Organizational Behavior Chapter 7

motivation

intensity of a person's desire to begin or continue engaging in the pursuit of a goal

law of individual differences

people have different abilities, needs, personalities, values, and self-concepts

theory x

belief that most people dislike work and will try to avoid it whenever possible

theory y

belief that people can enjoy responsibility and work, and are able to make good decisions and exercise self-direction

job characteristics

attributes that describe the nature of the work

work environment

constellation of an organization's rules, management practices, policies, and reward systems

existance needs

desires for physical and material well-being, including nutritional and material requirements

related needs

desires for respect from and relationships with others

growth needs

desire to make useful and productive contributions and to have opportunities for personal development

hygiene factors

factors such as pay, status and working conditions that produce an acceptable work environment and whose absence leads to dissatisfaction

motivators

factors intrinsic to the job that can drive an employee to pursue excellence and whose presence increases satisfaction

motivators (examples)

work itself, advancement, achievement, responsibility, growth, recognition

hygiene factors (examples)

working conditions, pay, supervision, status, company policies and administration, interpersonal relations w/ colleagues

need for affiliation

wanting to establish and maintain friendly and warm relations with others

need for achievement

wanting to do something better or more efficiently to solve problems, or to master complex tasks

need for power

wanting to control and influence others, or to be responsible for others

empowerment

the degree to which an employee has the authority to make and implement at least some decisions

job design

design jobs to provide different opportunities to fulfill those needs

job characteristics model

objective characteristics of the job itself, including skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and task feedback, lead to job satisfaction for people with a high growth need strength

skill variety

degree to which the job requires a variety of activities enabling the worker to use different skills and talents

task identity

degree to which the job requires the worker to complete a whole and identifiable piece of work

task significance

degree to which the job gives the worker freedom, discretion, and independence in scheduling the work and determining how to do the work

task feedback

degree tow which carrying out the job's required activities results in the individual's obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performances

growth need strength

derived rom our motivational preferences, such as desire for advancement, identified things that motivate us

job-person match

comparing job's motivating potential to our growth need strength to identify if it's a good match

three psychological states that can occur in employees

1. experienced meaningfulness of work
2. experienced responsibility for work outcomes
3. knowledge of results of work activities

job enrichment

an approach to job design that increases a job's complexity to give workers greater responsibility and opportunities to feel a sense of achievement

job enlargement

adding more tasks at the same level of responsibility and skill related to an employee's current position

job characteristics (examples)

skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback

Job characteristics outcomes

high motivation
high performance
high satisfactions

job rotation

workers are moved through a variety of jobs to increase their interest and motivation

cross-training

training employees in more than one job or in multiple skills to enable them to do different jobs

self-efficacy

a person's confidence in his or her ability to organize and execute the courses of action necessary to accomplish a specific task

magnitude

beliefs about how difficult a task can be accomplished

strength

beliefs about how confident the person that the task can be accomplished

generality

beliefs about the degree to which similar tasks can be accomplished

Vroom's Valence, Instrumentality, and Expectancy (VIW) Theory

when someone wants a raise or promotion enough to feel motivated to do their job well but they feel their best efforts will not lead to a raise or promotion

valence

will the rewards i receive be the things i care about?

instrumentality

if my performance is strong, will I receive my rewards?

expectancy

if you work hard and put in good effort, will you reach your desired performance?

Managers can influence valence, instrumentality and expectancy by:

-administering rewards that are highly valued (valence)
-linking rewards to performance (instrumentality)
-enhancing employees' perceptions that they can perform well (expectancy)

fairness

how fairly we feel we are being treated influences our trust and motivation

what do fairness perceptions affect?

motivation, job performance, satisfaction, organizational commitment, withdraw behaviors, counterproductive behaviors (stealing)

how can managers improve fairness?

1. change fairness of the situation
2. change how employees perceive the fairness of the situation

Learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs because of experience

Reinforcement theory

3 laws
-law of effect
-law of recency
-law of exercise

law of effect

people tend not to engage in behavior that does not result in a reward

law or recency

most recent consequence of a behavior is likely to govern the recurrence of that behavior

law of exercise

repetition strengthens the association between cause and effect

reinforcers

anything that makes a behavior more likely to happen again

positive reinforcement

use of rewards to increase the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated (like performance bonuses or praise) -- motivate a certain behavior

negative reinforcement

removal of current or future unpleasant consequences to increase the likelihood that someone will repeat a behavior

when is negative reinforcement appropriate?

when an employee perceives something undesirable and the manager wants to increase the priceable of certain types of behaviors

expectancy theory equation

motivational force = expectancy x instrumentality x valence

punishment

application of negative outcomes to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (like cutting work hours of low-performing employees)

extinction

removal of any reinforcement (positive or negative) following the occurrence of the behavior to be extinguished to decrease the likelihood of that behavior

When is extinction appropriate?

when a manages realizes he or she has been rewarding the wrong thing and the manager wants to stop the behavior

behavior modification

gives managers a way to apply reinforcement theory to motivate workers

two issues in using behavior modification

1. type of reinforcement (reward or punishment)
2. schedule of reinforcement

continuous reinforcement schedule

desired behavior is reinforced each time that it occurs

partial reinforcement schedule

desired behavior is reinforced only part of the time

types of partial reinforcement schedules:

-fixed-ratio
-fixed-interval
-variable-ratio
-variable-interval

fixed-ratio

-desired behavior is reinforced after a specified number of correct responses

fixed-interval

desired behavior is reinforced after a certain amount of time has passed

variable-ratio

desired behavior is reinforced after an unpredicted number of behaviors

variable-interval

desired behavior s reinforced after an unpredictable amount of time has elapsed

continuous reinforcement

fastest way to get someone to learn; BUT as soon as reward is stopped -- desired behavior decreases frequently (extinction occurs)

variable reinforcement

-most effective schedule for sustaining behavior
-reinforcing the desired behavior every few times it occurs

5 Steps of Behavior Modification

1. define the problem
2. identify and define specific behavior(s) you wish to change
3. record & track occurrence of target behavior
4. analyze current negative consequences & arrange for more positive consequences to follow desired behavior
5. evaluate w

merit pay

salary increase, usually permanent, given because of an individual's performance

spot awards

-most consistent with reinforcement theory
-given immediately, on the spot, as soon as desired behavior is seen