Motivation Theory
Research Essay (Essay Plan)
1. Outline classical theories of motivation and illustrate their application in different business situation. Discuss their usefulness to the 21st century business manager.
Part 1: Introduction * (Why) are theories of motivation still relevant to the 21st century business manager?
In today’s market, organizations always put pressure on enhanced communication, globalization and improved technology to find variety of ways of winning business. (Dransfield, 1996: 297)
This has made it necessary for organizations to significantly rely on the intelligence of their workforces. - (Why) are they important/useful? What does the 21st century business management need? * What is motivation? What are classical theories of motivation?
Part 2: 3 types of Motivation theory
Approaches to motivation are underpinned by motivation. We can simply classify the most influential theories into three types as instrumentality theory, content theory and process theory.
The first on is Instrumentality theory. Rewards and punishments serve as the means of ensuring that people behave or act in desired ways. This is emerged in the second half of the 19th century with its emphasis on the need to rationalize work and on economic outcomes, such as Scientific management by F W Taylor and Skinner’s concept of conditioning (1974)
The second on is Content theory, which focuses on the content of motivation. It states that motivation is essentially about taking action to satisfy needs, and identifies the main needs that influence behavior. Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow and Two-factor model by Herzberg are two examples representing this type.
The last one is process theory. It focuses on the psychological processes which affect motivation. By reference to expectation theory (Vroom, 1964), goals (Latham and Locke, 1979) and perceptions of equity (Adams, 1965) * How can the classical theories of motivation help the present nowadays?
Part 4:
1. Outline classical theories of motivation and illustrate their application in different business situation. Discuss their usefulness to the 21st century business manager.
Part 1: Introduction * (Why) are theories of motivation still relevant to the 21st century business manager?
In today’s market, organizations always put pressure on enhanced communication, globalization and improved technology to find variety of ways of winning business. (Dransfield, 1996: 297)
This has made it necessary for organizations to significantly rely on the intelligence of their workforces. - (Why) are they important/useful? What does the 21st century business management need? * What is motivation? What are classical theories of motivation?
Part 2: 3 types of Motivation theory
Approaches to motivation are underpinned by motivation. We can simply classify the most influential theories into three types as instrumentality theory, content theory and process theory.
The first on is Instrumentality theory. Rewards and punishments serve as the means of ensuring that people behave or act in desired ways. This is emerged in the second half of the 19th century with its emphasis on the need to rationalize work and on economic outcomes, such as Scientific management by F W Taylor and Skinner’s concept of conditioning (1974)
The second on is Content theory, which focuses on the content of motivation. It states that motivation is essentially about taking action to satisfy needs, and identifies the main needs that influence behavior. Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow and Two-factor model by Herzberg are two examples representing this type.
The last one is process theory. It focuses on the psychological processes which affect motivation. By reference to expectation theory (Vroom, 1964), goals (Latham and Locke, 1979) and perceptions of equity (Adams, 1965) * How can the classical theories of motivation help the present nowadays?
Part 4:
Bibliography: 1. Parker, C. and Stone, B (2003) Developing Management Skills for Leadership, Pearson Education Limited 2. Lita de Alberdi (1990) People, Psychology & Business, University of Cambridge 3. Shafto, T (1993) The Foundation of Business Organization (2nd Edition), Stanley Thrones (Publishers) Ltd 4. Burnes, B (1992) Managing Change, Pitman Publishing 5. Dransfield, R., Davies, W., Howkins, S. and Hudson, F (1996) Human Resource Management for Higher Awards, Heinemann