHES

INTRODUCTION:
Motivation is a psychological process consisting of
primary, general, and secondary motives; drives such as
the n Pow, n Aff and n Ach motives; and intrinsic and
extrinsic motivators.
In order to understand organization behavior, these
basic motives must be recognized and studied. These
motives serves as only the background and foundation
for the work-motivation theories.
Meaning of Work Motivation:
Work Motivation is the set of external and internal force
that causes an employee to choose a course of action
engage in certain behavior , these behavior will be
directed at the achievement of organizational goal

The three historical

theories are

streams

of

work-motivation

CONTENT THEORIES:
Content theories focus on need and deficiencies
that activate tension and which influence satisfaction
and behavior.
These theories suggest that managers job is to
create work environment that respond positively to
individual needs. These theories
answer to the
question What factors in workplace motivate the
people?
These theories goes back to the twentieth centuries
where Scientific managers such as F.W Taylor, Frank
Gilbert proposed wage incentive models to motivate
workers.
Next came Human Relation models and the content
theories of
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

PROCESS THEORIES:
Process theories describe the process through which
needs are translated into behavior. It focus on thought or
cognitive process that take place within the mind of
people and act to influence their behavior. Process
Theories are
Vrooms Expectancy Theory of Motivation
The Porter- Lawler Model
CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION:
Contemporary theories represent the current state of
thinking in explaining employee motivation and they were
recently developed. Contemporary Theories are
Cognitive Evaluation Theory
Goal setting Theory
Self Efficacy Theory
Reinforcement Theory
Equity Theory

Scientific
management
Wage Incentive
Human Relation
Economic security,
working condition

Cognitive
Evaluation Theory
Goal Setting
Theory

Maslow
Hierarchy of Needs
Herzberg
Motivation &
Hygiene Factor
Alderfers
ERG Needs

CONTENT THEORIES

Vroom's
Valency/
expectancy
Porter and Lawler
Performance
-satisfaction

PROCESS THEORIES
WORK MOTIVATION

Self Efficacy
Theory
Reinforcement
Theory
Adams Equity
Theory

CONTEMPORARY
THEORIES

THE CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

The Content theories of Motivation are also known as the
early theories of motivation. One should learn these
theories of motivation for at least two reason
They represent foundation from which contemporary
theories have grown
Practicing manager still regularly use these theories and
their terminology in explaining employee motivation.

MASLOWS HIRARCHY OF NEEDS:

It is the most well-known theory of Motivation.
In 1943, Abraham Maslow, the famous psychologist,
released Maslow's hierarchy of needs in his well-known
paper: A Theory of Human Motivation
In his work, he outlined the elements of an overall theory
of motivation.
Drawing chiefly from human psychology and his
experience, he thought that a persons motivational needs
could be arranged in an hierarchical manner.

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: The physiological needs refer to

unlearned primary need such as hunger, thirst, sleep, sex
etc. According to this theory, once these basic needs are
satisfied, they no longer motivate.
SAFETY NEEDS: The second level of need refer to Security
needs. Maslow stressed emotional as well as physical
security. As true for physiological need, once these needs
are satisfied, they no longer motivate.
LOVE NEEDS: This the third or intermediate level of need
for affection and affiliation. This refer to need of
belongingness or social need such as friendship.
ESTEEM NEEDS: The esteem level represent the higher
needs of humans. The need for power, achievement,
status, self-respect, recognition etc. He pointed out that
esteem level include self-esteem and esteem from others
SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS: It refer to the drive to
become what one is capable of becoming includes growth,
achieving ones potential and self-fulfillment.

Maslow separated the five needs

into higher and lower orders.
LOWER ORDER NEEDS: Lower
order needs refer to those needs
which are satisfied externally
( by, pay, tenure, union contract).
It includes the physiological and
safety needs
HIGHER ORDER NEEDS: Higher
order needs refer to those which
are satisfied internally( within
the person). It includes the
social,
esteem
and
selfactualization needs.
HIS ASSUMPTION:
There are five levels of needs.
He believed that when one need
is satisfied, it no longer serves to
motivate. The next level of need
has to be activated in order to
motivate the individual.

He stressed that higher needs emerged after lower

needs are fulfilled.
He stressed that human behavior is multidetermined
and multimotivated.
He suggested that various levels are interdependent
and overlapping
CRITICISM AND CONCLUSION
Research findings indicate that Maslows is certainly
not the final answer in work motivation. Yet the theory
does make a significant contribution in terms of making
management aware of the diverse need of employees at
work.
Needs such as social and self-actualization are
important to the content of work motivation. The exact
nature of these need and how they relate to motivation
are not clear.
There is lack of hierarchical structure of needs
suggested by Maslow. Some people may be deprived of
lower level need but strive for self actualization.
There is lack of direct cause and effect relationship

HERZBERGS TWO-FACTOR
THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Another
historically
important
contribution to work motivation is
the content theory of Frederick
Herzberg. This theory is also known
as MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY.
Herzberg investigated the question
What do people want from their
jobs?.
He conducted motivational study on
about
200
accountant
and
engineers employed by firm in and
around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The professional subject in study
were asked two questions?
1. When did you feel particularly
good about your job-what turned
you on; and

Response obtained from the subject were interesting and

fairly consistent.
Reported good feelings were generally associated with job
experience and job content.
Reported bad feeling were generally associated with the
surrounding aspect of the job- the job Context.
MOTIVATION FACTOR: Motivation factors are intrinsic in
nature. They have positive effect on job satisfaction and
leads to increase in output. If these factors are present
they motivate, if absent does not leads to dissatisfaction.
They are also known as job satisfier which are related to job
content. Example, Achievement, advancement, growth,
recognition, work itself, responsibility.
HYGIENE FACTORS: Hygiene factors are extrinsic in nature
and do not motivate people. If these factor are present they
do not motivate, if they are absent leads to dissatisfaction.
They are also known as Job dissatisfier allied to job context.
Example, company policy, supervision, interpersonal
relationship, salary, working condition etc
Thus, the motivators and the hygiene factor have become
known as Herzbergs two-factor theory of motivation.

He
Proposed
that
opposite of satisfaction
is not dissatisfaction.
Removing dissatisfying
characteristic from job
does not necessarily
make job satisfying.
He proposed that the
opposite
of
satisfaction is no
satisfaction and the
opposite
of
dissatisfaction is no

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HERZBERG THEORY AND

CONCLUSION
Any improvement in motivation factors do not
motivate a worker but their reduction below certain
level will dissatisfy them
This model is not applicable in all condition. There is
mix-up of both factor in job, which cannot be
separated as intrinsic and extrinsic
This study is limited to accountant and engineer.
The effect of hygiene and motivational factor may be
totally reverse for others categories of people.
The scope of this study is narrow as only 200
respondents were interviewed and method of data
collection and interview was not appropriate as they
were asked to report exceptionally good or
exceptionally bad experiences.

ALDERFERS ERG THEORY

Clayton
Alderfer
attempted
to
rework Maslows need hierarchy to
align it more closely with empirical
research.
His
revised
need
hierarchy is labelled ERG Theory.
He identified three core needs:
EXISTENCE
NEEDDesire
for
physiological
and
material-well
( Related to Maslows Physiological
and safety needs)
RELATEDNESS NEED- Desire for
satisfying
interpersonal
needs( Related to Maslows Social
and Extrinsic self-esteem need for
status, recognition and attention.
GROWTH
NEEDDesire
for
continuous psychological growth
and development ( Related to
Maslows intrinsic self-esteem such

DIFFERENCES FROM MASLOW'S NEEDS HIERARCHY AND

CONCLUSION
Beyond
simply
reducing
the
distinction
between
overlapping needs, the ERG theory improves upon the
following shortcomings of Maslow's Needs Hierarchy:
AlderfersERG theory demonstrates that more than one
need may motivate at the same time. A lower motivator
neednot be substantially satisfied before one can move
onto higher motivators.
The ERG theory also accounts for differences in need
preferences between cultures better than Maslow's Need
Hierarchy; the order of needs can be different for different
people. This flexibility accounts for a wider range of
observed behaviors. For example, it can explain the
"starving artist" who may place growth needs above those
of existence.
The ERG theory acknowledges that if a higher-order need
is frustrated, an individual may regress to increase the
satisfaction of a lower-order need which appears easier to
satisfy. This is known as the frustration-regression

COMAPRISION OF MASLOWS , HERZBERGS

AND ALDERFERS THEORY
OF MOTIVATION

THE PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

VROOMS EXPECTANCY THEORY OF MOTIVATION
The Expectancy Theory of Motivation is one of the process
theories. It provides an explanation of why individuals
choose one behavioral option over others
This theory was developed by Psychologist Victor H.
Vroom.
This theory is built upon the idea that motivation comes
froma person believing they will get what they want in the
form of performance or rewards
This theory argues that the strength of tendency to act in
certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that
the act will be followed by the given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.
To make this simple, expectancy theory says that an
employee can be motivated to perform better when there is
a belief that the better performance will lead to good
performance appraisal and that good performance appraisal
will lead to organizational rewards such as bonuses, salary
increase or promotion and the reward will satisfy the
employees personal goal
The theory states that individuals have different sets of

FOCUS ON THREE RELATIONSHIPS

Effort-Performance relationship: The
probability perceived by an individual
that given amount of efforts will lead to
performance.
Performance-Reward relationship: The
degree to which individual believe that
performing at particular level will lead
to the attainment of a desired outcome.
Rewards- Personal goal relationship:
The degree to which organizational goal
satisfy an individuals personal need or
goal and the attractiveness of those
potential rewards for the individual.

VROOM'S EXPECTANCY THEORY IS BASED ON THESE THREE

COMPONENTS:
EXPECTANCY:
Expectancy can be described as the belief that higher or
increased effort will yield better performance. This can be
explained by the thinking of "If I work harder, I will make
something better".
INSTRUMENTALITY:
Instrumentality can be described as the thought that if an
individual performs well, then a valued outcome will come
to that individual.
VALENCE:
Valence means "value" and refers to beliefs about outcome
desirability . Valence can be thought of as the pressure or
importance that a person puts on an expected outcome.
Vroom concludes that the force of motivation in an
employee can be calculated using the formula:
Motivation =Valence*Expectancy*Instrumentality

THE PORTER-LAWLER MODEL

The Maslow and Herzberg Content theories assumes that
satisfaction leads to improved performance and that
dissatisfaction detracts from performance. The Herzberg
Model is really the theory of job satisfaction but is fails to
explain
the
relationship
between
satisfaction
and
performance.
This
theory
is
based
on
assumption
that
motivation(efforts or force) does not equal to satisfaction
or performance.
Motivation, satisfaction and performance are all separate
variables and relate in ways different from what was
traditionally assumed.
This theory explain the complex relationships that exist
among motivation, performance, and satisfaction.
This model is drawn from earlier cognitive concept from
Social psychologist Kurt Lewin and Edward Tolman and
Theory of Victor vroom
This theory argues that efforts does not leads directly to
performance.
Performance is affected by two factor such as

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF WORK

MOTIVATION
COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY:
Its strange, said Ritu. I started work at an NGO as
volunteer. I put in 18 hours a week helping people adopt
pets. And I loved coming to work. Then, 3 months ago, they
hired me full time at INR 28000 a month ago. Im doing the
same work I did before. But I am not finding it near as
much as fun.
The explanation to Ritus reaction is Cognitive Evaluation
Theory.
This theory states that allocating extrinsic rewards for
the behavior that have been previously intrinsically
rewarding tend to decrease the overall level of motivation.
Another reason is that individual experience loss of
control over her own behavior so that the previous intrinsic
motivation diminishes.
If Cognitive evaluation is valid, it should have major
implication
for
managerial
practices.
Compensation
specialist argues that extrinsic rewards should be made

OB research suggests that people who pursue work goal

for intrinsic reasons are more satisfied with their jobs, feel
like they fit into their organization better and perform
better. Choose your job carefully. Make sure youre
choosing to do something for reason other than extrinsic
rewards.

GOAL SETTING THEORY

The Intention to work towards a goal are a major source of
work satisfaction.
Goals tell employees what needs to be done and how
much efforts is to be expended.
Specific goals increases performance: that difficult goals,
when accepted result in higher performance than do easy
goals; and feedback leads to higher performance than does
nonfeedback.
If factors that acceptance of goal held constant , we can
state that more difficult the goal higher will be the
performance. The reason why people are motivated by
difficult goal are
1. Difficult goal direct our attention to task in hand.
2. They energize us because we have to work harder to

People do better when they get feedback on how well

they are progressing towards their goals because
feedback helps to identify discrepancies between what
they have done and what they want to do; it guides
behavior
By participation in goal setting process, it result in easy
acceptance of goals.
There are three factors found to influence goals namely,
1.Goal commitment-Goal commitment is likely to occur
when goals are made public, when individual have internal
locus of control and when goals are self-set.
2. Task Characteristics-Evidence suggest that goals seems
to have a more substantial effect on performance when
task is simple rather than complex, well learned rather
novel.
3. Culture bound- Goals setting theory is culture bound.

MANAGEMENT BY
OBJECTIVES:
A more Systematic way to
utilize goal setting is with
Management by objectives.
A
Program
that
encompasses specific goals,
participatively set, for an
explicit time period with
feedback on goal progress.
Only difference b/w goal
setting and MBO is the
participation
in
decision
making
WHY MBO FAIL?
Unrealistic
expectations
about MBO results
Lack of commitment by top
management
Failure to allocate reward

Key
KeyElements
Elements
1.1. Goal
Goalspecificity
specificity
2.2. Participative
Participativedecision
decision
making
making
3.3. An
Anexplicit
explicittime
time
period
period
4.4. Performance
Performance
feedback
feedback

CASCADING OF OBJECTIVES

SELF-EFFICACY THEORY
Self-efficacy is also known as Social
cognitive theory or Social learning theory.
This theory is developed by Albert Bandura.
It refers to individual belief that he or she is
capable of performing task. The higher the
self-efficacy, the more confidence you have
in your ability to succeed in task.
Individual higher with self-efficacy seem to
respond to negative feedback with increased
effort and motivation, while those low in
self-efficacy are likely to lessen their effort
when given negative feedback.
Goal setting theory and Self-efficacy theory
are complement to each other.
Bandura argues that there are four ways to
increase Self-efficacy
1. ENACTIVE MASTERY- gaining relevant
experience with the task .
2. VICARIOUS MODELLING- Becoming more
confident because you see someone else
doing the task.
3. VERBAL PERSUASION- Becoming
more
confident because someone convince you

People with a strong

sense of self-efficacy:
View challenging
problems as tasks to be
mastered.
Develop deeper interest
in the activities in which
they participate.
Form a stronger sense of
commitment to their
interests and activities.
Recover quickly from
setbacks and
disappointments.
People with a weak sense
of self-efficacy:
Avoid challenging tasks.
Believe that difficult
tasks and situations are
beyond their capabilities.
Focus on personal
failings and negative
outcomes.

REINFORCEMENT THEORY
Reinforcement theory of motivation was
proposed by B F Skinner and his associates.
It states that individuals behaviour is a
function of its consequences.
It is based on law of effect, i.e.,
individuals
behaviour
with
positive
consequences tends to be repeated, but
individuals
behaviour
with
negative
consequences tends not to be repeated.
Reinforcement
theory
of
motivation
overlooks the internal state of individual, i.e.,
the inner feelings and drives of individuals are
ignored by Skinner. This theory focuses totally
on what happens to an individual when he
takes some action.
Thus, according to Skinner, the external
environment of the organization must be
designed effectively and positively so as to
motivate the employee.
This theory is a strong tool for analyzing

EQUITY THEORY
The equity theory is based on the PRINCIPLE OF
BALANCE OR EQUITY.
This theory states that individuals compare their inputs
and outcomes with those of others and then respond to
eliminate any inequities.

EQUITY THEORY
Ratio Comparison
Perception
O/I a < O/I b
Under-rewarded (Equity
Tension)
O/I a = O/I b
Equity
O/I a > O/I b
Over-rewarded (Equity
Tension)

NEGATIVE TENSION STATE: Equity is perceived when

this ratio is equal. While if this ratio is unequal, it leads
to equity tension. J.STACY ADAMS called this a
negative tension state which motivates him to do
something right to relieve this tension. A comparison
has been made between 2 workers a and b to
understand this point.
REFERENTS: The four comparisons an employee can
make have been termed as referents. The referent
chosen is a significant variable in equity theory. These
referents are as follows:
Self-inside: An employees experience in a different
position inside his present organization.
Self-outside: An employees experience in a situation
outside the present organization.
Other-inside: Another employee or group of employees
inside the employees present organization.
Other-outside: Another employee or employees outside
the employees present organization.

CHOICES: The employees who perceive inequity and are

under negative tension can make the following choices:
Change in input (e.g. Dont overexert)
Change their outcome (Produce quantity output and increasing
earning by sacrificing quality when piece rate incentive system
exist)
Choose a different referent
Quit the job
Change self perception (For instance - I know that Ive
performed better and harder than everyone else.)
Change
perception
others
(For instance
Assumptions
ofofthe
Equity
Theory- Jacks job is not as
desirable
as I earlier
thought it was.) that the individuals
The theory
demonstrates

are
concerned both with their own rewards and also with what
others get in their comparison.
Employees expect a fair and equitable return for their
contribution to their jobs.
Employees decide what their equitable return should be
after comparing their inputs and outcomes with those of
their colleagues.
Employees who perceive themselves as being in an
inequitable scenario will attempt to reduce the inequity
either by distorting inputs and/or outcomes psychologically,
by directly altering inputs and/or outputs, or by quitting the

THANK
YOU