ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y.

BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

CHAPTER 4

MOTIVATION
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MEANING OF MOTIVATION
The term 'motivation' has been derived from Latin word 'movere' which means to move. Motivation
helps us in doing what we want to do. In another sense it is what makes us put real efforts and energy
into what we do. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. Following are
some of the examples of motives that stimulate us for actions;
desire for money
success
recognition
job-satisfaction
status etc
Motivation is an internal psychological feeling which produces a behaviour which is towards the goal. It
is a continuous process because human needs are never completely satisfied.
NEED

CREATE
TENSION

LEADS TO
ACTION

NEED
SATISFACTION

Fig.l: Motivational Cycle

Following is the process of motivation;
NEED: Human behaviour is varied and sometimes too complex to analyze and understand.
Psychologists have concluded that the "needs" experienced by an individual form the basis of his
behaviour. Whatever one does, it is mainly to fulfill some needs, desires and expectations in varying
strength. '
TENSION: The emergence of a need creates an inner state of dissatisfaction or disturbs the equilibrium
or creates tension.
ACTION: The tension that is created is immediately followed by a belief that a certain "action" will
reduce this tension. When tension rises to a particular level, it results into action.
NEED SATISFACTION: Action that is taken will result into satisfaction or dissatisfaction within the
individual. Both satisfaction and dissatisfaction will act as a feedback for future actions.

DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION
According to Kreitner, Motivation can be defined as the psychological process that gives behaviour
purpose and direction.
According to Michael Juicus, The act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a desired course of
action is known as motivation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2016
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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is an internal feeling
Motivation is a psychological process which generates in the mind of an individual the feelings that he
lacks certain things and needs those things. Motivation is a force within an individual that drives him to
behave in a certain way.
Source of motivation is need
Needs are the basis of motivational behaviour of a person. It could be psychological need or
physiological need. In order to motivate a person, we have to understand his needs and try to fulfil it.
Motivation changes according to the changes in mans needs.
Motivation of a person depends on the type of need. When need changes, the person might be motivated
by some other motives. Hence motivation changes when there is a change in a persons need.
As needs are many, so also are motives
There are many types of needs of a human being. For example, social need, physiological need, power
need, achievement need, esteem need, safety need etc. Similarly motives are also many depending upon
the types of need. Motives can be desire for money, success, recognition, job-satisfaction, status etc.
Motives change according to time, circumstances, age and person
There are many motives that guide the behaviour of an individual. These motives change according to
the circumstances like age, time, maturity level etc.
Motivation plays a significant role in human behaviour
All successful acts of human being is the result of his motivation. Hence, in order to be successful, a
person needs to be motivated. Motivation, thus, play an important role in all human behaviour.
Employees morale goes high due to motivation
In organisations, employees morale rises due to motivation. The productivity of an employee depends
upon level of motivation he/she feels while performing his/her job in an organisation.
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TYPES OF MOTIVATION
Employees can be motivated in two different ways. One is when the manager holds out a promise of a
reward to the employee for good performance of job and the second is when the manager installs fear in
the minds of employees for not reaching the goal or performance level. The first case is about positive
motivation and the second is about negative motivation. These are the two basic types of motivation;
1. Positive Motivation:
This type of motivation is reward based motivation. It is a process of attempting to influence others to
do your will through the possibility of gain or reward.
Incentive mechanism is a Pull mechanism. That attracts employee to work hard to gain the incentive.
Every human being has inner urge that one recognise his work or achievement. The appreciation can be
on any mode. It may be in terms of monitory gain, position, awards or recognise the work and
appreciation in terms of words. Due recognition and praise for work definitely lead to good team spirit,
co-operation and a feeling of happiness.
ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2016

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

The positive motivation can be given with the help of following ways;
Praise and credit for work
Wages and Salaries
Appreciation
A sincere interest in subordinates as individuals
Delegation of authority and responsibility
2. Negative Motivation:
This type of motivation is based on force and fear. Fear causes persons to act in a certain way because
they fear the consequences. Negative motivation involves the possibility of decreased motive
satisfaction. It is a Push mechanism.
The imposition of punishment frequently results in frustration among those who are punished. This
results into hostile state of mind and an unfavourable attitude towards the job. However, there is no
management which has not used the negative motivation at some time or the other.
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THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Following are some of the basic theories of motivation that have been developed over the years;
1. Maslows need-hierarchy theory
2. Herzbergs two factor theory
3. Vrooms expectancy theory
4. Adams equity theory and
5. Skinners reinforcement theory
1. MASLOWS NEED HIERARCH THEORY:
Abraham Maslow is very famous for his theory known as the Hierarchy of Needs Theory. He proposed
this theory in 1943. This theory is about 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 from person
to person. These five needs are as follows-

Figure: Maslows Need Hierarchy Model

ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2016

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

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 requirements of life.
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 or
what you have the potential to become. It includes the need for growth and self-satisfaction. It
also includes desire for gaining more knowledge, social- service, creativity etc. The selfactualization needs are never fully satisfied.
According to Maslow, individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs. As each of these needs is satisfied,
it drives and forces the next need to emerge. 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 selfactualization needs constituted the higher-order needs. These higher-order needs are generally satisfied
internally, i.e., within an individual.
2. HERZBERS TWO FACTOR THEORY
According to Herzberg, there are two sets of factors of motivation called Hygiene factors and
Motivation factors. The Hygiene factors can de-motivate or cause dissatisfaction if they are not present,
but do not very often create satisfaction when they are present. Motivation factors do motivate or create
satisfaction and are rarely the cause of dissatisfaction. The two types of factors may be listed as follows
in order of importance:
Hygiene Factors (leading to dissatisfaction):
Company Policy
Supervision
Relationship with Boss
Work Conditions
Salary
Relationship with Peers
Motivators (leading to satisfaction):
Achievement
Recognition
The work itself
Responsibility
Advancement
3. VROOMS EXPECTANCY THEORY
Vroom's expectancy theory assumes that behaviour results from conscious choices among alternatives
whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. He stated that effort, performance and

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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

motivation are linked in a person's motivation. He uses the variables Expectancy, Instrumentality and
Valence in his theory of motivation.
Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance i.e. if I work
harder then this will be better.
Instrumentality is the belief that if you perform well that a valued outcome will be received.
Valence is the importance that the individual places upon the expected outcome. For the valence
to be positive, the person must prefer attaining the outcome to not attaining it. For example, if
someone is mainly motivated by money, he or she might not value offers of additional time off.
The three elements are important behind choosing one element over another because they are clearly
defined: effort-performance expectancy (E>P expectancy) and performance-outcome expectancy (P>O
expectancy).
4. ADAMS EQUITY THEORY
According to this theory, employees strive for equity between themselves and other workers. Equity is
achieved when the ratio of outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs
5. SKINNERS THEORY
According to this theory, employees behaviour that lead to positive outcome will be repeated and
behaviour that lead to negative outcomes will not be repeated. Managers should positively reinforce
employees behaviours that lead to positive outcomes. Managers should negatively reinforce employees
behaviour that leads to negative outcomes.
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CARROT AND STICK APPROACH OF MOTIVATION

A very widely known motivational concept is the Carrot and Stick approach.
To motivate is to change behaviour. How can you change the behaviour of people, both as
individuals and as a group or team?
Using the carrot and stick approach, there are basically two ways; behaviour is changed by force
or by choice through the use of incentives.
This approach is based on the principles of reinforcement.
The carrot and stick approach of motivation comes from the old story that the best way to make a
donkey move is to put a carrot out in front of him or hit him with a stick from behind. Over here
carrot is the reward for moving and stick is the punishment for not moving ahead.
The stick or fear is a good motivator and when used at the correct times can be very helpful.
When everything fails, the stick approach is the most attractive one as it usually produce
immediate results.
Fear is also attractive as in the short term; an employees performance may be improved without
any need for incentives or financial remuneration.
But fear can be stressful for employees. It is extrinsic, which means that the motivation only
works while the motivator is present. When the motivator goes, the motivation also usually goes.
Fear is also only useful on a short-term basis, as it needs to be applied in ever-increasing doses.
In a worst case scenario, fear motivation can backfire and could even lead to cases of sabotage.
On the other hand, people contribute or become more productive because they are offered
incentives i.e. the carrot approach.
In motivating people for behaviour that is desirable, some carrots, rewards, are used such as
money, promotion, and other financial and non financial factors.
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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

The major advantage with this is that it can work very well as long as the incentive is attractive
enough.
A good illustration of this concept is by using the well-known analogy of a donkey with a carrot
dangling in front, and with a cart behind. In this instance the carrot serves as the incentive.
However, the carrot will only serve as an incentive if: The donkey is hungry enough. The carrot
is sweet enough. The load is light enough.
The stick is not completely controlled by organisation; there are other forces which influences it. In
order to make the stick work effectively, following points should be considered.
1. Punishment is effective in modifying the behaviour if it forces the person to select a desirable
alternative behaviour that is then rewarded.
2. If the above does not occur, the behaviour will be only temporarily suppressed and will reappear
when the punishment is removed. Furthermore, the suppressed behaviour may cause the person
to be fearful and anxious.
3. Punishment is more effective if applied at the time when the undesirable behaviour is actually
performed.
4. Punishment must be given with extreme care so that it does not become reward for undesirable
behaviour. A punishment, from one point of view, may become a reward for the person
concerned.
A combination of the both carrot and stick should be used effectively so that both of them can
contribute positively on the motivational profile of the employees and the organisation.
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IMPORTANCE & BENEFITS OF MOTIVATION

In history, we often find that real war is fought and won in the minds and not on the battle fields.
This means that mentally motivated people can achieve anything they desire.
It is really important to have highly motivated team. The strong pillar of any organisation is its
work force.
The major objective of management and the manager is to get work done by the subordinates.
Hence, Motivation is more important to get work done by the employees in any organisation.
The various benefits of motivation are as follows;
o Motivation is an important factor in the directing process. By motivating workers, a
manager directs/guides their actions in the desired direction. This will help in achieving
the goals.
o Motivation helps in making workers efficient. Workers improve their skills and
knowledge so that they are able to contribute to the progress of the organisation.
o The success of any work depends on two things, (a) ability to work and (b) willingness to
work. Without willingness to work, ability is of no use. The willingness to work can be
created through proper motivation.
o The organisations effectiveness in achieving its goal depends upon the level at which its
employees feel motivated. Hence motivation is the key to make organisations effective in
reaching its goal.
o Motivation is the best remedy for resistance to changes. When changes are introduced in
organisations, generally, there will be resistance to change by its workers. But if the
workers are motivated, they will accept the change. This will help the organisation in
making progress.
o Motivation helps in utilising the resources in the best possible manner. The resources are
human, material, capital etc.
ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2016

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

o Because of motivation, workers feel a sense of belongingness. The workers feel that the
company belongs to them and the interest of the company is their interests.
o Many organisations now focus on their human resource because only employees will help
the organisation to succeed in future. For this, organisations focus more towards
motivating their employees. This helps the growth of both, organisation in general as well
as employees in particular.
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ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2016