Preview

Literature Review on Motivational Theory Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
960 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Literature Review on Motivational Theory Essay Example
STUDENT ID NUM: 4943538

A CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW OF MOTIVATIONAL THEORY
The history of Motivational theory can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. There have been many theories and submissions of the subject matter of motivational theory. To have a better understanding of Motivational theory, we must understand the meaning of Motivation.
Motivation is the physiological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action, that which gives purpose and direction to behaviour (Webster’s online dictionary). Motivation can also be described an innate desire that propels an individual towards achieving set goals. Motivation is a factor in all aspects of human endeavour; as long as we exist we are constantly motivated to pursue one need or another. In this review however, we will be focusing on motivation in the work place. We will be also looking at two articles that present various notions and ideas on motivational theory.
Motivation in its entirety has been has been researched and studied by many scholars as it relates in a working environment. Scholars have intrigued for decades on how motivation acts as a key factor in the relation between management and its employees. With time, several scholars have come up with compelling theories on the subject of motivation. In the early studies of motivation there was what referred to as the “Hawthorne Experiments” carried out by Elton Mayo. This study found employees are not motivated solely by money and employee behaviour is linked to their attitudes (Dickson, 1973). Simply put, the studies showed that performance in workers increased when workers were given attention and personal interest in their work was a focal point. Since then, four distinctive theories of motivation have been highly publicised and generally accepted in the field of motivational theory. We have Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which states that employees have five levels of needs

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    In a business management team, a motivation staff is an important part to a management team, I will be writing about four theorists who have already researched on how to motivate employees and have helped businesses and organisations to motivate their employees with these theories. The four theorists I have chosen are Frederick Taylor, Elton Mayo, Abraham Maslow and also Frederick Herzberg.…

    • 4235 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Motivation may be defined as psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization. Motivation is central to management because it explains why people behave the way they do. In a 1-2 page paper, discuss the principle needs/desires of the typical employee. Then, using two motivation theories presented in the course readings, discuss how managers can best motivate their employees to succeed.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Motivation at Royal Mail

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Employee motivation is, or at least must be, one of the key issues for directors, managers and personnel managers. The leader must be able to find the sensitive strings of his subordinates, which can be motivated by influencing them to achieve high performance. The correct use of motivation encourages staff to make more efficient use of their knowledge, skills, and talents. In today's turbulent, often chaotic environment, commercial success depends on the employee's talent and effort. Despite the many existing theories and practices, some of the motivation of leaders today remains a mystical term. This is partly due to the fact that people are motivated by different things and techniques. In today's business world the phrase ‘motivation’ is increasingly heard to be described. All companies seeking to maximize profits and minimize costs should try to maximize employee productivity and one of the most optimal ways of doing this is to motivate their employees.…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hcs 325

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Motivation most certainly plays a huge role in the workplace, therefore, it is imperative to understand fully the basic theories and methods, and of course how to apply these theories and methods to everyday workplace scenarios. These motivational skills and techniques will definitely play a key role for leaders and or managers, knowing how to motivate people in today’s workforce will provide job growth.…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Motivational Methods Paper

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Motivation is a key element in the workplace and it is very important to know the basic theory methods and application because it is something that is unavoidable for all of us and will come up in any workplace environment. It is a necessary skill for a future manager or leader to know how to motivate other people in order to work more efficient. Though this project I have become familiar with the subject and realize the importance of motivation.…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In any organization the key role of managers is the motivation of their personnel. This can be done in many different ways. This section will discuss three academic theories on how to properly motivate employees.…

    • 1919 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The dictionary Webster's defines motivation as “something inside people that drives them to action.” Motivation (Extrinsic and Intrinsic) plays the essential, but different roles of inspiring and compelling employees to do their tasks and be productive. Using a real-life example, this paper will examine the impact of different motivational strategies on productivity in the workplace, organization's efforts to improve employees’ performance, employees' opposition to increasing productivity, and the management's idea of motivation and its practices. It will conclude with the consideration of the effects of applying motivational theories not currently…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Needs Theories

    • 3583 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Motivation is a process that involves the purposiveness of behaviour. Factors that have been shown by research include external and internal activators. In this assignment we will outline important motivation theories and how they are used in the workplace. Motivation theories seek to…

    • 3583 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    | Drive is a physiological basis and bodily need is the ultimate basis of motivation. Drive can be predicted before it occurs.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Motivational Theories

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are many motivational theories that have been produced. However the text discusses grand theories and mini-theories. According to the textbook there are three theories known as grand theories they are will, instinct, and drive. Freud and Hull also created their own belief surrounding the third grand theory of drive. However researchers studied the drive theory more thoroughly and decided more research needed to be done surrounding drive to truly understand its correlation to motivation. The 1950s and 1960s were known as the post drive theory years. During those years alternative theories of motivation incentive and arousal were created by many scientists with hopes of taking the place of grand theories. Those alternative theories did not supersede the grand theories. Therefore scientists turned their attention to mini-theories with hopes that these smaller theories would explain the behavior of motivation on a smaller spectrum rather than the broad spectrum of the grand theories. The following theories were identified as mini-theories achievement motivation theory, attributional theory of achievement motivation, cognitive dissonance theory, effectance…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Motivation

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Motivation may be defined as psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization. Motivation is central to management because it explains why people behave the way they do. A persons’ behavior tells how motivated they are to do their job at a higher performance level. There is intrinsically and extrinsic sources for motivation (Gareth, 2009) There are also two motivational theories which explains how an employee can be motivated.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    According to Antony and McVicar (2011), motivation may be defined as a stimulus, workforce which can affect people’s action because of a need or desire. It should be linked with people’s performance and the goals of productivities. Usually, motivation plays an important role in achieving business goals in a workplace where is consist of workers. It could bring every employee enthusiasm in their work to gain the goals of productivities or the organization objectives if the managers motivate their staff well (Dysvik and Kuvaas, 2008). So, how to motivate the employees challenges the managers of the organizations or companies. High level of motivation could lead to high level of performance, and then good performance could cause high productivity. In contrast, low motivation perhaps makes turnover happen frequently. Motivating in the workforce is complicated and difficult due to many different reasons such as work itself, work conditions, relationship between supervisors and staff (Herrera, 2002). The managers probably need to motivate their employees by some motivational theories. The theories of motivational could help them to improve workers’ performance, reduce the turnover, make employee remain the right attitude towards the work. Consequently, the high level of performance usually can improve the productivity. This essay will describe three kinds of theories of motivation which are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Herzberg’s two factors theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory firstly and choose three companies which are Manpower, Tesco and Nokia to analyze how these three kinds of motivational theories are used by their managers.…

    • 1795 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The motivational theories works on the development of a healthy relationship between managers and workers to create a conducive working environment as well as satisfying each of the individual’s need in the workplace and to motivate them (Rozalin, 2013). The motivational theories include the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and McGregor’s Theory X and Y.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Motivatin Essay

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Motivation relies on various agencies to be effective, therefore all workplaces fail to consist of motivated employees unless a number of these factors have been implemented. Employee engagement is a crucial concept, which must be considered by executives. The drives and movers of employee motivation must be studied in order for it to be instigated, additionally the theories that focus on drives and needs. Furthermore, theories such as the four drive theory and expectancy theory can be studied, as they are significantly important to the concept of motivation. Models such as Maslow’s needs model and the Four-Drive theory are significant, as they can act as guidelines and innovators of motivation. Understanding and having knowledge of these theories can result in achieving higher productivity. (Nasri, W, & Charfeddme, L 2012)…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Introduction - Frederick Herzberg and his colleagues formulated the two-factor theory. Similar to Maslow's theory, Herzberg's has been a focus of attention in international human resource management research over the years. The two-factor theory is closely linked to the need hierarchy.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays