MOTIVATION

MOTIVATION
The Meaning of Motivation:
Usually one or more of the following words are

included in the definition of Motivation:

‘desires’, ‘wants’, ‘wishes’, ‘aims’,’ goals’,
‘needs’, ‘drives’, ‘motives’ and ‘incentives’.
Definitions of Motivation:

“Motivation is a process that starts with a

physiological or psychological deficiency or
need that activates behavior or a drive that is
aimed at a goal or incentive”. Fred Luthans
“Motivation is the result of processes, internal

or external to the individual, that arose

enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain
 Nature of Motivation
1. Based on Motives: Motivation is based on
individual’s motives, which are internal to the
individual. These motives are in the form of
feelings that the individual lacks something.
In order to overcome this feeling of lacking,
one tries to behave in a manner, which helps in
overcoming this feeling.
2. Affected by Motivation: Motivation is
affected by way the individual is motivated.
The act of motivating channelises need
satisfaction.
3. Goal-directed Behavior: A goal-directed

behavior is one, which satisfies the causes for

which behavior takes place.
4. Related to Satisfaction: Motivation is
related to satisfaction. Satisfaction refers to the
contentment experiences of an individual,
which he derives out of need fulfillment. Thus,
satisfaction is a consequence of rewards and
punishments associated with past experiences.
It provides means to analyze outcomes already
experienced by the individual.
5. Person Motivated in Totality: A person is

motivated in totality and not in part. Each

individual in the organization is a self-contained
unit and his needs are interrelated. These affect
his behavior in different ways. Moreover,
feeling of needs and their satisfaction is a
continuous process.
6. Complex Process: Complexity emerges
because of the nature of needs and the type of
behavior that is attempted to satisfy those
needs. These generate complexity in
motivation process in the following ways:
Needs are internal feelings of individuals and

sometimes, even they, themselves, may not be

quite aware about their needs and the priority
of these. Thus, understanding of human needs
and providing means for their satisfaction
becomes difficult.
Even if needs are identified, the problem is not

over here as a particular need may result into

different behaviors from different individuals
because of their differences.
 Characteristics of Motivation


1.Needs: Needs are created whenever there is a

physiological or psychological imbalance.
For example, a need exists when cells in the body

are deprived of food and water or when the

personality is deprived of other people who serve
as friends or companions.


2. Drives:Drives or Motives are considered as



collective needs. A Physiological drive can be

simply defined as a deficiency with direction.
Physiological and psychological drives are action-
oriented and provide an emerging thrust toward
reaching an incentive. They are the very heart of
the motivational process.


The examples of the needs for food and water are



translated into the hunger and thirst drives, and

the need for friends becomes a drive for
affiliation.

3. Incentives: Incentive is defined as
anything that will alleviate a need and
reduce a drive. Thus attaining an
incentive will tend to restore physiological
or psychological balance and will reduce or
cut off the drive.
 

Eating food, drinking water, and obtaining

friends will tend to restore the balance and

reduce the corresponding drives.
Food, water, and friends are the incentives

in these examples.
  Classification of Motives
1.Primary Motives: These motives are
otherwise called as physiological,
biological. The most commonly recognized
primary motives include hunger, thirst, sleep,
and avoidance of pain, sex, and maternal
concern. These motives are otherwise called
as physical needs.
2. Secondary Motives: Secondary needs may

also be called as social and psychological

needs.Secondary needs are more vague
because they represent needs of the mind and
spirit rather than of the physical body. Many of
these needs are developed as one matures.
Examples are rivalry, self-esteem, and sense of
Secondary Motives :
The secondary motives may be classified
as follows:

i. Power Motive
ii . Achievement Motive
iii . Affiliation Motive
iv . Security Motive
v . Status Motive
vi . Competence Motive
The secondary motives may be classified as
follows:
i. Power Motive: Power motivation is a drive

to influence people and change situation.

Power motivated people wish to create an
impact on their organizations and are willing to
take risks to do so. Once this power is obtained,
it may be used either constructively or
destructively.


ii.
 Achievement Motive: Achievement
motivation is a drive some people have to
pursue and attain goals. An individual with this
drive wishes to achieve objectives and advance
up the ladder of success. Accomplishment is
iii. Affiliation Motive: Affiliation motivation is
a drive to relate to people on a social basis.
Affiliation motive can be viewed as the desire to
be liked and accepted by others. Individuals
with a high affiliation motive strive for
friendship, prefer co-operative situations rather
than competitive ones, and desire relationship
involving a high degree of mutual
understanding.
Persons with affiliation motives work better
when they are complimented for their favorable
attitudes and cooperation.


iv. Security Motive: The simple, conscious

security motive is typically taken care of by
insurance programme, personal savings plans,
and other fringe benefits at the place of
 v. Status Motive: Status can be simply
defined as the relative ranking that a
person holds in a group, organization, or
society. Such a person is accused of being
more concerned with the material symbols of
status-the right clothes, the right car, the
right address, and a swimming pool or the
latest computer software- than with the more
basic, human oriented values in life.


 vi. Competence Motive: Competence

motivation is a drive to be good at
something, allowing the individual to perform
high quality work. Competence motivated
employees seek job mastery, take pride in
developing and using their problem-solving
skills, and strive to be creative when
 Theories of Motivation
I. Content or Need Theories
Content Theory of Motivation: These
theories use individual needs to help in the
understanding of job satisfaction and work
behaviors. Needs reflect either physiological or
psychological deficiencies.
Hunger, for example, is a physiological need;

desire for emotional support is a psychological

need.
1.Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory
2.Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
3.Alderfer’s ERG Theory
4.McClelland’s Need Theory
 1. Maslow ’ s Need Hierarchy Theory
General examples Organizational examples

Self Achievements needs Actualization Challenging job

Status needs Self esteem Job title

Affection needs Belongingness Friends in work group

Stability needs Safety & Security Pension plan

Existence needs Physiological Base salary

A schematic presentation of Maslow ’ s need hierarchy theory

 i Physiological Needs: The most basic,
powerful, and obvious of all human needs is
the need for physical survival. Included in
this group are the needs for food, drink,
oxygen, sleep, protection from extreme
temperature, and sensory stimulation.
These physiological drivers are directly
concerned with the biological maintenance
of the organism and motivated by higher
order needs. The person who fails to satisfy
this basic level of needs just won’t be
around long enough to attempt satisfaction
of higher need levels.


 In the organizational context, physiological

needs are represents by employees’ concern
for salary and basic working conditions. It is
the duty of managers to ensure that these
needs of the employees are met so that
ii Safety Needs: Once physiological needs
are met, another set of motives, called safety
or security needs, become motivators.
Security needs in the organizational correlate

to such factors as job security, salary

increases, safe working conditions,
unionization, and lobbying for protective
legislation.
Managerial practices to satisfy the safety
needs of employees include pension scheme,
group insurance , provident fund, gratuity,
safe working conditions, grievance procedure
system of seniority to govern lay-off, and
others.
iii Belonging and Affection Needs: These


needs arise when physiological and safety

needs are satisfied. An individual motivated
on this level longs for affectionate relationship
with others, namely for a place in his or her
family and or reference groups.
• Group membership becomes a dominant
goal for the individual. Accordingly, the
person will feel keenly the pangs of
loneliness, social ostracism, friendlessness
and rejection, especially when induced by
the absence of friends, relatives a spouse or
children.
• In the organizational context social needs
represent the need for a compatible work
iv Self Esteem Needs: Maslow classified


these needs into two subsidiary sets; self

respect and esteem from others.
The former includes such things as desire
for competence, confidence, personal
strength, adequacy, achievement,
independence, and freedom. An individual
needs to know that he is worthwhile and
capable of mastering tasks and challenges
in life.
Esteem from others includes prestige,


recognition, acceptance, attention, status,

reputation, and appreciation.
v Self- Actualization Needs:Finally, if
all the earlier four level needs are
satisfied, the need for self-actualization
comes to the fore. Maslow
characterized self-actualization as the
desire to become everything that one is
capable of becoming.
 The person who has achieved this
highest level presses towards the full
use and exploitation of his talents,
capacities, and potentialities. In other
words to self-actualize is to become the
total kind of person that one wants to
 2 . H e rzb e rg ’ s M o tiv a tio n - H y g ie n e
T h e o ry
Maintenance or Hygienic Factors Motivational Factors
1. Company Policy and Administration. 1. Achievement.
2. Technical Supervision. 2. Recognition.
3. Inter-personal relations with Supervisor. 3. Advancement
4. Inter-personal relations with Peers. 4. Work itself.
5. Inter-personal relations with subordinates. 5. Possibility of growth.
6. Salary 6. Responsibility.
7. Job Security
8. Personal life
9. Working Conditions.
10. Status
 2. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene


Theory
This model, which is variously, termed the
two-factor theory, the dual factor theory, and
the motivation-hygiene theory, has been
widely accepted by managers concerned with
the problem of human behavior at work.
Herzberg used the critical incident method of

obtaining data for analysis. The respondents

were essentially asked two questions:
(1) When did you feel particularly good about

your job; and

(2) When did you feel exceptionally bad about

your job.
 


Motivational Factors:
Intrinsic factors, such as achievement, recognition, the

work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth

seem to be related to job satisfaction. These factors are
variously known as motivators, satisfiers, and job
content factors. When questioned when they felt good
about their work, respondents tended to attribute these
characteristics to themselves.
Maintenance or Hygienic Factors: On the other
hand, when they were dissatisfied, they tended to
extrinsic factors, such as company policy and
administration, supervision, work conditions, salary,
status, security, and interpersonal relations. These
factors are also known as dissatisfiers, hygiene factors,
maintenance factors, or job context factors.
According to Herzberg, satisfaction and dissatisfaction

are not opposite poles of one dimension, they are two

separate dimensions. Satisfaction is affected by
  3. Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Alderfer has categorized the various needs into


three categories: existence needs, relatedness

needs, and growth needs. The first three letters
of these needs are used to call it ERG theory.
Existence Needs: Existence needs include all


needs related to physiological and safety aspects

of an individual. Thus, existence needs group
physiological and safety needs of Maslow into
one category as these have similar impact on the
behavior of the individual.
Relatedness Needs: Relatedness needs
include all those needs that involve relationship
with other people whom the individual cares.
Relatedness needs cover Maslow’s social needs
Growth Needs: Growth Needs involve the
individual making creative efforts to achieve
full potential in the existing environment.
These include Maslow’s self-actualization need
as well as that part of the esteem need which
is internal to the individual like feeling of being
unique, feeling of personal growth etc.
Need hierarchy ERG theory
Self-actualization Growth
Esteem – Self Relatedness
- Others
Social
Security Existence
Physiological
 4. McClelland’s Need Theory
McClelland has identified three types of basic
motivating needs. He classified these as need
for power (n/PWR), need for affiliation (n/AFF),
and need for achievement (n/ACH).
Power Motive: The ability to induce or
influence behavior is power. To explain the
power need, the need to manipulate others or
the drive for superiority over others, Adler
developed the concepts of inferiority complex
and compensation. Accordingly, the
individual’s life style is characterized by
striving to compensate for the feelings of
inferiority, which are combined with the innate
drive for power. Such individuals generally
seek positions of leadership; they involve in
Affiliation Motive: Since people are social
animals, most individuals like to interact and
be with others in situations where they feel
they belong and are accepted. McClelland has
suggested that people with high need for
affiliation usually derive pleasure from being
loved and tend to avoid the pain of being
rejected.
They are concerned with maintaining pleasant

social relationship, enjoying a sense of

intimacy and understanding, and enjoy
consoling and helping others in trouble.


Achievement Motive: McClelland believed



that the need for achievement is a distinct

human motive that can be distinguished from
other needs.
McClelland has identified four basic


characteristics of high achievers:

1.Moderate Risks: Taking moderate risks is
probably the simple most descriptive
characteristic of the person processing high
achievement need.
3.Immediate Feedback: Person with high
n/ACH desires activities which provide
immediate and precise feedback information
about how he is progressing towards a goal.
4.Accomplishment: Person with high n/ACH
finds accomplishing a task intrinsically
satisfying in and of itself, or he does not
expect or necessarily want the accompany
material rewards. Though he likes to earn
 4. Preoccupation with the tasks: Once a
high achiever selects a goal, he tends to be
totally preoccupied with the task until it is
successfully completed. He will not feel
satisfied unless he has put his maximum
effort in completing the task. This type of
dedicated commitment often reflects on his
outward personality, which frequently has a
negative effect on those who come in
contact with him.

 II. Other Theories


1. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

2. Adams’s Equity Theory

3. Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory

Y
4. Ouchi’s Theory- Z


1.Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: According to
Vroom, people will be motivated to do
things to achieve some goals to the extent
that they expect that certain actions on
their part will help them to achieve the
goal. Thus an individual who has a
particular goal must practice a certain
behaviour to achieve it.


 This model is referred to as VIE (Valence,

Instrumentally, Expectancy) theory. Various
terms used in Vroom’s model are explained
below:
  

V a le n ce : A cco rd in g to V ro o m , va le n ce m e a n s th e
stre n g th o f a n in d ivid u a ls’ p re fe re n ce to a p a rticu la r
o u tco m e . Te rm s e q u iva le n t to va le n ce a re in ce n tive ,
a ttitu d e a n d exp e cte d u tility.
In stru m e n ta lly : Valence is the instrumentally of the
first-le ve l o u tco m e in o b ta in in g a d e rive d se co n d le ve l
o u tco m e .
E g . a n in d ivid u a l d e sire s p ro m o tio n a n d fe e ls th a t
su p e rio r p e rfo rm a n ce is a ve ry stro n g fa cto r in a ch ie vin g
th a t g o a l. H is first- le ve l o u tco m e is: su p e rio r, a ve ra g e
o r p o o r p e rfo rm a n ce .

His second –level outcome is promotion. The first level

outcome of high performance, thus, acquires a positive
valence by virtue of the expected relationship to the
preferred second-level outcome of promotion.
Expectancy : Expectancy is the probability that a
particular action will lead to the outcome. The strength
of motivation to perform a certain act will depend on the
sum of the products of the values for the outcomes times
 Motivation (force)= Σ Valence x Expectancy
Vroom’s expectancy theory is presented in
figure
Expectancy Instrumentalities
Second-level
Outcomes
Motivation force First-level
Outcomes
Outcome 1a
Outcome 1

Outcome 1b

Outcome 2a
Outcome 2
Outcome 2b
2. Adams’s Equity Theory: Basically, the
theory points out that people are motivated to
maintain fair relationship between their
performance and reward in comparison to others.
Various types of inputs and outcomes of an
individual are presented in the following Table 1.
Inputs

Outcomes
Efforts Pay
Time Promotion
Education Recognition
Experience Security
Training Personal development
Ideas Benefits
Ability Friendship opportunity
Exchange relationship between a person’s inputs/outcomes in relation to


those of other persons may be of three types; overpaid inequity;

underpaid inequity, and equity.


Overpaid Inequity. In this case, the person perceives that his outcomes
are more as compared to his inputs in relation to others. This relationship
can be expressed by:
 

Person’s outcomes Others’ outcomes

Person’s inputs > Others’ inputs
In this case, the person experiences guilt feeling

 

Underpaid Inequity. In this case, the person perceives that his outcomes

are lower as compared to his inputs in relation to others. This relationship

can be expressed by:
 

Person’s outcomes Others’ outcomes

Person’s inputs < Others’ inputs
In such a relationship, the person experience dissonance.

 

Equity. In this case, the person perceives that his outcomes in relation to

his inputs are equal to those of others. This relationship can be expressed
by:
 

Person’s outcomes Others’ outcomes

 3. Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
McGregor has characterized these assumptions in two
opposite points- Theory X and Theory Y.
Theory- X:

1. Theory X is a traditional set of assumptions about

people.
2. It assumes that most people dislike work and will try

to avoid it if they can.

3. Workers are seen as being inclined to restrict work

output, having little ambition, and avoiding

responsibility if at all possible.
4. They are believed to be relatively self-centered,
indifferent to organizational needs, and resistant to
change.
5. Common rewards cannot overcome this natural
dislike for work, and so management is forced (under
Theory X assumptions) to coerce, control, and threaten
employees to obtain satisfactory performance.
6. Though managers may deny that they hold this


view of people, many of their historical actions suggest

that Theory X has been a typical management view of
employees.


Theory -Y:
1. Theory Y implies a more human and supportive

approach to managing people.

2. It assumes that people are not inherently lazy.

3. Any appearance they have of being that way is the

result of their experience with organizations.

4. If management will provide the proper environment

to release their potential, work will become as natural

to them as play or rest.
5. Under Theory Y assumptions, management believes

that employees will exercise self- direction and self

-control in the service of objectives to which they are
committed.
6. Management’s role is to provide an environment in

which the potential of people can be released at work.

4. Ouchi’s Theory- Z
Theory Z describes the major postulates of
Japanese management practices and how these
practiced can be adopted to the environment of
United States and other countries. It can be made
clear that the letter Z does not stand for anything:
It is merely the last letter of the alphabet. It is just
to denote the state of affairs in organization and
human behavior as has been done in the case of
theories X and Y.


Further, Theory Z is not a theory; it is a label

interchangeable with the type Z. The redundant
expression “Theory Z” was adopted not for
analytical or descriptive purposes but, perhaps, for
promotional purpose. Ouchi, who has given Theory
Z, has made a comparative study of American and
Japanese management practices and has
recommended that many Japanese management
practices can be adopted in American context.
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