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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
Chapter 13
Motivation at Work
Learning Objectives
Opening Case: Raising the Bar
Chapter Outline
Closing Case: Driving Employee Motivation
Discussion Questions
Additional Resource: The Puzzle of Motivation
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to accomplish the following objectives.
1. Describe the basic model of performance
3. Identify the basic process models of motivation and describe an integrative model of
motivation
4. Describe other related theories and perspectives on motivation
Opening Case: Raising the Bar
Case Summary
Aetna recently made a startling announcement: the insurance giant increased the base wage of its
lowest-paid employees to at least $16 per hour, more than double the federal minimum wage.
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
wage workers face the challenges of paying their day-to-day expenses with such low pay.
This is exactly the logic that led Aetna to take this bold move. Bertolini was surprised to find that
many of his employees were on public assistance, such as food stamps and Medicare. He was
shocked “that we as a thriving organization, as a successful company, a Fortune 100 company,
Think It Over
1. Do you agree or disagree with the notion that increasing pay will directly motivate
employees to be more productive?
2. Do you think improving employee benefits would have the same effect as raising pay? Why
or why not?
Chapter Outline
Introduction
Motivation determines how a person will exert his or her effort. More specifically, it represents
the forces operating on the person to exert effort, as well as the direction in which that effort will
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
© 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
be exerted. An effective manager not only must motivate employees to exert some effort but also
must make sure the effort is exerted in a way that it produces organizationally valued outcomes.
I. A Basic Model of Performance
Any level of performance on any task is not solely a function of motivation—it is a joint function
of ability, motivation, and context. The human resource (HR) manager must play a critical role in
determining two of these critical elements: the ability and the motivation sides of performance.
The third element, context refers to such things as equipment and materials. Context, however, is
usually not the purview of HR.
II. Motivation and Needs
Everyone has needs they attempt to satisfy. For most people on a day-to-day basis, these needs
are pretty simple and relatively easy to satisfy. All of their behavior would be aimed at satisfying
basic needs in life, and only after these were satisfied they would begin thinking about other, less
critical needs. This view includes several need-based theories of motivation.
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
Considerable research has been done on Maslow’s theory, and the results of that research suggest
that people are motivated by more than one level of need at any point in time and do not always
march neatly up the hierarchy—sometimes they move down the hierarchy as well. In fact, some
years later, Clayton Alderfer proposed a variation on Maslow’s theory that he called ERG
theory. Alderfer’s theory substituted three levels of needs for Maslow’s five (and he labeled
them existence needs, relatedness needs, and growth needs). These three levels simply collapse
Maslow’s five categories into three, but the more important aspect of Alderfer’s theory is that he
suggested people might move either up or down the hierarchy, and he allowed for multiple levels
of needs being prepotent.
Contemporary Challenges in HR: Striving for Balance
The good news is that 60 percent of HR executives are satisfied with the work–life services that
their companies offer employees. The bad news is that only 16 percent of their employees agree
with them. According to a study conducted by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB), a global
network of business professionals, the disconnect results from the fact that HR managers tend to
value different services than employees do. More than 60 percent of the 50,000 workers polled
in the CEB study specified flextime schedules as the single most important work–life benefit that
an employer can offer.
One company that’s happy with its experiments in flexible-work programs is KPMG, an Atlanta-
Why?
Students’ answers will vary. Work–life balance varies between individuals. This is
because some may prioritize their careers over their personal life, while others may
prioritize their personal life over their careers.
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
On the other hand, the supervisor might say and do nothing after the employee’s late-night
assignment. If this were the case, the employee might or might not be willing to stay late
again but, eventually, if the supervisor continued to ignore the employee’s staying late, he or
she would no longer be willing to remain and work. Finally, the supervisor could respond by
suggesting that because the employee obviously has nothing else to do, she or he should stay
late tomorrow night as well. This would represent a negative outcome for the employee, and
he or she would not be likely to stay late ever again. A simple set of rules are illustrated in
Figure 13.3.
Figure 13.3 also presents three scenarios in which the behavior involved is undesirable (poor
quality of work). Scenarios 4, 5, and 6 are also referred to as positive reinforcement,
extinction, and punishment, respectively, but now the consequences for the organization are
quite different.
When a supervisor works to simultaneously eliminate undesired behavior (through
punishment or extinction) and reward desired behavior, it is known as behavior
modification. A supervisor would probably not actually praise an employee for poor quality,
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in order to get a behavior to disappear. Punishment (and positive reinforcement) work best
when there is a strong link between behavior and consequences. Every time the undesired
behavior is exhibited, it is punished.
B. Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory, sometimes referred to as VIE theory, is a fairly complex theory from a
cognitive perspective, because it casts the employee in the role of decision maker. Expectancy
theory is concerned with three components and the links among them. The components are
termed effort, performance, and outcomes and are used in the usual ways.
• The first link is between effort and performance, and it is sometimes referred to as the
expectancy term. Specifically, the effort-to-performance expectancy is a person’s
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Figure 13.4 illustrates the way the model works and indicates that the model is used to
estimate the “force” operating on the employer to increase her or his effort.
C. Equity Theory
J. Stacey Adams developed another somewhat narrow but useful process theory called equity
theory. This theory is most concerned with a person’s perceived inputs to a (work) setting
and the outcomes he or she receives from that setting. The theory suggests that everyone
calculates the ratio of inputs to outcomes, almost the way one would consider a return on any
D. An Integrative Model of Motivation
Although there are few more models of motivation, need-based models, reinforcement theory,
expectancy theory, and equity theory collectively deal with most of the issues facing an HR
manager. One can integrate the useful information provided by each theory to develop a
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
© 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The basic notion here is that an employee will exert effort on the job only if that effort will
lead to improved performance, that performance will lead to rewards (which depends on
whether or not the improved performance will help the organization meet its goals), and those
rewards are considered to be fair and satisfy important needs of the employee. From the
perspective of the HR manager, this model suggests that there is a lot to be done to enhance
employee motivation.
IV. Related Theories and Perspectives on Motivation
A. Goal Theory
One of the theories of motivation is goal theory, first proposed by Ed Locke. Goal theory is
fairly simple because it is based on the premise that people with goals work harder than
B. Agency Theory
Another interesting model of motivation is based almost entirely in economics and is known
as agency theory. Agency theory addresses potential conflicts of interests among different
groups of stakeholders in an organization. The name of the theory and some of its basic
principles are derived from the fact that the individuals who own most modern organizations
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interest of the groups involved.
C. Intrinsic Motivation
Most models and theories of motivation are concerned primarily with extrinsic motivation,
which requires an external agent to administer a reward that is separate from the actual task or
job being performed. This is in contrast to intrinsic motivation. As others have stated it,
D. Creativity
The most commonly used definition of creative behavior at work involves doing things that
are innovative and provide some value for the organization. In general, experts characterize
creativity as the process of generating new and useful ideas concerning new products,
services, manufacturing methods, and administrative processes. Given this broad definition,
almost any employee at almost any job could be creative at work.
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come forward with new ideas in the future, and overall creativity is likely to be suppressed.
Closing Case: Driving Employee Motivation
Case Summary
Drivers for private truck fleets log about 20,000 miles a year. They drive 82 percent of all
medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles in the United States and account for 52 percent of the total
miles traveled by commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). “The way these employees drive,” says
veteran industry journalist Mike Antich, “can either increase or decrease fuel economy and
greenhouse gas emissions.” Most drivers, according to Antich, “want to do the right thing but
don’t see sustainability as part of their job responsibilities. A successful sustainability initiative,”
says Antich, “requires developing programs that motivate employees to comply.” Both scientific
Case Questions
1. How would you assess Nussbaum’s incentive program?
© 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
2. Which basic motivation concepts and theories are illustrated in this case?
Students’ answers will vary. Students may mention one or more of the following theories
in their answers.
• Goal Theory: It is based on the premise that people with goals work harder than
people without goals.
3. If the motivation approach outlined in this case is indeed valid, how might it be used in
other settings?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the three basic determinants of performance on a task?
Three basic factors determine performance: an individual’s ability to perform, the
environmental context, and an individual’s motivation to perform. The environmental
2. Identify and summarize the five categories of basic needs included in Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs.
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Chapter 13: Motivation at Work
The needs discussed in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are arranged in the following order
from bottom to top:
3. Compare Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer’s ERG theory.
Both Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer’s ERG theory present multitiered
4. What is the primary distinction between need-based theories and process theories of
motivation?
5. Identify and describe the three basic forms of reinforcement that most directly influence
behavior in organizations.
6. What are the four primary schedules of reinforcement?
© 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
7. Identify and summarize the basic elements of expectancy theory, and discuss how they
relate to one another.
Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated to engage in behaviors if they
8. How does equity theory relate to organizational rewards?
9. Describe how goal theory relates to employee motivation.
Goal theory is based on the premise that individuals in a company tend to work more
10. What is intrinsic motivation? How is it different from extrinsic motivation?
© 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
11. What do you believe is the key to motivating younger employees?
Additional Resource
The Puzzle of Motivation
Students should watch the TED presentation by Dan Pink