MAN201 Organisational Behaviour

What does MBTI tell us and why are there people critical of it  Are global ethical standards achievable Why is Emotional Intelligence so critical for managers Do motivational approaches vary by culture  Is McGregor’s Theory X and Y still relevant in todays world What is “empathy” and how does it differ from one person to another.

 

Identify the key areas of importance Identify and analyse the relevant theory and how you see it links to Organisational Behaviour Research and present some discussion or scenario options for the class.

Culture is a word that we often come across in our everyday lives. Culture is a way of life, it is a lifestyle of an individual and defines social behavior and norms which are prevalent in human societies. Motivation on the other hand is the reason behind increased performance, desires and needs. Motivation has caused people to increase their standards of living, attain fortune and aspire for success (Lazaroiu, 2015). There are various theories and approaches of motivation that have been given over a period of time. In this report we shall throw light on a few renowned theories and how would they vary across different cultures.

Types of motivational theories

Motivational theories are essential sub grouped into two main categories which are ‘content theories’ and ‘process theories’. Content theories explore exactly what motivates people to work hard and achieve their goals. Process theories research the specifics of the motivation process. A person’s culture is defined by the virtue of gender, caste, nationality, family background, social class, generation, peer group and many similar factors combined. The needs, desires, value set as well as primary priorities of every individual is different (Munro, 2014). Therefore, it is imperative that individuals are motivated differently. Given below are a few motivational theories and how they would be applied differently across various cultured individuals.

Maslow’s hierarchical needs 

Maslow has created a hierarchy of needs of an individual. He has established a relationship between people’s behavior and their needs (Niemela & Kim, 2014). Therefore if managers aim to motivate their employees, their goal must be to fulfill their needs which would induce a change in their behavior (performance). However, these needs would be different across different cultures and individuals. For an individual, a bigger house could fulfill his esteem needs but for someone else, leading a big team in a large organization will enhance esteem.

McClelland’s three factor theory

McClelland defines the three needs theory which explicitly explains that an individual has three predominant needs and fulfilling them motivates the individual to perform better. The need for achievement, the need for power and the need for affiliation are the three needs (McClelland, 2015). Across cultures, it has been noticed that for someone brought up in a developed country, the need for achievement and power supersede the need for affiliation. Many developing countries’ cultures value relationship and family above everything else. For such individual’s the need for affiliation takes precedence. It is hence important for managers to identify the needs of their employees effectively in order to motivate them.

Herzberg’s two factor theory

Herzberg proposed a two factor theory of motivation and concluded that there are two group of factors which cause motivation among employees. The first group of factors was called motivators while the second group was called hygiene. The hygiene factors involve those factors which if present, may not necessarily motivate an employee but if absent will surely cause disruption (Redmond, 2015). The examples of such factors include job security, working condition, policies etc. The motivators include factors which motivate the employees and their absence can create an unhealthy working environment.

People coming from different cultures would respond differently to different motivating factors. A fresh graduate will be motivated by opportunities of personal growth, a mid-level manager would be motivate by a promotion in designation, an underdog performer would be encouraged by recognition while the top most management will be better motivated with a sense of achievement.

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Vroom has approached human motivation differently as compared to McClelland and Maslow. He states that employee’s motivation to perform a particular task depends on the effect of the task and the confidence within the employee about his own ability to perform the task (Parijat & Bagga, 2014).

In the same organization, a single mother of a daughter will be motivated by the amount of time she gets to spend with her daughter, an employee who has an ailing family member will perform better if the organization offers essential health cover insurances and a young graduate will be motivated if he received monetary incentives.

Goal setting theory

Goal setting theory states that the ultimate goal of the employees motivates them to perform better (Haslam, Knippenberg, Platow & Ellemers, 2014)). People from different cultures have different goals. Certain employees place the organizational goals above everything while certain employees are only driven by the salary that they receive. Most of the people working in organizations today are young and full of energy. They are motivated by challenging goals and difficult tasks as they believe it supports their learning and growth.

Conclusion

Motivation is one of the most important aspects of any organizations. Managers put tremendous efforts in ensuring that their employees remain motivated to accomplish their goals (Miner, 2015). An organization consists of people coming from different cultures and various walks of life. Therefore, in the current scenario, it becomes imperative that different strategies are applied by managers to understand the culture that the employee is coming from and accordingly working towards their motivation. The ultimate goals, needs and desires of every individual vary on the basis of their gender, caste, nationality, upbringing, family background, peer group and even travel experiences or reading habits. Hence these different needs must be addressed differently in order to ensure effective performance management in the firm.

References

Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. eds., 2014. Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. Psychology Press.

Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, p.97.

McClelland, D.C., 2015. Achievement motivation theory. Organizational behavior, 1, pp.46-60.

Miner, J.B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Routledge.

Munro, D., Schumaker, J.F. and Carr, S.C. eds., 2014. Motivation and culture. Routledge.

Niemela, P. and Kim, S., 2014. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 3843-3846). Springer Netherlands.

Parijat, P. and Bagga, S., 2014. Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation–An evaluation. International Research Journal of Business and Management (IRJBM), 7(9), pp.1-8.

Redmond, B.F., 2015. Herzberg's two-factor theory [Digital image].