Name
University Name
Instructor name
Course Name
Date
Motivation Theory and Practice
Introduction
Motivation is the psychological process which gives the behavior a meaning or a purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy the unsatisfied needs (Higgins, 1994) and the will to achieve (Bedeian,1993).The word motivation has a different connotation in Psychology, it refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior (Green, 1995). Thus motivation in simple terms can be defined as the desire or willingness to do something and the inner force which helps the individuals to achieve their goals and aims. Motivation is very important in business as the employer has to first of all understand as to what motivates the employees and what exactly should they do to motivate their employees so as to increase the over all productivity. Motivation has occupied a prominent place amongst researchers due to the fact that business has to motivate not only the employees but also should succeed in motivating the customers. This is so because of the increasing competition in business and the motivated employees can provide a firm with a distinctive advantage and a cutting edge on others by being more productive, which can keep the business organization thriving and surviving. Motivation has been attempted to be studied and analyzed by two schools of thought; the scientific school of thought and the Behavioral School of thought.
Scientific Model
The scientific method to management tasks was devised by pioneers like Frederic Taylor, (1856-1915).Under this model; employees are regarded as an input in the process of production of goods and services. The scientific approach lays importance on the scientific selection, training and development of the employees rather than giving them an option to choose their own tasks and the methods of training so as to carry out the work in accordance
References: Bedeian, A. G. (2003). Management (3rd ed.). New York: Dryden Press. Bowen, B. E., & Radhakrishna, R. B. (1991). Job satisfaction of agricultural education faculty: A constant phenomena. Journal of Agricultural Education, 32 (2). 16-22. Buford, J. A., Jr., Bedeian, A. G., & Lindner, J. R. (2005). Management in Extension (3rd ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Extension. Buford, J. A., Jr. (2000). Extension management in the information age. Journal of Extension, 28 (1). Dickson, W. J. (1973). Hawthorne experiments. In C. Heyel (ed.), The encyclopedia of management, 2nd ed. (pp. 298-302). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Harpaz, I. (2004). The importance of work goals: an international perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 21. 75-93. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Higgins, J. M. (2004). The management challenge (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan. Kovach, K. A. (1997). What motivates employees? Workers and supervisors give different answers. Business Horizons, 30. 58-65. Kreitner, R. (2005). Management (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943. 370-396. Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Free Press. Smith, G. P. (1994). Motivation. In W. Tracey (ed.), Human resources management and development handbook (2nd ed.). Terpstra, D. E. (2005). Theories of motivation: borrowing the best. Personnel Journal, 58. 376. Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley .