unless they (1) value the expected rewards, (2) believe their efforts will lead to
performance, and (3) believe their performance will result in the desired rewards.
Because expectancy theory is so complex, it is difficult to apply directly in the workplace.
A manager would need to figure out what rewards each employee wants and how valuable
those rewards are to each person, measure the various expectancies, and finally adjust the
relationships to create motivation.
Nevertheless, expectancy theory offers several important guidelines for the practicing
manager. The following are some of the more fundamental guidelines:
1. Determine the primary outcomes each employee wants.
2. Decide what levels and kinds of performance are needed to meet organizational goals.
Case Study: Pride-Building at Aramark
Summary: With 270,000 employees in 22 countries, Aramark wanted to better motivate its employees
who clean airplanes for Delta and Southwest Airlines. Turnover of the low-paid, largely immigrant staff
was high while morale was low. Wallets and other valuables left on planes disappeared. After 5 years of
efforts to increase motivation, revenue rose from $5 million to $14 million.
1. What motivation theories apply to the workers at Aramark?
According to the two-factor theory, hygiene factors such as good working conditions (English and
2. If you were the manager of these employees, what would you do to motivate them? Be honest
regarding your personal management style and beliefs rather than trying to be like Roy Pelaez.
Students may find what motivates different employees in different countries and try to add those
3. What are some possible barriers to the effectiveness of your motivation ideas? What could you
do to overcome them?
IV. LEARNING-BASED PERSPECTIVES ON MOTIVATION
Learning is another key component in employee motivation. Learning is a relatively permanent
change in behavior or behavioral potential that results from direct or indirect experience.
A. How Learning Occurs
1. The Traditional View: Classical Conditioning
The most influential historical approach to learning is classical conditioning, developed by
Ivan Pavlov in his famous experiments with dogs.
2. The Contemporary View: Learning as a Cognitive Process
Contemporary learning theory generally views learning as a cognitive process; that is, it
assumes that people are conscious, active participants in how they learn.
B. Reinforcement Theory and Learning
In its simplest form, reinforcement theory suggests that behavior is a function of its
consequences.
C. Social Learning
Social learning occurs when people observe the behaviors of others, recognize their
consequences, and alter their own behavior as a result. (Some experts refer to social learning as
social cognitive theory.)
Social learning theory suggests that individual behavior is determined by a person’s cognitions
and social environment. More specifically, people are presumed to learn behaviors and attitudes
at least partly in response to what others expect of them.
D. Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is the application of reinforcement theory to influence the behaviors of
people in organizational settings.
Figure 5.7 summarizes these kinds of reinforcement.
1. Kinds of Reinforcement
There are four types of reinforcers, as shown in Figure 5.7.
Positive reinforcement involves the use of rewards to increase the likelihood that a desired
behavior—high performance, for instance—will be repeated.
For reinforcement to work, people must associate the reward with the behavior. In other
words, people need to know exactly why they are receiving a reward.
To best reinforce a behavior, the reward should come as quickly as possible after the
behavior. Some of the most powerful rewards are symbolic—things that cost very little but
2. The Timing of Reinforcement
Reinforcement should ideally come immediately after the behavior bring influenced.
It is useful to understand the various schedules that can be used to provide reinforcement.
A continuous reinforcement schedule is one in which the desired behavior is reinforced
each time that it occurs. A partial reinforcement schedule is one in which the desired
behavior is reinforced only part of the time.
There are four types of partial reinforcement schedules:
1. Fixed-ratio: Desired behavior is reinforced after a specified number of correct
responses—for example, receiving pay bonuses for every ten error-free pieces made
per hour.
Fixed-ratio schedules produce a high, consistent rate of responding with desired behaviors
but with fast extinction when the reinforcement stops.
Research suggests that the fastest way to get someone to learn is to use continuous
reinforcement and reinforce the desired behavior every time it occurs. The most effective
schedule for sustaining a behavior is variable reinforcement.
In terms of behavior modification, any behavior can be understood as being a result of its
consequences. To motivate the right behavior, an expert in behavior modification would
identify the desired behaviors and then carefully reinforce them.
This process involves five steps:
1. Define the problem—what is it that could be improved?
Summary and Application
Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to behave as they do. Motivation starts with a need.
People search for ways to satisfy their needs and then behave accordingly. Their behavior results in
rewards or punishment. Scientific management asserted that money is the primary human motivator in the
workplace. The human relations view suggested that social factors are primary motivators.
The equity theory of motivation assumes that people want to be treated fairly. It hypothesizes that people
compare their own input-to-outcome ratio in the organization with the ratio of a comparison-other.
Expectancy theory, a somewhat more complicated model, follows from the assumption that people are
motivated to work toward a goal if they want it and think that they have a reasonable chance of achieving
it. The Porter–Lawler version of expectancy theory provides useful insights into the relationship between
satisfaction and performance. This model suggests that performance may lead to a variety of intrinsic and
extrinsic rewards.
Discussion Questions
1. When has your level of performance been directly affected by your motivation? By your
ability? By the environment?
Students may describe how motivation, ability, and environment affected their level of performance
2. Identify examples from your own experience that support, and others that refute, Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs theory.
3. Have you ever experienced inequity in a job or a class? How did it affect you?
Students who have worked may have some interesting examples of inequity that include amount of
4. Which is likely to be a more serious problem—perceptions of being under-rewarded or
perceptions of being over-rewarded?
Student response will vary depending on the extent and type of their work experience. People may
5. Do you think expectancy theory is too complex for direct use in organizational settings? Why or
why not?
Although students probably will agree that expectancy theory would be difficult to use directly in
6. Do the relationships between performance and satisfaction suggested by Porter and Lawler
seem valid? Cite examples that both support and refute the model.
Research has not confirmed the assertion that satisfaction leads to performance, but it shows that
expectancy theory correctly asserts that people must value the expected rewards, must believe their
7. Think of occasions on which you experienced each of the four types of reinforcement.
The four types of reinforcement are: positive reinforcement, avoidance, extinction, and punishment.
8. Identify the five forms of reinforcement that you receive most often (i.e., wages, grades, etc.).
On what schedule do you receive each of them?
Students are most likely to use examples from a classroom situation, although working students or
Understand Yourself Exercise—Managerial Motivation Skills
In this activity, students role-play as managers and employees, though the focus is on students’
managerial skills. If time allows, ask students to do this activity twice, with a different partner each time,
as some students may benefit from an additional round of practice or may feel more confident in the
second round.
Group Exercise—Motivating Your Sales Staff
Learning Objective: Explain why different people are motivated by different things.
Summary: The goal of this exercise is to give students practice aligning individual and organizational
goals, and thinking like a manager in managing employee motivation. After forming small groups, the
instructor reads the scenario below.
Task: Working as a team, students discuss their answers to the following questions and share their
answers with the class.
1. What behaviors would you want from your sales staff?
2. What goals would you set for your sales staff, given your answer to question 1?
Video Exercise
Videos and questions can be found in the eBook and MindTap video folder.
Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning
Summary: Mike Boyle is the co–owner and manager of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, a gym
based in Woburn, Massachusetts. Mike’s vision for his gym is he wants everyone to see the gym simply
1. Can you relate Mike Boyle’s views on employee motivation to the need theories discussed in this
class? If so, how?
Mike is meeting all of the needs outlined in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He meets their
physiological needs through a paycheck and their security needs by the stability and success of his
2. How does expectancy theory explain Ana’s view of her work at Mike Boyle’s Strength &
Conditioning?
Ana has a strong belief that effort will lead to higher performance. She drives and motivates others
because she needs someone to motivate her. Ana also believes her work with gym members will lead
3. Marco speaks about the pride he takes in both his work and the gym. Describe how his pride
can be explained by any of the need perspectives on motivation.
Marco’s pride would meet Maslow’s esteem needs and the ERG’s relatedness need. Esteem is a
4. How do Bob’s ideas about training and learning relate to employee motivation?
Training and learning provide tools necessary for employees to satisfy their self-actualization needs,
Now What?
Imagine working in a group with two other members asked by your boss to brainstorm names for a new
product. The other two members stop after quickly generating three to four weak ideas and want to quit.
OB Concepts Applied: law of individual differences; self-efficacy; Theory Y; need for achievement;
empowerment; task significance; autonomy; goal setting; valence,
instrumentality, expectancy; interactional fairness; positive reinforcement;
negative reinforcement; spot awards; recognition; job design
Discussion Questions
1. Which aspects of motivation discussed in this chapter are illustrated in these videos? Explain
your answer.
Motivation concepts:
• Law of Individual Differences: People have different abilities, needs, personalities, values,
• Job Design refers to providing different job opportunities to fulfill employee needs. Allison
does not feel very creative and said, “I’d be more productive doing something else right
now.” For Ryan, naming the toy lacks task significance, the degree to which a job has
importance. “Alex, just pick your favorite name and we’ll be good with it. I don’t see the
point of this.”
• Positive reinforcement refers to the use of rewards like praise to increase the likelihood that a
behavior will be repeated. Alex praises his coworkers and uses recognition. “…we did a great
• Self-Efficacy refers to a person’s confidence in organizing and executing actions necessary to
accomplish a specific task. Allison shows low self-efficacy when she says, “I work plenty
hard. I’m just not very creative.”
• Expectancy refers to the belief that hard work and will lead to the desired outcome (correct
response). Amy believes that the group can accomplish the task, “I knew the three of you
would do a great job since you know the toy best.”
2. What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing this team in the challenge video?
The biggest challenge is a lack of teamwork. All the members should be working together cohesively
3. As a manager, what motivational techniques would you apply in this situation?
Improving the job–person match would motivate the employees to perform at a higher level. The