MOTIVATION

Role and Significance of Motivation

Rensis Likert has called motivation as the 'Core of Management’. Motivation is an important
function which every manager performs for actuating the people to Work for the accomplishment of
objective of the organisation. Issuance of well conceived instructions and orders does not mean that
they will be followed. A manager has to make appropriate use of various techniques of motivation to
enthuse the employees to follow them. Effective motivation succeeds not only in having an order accepted
but also in gaining a determination to see that it is executed efficiently and effectively.
Motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of a manager for inspiring the workforce and
creating a confidence in it. By motivating the workforce, management creates 'will to work' which is
necessary for the achievement of organisational goals. Motivation involves getting the members of the
group to pull weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the tasks assigned
and to play an effective role in contributing towards the purpose of the organisation.
The following results may be expected if the employees are properly motivated.

(i) The workforce will be better satisfied if management provides them with opportunities to fulfill their
physiological and psychological needs. The workers will cooperate voluntarily with the management and
will contribute their maximum towards the goals of the enterprise.
(ii) Workers will tend to be as efficient as possible by improving upon their skills and knowledge so that
they are able to contribute to the progress of the organisation. This will also result in increased
productivity.
(iii) The rates of labour turnover and absenteeism among the workers will be low.
(iv) There will be good human relations in the organisation as friction among the workers themselves and
between the workers and the management will decrease.
(v) The number of complaints and grievances will come down. Accident rate will also be low.
(vi) There will be increase in the quantity and quality of production. Wastage and scrap will be less.
Better quality of products will increase the public image of the business.

Definition of Motivation
The word 'motivation' has been derived from the word ‘motive’ which means any idea, need or
emotion that prompts a man into action. Whatever may be the behaviour of a man, there is some stimulus
behind it. Stimulus is dependent upon the motive of the person concerned. Motive can be known by
studying his needs and desires. There is no universal theory that can explain the factors influencing
motives-which control man's behaviour at any particular point of time. Generally, different motives
operate at different times among different people and influence their behaviour. The management should
try to understand the motives of individuals which cause different types of behaviour.
According to Dalton E. McFarland, "Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, desires,
aspirations, strivings or needs direct, control or explain the behaviour of human beings," Motivation has
close relationship with the behaviour of human beings. It explains how and why the human behaviour is
caused. McFarland considers the terms used in his definition in a general sense ''as forms of tension
occurring within individuals, with resulting behaviour aimed at reducing, eliminating or diverting the
tension. Understanding the needs and drives and their resulting tensions helps to explain and predict
human behaviour, ultimately providing a sound basis for managerial decision and action." Thus,
motivation is a term which applies to the entire class of urges, drives desires, needs and similar forces.
March and Simon have defined motivation as the process or the reaction which takes place in the
memory of the individual. It may be viewed as the combination of forces or motives maintaining human
activity. Motivation to produce is a function of the character of the evoked set of alternatives, the
perceived consequences of evoked alternative and individual goals in terms of which alternatives are
evaluated. March and Simon have established positive correlation between productivity and motivation by
means of a theoretical model shown in
Fig. no.1

Fig. no. 1

Followings are the main generalizations of this model:

(i) Lower the individual satisfaction, greater the search for better ways of doing the job.
(ii) More the search for alternatives, greater the expected rewards.
(iii) Greater the expected rewards, the higher the satisfaction and level of aspiration.
(iv) Higher the level of aspiration, lower the satisfaction.
The unsatisfied needs of a person are the starting point in the motivation process. The unsatisfied
need results in tension within the individual and motivates him to search for the ways to relieve this
tension. He develops certain goals for himself. If he is successful in achieving his goals, certain other
needs will emerge which will lead to setting a new goal. But if the goal is not achieved, the individual will
engage himself in either constructive or destructive behaviour. This process never stops. It keeps on
working within an individual.

Needs, Incentives and Motives

A distinction may be made among three things: need, incentive and motive. This is to emphasize
that any need present in the individual does not necessarily lead to action. The need has to be activated
which is the function of incentive. Incentive is something which incites or tends or incites towards some
determination. Thus, incentive is an external stimulus that activates need, and motive refers to an
activated need, an active desire or wish. But a better definition is to regard incentive as the outward
stimulus for the motive to work. When a motive is present in a person, it becomes active when there is
some incentive. Thus, any incentive has reference to: (i) the individual and his needs which he is trying to
satisfy or fulfill; and (ii) the organisation which is providing the individual with opportunity to satisfy his
needs in return for his services. Thus, conceptual difference between motivation and incentive is that
incentive is the means to motivation.

It has been demonstrated conclusively that incentive has a direct bearing on the degree of
motivation. Increase in incentive leads to better performance and

assumes that people are not unreliable and lazy by nature. If they are properly motivated, they could really
be creative. The main task of the management is to unleash the potential in the employees. An employee
who is properly motivated can achieve his goals by directing his own efforts and thus, he can help in
accomplishing the organisational goals. The assumptions of McGregor's Theory Y are as follows:
(i) Work is as natural as play, if the conditions are favourable. The average person does not inherently
dislike work.
(ii) Self-control is often indispensable in achieving organisational goals. External control and threat of
punishment are not the only means for bringing about efforts towards organisational objectives. Man will
exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which he is committed.
(iii) Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. The most
significant of such rewards, e.g., the satisfaction of ego and self-actualisation needs can be direct products
of efforts directed towards organisational objectives.
(iv) The average human being learns under proper conditions, not only to accept but also to seek
responsibility. A voidance of responsibility, lack I of ambition and emphasis on security are generally the
consequences of experience, not inherent in human characteristics.
(v) The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the
solution of organisational problem is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.
(vi) The intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized under the
conditions of modem industrial life.
Theory Y assumes that goals of the organisation and those of the individuals are not necessarily
incongruent. The basic problem in most of the organisations is that of securing commitment of workers to
organisational goals. Workers' commitment is directly related to the satisfaction of their needs. Thus, this
theory places emphasis on satisfaction of the needs of the workers. It does not rely heavily on the use of
authority as an instrument of command and control. It assumes that workers exercise self-direction and
self-control in the direction of the goals to which they feel themselves committed. Because of these
reasons, 'Theory Y' is realistic and frequently used at different levels in most of the organisations.
In support of the assumptions embodied in 'Theory Y', McGregor cited a few practices where in
the subordinates are given a freedom to direct their activities, to assume responsibility and, importantly, to
satisfy their egoistic needs. These practices include decentralisation and delegation, job enlargement,
participation and consultative management, and management by objectives.

THEORY ‘X’ Vs. THEORY ‘Y’

1. Based on the assumption that people are
basically lazy and so shirk work.
2. People do not take initiative. They like to
be directed.
3. People avoid responsibility whenever
possible.
4. For getting things done, people must be
supervised and strictly.
5. Autocratic style of leadership is likely to be
more effective.
6. Applicable to illiterate, unskilled and lower-
level workers.
7. Believes in mental sickness and so negative
motivation of employees.
1. Based on the assumption that people like work
as children like play.
2. People like to take initiative. They seek self-
direction.
3. People assume responsibility gladly if
conditions are favourable.
4. People do not require close and strict
supervision for closely performing their jobs.
5. Democratic or participative style of leadership
is likely to be more effective.
6. Applicable to educated and skilled employees
who occupy higher positions in the organisation.
7. Believes in mental health and so positive and
intrinsic motivation of' employees.

MASLOW'S NEED HIERARCHY MODEL

A.H. Maslow developed a conceptual framework for understanding human motivation which has been
widely acclaimed. He defined a person's effectiveness as a function of matching man's opportunity with
the appropriate position of hierarchy of needs. Process of motivation begins with an assumption that
behaviour, at least in part, is directed towards the achievement of satisfaction of needs. Maslow proposed
that human needs can be arranged in a particular order from the lower to the higher as shown in Fig. 2.
The need hierarchy is as follows:
 The need hierarchy
Fig. no. 2

1. Basic Physiological Needs. The needs that are taken as the starting point for motivation theory
are the so-called physiological needs. These needs relate to the survival and maintenance of human life.
These needs include such things as food, clothing, shelter, air, water and other necessaries of life.
2. Safety' and Security Needs. After satisfying the physiological needs, people want the
assurance of maintaining a given economic level. They want job security, personal bodily security,
security of source of income, provision for old age, insurance against risks, etc.
3. Social Needs. Man is a social being. He is, therefore, interested in conversation, sociability,
exchange of feelings and grievances, companionship, recognition, belongingness, etc.
4. Esteem and Status Needs. These needs embrace such things as self- confidence, independence,
achievement, competence, knowledge, and success. They are also known as egoistic needs. They are
concerned with prestige and status of the individuals.
5. Self-Fulfillment Needs. The final step under the need priority model is the need for self-
fulfillment or the need to fulfill what a person considers to be his mission in life. It involves realizing
one's potentialities for continued self- development and for being creative in the broadest sense of the
word. After his other needs are fulfilled, a man has the desire for personal achievement. He wants to do
something which is challenging and since this challenge gives him enough dash and initiative to work, it
i~ beneficial to him in particular and to the society in general. The sense of achievement gives him
satisfaction.
Maslow felt that the needs have a definite sequence of information. Second need does not
dominate until first need is reasonably satisfied and third need does not dominate until first two needs
have been reasonably satisfied and so on. The other side of the need hierarchy is that man is a wanting
animal, he continues to want something or the other. He is never fully satisfied. If one need is satisfied,
the other need arises. As said above (according to Maslow), needs arise in a certain order of preference
and not randomly. Thus, if one's lower level needs (physiological and security needs) are unsatisfied, he
can be motivated only by satisfying his lower level needs and not satisfying his higher level needs.
Another point to note is that once a need or a certain order of needs is satisfied, it ceases to be a
motivating factor. Man lives for bread alone as long as it is not available. In the absence of air one can't
live, it is plenty of air which ceases to be motivating.
The physiological and security needs are finite but the needs of higher order are sufficiently
infinite and are likely to be dominant ones in persons at higher levels in the organisation.
 HERZBERG'S MOTIVATION-HYGIENE MODEL
A significant development in motivation was distinction between motivational and maintenance,
factors in job situation. A research was conducted by - Herzberg and his associates based on the interview
of 200 engineers and accountants who worked for eleven different firms in Pittsburgh area. These men
'were asked to recall specific incidents in their experience which made them feel either particularly good
or particularly bad about jobs. The findings of the research were that good feelings in the group under test
were keyed to the specific tasks that the men performed rather than to background factors such as money,
security or working conditions and when they felt bad, it was because of some disturbance in these
background factors which had caused them to believe that they were being treated unfairly. This led to
draw a distinction between what called as 'motivators' and' Hygiene factors. To this group of engineers
and accountants, the real motivators were opportunities to become more expert and to handle more
demanding assignments. Hygienic factors served to prevent loss of money and efficiency. Thus, hygienic
factors provide no motivation to the employees but the absence of these factors serves as dissatisfier.
Some job conditions operate primarily to dissatisfy employees when they are absent, but their
presence does not motivate employees in a strong way. Many of these factors are traditionally perceived
by management as motivators, but the factors are really more potent as dissatisfiers. These potent
dissatisfiers are called maintenance factors in job because they are necessary to maintain a reasonable
level of satisfaction among the employees. They are also known as dissatisfiers or hygienic factors'
because they support employees' mental health. Another set of job conditions operates primarily to build
strong motivation and high job satisfaction, but their absence rarely proves strongly dissatisfier. These
conditions are 'Motivational Factors.' Herzberg's maintenance and motivational factors have been shown
in the Table given below.

Herzberg's Maintenance and Motivational Factors

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.

Hygienic factors include such things as wages, fringe benefits, physical conditions and over all
company policy and administration. The presence of these factors at a satisfactory level prevents job
dissatisfaction, but they do not provide motivation to the employees. So they are not considered as
motivational factors. Motivational factors, on the other hand, are essential for increasing the productivity
of the employees. They are also known as satisfiers and include such factors as recognition, feeling of
accomplishment and achievement, opportunity of advancement and potential for personal growth,
responsibility and sense of job and individual importance, new experience and challenging work, etc.
Herzberg further stated that managers have hitherto been very much concerned with hygienic
factors. As a result, they have not been able to obtain the desired behaviour from employees. In order to
increase the motivation of employees, it is necessary to pay attention to the satisfiers or motivational
factors.
Herzberg also said that today’s motivators are tomorrow' hygienes because they stop influencing
the behaviour of persons when they get them. When a person gets one thing, then something else will
motivate him and the need 'which has been fulfilled will have only negative significance in determining
his behaviour. It should also be noted that one's hygiene may be the motivator of another. For instance, it
is likely that workers in underdeveloped societies will designate some of the maintenance factors as
motivators because their primary needs have not been fulfilled and they continue to be motivated by these
factors.

McCLELLAND'S THREE NEED MODEL

David C. McClelland model concerns three motives, namely, (i) the need for achievement; (ii) the
need for power; and (iii) the need for affiliation. Everyone possesses these needs in varying degrees.
However, one of the needs will tend to be more characteristic of the individual rather than the other two.
Individuals with a high need for achievement thrive on jobs and projects that tax their skills and abilities.
Such individuals are goal-oriented in their activities, seek a challenge and want relevant feedback.
Individuals with high affiliation needs value interpersonal relationship and exhibit sensitivity towards
other people's feelings. But individuals with high power needs seek to dominate, influence or have control
over people.
It appears that McClelland's concept of achievement motivation is related 'to Herzberg's motivation-
hygiene theory. People with high achievement motivation tend to be interested in the motivators and with
low achievement tend to be interested in environment or hygienic factors. McClelland's research revealed
that managers generally score high in the need for achievement. In other words, motivating forces for
managers lie in the challenge and potential of the job.

VROOM ’S VALENCE-EXPECTANCY THEORY

Attacking Herzberg's two-factor theory, Vroom offered an expectancy approach to the
understanding of motivation. 10 According to him, a person's motivation towards an action at any time
should be determined by his anticipated values of all the outcomes of the action multiplied by the strength
of that person's expectancy that the outcome would yield the desired goal. 'In other words, motivation is a
product of the anticipated worth to a person of an action and the perceived probability that person's goals
would be achieved.
Vroom's Theory may be expressed by the following formula:
Force = Valence x Expectancy,
Where force is the strength of a person's motivation, valence is the strength of an individual's
preference for an outcome or goal, and expectancy is the probability that a particular action will lead to a
desired outcome. Thus, if an individual has a particular goal, some behaviour must be produced in order
to achieve that goal. He will weigh the likelihood that various behaviour will achieve the desired goals
and if certain behaviour is expected to be more successful than others, that particular behaviour will be
preferred by the individual.
The important contribution of Vroom's model is that it explains how the goals of individuals
influence their efforts and that the behaviour individuals select depends upon their assessment of the
probability that the behaviour will successfully lead to the goal. For instance, all people in an organisation
may not place the same value on such job factors as promotion, high pay, job security and working
conditions. In other words, they may rank them differently. Vroom is of the opinion that what is important
is the perception and value the individual place on certain goals. Let us assume that one individual places
high value salary increase and perceives superior performance as instrumental in aching that goal.
According to Vroom, this individual will strive towards superior performance in order to achieve the
salary increase. On the other hand, another individual may highly value promotion and perceive political
behaviour as instrumental in achieving it. This individual is not likely to emphasize superior performance
to achieve the goal.
In essence, Vroom emphasized the importance of individual perceptions and assessments of
organisation behaviour. What is important here is that what the individual perceives as the consequence of
a particular behaviour is for more important than what the manager believes the individual should
perceive. Thus, Vroom's model attempts to explain how individual's goals influence his efforts and like
Maslow's and Herzberg's models, reveals that behaviour is goal-oriented.

PORTER AND LAWLER'S MODEL

This model is an improvement over the Valence-Expectancy model. Porter and Lawler applied
their model to the study of the behaviour of managers and concluded that there exists a complex
relationship between job attitudes and job performance. This model encounters some of the simplistic
traditional assumptions about the positive relationship between satisfaction and performance. “The
emphasis in expectancy theory on rationality and expectations seems to us to describe best the kinds of
cognition that influence managerial performance. We assume that managers operate on the basis of some
sort of expectancies which although based upon previous experience are forward-oriented in a way that
does not seem to be as easily handled by the concept of habit strength.
The various elements of Porter and Lawler's model as depicted in Fig. 4 are discussed below:
Effort: - It refers to the amount of energy exerted by a person on a job. Perceived-reward
probability. It refers to the individual's perception of the probability that different rewards depend upon
different degrees of efforts. Value of reward and perception of effort-reward probability will determine
the amount of efforts a person will put.
Performance: - Effort leads to performance. But both may not be equal. In fact, performance is
determined by the amount of effort and ability and role perception of the individual. That means, if an
individual is lacking in ability and/or has wrong role perception, his performance is bound to be
unsatisfactory in spite of his putting great efforts.
Rewards: -Performance may lead to two kinds of rewards, namely, intrinsic reward such as a
sense of self-actualization and extrinsic rewards such as working conditions and status. The intrinsic
rewards are much more likely to produce attitudes about satisfaction that are related to performance.
Moreover, the perceived equitable rewards vitally affect the performance-satisfaction relationship. They
reflect the fair level of rewards that the individual feels should be given for a particular level of
performance.
Satisfaction: - The extent to which actual rewards fall short, meet or exceed the individual's
perceived level of equitable rewards determines the degree of satisfaction. If actual rewards meet of
exceed perceived equitable rewards, the individual will feel satisfied and if these are less than equitable
rewards, the individual will feel dissatisfied.
Thus, it can be concluded that satisfaction is only in part determined by actual rewards and that
satisfaction is more dependent on performance than performance is on satisfaction. Only through the less
direct feedback loops, satisfaction will affect performance. Porter and Lawler's framework is, thus, a
marked departure from the traditional analysis of satisfaction and performance relationship. In practice,
we see that motivation is not a simple cause and effect relationship, rather is a complex phenomenon.
Porter and Lawler suggested that managers should carefully assess their reward structure and that through
careful planning and careful definition of role requirements, the effort-performance- reward-satisfaction
systems should be integrated into an overall system of managing.

TYPES OF MOTIVATION
Motivation may be classified on various bases. Firstly, motivation may be positive or negative.
Positive motivation is the process of attempting to influence the employees' behaviour through the
possibility of reward. Negative motivation is based on fear, i.e., demotion, layoff, etc. The second
classification relates to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators arise away from the job.
They do not occur on the job these factors include wages, fringe benefits, medical reimbursement, etc.
Thus, they are generally associated with financial incentives. But intrinsic motivators occur on the job and
provide satisfaction during the performance of work activity itself. Intrinsic or internal motivators include
recognition, status, authority, participation, etc.
Lastly, motivators may be financial and non-financial financial motivators are those which are
associated with money. They include wages and salaries, fringe benefits, bonus, retirement benefits, etc.
Non-financial motivators are those which are not associated with monetary rewards. They include
intangible incentives like ego-satisfaction, self-actualisation and responsibility.

Carrot and Stick Approach

Traditionally, Management has resorted to be strong. This form of motivation in industry

emphasises authority and economic rewards. This approach consists of forcing people to work by
threatening to punish or dismiss them or to cut their reward if they do not work. The assumption is that
people would work if they are driven by the fear of punishment. To prevent people from going away from
the work, there must be close supervision. Management just spells out every rule and gives the workers
the narrowest range of discretion. This approach paid off fairly well in the early days of industrial
revolution. It is because needs for food, clothing and shelter were paramount. This approach is known as
'Carrot and Stick' approach.
In recent times, this approach has become less effective because people expect more from their
jobs rather than mere money. Moreover, the growth of workers, unions, the rising standard of living and
changing pattern of living have made this approach less effective as a motivational device. The basic
assumption of the 'be strong' approach that if a man does not do what he is told to do, he will be fired, has
gone wrong because unions have made it difficult to fire a man.

Financial and Non-Financial incentives

The term 'incentive' means an inducement which rouses of stimulates one to action in a desired
direction. An incentive has a motivational power; it influences the decisions of individuals on putting in
efforts towards task performance. In modem organisations, a large variety of incentives are used to
motivate the people. These incentives may be broadly grouped into (i) financial of pecuniary incentives,
and (ii) non-financial incentives. The financial or pecuniary incentives are monetary in nature as they
involve flow of money from the organisation to its staff. The examples of pecuniary' benefits are wages,
salaries, allowances, bonus, fringe benefits, etc. On the other hand, non-pecuniary incentives do not
involve much financial commitments on the part of the organisation. They do not add to the money
income of those who receive them. They take the form of job enrichment, participative management,
praise, opportunity for growth, etc.

The financial incentives may be distinguished from the non- financial incentives on the following
grounds:
1. Financial or monetary incentives are meant to satisfy those needs which money can buy. The
needs for food, clothing, and shelter can be fully satisfied by money, but the needs for security, social
affiliation and status can be partially satisfied by money. But non-pecuniary incentives are meant for the
satisfaction of those needs which can't be satisfied by money. The examples are higher level, needs such
as status, ego, sense of responsibility, career advancement, autonomy self-actualisation, etc.
2. Financial incentives are tangible, i.e. visible and measurable. They' have a direct effect on the
organisation and the members. But non-financial incentives are intangible and they have an indirect
influence on the organisation and the members.
3. Financial incentives are determined by reference to several factors such as job evaluation, cost
of living trends, fringe benefits offered by competitors, agreement between the employers and the
employees, etc. Non-financial incentives are based on the nature of jobs, strength of aspirations and urges
of personnel and behavioural orientation of management.
4. Financial incentives are generally used to motivate workers and non- managerial employees.
But non-financial incentives are used to motivate managerial and other higher level personnel. They are
also used to supplement and support the pecuniary incentives in the organisation.
Role of Money in Motivation
Money plays an important role in motivation Managements make use of incentives like wages and
salaries, bonus, retirement benefits, health insurance, medical reimbursement, etc. to motivate the
workers. However, such "incentives may not always prove to be motivating. In many cases, management
may have to increase the financial incentives to keep the workers with the organisation. This can be
appreciated from the practice of making wages and salaries competitive between various enterprises so as
to attract and maintain good work-force.
Money is a real motivating factor when the psychological and security needs of the workers have
not been fully satisfied. Money plays a significant role in satisfying these needs. Therefore, management
can use financial incentives for motivation. Money also helps in satisfying the social needs of the workers
to some extent because money is often recognised as a basis of status, respect and power. Money is also
an important means of achieving a 'minimum standard of living' although this 'minimum' has the tendency
to go up as people become more affluent. But this should not lead one to conclude that money will always
be a motivating factor to all people. To some people, importance of money will be reduced after a certain
stage. To them, non-financial rewards are more important. They are motivated by money only up to the
stage they are struggling for physiological and security needs.