Admission number AEM-MOOCs/2022/12/800

Name MBALIRE Arthur

Semester I
Course code AEM 102
Course title Leadership and Management Skills
Signature
Date 20/03/2023
QUESTION 2
Discuss the different theories of motivation? According to you which is the best theory of
motivation and why?

Introduction
Motivation is the process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of
effort towards attaining a goal. Motivation affects job performance. Intensity is concerned with
how hard a person tries and is the element most of us focus on when we talk about motivation.
Our effort should be channeled in the right direction. High intensity channeled in the right
direction leads to organizational performance. Persistence is a measure of how long a person can
maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve a goal. Motivation
is important in leadership and management because it improves performance, efficiency and
output, changes indifferent attitudes, reduces resistance to change, creates a healthy corporate
image, leads to productive use of resources, leads to achievement of goals, development of good
industry relations and stability in work force (employee turnover and absenteeism) (Maniksaly,
2020).

Objectives of the assignment

1. To examine the different motivation theory postulated by different behavioral scientists
2. To give a view of what, in my view, is the best theory of motivation

Motivational theories are psychological models that attempt to discover what motivates people
based on their personality traits and ambitions. Theories of motivation can be categorized as
early theories (Scientific Management, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; Theory X and Theory Y
and; Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory) and contemporary theories of motivation (McClelland’s
Theory of Needs; Goal Setting Theory; Self Efficacy Theory; Reinforcement Theory; Equity
Theory and; Expectancy Theory). They can also be categorized as common sense theories
(Theory X; Theory Y and Paternalism), content theories (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs;
Alderfer’s ERG Theory; Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and; Acquired Needs Theory) and
process theories (Equity Theory; Expectancy Theory and Goal Setting Theory)

Scientific management (Fredrick Taylor, 1911). He emphasized on division of labour, task

specialization, time measurement and use of money for motivation. He suggested that by
offering workers more money for being efficient, both the worker and the employer would
benefit. He believed in one maxim above all "that the principal object of management should be
to secure the maximum prosperity of the employer coupled with the maximum prosperity of each
employee". Employees were treated like robots.

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Human relations movement (Elton Mayo, 1933). This school of thought discarded the
mechanistic view of employees in favour of a more humanistic approach. He recognized that
employees seek more than financial reward in their jobs. He did not challenge the scientific
management school's emphasis on division of labour, task specialization or management control
but added a social dimension. He recognized the importance of human behavior at work on
motivation especially on the impact of work group on employee attitudes and productivity, the
employees' need for recognition, security, status, and sense of belonging, the effect of
management style on employee morale and productivity, the need for managers to possess good
interpersonal skills and the grapevine (rumors) as a means of communication.

Hierarchy of needs (Abraham Maslow, 1943).

This is a motivational theory in psychology
comprising a five-tier model of human needs,
often depicted as hierarchical levels within a
pyramid (McLeod, 2007). From the bottom of
the hierarchy upwards, the needs are:
physiological (food and clothing), safety (job
security), love and belonging needs (friendship),
esteem, and self-actualization. Needs lower
down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before
individuals can attend to needs higher up
(Maslow, 1943)

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor in 1960). These theories refer to two
styles of management―authoritarian (Theory X) and participative (Theory Y). Theory X
managers believe that their team members dislike their work and have little motivation
(lazy, irrational, unreliable, need to be motivated by money and threatened by
punishment; without control they will pursue their own goals parallel to the
organization). On the other hand, Theory Y managers believe that their people take pride
in their work and see it as a challenge (seek independence, self-development and
creativity in their work, look beyond immediate circumstances and can adapt to new ones,
and are fundamentally moral and responsible people who will strive for the good of the
organisation if they are treated as such).

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg, 1959). Employee satisfaction has two
dimensions: “hygiene” and motivation. Hygiene issues such as salary and working conditions,
physical workspace, and relationship with colleagues and supervisor, quality of supervisor, rules
and policies) decrease employees' dissatisfaction with the work environment when adequate.
Motivators such as recognition, performance and achievement, job status, responsibility,
opportunities for advancement, personal growth and the work itself, make workers more
productive, creative and committed.

McClelland’s Theory of Needs/Acquired Needs Theory (David McClelland, 1961). People

acquire needs through their life experiences. The acquired needs are: need for achievement, need
for power and need for affiliation. Need for achievement is the desire to do something better or
more efficiently, to solve problems, or to master complex tasks. People with high need for
achievement prefer work that involves individual responsibility for results, involves achievable
but challenging goals and provides feedback on performance. Need for power is the desire to

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control other persons, to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for other people. People
with high for power prefer work that involves control over other persons, has an impact on
people and events and brings public recognition and attention. People with a high need for
affiliation desire to establish and maintain friendly and warm relations with other persons. They
prefer work that involves interpersonal relationships, provides for companionship and brings
social approval.

Goal Setting Theory (Edwin Locke, 1979). Goal setting is essentially linked to task
performance. The amount of effort and energy directed towards goal achievement depends upon
how challenging the goal is believed to be. When people rise to a challenge they tend to be much
more determined and try harder, by drawing upon more of their skills, abilities and experiences
until the goals are reached. This boosts people’s confidence in their abilities causing them to set
even higher goals. However, people will be reluctant to try to reach a goal that they think is
unrealistic or impossible to achieve. People skills, self-confidence, task complexity, goal choice,
goal commitment and information feedback are factors affecting goal directed performance.

Self-Efficacy Theory (Albert Bandura, 1977). Also known as social cognitive theory or social
learning theory, self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief that he or she is capable of
performing a task. The higher your self-efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to
succeed in a task. In difficult situations, people with low self-efficacy are more likely to lessen
their effort or give up altogether, while those with high self-efficacy will try harder to master the
challenge. Goal setting theory and self-efficacy theory complement each other. When a manager
sets difficult goals for employees, this leads employees to have a higher level of self-efficacy and
also leads them to set higher goals for their own performance. Bandura postulated that self-
efficacy can be increased by: enactive mastery (gaining relevant experience with the task or job),
vicarious modelling (where one becomes more confident because you see someone else doing
the task), verbal persuasion (becoming more confident because someone convinces you that you
have the skills necessary to be successful) and arousal (attaining an energized state which drives
a person to complete a task).

Reinforcement Theory (Burrhus Frederic Skinner, 1957). This theory takes a behavioristic
approach arguing that reinforcement conditions behavior. Reinforcement theorists see behavior
as being environmentally conditioned. The theory ignores the inner state of the individual and
concentrates solely on what happens to a person when he or she takes some action. The theory
posits that reinforcers such as pay can motivate behavior and argues that the behaviors that
employees engage in the workplace and the amount of effort allocated to each task are affected
by consequences that follow behavior.

Equity Theory (John Stacey Adams, 1963). This theory states that people will be motivated
when they perceive that they are being treated fairly. It stresses the importance of perceptions. So
regardless of the actual level of rewards people receive, they must also perceive that relative to
others, they are being treated fairly. Components of the Equity Theory include inputs
(contributions that employees make to the organization e.g. education, training, intelligence,
experience, effort, number of hours worked and ability), outcomes (rewards employees receive
in exchange for their contribution to the organization e.g. pay, fringe benefits, status symbol, job
titles and assignments) and outcome/input ratio. When people perceive that their O/I ratio is
equal to their referents they conclude that they are being treated fairly.

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The best theory of motivation in my view
It is hard to put all theories on a yardstick and measure their efficiency, impact and implications
because whereas some theories have a more universal application (e.g. Maslow’s, Theory X and
Theory Y); some have a narrower context but not a least significant impact (e.g. the Goal
Theory); and some focus on specific environments (Hawthorne’s experiments, Herzberg’s
Theory or Equity Theory for workspace). Nevertheless, Theory X and Theory Y, in my view, is a
more traditional approach of managers in motivating their employees. It emphasizes
management control (autocracy) and delegation of authority and job enrichment (participation),
which characteristics are inherent in all managers. Most managers are either autocratic or
charismatic.

Conclusion
Employee motivation is the level of commitment, energy and innovation that an organization’s
staff hold during the workday. A motivated extension staff is a valuable asset, who can deliver
immense value to the organization in maintaining and strengthening its business and objectives.

REFERENCES
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2. Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral
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