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i.
V. Equity Theory/Organizational Justice
inequities. (Exhibit 7-6)
1. If we perceive our ratio to be equal to that of the relevant others with
our situation as fair.
2. When we see the ratio as unequal, we experience equity tension.
C. Employees who perceive inequity will make one of six choices:
1. Change their inputs.
2. Change their outcomes.
3. Distort perceptions of self.
4. Distort perceptions of others.
5. Choose a different referent.
6. Leave the field.
D. Some of these propositions have been supported, but others haven’t.
behavior in most work situations.
2. Second, not all people are equity sensitive.
E. Organizational justice (fairness in the workplace) draws a bigger picture.
1. For the most part, employees evaluate how fairly they are treated along
four dimensions. (Exhibit 7-7)
pay and recognition that employees receive.
G. Although employees care a lot about what outcomes are distributed
(distributive justice), they also care a lot about how outcomes are distributed.
H. Procedural Justice
sense of control and makes us feel empowered.
b) Employees also perceive that procedures are fairer when decision
makers follow several “rules.”
2. It turns out that procedural and distributive justice combine to influence
people’s perceptions of fairness.
a) If outcomes are favorable and individuals get what they want, they
care less about the process, so procedural justice doesn’t matter as
I. Interactional Justice
1. Beyond outcomes and procedures, research has shown that employees care
about two other types of fairness that have to do with the way they are
treated during interactions with others.
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7-7).
J. Informational Justice
1. Research has shown that employees care about two other types of fairness
that have to do with the way they are treated during interactions with
others.
K. Interpersonal Justice
1. The second type of justice relevant to interactions between managers and
employees is interpersonal justice, which reflects whether employees are
treated with dignity and respect.
L. Justice Outcomes
such as shirking job duties.
a) Distributive and procedural justices are more strongly associated with
task performance, while informational and interpersonal justices are
more strongly associated with citizenship behavior.
3. Despite all attempts to enhance fairness, perceived injustices are still
likely to occur.
may see as perfectly appropriate.
N. Others’ Reactions to Injustice
1. Research is beginning to suggest that third party, or observer, reactions to
injustice can be important.
how we react:
a) Our own traits and characteristics
b) The transgressor and victim’s traits and characteristics (including an
attribution of blame)
didn’t, they would probably be angry with your supervisor).
4. Research also suggests that how your coworkers and supervisors treat
customers also affects your justice perceptions—two studies in healthcare
organizations found that patient mistreatment by one’s supervisor led to
employee distrust and less cooperative behavior.
O. Promoting Justice
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1. It might be tempting for organizations to adopt strong justice guidelines in
attempts to mandate managerial behavior, but this isn’t likely to be
universally effective.
2. In cases where managers have more rules and less discretion, those who
calculate justice are more likely to act fairly, but managers whose justice
behavior follows from their affect may act more fairly when they have
greater discretion.
P. Culture and Justice
1. In terms of cultural differences, research shows individuals in both
individualistic and collectivistic cultures prefer an equitable distribution of
rewards over an equal division (everyone gets paid the same regardless of
performance).
contexts.
VI. Job Engagement
A. Job engagement: the investment of an employee’s physical, cognitive, and
emotional energies into job performance.
B. Many studies attempt to measure this deeper level of commitment.
engage in work.
2. Another factor is a match between the individual’s values and those of the
organization.
3. Leadership behaviors that inspire workers to a greater sense of mission also
increase employee engagement.
job attitudes like satisfaction or stress.
E. Engagement may also predict important work outcomes better than traditional job
attitudes.
VII. Integrating Contemporary Motivation Theories
A. Exhibit 7-9 integrates much of what we know about motivation. Its basic
foundation is the expectancy model.
goals.
1. The final link in expectancy theory is the rewards-goals relationship.
2. The model considers the achievement, need, reinforcement, and
equity/organizational justice theories.
C. Reinforcement theory recognizes that the organization’s rewards reinforce the
individual’s performance.
VIII. Summary and Implications for Management
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efforts toward a goal.
B. Although not well supported, many foundational early theories of motivation
focused on the needs that employees have along with the consequences of need
satisfaction.
C. More contemporary theories focused on such topics as intrinsic and extrinsic
relationships.
D. Beyond these theories, various forms of organizational justice (e.g., distributive,
procedural, and interactional), all deriving from equity theory, are important in
motivating employees.
E. Motivation is key to understanding employees’ contributions to their work,
including their job engagement.
quality, developmental feedback on their progress toward those goals.
3. Try to align or tie in employee goals to the goals of your organization.
4. Model the types of behaviors you would like to see performed by your
employees.
such as employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover.
6. When making decisions regarding resources in your organization, make sure
to consider how the resources are being distributed (and who’s impacted), the
fairness of the decision, along with whether your actions demonstrate that you
respect those involved.
EXPANDED CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Motivation Defined
A. What Is Motivation?
1. The level of motivation varies both between individuals and within
individuals at different times.
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2. Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity,
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
3. We will narrow the focus to organizational goals in order to reflect our
singular interest in work-related behavior.
4. The three key elements of our definition are intensity, direction, and
persistence.
a) Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries. This is the element
most of us focus on when we talk about motivation.
b) Direction is the orientation that benefits the organization.
c) Persistence is a measure of how long a person can maintain his/her effort.
Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
II. Early Theories of Motivation
A. Introduction
1. In the 1950s, three specific theories were formulated and are the best known.
2. These early theories are important to understand because they represent a
foundation from which contemporary theories have grown.
B. Hierarchy of Needs Theory
1. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the most well-known theory of
motivation. He hypothesized that within every human being there exists a
hierarchy of five needs. (Exhibit 7-1)
a) Physiological: Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs.
b) Safety: Includes security and protection from physical and emotional
harm.
c) Social: Includes affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.
d) Esteem: Includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy,
and achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition,
and attention.
motivates.
3. Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders.
a) Physiological and safety needs are described as lower-order needs.
b) Social, esteem, and self-actualization are described as higher-order
needs.
c) Higher-order needs are satisfied internally.
d) Lower-order needs are predominantly satisfied externally.
practicing managers.
a) Research does not generally validate the theory and it hasn’t been
frequently researched since the 1960s.
C. Two-Factor Theory
1. The two-factor theory is sometimes also called motivation-hygiene theory.
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categorized.
3. From the categorized responses, Herzberg concluded:
a) Intrinsic factors, such as advancement, recognition, responsibility, and
achievement, seem to be related to job satisfaction.
b) Dissatisfied respondents tended to cite extrinsic factors, such as
supervision, pay, company policies, and working conditions.
make the job satisfying.
e) Job satisfaction factors are separate and distinct from job dissatisfaction
factors. Managers who eliminate job dissatisfaction factors may not
necessarily bring about motivation. (Exhibit 7-3)
f) When hygiene factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied;
outcomes directly derived from it.
4. Criticisms of the theory:
a) The procedure that Herzberg used is limited by its methodology.
b) The reliability of Herzberg’s methodology is questioned.
5. Regardless of criticisms, Herzberg’s theory has been widely read, and few
managers are unfamiliar with his recommendations.
D. McClelland’s Theory of Needs
and affiliation.
a) Need for achievement need (nAch): The drive to excel, to achieve in
relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed.
a) High achievers perform best when they perceive their probability of
success as 50/50.
c) Predicted relationships:
(a) When jobs have a high degree of personal responsibility and
feedback and an intermediate degree of risk, high achievers are
strongly motivated.
(b) A high need to achieve does not necessarily make someone a good
manager, especially in large organizations.
managerial success.
d) The view that a high achievement need acts as an internal motivator
presupposes two U.S. cultural characteristics:
(a) Willingness to accept a moderate degree of risk (which excludes
countries with strong uncertainty-avoidance characteristics).
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achievement characteristics).
b) Need for power (nPow): the need to make others behave in a way that
they would not have behaved otherwise.
a) The need for power: the desire to have impact, to be influential, and to
control others.
relationships
a) This need for affiliation is well established and accepted in research.
2. McClelland’s theory has research support, particularly cross-culturally (when
cultural dimensions including power distance are considered).
III. Contemporary Theories of Motivation
A. Introduction
1. Contemporary theories have one thing in common:
B. Self-Determination Theory
1. Self-determination theory proposes (in part) that people prefer to feel they
have control over their actions, and anything that makes a previously enjoyed
task feel more like an obligation than a freely chosen activity will undermine
motivation.
intrinsic interest in a task.
a) When people are paid for work, it feels less like something they want to
do and more like something they have to do.
3. Self-determination theory also proposes that in addition to being driven by a
need for autonomy, people seek ways to achieve competence and positive
connections to others.
a) If a computer programmer values writing code because she likes to solve
problems, a reward for working to an externally imposed standard she
does not accept, such as writing a certain number of lines of code every
day, could feel coercive, and her intrinsic motivation would suffer.
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a) If individuals pursue goals because of an intrinsic interest, they are
more likely to attain their goals and are happy even if they do not.
(a) The process of striving toward them is fun.
happy even when they do.
(a) Because the goals are less meaningful to them. OB research
suggests that people who pursue work goals for intrinsic reasons
are more satisfied with their jobs, feel they fit into their
organizations better, and may perform better.
6. Implications
rewards.
b) For organizations, it means managers should provide intrinsic as well as
extrinsic incentives.
a) They need to make the work interesting, provide recognition, and
support employee growth and development.
committed to their employers.