UNIT-II

Leadership Motivation

Motivation comes from motives which are expression of human needs by a human being. All
human actions are caused by a particular need or motive. The need can be defined as lack of
something. Human beings try to get this lackness removed.

“Motivation means a process of stimulating people to action, to accomplish desired goals.”

—William G. Scot

“Motivation refers to the way in which urges, desires, aspirations, strivings and needs direct
control or explain the behaviour of human beings”.—D.E. Mc Farland

Nature of Motivation:

1. Psychological Phenomenon: Motivation is psychological occurrence and deals with

desires, needs, expectation and satisfaction

2. Motivation is a dynamic and continuous process

3. Cannot be observed easily.

4. Motivation is the product of anticipated values from an action and the probability that the
action will lead to these values.

5. Goal oriented process

6. Affected by cultural and social norms

Process of Motivation:

Motives are needs, wants or impulses within the Individual. It means something within an
individual that prompts that person to take action. Motivation can be viewed as involving a
chain reaction—starting out with felt needs, resulting in wants or goals sought for, which give
rise to tensions (that is) unfulfilled desires then causing action towards achieving goals, and
finally satisfying wants. We can show it as below:—

1
Importance of Motivation

1. Motivation plays an important role in determining the level of performance.

2. High motivation results in low employees’ turnover and absenteeism.
3. Effective motivation helps overcome resistance to change and negative attitude on the part
of employees.
4. Motivation is one of the most important factors determining the organizational efficiency.

Techniques of Motivation

Some of the common techniques of motivation used by managers to motivate subordinates

are as follows:—

1. Financial Incentives—These are a source of satisfaction of both the basic needs and growth
needs. These are however, ineffective where basic needs are reasonably satisfied. Pay, bonus,
profit sharing etc. are common financial incentives.

2. Non-Financial Incentives—Money alone is not sufficient to satisfy the higher order needs.
A man is not motivated by money alone. He can also be encouraged by factors other than
money e.g. the job, supervision, status, participation, recognition, etc.

Motivation Theories:
Maslow’s Need hierarchy Theory:

Abraham Maslow is well renowned for proposing the Hierarchy of Needs Theory in 1943.
This theory is a classical depiction of human motivation. This theory is based on the
assumption that there is a hierarchy of five needs within each individual. The urgency of
these needs varies. These five needs are as follows-

1. Physiological needs- These are the basic needs of air, water, food, clothing and shelter.
In other words, physiological needs are the needs for basic amenities of life.

2
 2. Safety needs- Safety needs include physical, environmental and emotional safety and
protection. For instance- Job security, financial security, protection from animals, family
security, health security, etc.

3. Social needs- Social needs include the need for love, affection, care, belongingness, and
friendship.

4. Esteem needs- Esteem needs are of two types: internal esteem needs (self- respect,
confidence, competence, achievement and freedom) and external esteem needs (recognition,
power, status, attention and admiration).

5. Self-actualization need- This include the urge to become what you are capable of
becoming / what you have the potential to become. It includes the need for growth and self-
contentment. It also includes desire for gaining more knowledge, social- service, creativity
and being aesthetic. The self- actualization needs are never fully satiable. As an individual
grows psychologically, opportunities keep cropping up to continue growing.

Maslow grouped the five needs into two categories - Higher-order needs and Lower-order
needs. The physiological and the safety needs constituted the lower-order needs. These
lower-order needs are mainly satisfied externally. The social, esteem, and self-actualization
needs constituted the higher-order needs. These higher-order needs are generally satisfied
internally, i.e., within an individual.

Limitations of Maslow’s Theory

 Different individuals may be driven by different needs at same point of time. It is

always the most powerful unsatisfied need that motivates an individual.
 The theory is not empirically supported.
 This theory is not applicable when employee’s basic needs are not satisfied, and
still they strive for recognition and achievement.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation:

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, proposed a two-factor theory or the motivator-hygiene theory.

According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are
other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the opposite of
“Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No
Dissatisfaction”.

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-

Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of
motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these
factors are, then they lead to dissatisfaction. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene
factors are also called as dissatisfiers as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These

3
factors describe the job environment/scenario. Hygiene factors include: pay, company
policies, physical working conditions, status, interpersonal relations, job security etc

Motivational factors-The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are
inherent to work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These
factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find
these factors intrinsically rewarding. Motivational factors include: Recognition, Sense of
Growth and promotional opportunities, Responsibility, Meaningfulness of the work

Limitations of Two-Factor Theory

 Herzberg assumed a correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the

research conducted by Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored productivity.
 The theory’s reliability is uncertain.
 No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used.
 The two factor theory is not free from bias
 The theory ignores blue-collar workers

Comparison of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory with Herzberg’s two factor theory

Basis for
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory
S.NO Comparison
Herzberg's Theory says that there are
Maslow's Theory states that the
various factors existing at the workplace
1 Meaning urge to satisfy needs is the most
that causes job satisfaction or
important factor in motivation.
dissatisfaction.
2 Nature Descriptive Prescriptive
3 Relies on Needs and their satisfaction Reward and Recognition
Order of
4 Hierarchical No sequence
needs
Core Unsatisfied needs stimulate Gratified needs regulate behavior and
5
concept individuals. performance.
6 Division Growth and deficiency needs. Hygiene and motivator factors.
7 Motivator Unsatisfied needs Only higher order needs

Alderfer’s ERG Theory:

Clayton Alderfer developed ERG theory of motivation which is improved version of the
Maslow’s Needs Theory. He categorized Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into three simpler and
broader classes of needs:

Existence needs- These include need for basic material necessities. In short, it includes an
individual’s physiological and physical safety needs.

Relatedness needs- These include the aspiration individual’s have for maintaining
significant interpersonal relationships (be it with family, peers or superiors), getting public

4
fame and recognition. Maslow’s social needs and external component of esteem needs fall
under this class of need.

Growth needs- These include need for self-development and personal growth and
advancement. Maslow’s self-actualization needs and intrinsic component of esteem needs fall
under this category of need.

Difference between Maslow Need Hierarchy Theory and Alderfer’s ERG Theory

 ERG Theory states that at a given point of time, more than one need may be
operational but in Hierarchy need theory only one need is operational
 ERG Theory shows that if the fulfillment of a higher-level need is subdued, there is
an increase in desire for satisfying a lower-level need. Where as in Maslow theory if
lower level needs are satisfied then only employee goes to higher level needs.
 According to Maslow, an individual remains at a particular need level until that
need is satisfied.
 While Maslow’s need hierarchy theory assumes that the needs follow a
specific and orderly hierarchy and unless a lower-level need is satisfied, an
individual cannot proceed to the higher-level need. According to Alderfer, an
individual can work on growth needs even if his existence or relatedness needs
remain unsatisfied.

Theory X and Theory Y:

In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y suggesting two aspects of
human behaviour at work, one of which is negative, called as Theory X and the other is
positive, so called as Theory Y. According to McGregor, the perception of managers on the
nature of individuals is based on various assumptions.

Assumptions of Theory X:

 An average employee intrinsically does not like work and tries to escape it
whenever possible.
 Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or
warned with punishment so as to achieve organizational goals. A close supervision
is required on part of managers. The managers adopt a more dictatorial style.
 Many employees rank job security on top, and they have little or no aspiration/
ambition.
 Employees generally dislike responsibilities.
 Employees resist change.
 An average employee needs formal direction.

Assumptions of Theory Y

 Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal.

5
  Employees use self-direction and self-control to achieve the organizational
objectives.
 If the job is rewarding and satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty and
commitment to organization.
 An average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility
 The employees have skills and capabilities. Their logical capabilities should be
fully utilized.

Thus, we can say that Theory X presents a pessimistic view of employees’ nature and
behaviour at work, while Theory Y presents an optimistic view of the employees’ nature and
behaviour at work. If correlate it with Maslow’s theory, we can say that Theory X is based on
the assumption that the employees emphasize on the physiological needs and the safety
needs; while Theory X is based on the assumption that the social needs, esteem needs and the
self-actualization needs dominate the employees.

Theory Z:

William Ouchi from Japanese studied their country’s approach to workplace teamwork and
participative management. He proposed the Theory Z—a development beyond Theory X and
Theory Y that blended the best of Eastern and Western management practices. The benefits
of Theory Z would be reduced employee turnover, increased commitment, improved morale
and job satisfaction, and drastic increases in productivity.

Theory Z views job rotations and continual training as a means of increasing employees’
knowledge. Since workers are given much more time to receive training and rotate through
jobs, promotions tend to be slower. The rationale for the drawn-out time frame is that it helps
develop a more dedicated, loyal, and permanent workforce, which benefits the company.
When employees rise to a higher level of management, it is expected that they will use
Theory Z to “bring up,” train, and develop other employees in a similar fashion.

According to Theory Z, people want to maintain a work-life balance, and they value a
working environment in which things like family, culture, and traditions are considered to be
just as important as the work itself. Under Theory Z management, develop a sense of order,
discipline, and a moral obligation to work hard.

Features of Theory Z:

1. A strong company philosophy and culture: The company philosophy and culture need to
be understood by all employees, and employees need to believe in the work they’re doing.

2. Long-term staff development and employment: Employment is usually long-term, and

promotion is steady and measured. This leads to loyalty from team members.

3. Consensus in decisions: Employees are encouraged and expected to take part in

organizational decisions.

6
 4. Generalist employees: Because employees have a greater responsibility in making
decisions they ought to be generalists.

5. Concern for the happiness and well-being of workers: The organization shows sincere
concern for the health and happiness of its employees and their families.

6. Informal control with formalized measures: Employees are empowered to perform tasks
the way they see fit.

7. Individual responsibility: The organization recognizes the individual contributions but

always within the context of the team as a whole.

McClelland’s theory of Needs:

David McClelland proposed McClelland’s theory of Needs / Achievement Motivation

Theory. This theory states that human behaviour is affected by three needs - Need for Power,
Achievement and Affiliation.

Need for achievement: It is the urge to excel, to accomplish in relation to a set of standards,
to struggle to achieve success. The individuals with high achievement needs are highly
motivated by competing and challenging work. They look for promotional opportunities in
job. They have a strong urge for feedback on their achievement. Such individuals try to get
satisfaction in performing things better.

Need for power: It is the desire to influence other individual’s behaviour as per your wish. In
other words, it is the desire to have control over others and to be influential. The individuals
who are motivated by power have a strong urge to be influential and controlling. They want
that their views and ideas should dominate and thus, they want to lead. Such individuals are
motivated by the need for reputation and self-esteem. Individuals with greater power and
authority will perform better than those possessing less power

Need for affiliation is a need for open and sociable interpersonal relationships. In other
words, it is a desire for relationship based on co-operation and mutual understanding.The
individuals who are motivated by affiliation have an urge for a friendly and supportive
environment. Such individuals are effective performers in a team. These people want to be
liked by others. Individuals having high affiliation needs prefer working in an environment
providing greater personal interaction.

Expectancy Theory:

The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom. He stresses and focuses on outcomes,
and not on needs unlike Maslow and Herzberg. The theory proposed that people motivate
themselves to accomplish only those goals which are achievable.

The Expectancy theory states that employee’s motivation is an outcome of how much an
individual wants a reward (Valence), the evaluation that the effort will lead to expected

7
performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will lead to reward
(Instrumentality).

Valence: Valence is the value given by the individual to rewards offered by the company. It
is an expected and not the actual satisfaction that an employee expects to receive after
achieving the goals.

Expectancy: It is the faith that will result in better performance. The possibility of receiving
any specific outcome after applying a specific behaviour by an individual is called as
expectancy. Expectancy is influenced by factors such as possession of appropriate skills for
performing the job, availability of right resources, availability of crucial information and
getting the required support for completing the job.

Instrumentality: It is the faith that if you perform well, then a valid outcome will be there. In
simple words, the extent to which the improvement in the performance of an individual
affects his rewards is instrumentality.

Advantages of the Expectancy Theory

 It is based on self-interest individual who want to achieve maximum satisfaction

and who wants to minimize dissatisfaction.
 This theory stresses upon the expectations and perception; what is real and actual is
immaterial.
 It emphasizes on rewards or pay-offs.

Porter and Lawler Theory:

Porter and Lawler used Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory as a foundation to develop their
expectancy model. Similar to Vroom’s theory, Porter and Lawler concluded that an
individual’s motivation to complete a task is affected by the reward they expect to receive for
completing the task. However Porter and Lawler introduced additional aspects to the
expectancy theory. The diagram below illustrates the two types of motivation rewards under
Porter & Lawler's Expectancy Theory

8
Porter and Lawler categorized the reward as intrinsic and extrinsic

Intrinsic rewards are the positive feelings that the individual experiences from
completing the task e.g. satisfaction, sense of achievement.

Extrinsic rewards are rewards emanating from outside the individual such as bonus,
commission and pay increases.

Porter and Lawler's Expectancy Theory Model suggested that an individual's view regarding
the attractiveness and fairness of the rewards will affect motivation.

Emerging Challenges in motivating employees:

The following are the challenges in motivating the employees

1. Motivating in Tough Economic Conditions: Due to the tough economic conditions

motivating of employees becomes a challenge. Conditions such as Layoffs, Tight Budgets,
Minimal or No Pay Raises, Benefit cuts, No Bonuses, Long Working Hours etc make the
manger job tough in motivating the employee.

2. Managing Cross-Cultural Challenges: Cross cultural issues plays a vital role in

motivation. Managing the cross cultural in the organization is difficult.

3. Motivating Unique Groups of Workers: due to different groups that prevail in the
organizations, motivation becomes a challenge. Some of the groups present in the
organizations are:

◦ Motivating Diverse Workforce

◦ Motivating Professionals

◦ Motivating Temporary Workers

◦ Motivating Low-skilled, Minimum-wage Employees

4. Designing Appropriate Rewards Programs: due to the new design reward systems such as
Pay for performance / Merit Pay, Rewards individual employees in proportion to their

9
performance contributions, Gain sharing, Rewards based on performance targets etc makes
the motivation difficult

5. Changing workforce:

6. Participation in decision making

7. Business Restructuring: Due to Mergers and Acquisitions the structure of the business
changes. Thus manger should cope with the challenges of new business structure

8. Slow growth of work force

Organization Culture:

“Culture is the set of important understandings that members of a community share in

common.” It consists of a basic set of values, ideas, perceptions, preferences, concept of
morality, code of conduct etc. which create distinctiveness among human groups.

“The organisational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop within an
organisation and guides the behaviour of its members.”

“Organisational culture can be defined as the philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions,

beliefs, expectations, attitudes and norms that knit an organisation together and are shared by
its employees.”

Characteristics of Organizational Culture:

The following characteristics help us to understand the nature of organisational culture better.

1. Individual Autonomy: The degree of responsibility, freedom and opportunities of

exercising initiative that individuals have in the organisation.

2. Structure: The degree to which the organisation creates clear objectives and performance
expectations. It also includes the degree of direct supervision that is used to control employee
behaviour.

3. Management Support: The degree to which, managers provide clear communication,

assistance; warmth and support to their subordinates.

4. Identity: The degree to which, members identify with the organisation as a whole rather
than with their particular work group or field of professional expertise.

5. Performance Reward System: The degree to which reward system in the organisation like
increase in salary, promotions etc. is based on employee performance rather than on seniority,
favouritism and so on.

10
6. Conflict Tolerance: The degree of conflict present in relationships between colleagues and
work groups as well as the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and
criticisms openly.

7. Risk Tolerance: The degree to which, employees are encouraged to be innovative,

aggressive and risk taking.

8. Communication Patterns: The degree to which, organisational communications are

restricted to the formal hierarchy of authority.

9. Outcome Orientation: The degree to which, management focuses on results or outcomes

rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.

10. People Orientation: The degree to which, management decisions take into consideration
the impact of outcomes on people within the organisation.

Types of corporate culture

1. Strong culture vs weak culture: a strong culture is a set of habits , norms, expectations,
traditions, symbols, values and techniques that greatly influences the behavior of its
members. A weak culture is a culture that is individualistic whereby norms , symbols and
traditions have litte impact on behavior.

2. Authoritarian vs Participate cultures: Authoritative foster mechanical structures,

asymmetrical systems of communications, and effectiveness. Participative foster organic
structures, symmetric communication system and organizational excellence and
effectiveness.

3. Dominant and sub-cultures: Dominant cultures denote the core values which are shared by
majority of the employee in the organization. Sub-cultures are denoted by
units/department/geographic separations

Managing organizational Culture:

1. Behaviour of managers and teams

2. Reactions to incidents and crises

3. Role modeling, Teaching, and coaching

4. allocation of rewards and status

5. Recruitment, selection promotion, and removal

6. Organizational rites and ceremonies.

7. Organizational stories.

11
Changing the organizational culture:

The process of chaining the organizational culture contains the following steps

Step 1: Deciding the direction

Step 2: Share possible consequences of the journey

Step 3: Begin from the current position

Step 4: Moving step by step

Step 5: Be ready for the journey

Step 6: Be ready for the reversal

Step 7: Inculcate internal expertise

Step 8: Keep on moving

Step 9: Monitor direction and speed

12