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Job Motivation

TOPIC

MAKE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE STATEMENT THAT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION ARE A LOT OF OLD NON-SENSE COOKED UP BY UNDEREMPLOYED ACADEMICS WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

By

Mahalia Bartholomew
Lorraine Smith
Jennifer Henry
Natalia Kim
Dana Uyzbay
Rachel Mills
Samreen Aslam

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TABLE OF CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
1. INTRODUCTION 2
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1 General Approaches 4
2.2 Intrinsic Theories of Motivation 5
2.2.1 Maslow’s Theory 5
2.2.2 Herzberg’s Theory 6
2.2.3 Locke’s Theory 6
2.2.4 Warr’s Theory 7
2.2.5 Hackman & Oldham’s Model 7
2.3 Extrinsic Theories of Motivation 8
2.3.1 Reinforcement Theory 8
2.3.2 Equity Theory 9
2.3.3 Expectancy Theory 9
3 TABLE 10
4 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE 13
4.1 Job Design 15
4.2 Reward and Career Development 19
4.3 Intrinsic Motivation 20
5 CONCLUSION 22
6 REFERENCES 24
7 APPENDIX 1 30

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report aims to clarify the issue of whether theories of motivation are “a lot of old nonsense cooked up by underemployed academics that should know better”.

There is much literature regarding motivation at work, with many theoretical approaches representing different schools of thought. This report outlines the most common theories which vary in applicability and relevance to individual organisations, but all seek to increase understanding of behaviour at work. Motivation theories are often considered intrinsic or extrinsic. This report addresses the issue of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, a distinction which is adopted in this report for clarity of presentation, although there is clearly much overlap.

Motivation in the work situation is a sufficiently complex phenomenon such that no single theoretical approach or classification can provide comprehensive answers or explanations for any individual organisation. Informal interviews were conducted to discover the applicability of these theories and how they...