CHAPTER 7
Motivating Yourself and Others
CHAPTER PREVIEW
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Understand the complex nature of motivation.
2. Describe influential theories of motivation.
3. List and describe contemporary motivation strategies.
4. Identify motivating factors important to individuals from different generations.
5. Describe selected self-motivation strategies.
PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE
The major purpose of this chapter is to help students acquire increased knowledge and understanding of
human motivation. Students will examine internal versus external motivation and the nature of motives.
A careful study of this material provides students with some useful insights into the relationship
between needs and motivation.
In the work setting, motivation is what makes people want to work. To illustrate how people tend to
satisfy their needs in a particular order, the chapter describes Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in
detail. Maslow’s theory is compared with Herzberg’s motivation-maintenance theory. Students then
study the application of motivational theories such as McGregor’s theory X and theory Y. Expectancy
theories such as the self-fulfilling prophecy and the Pygmalion effect are examined to help students
understand the powerful effects their own expectations and others’ expectations of them have on their
behavior. Organizations today are becoming creative as they attempt to motivate the new generation as
well as those who have been in the work force for many years. Contemporary motivational strategies
include job rotation, enlargement, and enrichment. Students are encouraged to examine the kinds of
incentives necessary to fulfill the needs of individual workers.
Opportunities to learn new things may be motivational as well as empowering. The chapter concludes
with suggestions for self-motivation. It suggests students go outside their comfort zone and get excited
about the creative process. When trapped in a job they hate, they can choose to make the most of it until
they are able to move on to another job. They also need to build a strong immunity to cynicism, which
erodes anyone’s attitudes.
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
I. The Complex Nature of Motivation
A. Motivation defined: physiological, emotional, cognitive, and social factors
B. The motivation to satisfy basic desires
C. Characteristics of motives
1. Motives are individualistic
2. Motives change
26 Chapter 7: Motivating Yourself and Others
3. Motives may be unconscious
4. Motives are often inferred
5. Motives are hierarchical
II. Influential Motivational Theories
A. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
1. Physiological needs
2. Safety and security needs
3. Social or belongingness needs
4. Esteem needs
5. Self-actualization needs
B. Herzberg’s motivation-maintenance (two-factor) theory
1. Maintenance factors: salary, fringe benefits, supervision, appropriate working
conditions, social relationships, policies and administration
2. Motivational factors: opportunities for responsibility, recognition, advancement
C. Expectancy theory
1. Motivational strength is determined by whether or not you believe you can be
successful at the task
2. Self-fulfilling prophesy means that if you can conceive it and believe it, you can
achieve it
D. McGregor’s theory X/theory Y
1. Theory X managers tend to be pessimistic toward workers’ potential
2. Theory Y managers maintain an optimistic view of workers’ ambition
E. Goal-setting theory
1. Goals provide the power of purpose by directing attention toward a specific target
2. Goals encourage you to make the effort to achieve something difficult
3. Goals encourage persistence by requiring sustained effort
4. Goals force you to bridge the gap between the dream and the reality
III. Contemporary Employee Motivation Strategies
A. Motivation through job design
1. Job rotation
2. Job enlargement
3. Job enrichment
B. Motivation through incentives
C. Motivation through solicitation of employees’ ideas and solutions
D. Motivation through learning opportunities
E. Motivation through empowerment
F. Motivation through others’ expectations
IV. Motivating the Generations
V. Self-Motivation Strategies
A. Nurture a gritty nature
B. Go outside your comfort zone
C. Strive for balance
D. Take action
CAREER INSIGHT EXERCISE
Students should prepare a written to-do list of specific, short-term tasks they plan to undertake
immediately; these items should be prioritized. Students can identify the tasks that most directly relate
to their key goals.
Chapter 7: Motivating Yourself and Others 27
TRY YOUR HAND EXERCISES
1. Ask students to determine whether or not the assessment seems to be accurate. Do not demand
that they reveal their scores, but permit them to do so voluntarily. Consider asking students to
write a journal entry describing their reaction to the exercise.
2. Answers will vary. Again, do not ask students to reveal their past failures unless they volunteer to
share their answers. Focus instead on what they learned about how to improve their motivation.
3. Ask students to share the results of this exercise with the entire class so that they get more
exposure to the power of others’ insights.
4. Students are asked to visualize a person from each generation and list the ways to motivate them
to complete a project (excluding monetary incentives). Students can refer to Figure 7.6 and Table
5.2 for an overview of generational differences.
CRITICAL THINKING CHALLENGE
Answers will vary. The exercise is meant to build students’ awareness of what motivates them. In
addition, the exercise can help them recognize that when/if they are in management, they should be
aware that people are motivated by different factors.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Low scores on these assessment items indicate failure to recall or accept the information on motivation
presented in the chapter. Students are asked to prepare a written goal for improving an attitude or skill
related to motivation concepts and to outline the steps required to achieve the goal.
YOU PLAY THE ROLE EXERCISE
Help students focus on how introducing or enhancing the factors that motivate them to perform well
will also help the organization and make the boss look good.
CASE QUESTIONS
BELOW THE SURFACE: Awakening the Driving Force Within
1. Answers will vary. Athletes who achieve extreme goals are very likely motivated by more than a
single need.
2. Answers will vary. Students might point out that these athletes faced others’ expectations that they
would fail or suffer harm in the attempt to set a record.
3. Students’ answers will vary. Encourage students to discuss both short-term and long-term goals.
CLOSING CASE: The “Boss Free” Company
1. Students can predict whether or not a boss-free workplace would increase U.S. worker
engagement—for example, by imagining the effect of an organizational structure like Valve’s on
worker motivation in a different industry.
2. Students should suggest realistic strategies for screening new workers for organizational fit as
soon as they begin their employment. It would be reasonable for students to recommend assessing
new employees’ degree of self-motivation or responsiveness to autonomy and empowerment as
motivating factors.
28 Chapter 7: Motivating Yourself and Others
3. Student answers will vary. Encourage students to consider whether their identified basic desires
would be fulfilled to a greater or lesser extent within a boss-less work environment as compared
to a more traditional environment.
ADDITIONAL APPLICATION EXERCISES
1. Select one or two companies in your area and interview the personnel directors about their
company’s motivational program. Try to choose companies that are significantly different in size
or function. What employee needs does each company seek to satisfy? How does each company
implement its program? What have been the results? Report to the class on your findings.
2. Survey current business journals and prepare a report on the motivational problems and
approaches discussed in these journals. Do the same problems keep cropping up in different
industries? Are organizations addressing employee needs that would not have been taken
seriously five or ten years ago? What seem to be the major concerns organizations have about
motivating their managers and staff?