Motivation

Motivation refers to the internal and external factors that stimulate people to be consistent when achieving a goal. This is why, motivation is always goal oriented.

“Motivation is a process governing choices among alternative forms of voluntary activities, a process controlled by the individual. The individual makes choices based on estimates of how well the expected results of a given behavior are going to match up with or eventually lead to the desired results. Motivation is a product of the individual’s expectancy that a certain effort will lead to the intended performance, the instrumentality of this performance to achieving a certain result, and the desirability of this result for the individual, known as valence.”(1)

This concept has been clarified by experts, through theories exposed with the purpose of explaining, predicting and influencing people´s behavior, and also with experiments done. One famous example of such experiments are the Hawthorne Studies, in which managers could analyze employees’ performance when they thought that were being observed, concluding that they work harder when they are stimulated by something, like interpersonal motives and when they receive incentives for their hard work.

There are 5 important theories exposed to explain how motivation influences people´s behavior when they are trying to satisfy their needs and achieve their goals. These theories are:

1. Maslow's needs hierarchy: This theory proposes 5 levels of needs, which individuals must satisfy in a progressive sequence starting from the lowest level. According to this theory, individuals feel motivated when they meet their needs.

2. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y: Theory X refers to people who only feel motivated for satisfying their lower order needs; for this reason they dislike work and responsibility, lack ambition, are self-centered, are not concerned about the organization’s needs and need security at work. These individuals need money to feel motivated. On the other hand McGregor explained Theory Y, in which individuals seek to satisfy the higher order of needs; for this reason they are committed to their work, are creative, they look for responsibility and contribute to the organization goals. In this case, individuals feel motivated by connecting the organizational goals with their individual needs.

3. Herzberg’s two-factor theory: Herzberg theory talks about work satisfaction and dissatisfaction according to 2 different factors: 1. Motivation factors: the presence of these factors motivate people (psychological growth). and 2. Hygiene factors: These are factors that when present, people do not perceive them, but when are taken away people become dissatisfied and feel motivated to get them back.

4. Alderfer's ERG theory: Is the evolution of Maslow´s theory, because according to him, needs can be satisfied simultaneously and doesn’t have a strict order.

5. McClelland's need theory: McClelland assumes that people manifest 3 needs, which are achievement, power and affiliation. Each need has different motivators that stimulate the person to fulfill that need.

References:
• (1) Vroom, V.H. Work and Motivation. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1964. Reprinted Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company, 1982. S.E. Condrey, 200, p.482
•Viorel, Lefter, Manolescu Aurel, Marinas Cristian Virgil, and Puia Ramona Stefania. 2009. "EMPLOYEES MOTIVATION THEORIES DEVELOPED AT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL." Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series 18, no. 4: 324-328.
• Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation and Individual Differences in Learning: An Integration of Developmental, Differential, and Cognitive Perspectives. Learning and Individual Differences, 2, 221-239.

Question

1. What are the Hawthorne Studies? Explain its importance for studying motivation at the workplace and its influence over diverse motivation theories.

“The term "Hawthorne effect" refers back to a series of experiments on managing factory workers carried out around 1924-33 in the Hawthorne works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago.” (1)
The Hawthorne studies were experiments exposed by Elton Mayo, in which Hawthorne Works wanted to observe if its workers would work harder and be more productive when they had more light around them, founding some limitations in the experiment, like the difficulty to identify the attributes involved in the working environment and the fact that every organization is dynamic so these studies need to be constantly updated.

With these studies, they noticed that the key factor wasn’t strictly the light but instead they came to the conclusion that actually workers feel more motivated when they are being observed and when something changes around them. Employees need incentives and motivational factors that stimulate them to increase their productivity.

Hawthorne Studies are really important when studying motivation at the workplace, because if an organization understands this experiment and all the concepts involved, managers will be able to generate changes through time and be constantly studying their workers that will feel motivated to the point in which they consider themselves part of the company and notice that they are fulfilling and satisfying all their needs. Interpersonal motives and incentives given to the workers of an organization are some key factors that will help the company to uphold their motivation and therefore to obtain a better performance and productivity.

These studies influenced some of the motivational theories, because it is important for an organization to understand that not every single worker is willing to satisfy the same needs and for this reason each one of them is motivated by different things. For example McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y have a lot to do with Hawthorne Studies, because organizations need to differentiate their type of workers. If the employees belong to theory X, they will feel motivated by money and this will be the perfect incentive for them, but if they belong to Theory Y they will need to feel identified with the organization’s goals and to assume more responsibilities.

Hawthorne studies also influenced Herzberg’s two-factor theory, because it talks about work satisfaction and dissatisfaction, so when workers have a lot of light they don’t perceive it, but when it is taken away they become dissatisfied and feel motivated to get it back, such as happened in Hawthorne Studies.

References:
• (1) Olson,R., Verley,J., Santos,L. & salas,C. (1994) "What we teach students about the Hawthorne studies: A review of content within a sample of introductory I-O and OB textbooks" The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist vol.41 no.3 pp.23-39
• Viorel, Lefter, Manolescu Aurel, Marinas Cristian Virgil, and Puia Ramona Stefania. 2009. "EMPLOYEES MOTIVATION THEORIES DEVELOPED AT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL." Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series 18, no. 4: 324-328.
• http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_02.html

2. Based on the class activity about "Flight 001: Motivating Employees", please answer the following question:
¿Which motivation theory do you think has the most relevance for understanding the behavior of Griffin and fostering her motivation at work?

Based on the article “Flight 001: Motivating Employees", I think that McGregor’s Theory Y is the one that has the most relevance for understanding and describing Emily Griffin’s behavior in her workplace, because she feels as an important part of the organization, where she already fulfilled the lower level of needs and she feels motivated to work harder in order to fulfill the higher levels, like the esteem needs, with more responsibilities and status and her self-actualization, including personal growth.

Emily Griffin said in the article “Flight 001: Motivating Employees": “I think that one of the big reasons we’re successful in keeping people at a very high level of dedication and motivation in our stores is that they really feel a personal connection with people at the corporate level”. According to this statement, we can notice how Ms. Griffin and each employee inside this organization are committed with the company because they feel that managers trust in them and consider that they are a very important part of the organization.

Ms. Griffin said in the article that she thought retail sales would be temporary for her and that it is unbelievable she is actually building a career there. This shows how motivated she feels for her job and McGregor’s Theory Y perfectly describes her motivation, because she is capable of developing and assuming responsibilities and in this way she contributes to the organization’s goals, which could be her bigger motivator as she feels that those goals are connected to her individual needs.

References:
• Article "Flight 001: Motivating Employees", class activity.
• Viorel, Lefter, Manolescu Aurel, Marinas Cristian Virgil, and Puia Ramona Stefania. 2009. "EMPLOYEES MOTIVATION THEORIES DEVELOPED AT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL." Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series 18, no. 4: 324-328.
• Class Presentation: Motivation

Image taken from:
• http://quangkhoi.net/learningcenter/2009/05/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/