A Question of Motivation
This case is a fiction and focuses mainly on motivation, and generally on emotions and moods aspects. It also covers to a lesser extent, the related topic of performance and workplace deviance. The case describes two employees, Katrien and Alex, who are both college students working at a local supermarket. Several motivational theories and concepts are implanted in the case.
Great Motivational Phrases
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”- Thomas Edison
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”- Albert Schweitzer
“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”- Winston Churchill
“There's a very positive relationship between people's ability to accomplish any task and the time they're willing to spend on it.”- Joyce Brothers
Motivation - Theories
Taylor put forward the idea that workers are motivated mainly by pay. His Theory of Scientific Management argued the following:
Workers do not naturally enjoy work and so need close supervision and control. Therefore managers should break down production into a series of small tasks. Workers should then be given appropriate training and tools so they can work as efficiently as possible on one set task. Workers are then paid according to the number of items they produce in a set period of time- piece-rate pay. As a result workers are encouraged to work hard and maximize their productivity.
Mayo believed that workers are not just concerned with money but could be better motivated by having their social needs met whilst at work (something that Taylor ignored). He introduced the Human Relation School of thought, which focused on managers taking more of an interest in the workers, treating them as people who have worthwhile opinions and realizing that workers enjoy interacting together.
Maslow along with Frederick Herzberg introduced the Neo-Human Relations School in the 1950's, which focused on the psychological needs of employees. Maslow put forward a theory that there are five levels of human needs which employees need to have fulfilled at work. All of the needs are structured into a hierarchy (see below) and only once a lower level of need has been fully met, would a worker be motivated by the opportunity of having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied.
To understand the theories even better, we need to understand the factors that influence individual behavior. The factors that influence are Personality and behavior, Abilities and behavior, Self concept and behavior, Perception and behavior, and Attitude and behavior.
Frederick Herzberg had close links with Maslow and believed in a two-factor theory of motivation. He argued that there were certain factors that a business could introduce that would directly motivate employees to work harder (Motivators). However there were also factors that would de-motivate an employee if not present but would not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder (Hygiene factors)
Motivators are more concerned with the actual job itself. For instance how interesting the work is and how much opportunity it gives for extra responsibility, recognition and promotion. Hygiene factors are factors which ‘surround the job' rather than the job itself. For example a worker will only turn up to work if a business has provided a reasonable level of pay and safe working conditions but these factors will not make him work harder at his job once he is there. Importantly Herzberg viewed pay as a hygiene factor which is in direct contrast to Taylor who viewed pay, and piece-rate, in particular. Herzberg believed that businesses should motivate employees by adopting a democratic approach to management and by improving the nature and content of the actual job through certain methods. Some of the methods managers could use to achieve this are:
Job enlargement - workers being given a greater variety of tasks to perform (not necessarily more challenging) which should make the work more interesting.
Job enrichment - involves workers being given a wider range of more complex, interesting and challenging tasks surrounding a complete unit of work. This should give a greater sense of achievement.
Empowerment means delegating more power to employees to make their own decisions over areas of their working life.
Katrien's boss, Jonathan, is described in positive terms. By rotating Katrien from the checkout counter to stocking shelves to the culinary center, Jonathan is increasing Katrien's skill variety (an aspect of job characteristics theory). Task identity and self-sufficiency are also high for Katrien because she is able to create a product at the culinary center by herself from start to finish, and when the store runs out of products, she is empowered to reorder the products from the store's vendors. Given that the culinary center is one of the store's biggest successes, task significance is also high for her. Jonathan also sets difficult goals for Katrien (to sell 10 bottles of truffle oil in one week), thus increasing her motivation.
Alex, on the other hand, is stuck in the produce department, where the components of job characteristics theory would be low. Moreover, Alex's boss, Jacque, engages in unfair treatment. He pays Alex's coworker, Denise, more than Alex even though Alex does “the same things that she does.” Both distributive and procedural justices are relevant because Alex is inequitably paid, and Jacque is engaging in biased and inconsistent treatment (he favors Denise). As a result, Alex is less motivated. In addition, Alex states that stocking more apples don't get him anything but a sticker, which he does not value (low valence). In contrast, Katrien has high expectations, instrumentality, and valence for attempting the difficult goal of selling 10 bottles of truffle oil.
Finally, Alex's boss engages in interpersonally unfair treatment while Alex is having lunch with Katrien. Due to this injustice, Alex hits back by knocking his boss' lunch to the floor and admitting to Katrien that he will put less effort into restocking apples.
Questions for Discussion
Question.01.
How can expectancy theory be used to explain the differences in motivation between Alex and Katrien? What specifics from the case apply to expectancy theory?
Answer:
Expectancy theory states that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. They are both college students so the expected result would be that they would have similar opportunities and pay. Katrien is given many elements in the job characteristics model such as task identity and autonomy since she is able to create a product at the culinary center and see it to completion while Alex is placed in one area without any other tasks that could be considered motivational. Alex doesn't believe that performing at a certain level will attain a desired outcome like additional pay. The rewards are not consistent with his needs. For example, stocking more produce may only result in a sticker which has no value or little value for Alex while Katrien has the opportunity to make an additional $75.00 for attempting to sell 10 expensive bottles of truffle oil that is not only challenging but also adds value by helping her pay the bills.(high expectancy).
Question.02.
Alex states that he is underpaid for the work he does. What motivational theory does this apply to, and how would it explain Alex's behavior?
Answer:
Alex is underpaid and thus equity theory could help explain his behavior. Also, the job characteristics theory could be applied since he is stuck in the produce department devoid of the other components of the model like skill variety or task significance. Denise has a shorter term in the market and gets paid more which adds to the inequitable situation. The environment, the repetitive work and the unfair treatment are all disincentives for Alex so his behavior is consistently negative.
Question.03.
Using concepts from organizational justice, explain why Alex knocks his boss's lunch to the floor. What should Alex's boss do to improve the fairness of his treatment?
Answer:
Both distributive and procedural justice are components because of his pay and the fact that Jacque is treating Denise more favorably. Distributive justice is the perceived fairness of the outcome and this case he does not believe that he is being rewarded fairly. Alex has an issue with procedural justice in that Jacque has a bias for Denise and therefore Alex believes that the process is unfair. He knocks his lunch to the floor when he perceives a problem with interactional justice when Jacque interrupts his lunch with Katrien and he feels that he is not respected. Although he has 45 minutes for lunch, Jacque always wants him to return within 30 minutes, which is once again unfair treatment as compared to other employees.
Question.04.
Using concepts from the emotions and moods chapter, explain why Alex retaliates toward his supervisor. Was his behavior driven purely by emotion, or did cognition also play a role? How so?
Answer:
Alex's emotions are negative. He is exhibiting a negative effect, which is a mood state that is displaying his stress level, anxiety and irritability toward his boss and the climate in which he is employed. His retaliation is an emotional reaction to the poor treatment that he has endured from his boss and the favorable treatment toward Denise. Cognition plays a role since Alex is aware of his environment and has been trying to make sense of the injustices. His ultimate emotional response with Jacque's sandwich was a result of an accumulation of perceived inequities.
Question.05.
Compare and contrast Alex and Katrien in terms of each person's level of work stress. How might stress affect their attitudes and behaviors within their work environment?
Answer:
Katrien consistently has a smile on her face and her level of job satisfaction is high. She has been given a variety of tasks and her job is fulfilling, therefore her level of work stress is low. In contrast, Alex's stress level is high with many perceived injustices and boring work. His attitude and behavior are poor and negative respectively since their managers have different styles of Theory X for Alex and Theory Y for Katrien. Alex will quit as soon as he finds another job while Katrien is content with her position and present challenges.
Question.06.
Discuss Alex and Katrien in terms of each person's job attitudes (for example, job satisfaction and organizational commitment). What factors might be responsible for any differences?
Answer:
Again, the attitudes including job satisfaction and organizational commitment are positive for Katrien and negative for Alex. As mentioned, Alex is looking to leave the organization while Katrien is given more responsibilities and challenges. Her job satisfaction is high while his is low. Many factors mentioned earlier have contributed to this situation from the differences in managers and their respective styles to the biases and injustices including unfair treatment and inequitable pay that all contribute to a poor working environment and a lack of motivation on Alex's part.
Endnotes/References/Sources
