Richard Field on Management and Information Science

8/3/2019 Richard Field on Management and Information Science

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Richard Field on Management andInformation Science

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Management and Motivation

The following material on being a manager

primarily takes the perspective of themanager in a large bureaucracy. In these themanager has a number of direct reports,people who report to the manager and usuallyfor whom performance evaluations are done.

The concepts apply also to the manager of an

organization in its early life cycle stages where the manager acts as more of anentrepreneur.

Understanding Others

Effect of Societal Culture
http://www.bus.ualberta.ca/rfield/


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People, in the course of living, confront fivebasic questions about their lives. Thesequestions are:

1. How do I see the world?

2. How do I use time and space?

3. Who am I?

4. What do I do?

5. How do I relate to other people?

Answers to these questions vary amongsocieties, and in a broad sense determine howpeople in a given society experience life.

How Do I See the World? This questiondeals with the persons relationship to theenvironment. Reflecting even more basicassumptions about the relationship ofhumanity to nature, this question addresses

whether people view the relationship as oneof dominance, submission, harmony, or

finding an appropriate niche. For example, inCanada and the United States the dominantculture has seen the natural environment assomething to conquer and exploit. Thisoutlook is beginning to change, however, asexemplified by the Green movement.


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How Do I Use Time and Space? The focushere is on the nature of reality, time, andspace. Questions are what is real and what is

not, what is a fact, how truth is ultimately tobe determined, and whether truth is revealedor discovered. Basic concepts are those oftime as linear or cyclical, space as limited orinfinite, and property as communal orindividual.

Time is typically experienced in Westernsocieties as linear. The past, present, andfuture are assumed to be all on one time line.

Time is often measured with great precision.At the Boulder Colorado Labs the atomicclock measures time to billions of a second.

Other societies and cultures experience timedifferently. The present may be thought of as

just the current one of many cycles or loopsof time. Time repeats in a series of endlesscycles. Therefore, what one does this minute,today, or tomorrow is not seen as havinggreat urgency.

Concepts of space also differ by culture. Whata house looks like and how people live in it isimportant because house design and livingspace affect how people see themselves and

think about themselves.


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Who Am I? This fundamental question dealswith the nature of human nature. What doesit mean to be human, and what attributes are

considered intrinsic or ultimate? Is humannature good, evil, or neutral? Are humanbeings perfectible or not? In some cultureslife and death are seen as determined andpreordained people are not in control of theirown destiny. For example, the caste system in

India, although outlawed, can rank membersof society, fix ones destiny, and define whatoccupation one must enter.

What Do I Do? What is the right thing forhuman beings to do, on the basis of the aboveassumptions about reality, the environment,

and human nature? Should one be active,passive, self-developmental or fatalistic?What is work and what is play? Westernculture makes the general assumptions thatpeople should be active, responsible for theirown actions, that it is right to work, and that

work and play are different.How Do I Relate to Other People? The keyhere is the nature of human relationships.What is considered to be the right way forpeople to relate to each other, to distributepower and love? Is life cooperative or

competitive; individualistic, collaborative, or


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communal? Is it based on traditional linealauthority, law, or charisma? Cultures cangive status for age (respect your elders), skills

(a surgeon), actions (scoring goals in theNHL), or possessions (the car a persondrives).

Cultural Dimensions

There are five cultural dimensions that help

us understand how societal cultures differfrom one another.

1. Power Distance

2. Individualism/Collectivism

3. Masculinity/Femininity

4. Uncertainty Avoidance

5. Long-term Versus Short-termOrientation

Power Distance. Power distance is the extent

to which the less powerful members of societyaccept that power is distributed unequallyand accept the orders of those in power. ThePeoples Republic of China (PRC) would behigh in power distance, Canada and theUnited States, low.


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Individualism/Collectivism. Inindividualistic cultures people tend to lookout for themselves and their family, they

prefer to act as individuals. In collectivisticcultures people look out for each other; theyprefer to act as members of groups. Canadais more individualistic; the PRC and Japanare more collectivistic. However, Canada maybe seen as more collectivistic than the United

States, as evidenced by Canadas relativelygreater emphasis on commonly availablemedical care and the predominance of publicinstitutions of higher learning (rather than amix of public and private).

Masculinity/Femininity. Masculine cultures

value success, money and materialpossessions, assertiveness, and competition.Feminine cultures value caring for others,

warm personal relationships, solidarity withothers and quality of life. The United Statesand Canada are high on masculinity, whereas

Iceland is more feminine.Uncertainty Avoidance. This is the extent to

which people in the society want to avoidsituations where they are not certain whataction is required. People in high uncertaintyavoidance cultures prefer structured over

unstructured situations. Cultures high in


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uncertainty avoidance tend to have strict lawsand punishments and a feeling of What isdifferent is dangerous. Saudi Arabia and

Singapore have high uncertainty avoidance,Canada and the U.S. are moderate, andDenmark is low on this variable.

Long-term Versus Short-term Orientation.Cultures with a long-term orientation valuefuture-oriented behaviours such aspersistence and saving money. Short-termorientation cultures have values orientedmore towards the past and the present suchas respect for tradition and the fulfilling ofsocial obligations.

Organizations that have members fromcultures that are very high or low on thesedimensions have specific advantages.

1. Those from small power-distancecultures are likely to accept responsibility,

while those from large power-distance

cultures are likely to be more disciplined.

2. Those from high collectivism culturestend to show employee commitment,

while members of high individualismcultures can be mobile, allowing thehiring of experts away from other

organizations.


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3. Those from cultures high infemininity are able to provide personalservices and custom-made products,

while those in masculine cultures mayexcel in mass production and heavyindustry.

4. Those in weak uncertainty-avoidancecultures are good at innovating, whilethose in strong uncertainty-avoidancecultures are better at precisionmanufacturing.

5. Those from long-term orientationcultures tend to excel at planning andactivities where returns are high but

delayed, while those from short-termoriented cultures can succeed in quicklychanging environments.

Intelligence

One theory of intelligence states that eachperson has a unique combination of amountsof eight different types of intelligence. Theeight types are linguistic (ability with words),logical-mathematical (reasoning and pattern-recognition), musical (including pitch, tone,melody, and rhythm), bodily kinesthetic(ability to use ones body in skilful ways),

spatial (perception of a three-dimensional


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world), interpersonal (understanding others),intrapersonal (understanding oneself), andnaturalist (understanding the natural world).

The implication of this theory is that theseintelligences should be developed and thatpeople with different profiles should work inareas suitable to their strengths.

Analyses of the answers to intelligence tests

have found the factor of general intelligence,g, and a specific factor s that measuresintelligence for a particular test. Whilegeneral intelligence cannot be improved in theshort term, specific test intelligence can.

There is clear evidence that IQ is determined

genetically, at least in part. A good estimatefor the genetic contribution to intelligence is50% to 70%. The other influences onintelligence are the environment and organicfactors. The environment might include suchfactors as the amount of stimulation receivedby a child, the toys available for play, andculture exposed to as a child. An example ofan organic factor is any drugs taken by themother while the child is developing in theuterus.

Personality


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Personality is a stable set of tendencies andcharacteristics that determine thosecommonalities and differences in peoples

psychological behaviour (thoughts, feelings,and actions) that have continuity in time andthat may not be easily understood as the soleresult of the social and biological pressures ofthe moment.

Gender

A foundation of an individuals personality isgender. Gender is more than a personsbiological sex. It is the sex role taught in aparticular culture. One study found that 27of 33 world cultures sampled attempted to get

more nurturance out of girls than boys andnone attempted the reverse. Another finding was that 70 of 82 cultures gave boys moretraining in self-reliance than girls and noneattempted the reverse. A study of children insix cultures (U.S.A., Mexico, Kenya, India,

Japan, Philippines) found that boys weremore aggressive than girls within eachculture. This is the genetic influence.However, they also found that the girls ofsome cultures were more aggressive than theboys other cultures. This is thecultural/environment influence. Gender

differences in aggression have been found to


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be stable over time and that men are moreaggressive than women.

Parents treat boys and girls differently. InNorth America it has been found that bothparents encouraged sex-typed activities,though these differences decreased as thechild grows up. Boys in Western countriesreceived more physical punishment than didgirls. Significantly, fathers treated boys andgirls more differently than did mothers.Fathers were more involved with sons andprovided support with activities, whereasmothers supported both sons and daughtersemotionally.

Theory X/Theory YThe Theory X/Theory Y approach of DouglasMcGregor can serve to categorize how peoplethink about the basic motivations of others.Some managers take the point of view thatothers value work for its own sake and do not

have to be monitored closely. This is thehumanistic Theory Y view. Other managersmight take the Theory X perspective thatpeople basically dont want to work, and thatemployees have to be watched continually tomake sure they keep to their jobs.


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Theory X/Y has been used as a tool tounderstand the attitudes and actions ofmanagers. It can also be used in

organizational training to sensitize managersto their basic theory of personality in thehopes of moving all managers to the morehumanistic Theory Y outlook. This approach,however, may be culturally constrained.

Theory X/Y relies on the cultural value of

individualism, which may hold in NorthAmerica but is less true for the peoples ofEast Asia.

Trait Theory

This approach to understanding personality

focuses on observable personalitycharacteristics or traits. After years ofresearch, a model of personality as composedof five main factors has emerged. The fivebroad personality traits are as follows.

1. Extroversion/Introversion. Extroverts

are oriented toward the outer world of otherpeople and activities. Introverts are orientedtoward the inner world of their ownthoughts and feelings.

2. Friendliness/Hostility. Friendly peopleare open to interaction with others and


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expect positive results. Hostile people lookfor and expect confrontation.

3. Conscientiousness. A conscientiousperson is responsible, performing actionsthat were agreed to.

4. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability. Anemotionally stable person has a firm graspon the reality of situations. Such an

individual reacts in a steady way, not ridinga roller coaster of emotions.

5. Intellect. This factor is composed ofinquiring intellect, openness to new feelingsand thoughts, cultural and creativeinterests. It has also been thought of as

creativity.

Influences on Personality

Four main influences on an individualspersonality are genetic/biological, social,cultural, and situational factors.

The study ofgenetic effects on personality isaccomplished by assessing identical twinsthat are brought up by different families. Onesuch study found that identical twins rearedapart are about as similar as identical twinsreared together on multiple measures of

personality and temperament, occupational


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and leisure-time interests, and socialattitudes. Heredity therefore has an effect onan individuals personality.

Culture and social class affects personalityvia group membership and socializationexperiences. The family has an effect on apersons personality, but members of onefamily will often be dissimilar. Siblings will beunalike because of differences in geneticmakeup and birth order, the age of the child

when an event occurs (for example, a death inthe family or divorce), the childs gender, thechilds physical appearance (attractivechildren are often favoured), and experiencesthat are unique to the individual.

Situational influences on personality includetemporary body conditions such as fatigueand ingested chemicals. Examples ofchemicals consumed are the caffeine incoffee, nicotine in cigarettes, mood alteringdrugs such as stimulants and depressants,and performance-altering drugs such assteroids.

Personality Traits and Behaviour

Both personality traits and the situationinteract to affect behaviour.


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1. In relevant situations traits caninfluence behaviour. In a threateningsituation a person who is anxious is liable

to fidget, break into a cold sweat, or runfrom the scene.

2. A persons traits can change thesituation. An individual who is aggressivecan act in a way that causes conflict withothers. The aggressive employee in aperformance review may make statementsto the manager that inflame the situationand cause the manager to react withdefensiveness or aggression.

3. People with different traits will choose

different situations. Those who areintroverted, for example, will often choose tobe in a quiet place like a library instead of anoisy place like a party.

4. Traits can change with persistentexposure to a situation. Going to college

and living in the student environment hasbeen found to change a person to be lessconservative.

5. Personality traits are more easilyexpressed in some situations than others. Itis easier to be yourself at a picnic than at a

funeral. The picnic has fewer rules about


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how to behave than does the funeral.Extroverts and introverts would actsimilarly at a funeral but would be expected

to act quite differently at a picnic.

Attitudes

Beliefs are what an individual accepts to betrue without questioning. Beliefs that endureover time are called values. Feelings are

sentiments or the emotional component ofbeliefs. Beliefs plus feelings make up anindividuals attitudes. For example, a beliefaccepted without questioning can be thatmanagers should make the decisions. Thisbecomes over time a value, that a good

manager is one who makes the decisions thatare required. A related feeling could be thatthis manager makes me uneasy because hekeeps asking me what I would do. Theresulting attitude might then be I dont like

working for my manager.

The primary purpose of attitudes isknowledge of how to act with respect toanother person or object. Attitudes areimportant in organizations because theyaffect behaviour. Three parts of workattitudes are the affective what the person

feels about work; the cognitive what the


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person thinks about work; and theintentional what actions the person isplanning to do at work.

Job satisfaction is affected by both the workenvironment and by the workers individualcharacteristics. It has been estimated that theindividuals personality accounts for between10% and 30% of his/her job satisfaction, that40% to 60% of the variance in job satisfactionis caused by situational factors, and that theinteraction between personality and thesituation accounts for between 10% and 20%.

One situational factor that affects jobsatisfaction has been found to be wage

inequality and dispersion. The greater thedispersion of wages, in general, the lower issatisfaction with those wages.

When an individual is faced with aninconsistency between two thoughts orbetween a thought and an action, such

dissonance would have to be resolved. Aperson might take any of the followingactions.

1. Forget about the inconsistency orignore it as unimportant. Dissonant actsare likely to induce cognitive change only


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when they relate to the persons self-concept.

2. Seek information that makes actionsand attitudes seem more consistent. Thisinformation is useful to rationalize away thedissonance. A consumer who purchases anew and expensive CD player might haveconflicting thoughts about enjoying theplayer but missing the money. Informationabout the quality and features of the CDplayer might then be scrutinized to reducethe dissonance about the purchase.

3. Distort or change the perception of thesituation and actions taken. Memory will be

adjusted to reduce the inconsistencybetween thought and action.

4. Separate actions and attitudes in themind. By compartmentalizing them,inconsistencies can be avoided.

5. Change the attitude about the event.The worker might come to believe that the job is more interesting than previouslythought. In this case performing thebehaviour has caused a change in attitude.

6. Leave the situation. This method ofreducing cognitive dissonance is likely whendissonance has built up over time and


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leaving is relatively easy. It may also beused when an attitude-behaviourinconsistency is too large to reduce by the

other methods.

Cognitive dissonance is useful inunderstanding what a person thinks about

work and the courses of action that aparticular person might follow.

Because job dissatisfaction often leads tothoughts of quitting and the intention to quit,these feelings about work have importantorganizational consequences.

Managerial Roles

The competing values model of organizationaleffectiveness has two underlying dimensions.

They are the degree of emphasis theorganization places on flexibility or controland the organizations internal or externalorientation. Managers in organizations using

these four different models of what it is to beeffective will be asked to take on differentroles.

Internal Process. There are two managerialroles within the internal process model.

The coordinator role is most like that of the

classical manager. Competencies are


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planning, organizing, and controlling. Themanager is dependable, reliable, andmaintains structure. In the monitor role the

manager is a technical expert and receives,evaluates, and reacts to information aboutinternal organizational processes.

Rational Goal Model. The director andproducer roles of the rational goal modelfocus on the managers attempts to maximizeorganizational output. These roles areespecially important when the manager isdealing with subordinates and is attemptingto motivate their behaviour toward theaccomplishment of organizational goals.

The director sets goals and delegates tasks

in the attempt to best organize and guide thework. The producer manager is more likely tobe actively involved in the organizations work

while attempting to motivate employees toproduce more output in less time.

Open Systems Model. Managers operating inorganizations with an open systems model ofeffectiveness are more used to change and aremore oriented to external relations with thepeople and organizations that accept theorganizations product. Thebrokerbuilds abase of power inside and outside the

organization and engages in a great deal of


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discussion and negotiation with others.The innovator is more oriented to beingflexible, thinking creatively, and managing

the constant change that is required in thistype of organization.

Human Relations Model. Managers inorganizations subscribing to the humanrelations model are oriented towards thedevelopment of their people, as individualsand in teams. In the mentor role themanager attempts to help subordinatesdevelop as individuals, to understandthemselves and others, and to learn tocommunicate well with others. More highlydeveloped employees will be capable of

greater flexibility as the organization and itsenvironment change. The facilitator role ismore group oriented, with the manager actingas a team builder, helping to manage conflict

within and between groups, and helping thegroup to make decisions.

These eight managerial roles are a usefulstarting point for understanding whatmanagers do. A particular manager mayconcentrate activities in only one of the eightroles. But the other roles will also compete forattention because effectiveness cannot be

fully described by only one orientation.


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Therefore, someone who expects to be amanager will need to be competent in allthese roles, but to different degrees and at

different times in different organizations.

The Nature Of Managerial Work

What is it like to be a manager? There are sixdefining characteristics of managerial work.

1. The manager performs a great quantityof work at an unrelenting pace. Work hoursare long and constant. After office hours,managers read material related to work.

2. Managerial activity is characterized byvariety, fragmentation, and brevity. Many

unscheduled meetings, telephone calls, andreactions to the days crises produced a daybroken into a large number of activities ofshort duration.

3. Managers prefer issues that are currentand. They prefer to deal with issues in real

time and on the spot. They like to takeaction at the time they are confronted withthe problem.

4. The manager sits between theorganization and a network of contacts. Animportant activity of managers is to

communicate with a wide variety of people


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outside the organization. Clients, suppliers,peers, outside experts and officials of otherorganizations have to be communicated

with because they supply informationrelevant to the operation of theorganization.

5. The manager has a strong preferencefor the verbal media of using the telephoneand having meetings over using the mail.Building and maintaining a personalrelationship with others both inside andoutside the organization is crucial, andrequires personal contact.

6. Despite the preponderance of

obligations, managers are able to controltheir own affairs. The manager has to reactto requests and communications and mustattend meetings, but can choose over thelonger term how to spend his or her time.

The nature of the managerial job differs by

culture and country. In Canada and theUnited States, the manager is consideredmore of an equal by those lower in theorganizational hierarchy. The manager istherefore not expected to have all theknowledge required to make all decisions, orindeed even to make all work decisions. In

Japan the manager is more of a parental


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figure to the group, is seen as moreknowledgeable and in control, and takes apersonal interest in both the work and

personal lives of employees. In Italy themanager is expected to have the answers tothe questions subordinates have about their

work.

Managing the Individual

Motivation

The motivation of individuals at work is oneof the most important jobs of a manager.What makes someone come to work andapply effort towards getting the taskaccomplished? What makes someone decidenot to come to work? People work to betterthe world, be part of a team, and achievetechnical excellence.

Managers need to understand the differentforces that act on an individual. Then the

question of how to exert influence on thoseforces may be addressed. At that point themanager can attempt to influence thebehaviour of organizational members so thatit is directed towards accomplishing theorganizations tasks.


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Motivation can be defined as the attentionpaid, effort exerted, and persistence ofbehaviour.

A number of theories of human motivationhave been proposed over the years.Motivation is a useful device to think about

why people do what they do.

Need Theories of Motivation

Maslows Hierarchy

In what is probably the most widely describedtheory of human motivation, AbrahamMaslow proposed that humans have a built-in set of five basic needs, and that these

needs form a hierarchy. He described the fiveneeds (from lowest to highest) asphysiological the most basic human needfor air, food, and water; safety the need tobe safe from physical and psychologicalharm; socialthe need to be accepted, loved,

and to belong to a social system; esteemtheneed for recognition and prestige given byothers; and self-actualization the need tobecome the best that one is capable ofbecoming and to be self-fulfilled.

In this theory each lower need in the

hierarchy must be satisfied before the next


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higher level need takes effect. To use thismodel of human needs, a manager attemptingto build a group at work would want the

esteem needs of group members to bedominant. The manager would therefore haveto make sure that physiological and safetyneeds were met. This would be done bypaying a living wage and providing a safe andsecure work environment.

Maslow also proposed that when a lower-levelneed was not fulfilled, it would again beactivated. An individual at work who isconcerned with the recognition of others hashis or her esteem needs activated. If this job

were lost the person would be expected to

revert back to the physiological need to obtainfood and would then be unconcerned withesteem.

This hierarchy is a useful though very broad way of understanding the behaviour ofpeople. There are certainly exceptions to thefixed movement up and down the hierarchy ofneeds. An example is the starving artist whofulfills the self-actualization need but notphysiological needs. Also, more than onecategory of need could affect an individualsbehaviour at a given time. People at work


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could, for instance, be concerned with socialand esteem needs at the same time.

In addition, it is clear that Maslows hierarchyrelies on the Anglo-American culturalemphasis on the individual. Other culturesmay have different hierarchies of needs. Forexample, in the Peoples Republic of Chinathe group is of great importance to theindividual. Belonging is therefore the primaryneed. It cannot, therefore, be assumed thatpeople from all the cultures of the worldshare the same basic built-in needs. Needhierarchies can be expected to vary by culturedepending on each cultures values. Themanager of organizational members from

different cultural backgrounds has toremember that everyone does not share thesame way of looking at and understanding asituation. Their needs may be different evenin the exact same work conditions.

McClellands Theory of Needs

A second theory of needs is by DavidMcClelland. In this theory, individuals arethought to vary in their drive to gratify sixbasic human needs. These are the needs forachievement, power, affiliation,

independence, esteem, and security. The


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need for achievement has been extensivelystudied. The theory is that people willaccomplish the most when they have a high

need for achievement. They will select goalsthat are medium in difficulty goals that arechallenging but not impossible. Those low inneed for achievement will select goals that areeither low in difficulty and therefore easy toaccomplish or very high in difficulty. Failure

to achieve such extremely high goals wouldtherefore be expected.

An interesting finding of McClellands work isthat need for achievement varies amongnations. On a practical level, McClelland hasproposed that the populace of entire nations

could be trained to be higher on need forachievement. Then, over time, these needs

would manifest themselves as people chosemore difficult goals and worked to achievethem. The economy of a whole region couldbe positively influenced in this way.

Process Theories of Motivation

Equity Theory

One way that people at work examine theirsituation is by comparing what they put intoand get out of the job to the inputs andoutcomes of another. Inputs could be hours


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worked, education, experience, etc. Outcomescould be money, status, job level, etc. Thiscomparison is shown in the form of a ratio.

Note that outcomes to inputs for the self isNOT set as equal to outcomes to inputs of theother. Equity theory is activated when thereis a difference in the two ratios.

Outcomesself/Inputsself :Outcomesother/Inputsother

If the ratio of self-inputs to outcomes issimilar to the ratio of the comparison othersinputs to outcomes, equity (or harmony) isnot disturbed. However, when inequity isperceived to exist the individual perceivingthe inequity is motivated to restore balance.Note that this is an individuals perception ofinequality. Others could well see the samesituation as being equitable.

People can restore equity in many ways. If the

self outcomes-to-inputs ratio is less than thatof the comparison other, the person couldseek more outcomes (typically more pay);reduce inputs into the job (work less hard,take longer breaks); attempt to reduce theothers outcomes (If you cant pay us thesame, then pay my co- worker less); decidethat the other really has more inputs that


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balance the equation (She really worksharder than I do); decide that thecomparison is being made with the wrong

person (change the comparison other in theequity equation); or quit the job.

Employees often feel a strong need for equity.Managers seek to create a social situation

where inequity is not felt, at least by thoseemployees the manager wishes to keep on the

job. What is important is the feeling of equityand not the absolute value of inputs oroutcomes. Even professional baseball playersearning millions of dollars a year cangenuinely feel mistreated when comparisons

with their peers show their situation to be

inequitable.

Salaries and benefits in North America areoften kept secret in order that the informationnecessary to determine equity is not availableto the individual. This pay secrecy is often notpossible, however, for government or union

jobs where pay rates are known. In Japanand Korea pay increases are not usually

widely different for different members of a work group. Keeping everyone at the samelevel earning about the same pay means thatequity and harmony are maintained. Slow

promotion in these Far East cultures allows


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the truly superior performers to be recognizedover the long term. By then all members ofthe group have come to the same conclusion

that the inputs of these superior performersare indeed greater than the inputs of others.

If the ratio of outcomes to inputs for the selfturns out to be greater than that for theother, working harder or changing theperceived level of self-inputs can resolve thisoverpayment inequity. In an individualistic

work culture, it does not usually take long forsomeone in overpayment inequity to decidethat the level of self-inputs is actually higherthan previously thought and for internalbalance to be restored

Expectancy Theory

This motivation theory is one of cognitivechoice. It proposes that each individual at

work examines his or her own personal worksituation and makes a decision about how

much effort to exert in the pursuit of worksuccess. The formula for this calculation is

Effort = E I * V

In this formula, effort is the motivation of the worker to exert effort on the job. E is the

workers expectancy that effort will result in


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job performance. Expectancies areprobabilities, ranging from 0 to 1, that effort

will result in performance.

The (capital sigma: the summation sign)indicates that effort is affected by a range ofpossible work and non-work outcomes thatmight result from job performance. Thedecision of how much effort to exert on a taskdepends on the consideration of severaloutcomes. It is very important to recognizethat it is the individual who decides whatoutcomes are related to job performance and

what valences and instrumentalities to assignto each of the outcomes. Finally, examiningthe expectancy theory equation, it is clear

that if expectancy is low, then no matter whatoutcomes are considered and how high theirvalences, effort is predicted to be low.

The instrumentality of job performance to a work or non-work outcome is I.Instrumentalities can range from -1 to +1.

They indicate the perceived connection in themind of the individual worker thatperformance will lead to a given outcome. Aninstrumentality of +1 would mean thatperformance is certain to lead to the outcome.For example, a real estate agent selling a

house is certain to receive a commission. The


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instrumentality between these two events istherefore +1. An instrumentality of -1 meansthat performance ensures another outcome is

certain not to occur. For example, when acontractor completes a building on time, alate penalty will not be invoked. Theinstrumentality between on-time buildingcompletion and late penalty is -1.Instrumentalities equal to or near zero mean

that no connection is perceived between jobperformance and outcomes. They in effectbecome zero in the expectancy equation anddo not affect the decision about work effort.

V is the valence or anticipated satisfaction ofan outcome. Valences can be positive or

negative, small or large, and are attached toeach outcome considered by the individual.When expectancy theory is represented inequation form, valences are often defined tovary between -10 and +10. This choice ofunits is arbitrary. Large anticipated

satisfactions (high positive valences) andlarge anticipated dissatisfactions (highnegative valences) when multiplied byassociated instrumentalities and performanceexpectancy will have a large effect on themotivation to exert effort on the job.


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To use expectancy theory in an attempt toincrease each individual workers motivationto exert effort, a manager can focus on eachof the theorys components.

1. The manager can aim to increase theworkers expectancy that effort will resultin performance. Success on the job willincrease E as will job-related training andthe provision of the tools needed to do the

job. The individual at work needs to seethat performance is possible. Also,performance must be accurately perceivedand measured for the individual worker tomaintain a high Effort Performanceexpectancy.

2. The manager can find out whatoutcomes people consider important,

whether they are positively or negativelyvalued, and how they are affected by workperformance. Perhaps these outcomesand values can be re-evaluated based onthe managers knowledge of theexperiences of other employees. Forexample, the chances of a promotion maybe higher than an employee thinks andthe benefits of the promotion may behigher than anticipated by the employee.

Also, the manager may know of other


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outcomes resulting from workperformance that would be valued by theemployee. Managers usually have at their

disposal a variety of rewards that gobeyond those anticipated by theemployee. These can be made available asoutcomes that will follow workperformance.

3. Finally, the manager can attempt toincrease the valence of outcomes that areclosely tied to job performance and toincrease the instrumentality of outcomesthat have high valence for the individual.Perhaps an employee can be convincedthat the rewards available from work have

more value than previously thought.

Goal Setting

The theory of goal setting is fairly simple,although based on thousands of studies. Thefollowing four rules of goal setting can be

used to self-set goals or to help others withtheir goals. As a manager of others it isimportant to make sure the persons workgoals follow these rules and that feedback isgiven to the worker.

1. Difficult goals will produce higher

performance than easy goals.


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2. Specific difficult goals will producehigher performance than will no goals orIll do my best kinds of goals.

3. Goal setting with feedback on goalattainment will produce higher performancethan goal setting alone.

4. Employee participation in goal setting will help to produce higher performance

than no participation when goals that areset participatively are higher than assignedgoals.

Some organizations have instituted formalgoal-setting procedures for use organization-

wide. These plans, called Management By

Objectives (MBO), can be effective if the goalsset are specific and difficult, are accepted byorganizational members, and feedback isprovided about goal accomplishment.

Individuals can use goal-setting principles tomanage themselves. The interested readermight like to try setting a specific and difficultgoal and then charting progress toward it.

The key is to select a goal that is not too farin the future and to be very specific aboutexactly what the goal is.

Reinforcement Theories


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Classical Conditioning

The Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov

demonstrated that the sound of a bell couldmake a dog salivate. First, Pavlov rang thebell while food powder was placed in themouth of the dog. Then, after a series of thesepairings of food and the bell, the dog learnedto salivate (which, of course, is the dogsnatural response to food) at the sound of thebell whether or not food was actually present.

There are also occasions when classicalconditioning is found in the workplace. Thelunch bell or factory whistle at quitting timecan produce the conditioned responses of

salivating/eating or leaving the factory. Thesound of a warning horn on a forklift truck, ifpaired with the adrenaline released into thebody to help avoid danger, can later producethe adrenaline push even when danger is notpresent. If the air quality in an office buildingis poor and gives people headaches, the act ofgoing to the office can trigger the headacheeven before the poor air quality has had anactual physical effect.

Operant Conditioning

The shaping of behaviour requires that targetend behaviour is known and that the person


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being shaped can exhibit successiveapproximations to that end behaviour. Forexample, a salesperson may be taught how to

deal with customers by working with atrainer. This instructor has a predeterminedimage of the desired sales behaviour in mind.

The trainer rewards the trainee when acustomer is served in a way that is closer tothe ideal than was the service to the previous

customer. For shaping to be successful, theperson being shaped must be able to generatethe target behaviour and must value thereward being offered to learn the newbehaviour.

In reinforcement theory, behaviour (the

operant) by the subject is followed by areward or a punishment in order to make thebehaviour more likely or less likely. Thegeneral and most important principle ofreinforcement theory is that people will do

what they are rewarded for doing and will

avoid doing what they are punished for doing.Rewarded behaviour is more likely to occur inthe future.

A simple example is why a person goes towork. What is the reward for attendance? Oneanswer is usually the money paid for

attendance. But some jobs are not paid


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positions. These include volunteer work in ahospital or serving on the board of directorsof a charity. Whether a position is paid or

unpaid, it may provide rewards such asmembership in a work group, doinginteresting work, or providing learning andexperience that will be valuable in a future

job. Without a reward for being a member ofan organization or group, people simply stop

attending.

Each individual person decides on what isrewarding or punishing.

A great deal of research has been done bypsychologists on how best to reinforce

behaviour, in terms of the amount and timingof rewards. A strong finding is that rewardsand punishments have their greatest effect

when they closely follow behaviour. When theseparation between behaviour and outcomesis too long, the connection between behaviourand stimulus can be lost.

Other work has shown that differentschedules of reinforcement affect how quicklya behaviour is learned and how long it takesbefore it disappears when it is no longerrewarded (called extinction). Four

reinforcement schedules are fixed interval,


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fixed ratio, variable interval, and variableratio.

An example offixed interval is being paidonce a month on the last day of the month. Afixed interval schedule of reinforcement willreward a person for being present on the daythe reward is due.

An example of a fixed ratio reinforcement

plan is being paid 50 cents for every unitproduced. The ratio in this case is fixed at1:1. If a $10 bonus were paid to an employeefor every tenth customer who applies for acompany credit card, the ratio would be fixedat 1:10. It would be paid immediately after

the tenth order. A fixed ratio schedule willmotivate a person to work hard when thereward is near (Only three more orders togo!) but not when the reward has just beenobtained.

A variable ratio schedule would allocate a

reward on an average of once for every xtimes that the behaviour being rewarded wereto occur. For example, a salesperson could bepaid a $10 bonus for every 25 customerscontacted, but the bonus could be paid atany time, not just after the 25th customer. It

might be paid after the 10th and 40th


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customers. The average, however, would bethat for every 25 customers the bonus wouldbe paid once. A good example of the variable

ratio reward schedule is that of a slotmachine, which is programmed to pay

jackpots on a determined frequency but couldpay a jackpot twice in succession. Think howeffective slot machines would be if theyoperated on a fixed ratio schedule!

A company could be concerned aboutemployees being at work by 8 a.m. It couldpay a $20 bonus to every employee at workby 8 a.m. on a given day. If this bonus wereawarded on average once in every five days it

would be avariable interval reinforcement

schedule. The employees would, on average,receive the $20 bonus once for every five daysthey are at work on time. But the $20 is paidon a variable schedule so that any employeemight receive the bonus the 7th and 10th time.

Variable interval and variable ratioreinforcement schedules make the behaviourmore constant because the person does notknow which behaviour will be the one to berewarded.

Organizations often provide reinforcements

using what is called a token reinforcement


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plan. In this plan a token (it could be a pokerchip, a point, or any other symbolic item) isgiven after the desired behaviour. Tokens are

accumulated and then turned in for aproduct or service that has value to theperson being rewarded. For example, mentalhealth organizations often put patients on atoken plan to control their behaviour.Patients then buy food, magazines, etc. with

the tokens. Airlines use these principles withtheir frequent flier plans. Here the tokens arepoints, which may be turned in later for airtravel. However, like all token reinforcementplans, when stopped the behaviour beingrewarded will likely stop as well. This is one

dilemma faced by airlines over their frequentflier plans once started they are hard tostop.

When behaviour causes a negative stimulusto be removed, that stimulus is a negativereinforcer. People at work can be motivated to

act in a way that gets rid of an alreadyexisting unpleasant condition.

Sometimes behaviour by an organizationalmember is not desired, but not rewarding it

will not lead to its extinction. In this casethere is some other reward that is reinforcing

the undesired behaviour. Therefore, to stop


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the behaviour a punishment is applied. Apunishment is an outcome that is negativelyvalued by the person. For example, factory

time clocks are often programmed to print thetime of worker arrival on the time card. Whenthe employee is late, the time is printed in redink and the employee is docked 1/4 hour ofpay (for example) as a punishment. The redink is the signal of the punishment.

Punishment can be a good way to stop theoccurrence of an unwanted behaviour, buthas some undesirable side effects. For thisreason punishment should only be used

when the behaviour is one that must beimmediately stopped.

One side effect of punishment is that theperson being punished can associate thenegative consequence with the punisher andmay later react against the punisher,someone else, or the company. This sideeffect is not to be taken lightly. Persons at

work who learn to dislike someone whopunishes them may take their anger out onthe supervisor, co-workers, themselves, oreven innocent bystanders.

Another punishment side effect is that theundesirable behaviour will tend to re-occur

when the punisher is absent or the person


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punished feels there is little chance of beingcaught. To punish effectively, the managermust punish immediately after the undesired

behaviour. The desired behaviour must bemade clear so that the employee knows whatto do, not just what not to do. Finally, it isthe action that should be punished and notthe person.

Modelling

People learn what to do, what works andwhat doesnt work by watching others. This iscalled modelling. It is a very important formof learning because mistakes do not have tobe made before they are corrected and

effective behaviours do not have to be learnedbit by bit over time. People can learn effectivebehaviours all at once in great leaps by

watching what others do. They can see thewhole behaviour all at once. When they learnvicariously by watching others they do notreceive the rewards or the punishments thatthe other may obtain.

The most crucial element in social learning isthe role model. Managers can model effectivebehaviour themselves. For instance, themanager of a life insurance agency could take

a new recruit on a series of sales calls to


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show how the selling is done. A police forcecould create two-person teams of a junior anda senior officer so that the junior can learn by

watching the other. The rookie officer learnsby doing and by watching. However, if therole model is showing what the manager

would consider to be the wrong way to act,social learning will not be effective.

Reward Systems

Managers must understand the importance ofrewards in the workplace, the many differenttypes of rewards, and how rewards are made.

There is a wide variety of possible workrewards. These include pay, promotion, thechance to do interesting work, time off,learning opportunities, travel to conferences,etc.

Managers need to:

1. Determine what is currently being

rewarded

2. Decide what work performance shouldbe rewarded

3. Develop a wide variety of rewards thatcan be awarded at the managers discretion

the manager controls the reward


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4. Reward desired behaviour within thecontext of the social situation at work.

Managers in organizations will often create areward system, especially for the allocation ofpay and benefits. These systems are a set ofrules regarding how rewards are earned andpaid. An important point to remember whenconsidering any system is that if one personcan create it, another can figure out how tobeat it. Managers have to avoid being caughtup in a cycle of adding more rules to thesystem only to have someone else find theloophole to beat the system, whichnecessitates the addition of still more rulesand so on.

Some newer approaches to reward systemsare cafeteria-style fringe benefits, all-salariedteams, skill-based pay, and profit sharing.

The cafeteria-style fringe benefits approachgives employees a budget and allows them to

select the benefits they most want from amenu of possibilities. A young single personmight select extra vacation days, a parent of

young children a dental plan, and an older worker higher contributions to the companypension plan. While such choice of benefits

might not motivate job effort or performance,it could make the individual worker more


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satisfied, less stressed, and therefore be morelikely to attend work and stay in the job.

On all-salaried teams everyone is paid asalary instead of some members being onsalary and some paid on an hourly basis. Theadvantage here is that a greater sense ofcohesion is created along with the willingnessto share tasks.

Employees on a skill-based pay plan are paida base hourly rate and an additional amountper hour for each job skill they havemastered, whether the skill is currently usedor not. This plan promotes flexibility, jobrotation, and the constant upgrading of skills.

Finally, there are many different types ofprofit sharing plans that exist for allocating aportion of company profits to its members.

The purpose of these plans is to enhance theemployees identification with the companysoverall objective by providing the employee a

stake in the profits.

Job Design

Organizations divide their work to be doneinto tasks, and then combine tasks togetherinto jobs that can each be held by an

individual. The way jobs are designed affects


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the individual jobholders internal state andexternal behaviours of how he or she feelsand acts. Managers in organizations are

therefore interested in job design as a meansof increasing worker satisfaction, motivation,and performance.

There are four main approaches to the designof jobs. The engineering approach is based on

work in industrial engineering and scientificmanagement. Its aim is to simplify jobs sothat it becomes easy to find and train workersthat can do those jobs. The efficiency of the

work is the goal of the engineering approachto job design. The person-machine fitapproach is based on how people process

information and how their basic biology andphysiology affect perception and physicalmovement. Its aim is to improve the fitbetween person and task so that thereliability of performance is enhanced and theperson doing the job experiences less fatigue

and stress. The biological approach to jobdesign deals with how people react to thephysical conditions experienced in the

workplace. Its aim is to reduce the physicalstress and strain on the worker so thatemployee comfort is increased. The

psychological approach to job designexamines how people think about their jobs,


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the meaning of the job, and why the job isimportant. Its aims are to improve the

workers job satisfaction, motivation to do the

job, involvement in the job, and jobperformance.

Each of these four approaches to job designfocuses on a different outcome of work. Eachhas its own costs and benefits. The managerin an organization could not attempt to useall four approaches at the same time becausetheir recommendations can conflict. Forexample, jobs can be simplified and madeeasy for a worker to accomplish adequate andreliable performance, but then these jobs arenot likely to offer the depth and challenge

that some workers require.

Engineering

Scientific management, work simplification,and time and motion study are the sources ofthis approach. The engineering method

concentrates on the job itself, and not on theperson doing the job. It attempts to make the

job easier to perform in order to obtaingreater efficiency and reliability, make iteasier to find and train people to perform the

job. Job content is reduced. Any physical and

psychological effects on the people doing the


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job are of secondary importance. Workers areseen mechanistically, as interchangeableparts needed to do the work.

Person-Machine Fit

This is the study of persons in their workingenvironment and is concerned with the fitbetween the person and the machine. Herethe person is considered in the performance

of the work, but mostly in the sense ofreducing errors that humans are likely tomake. The attention and concentrationrequirements of jobs are designed so that the

job does not demand too much of theworkers physical and mental capabilities.

Common approaches are the design of partsthat can be inserted only one way, machinesthat can be operated only in the most efficientmanner, and dials that can be easily read.When a job is designed well in this way, thereliability of job performance should be

enhanced. The worker should make fewermistakes and have fewer job-relatedaccidents. Also, the individual worker shouldexperience less fatigue, stress, mentaloverload, and boredom on the job.

One important new area of equipment designis that of computer monitors and keyboards.


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With many employees now sitting in front ofvideo display terminals (VDTs) for longperiods of time, any radiation they emit is a

health concern. Typing faster and faster oncomputer keyboards while having few restbreaks is causing repetitive stress disorderssuch as carpal tunnel syndrome and arm and

wrist tendonitis. Several low-stress, flexiblekeyboards have been designed that require

far less finger muscle energy thanconventional keyboards and can be split androtated so that the users hands are not instressful positions.

Biological

This approach focuses on the physicalcomfort and well being of the person doingthe job and on the physical characteristics ofthe workplace. Job conditions concern whereand how the work is done and in whatphysical environment. Biological job design isconcerned with privacy, lighting, air quality,noise, and space.

Privacy. This characteristic concerns visualand speech privacy as well as the physicalaccessibility of the office. Open-plan orlandscaped offices are less private than

traditional enclosed offices. Their walls are


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usually room dividers that can be moved asnecessary. Offices are areas of the floorenclosed by dividers and usually do not have

a door. The person working in an open officecan typically be easily seen and heard, and isreadily accessible. Open-plan workspacesmay also be made up of workstations orcarrels.

Lighting. Most people prefer natural light toartificial light. Natural light contains the fullspectrum of colours, and is perceived as

warmer and brighter than artificial lighting.Fluorescent lighting can flicker, hum, andcause headaches. Incandescent lightsproduce a more yellow light than most

fluorescents. They are useful for desksbecause the individual can flexibly direct thelight. This is an advantage because people at

work like to be able to control the amount oflight in their workspace.

Artificial lights can also be concentrated in anarray to make a bright panel that mimics theintensity of natural outdoor light. Such apanel can be useful in controlling a form ofdepression, called seasonal affective disorder,caused in some individuals by a lack of light.Artificial light can also be used to help people

working at night in offices or factories to


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control their body clocks. The body can befooled into switching night for day, whichhelps the person to work more effectively at

night.

Air Quality. Because many office towers aresealed, fresh air is supplied only through theheating, ventilating, and air conditioning(HVAC) system. Air temperatures are oftennot controllable in individual offices, so thatsome employees feel too hot and others toocool to work effectively.

The increasing numbers of computers, laserprinters, photocopiers, and fax machines inan office release more chemicals into the air

and therefore a greater supply of fresh air isrequired. When airflow is restricted,contaminants can build up in the air causingallergic reactions among employees.

The sick building syndrome is when morethan 20 percent of the people working in the

building complain of headaches, dizzy spells,sore throats, itchy eyes, nausea, skinirritations or coughs, and when workers getbetter 12 to 24 hours after leaving thebuilding.

To reduce the effects of poor office air qualitythe following prescriptions apply.


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1. The heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system needs to be examinedand cleaned, especially to eliminate molds

growing in the ventilation system. Molds andmildews on walls and other surfaces must becleaned.

2. More fresh air needs to be drawn intothe building. Fresh air intakes must belocated away from exhausted air andoutdoor pollutants. Tobacco smoke needs tobe reduced or eliminated inside thebuilding.

3. Since paint, glue, and new cloth used inoffice screens and carpets all give off

noxious gases, these need to be cooked off when installed by heating the building tohigh levels and venting the gases to theoutside.

4. The use of insecticides and volatilecleaners inside the building must be

reduced.Noise. Noise is increasing in offices along

with higher numbers of office machines anddensities of people working in the office.Installing ceiling, wall, and floor coveringscan reduce noise. Another solution is to build

walls and partitions that will shield workers


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from ambient noise. An example of a whitenoise generator is a machine that projectssounds of waves or rain. With such a

generator operating in the office theconversations of others will be heard but the

words spoken will be harder to make out.Such conversations will therefore be lessdistracting.

A more active and high-tech approach isactive noise control. Here a microphone isplaced near the source of a repetitive noise,the sounds picked up are digitally analyzedand a speaker generates an anti-noise. Thisanti-noise is made to be out of phase with theoriginal noise so that the two cancel each

other out. Noise here is not masked orbaffled, but eliminated. For high-noise

workplaces where hearing damage is apossibility, special anti-noise headphones canbe worn.

Space. The comfort, efficiency, and health ofemployees are key factors that are influencedby the design of the workers physical spaceand equipment used. Uncomfortablefurniture, inappropriately sized worksurfaces, sharp-cornered desks, andbookcases with the top shelves out of reach

are all symptoms of a poor physical support


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system. People differ widely in their physicalcharacteristics and equipment designed forthe average person suits very few. The trend

towards a more diverse work force alsoincreases the need for the careful design ofoffice furnishings and work equipment.

Psychological

In this approach to job design, the mental

state of the worker is considered of primaryimportance in the performance of the task.

Job Enlargement. This refers to the additionof tasks to a job. When tasks are given thatadd variety to the work and help to break upthe day, enlargement is a useful approach.However, if the tasks added are seen by

jobholders as more of the same, the enlarged job will not likely increase the workersmotivation to perform the work. An importantaspect of job refers to the number of people

with whom the jobholder interacts, who these

people are (clients, suppliers, customers, etc.)and how long these interactions typically last.A worker who is in constant contact with thegeneral public and has a job high in numberof relationships that last a short time has anenlarged job that is likely to cause stress.


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Job Enrichment. This approach buildsmotivational factors into a job, making the

job more complex and challenging. Enriched jobs are expected to increase the jobholdersmotivation to perform, especially if the workeris seeking more of a challenge. Enriched jobsmay have increased authority, supervision,management, and decision-makingresponsibilities. The more these elements

exist in a job the higher is its vertical loading.

When a job is enriched to make it complexand enlarged, the job scope is high.

Job Rotation. Job rotation allows themovement of people between jobs. This can

help to reduce the boredom associated withperforming any one job for a long period oftime. In a factory with a number of assembly

jobs, personnel can be moved between thejobs on a fixed rotation or on an as-requestedbasis. Rotation could occur at the end of arelatively long period of time performing one

job, a month for example, or could occur on adaily basis. Job rotation is not limited tofactory or service jobs. Professionals can beseconded from their home organization tohelp another organization for a fixed amountof time. An executive might, for instance, be

given four months away from the home


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organization to work with the United Way onits yearly campaign.

One benefit of job rotation is that it has agroup cooperative emphasis. Personnelrotated through jobs build personalrelationships with others while learning whatthe others do in their work. A bankmanagement trainee could expect to rotatethrough a number of different functionalareas in bank branches and throughbranches of different sizes and servingdifferent clienteles before being assigned tohead office.

The Job Characteristics Model. This model

shows how the characteristics of a job arelikely to affect the performance of the jobholder. Jobs can be analyzed formotivating potential and redesigned to bemore motivating for jobholders.

Five core job dimensions are:

1. Skill Variety the number of skillsnecessary to do the job

2. Task Identitythe degree to which thejob is done start to finish by one worker

3. Task Significance the importance ofthe job to other peoples lives


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4. Autonomy the freedom to do the jobin the way the job holder wants

5. Feedback information about jobperformance comes from the job itself orfrom co-workers.

The Job Characteristics Model argues thatthese five core dimensions of a job affect thepsychological state of the individual worker.

Psychological state in turn affects personaland work outcomes. The outcomesconsidered in the model are internal workmotivation, quality of work performance,satisfaction with the work, and absenteeismand turnover. The basic prediction of the

model is that jobs that are higher on the fivecore job dimensions will create positivepsychological states that will then result inbeneficial personal and work outcomes.

Specifically, the more skills that are requiredto do the job, the more the whole job is

performed by the same worker, and the morethe performance of the job makes a differenceto other peoples lives, the more it is likely tobe experienced as meaningful.

Autonomy is expected in the jobcharacteristics model to lead to the

psychological state of experienced


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responsibility for outcomes of the work. Theperson at work who is free to make choicesregarding what to do and how to do it is also

likely to feel responsible for the decisionsmade. The emergency room physician decideshow to treat patients and bears theresponsibility for what happens to them.

Feedback on the job performed will lead toknowledge of the actual results of the workactivities. Sometimes doctors prescribemedication to a patient and never find out

what difference the medicine made or even ifthe patient actually took it. In the emergencyroom, medication is likely to be prescribedand administered; then the patients status is

monitored. Feedback from blood samples,blood pressure readings, etc., as well as thepatients own reports all provide knowledge ofthe results of actions taken by the emergencyroom physician.

The Job Characteristics Model proposes thatan aspect of the employees personality calledgrowth need strength affects the relationshipbetween core job dimensions and workoutcomes. GNS is a persons basic desire tobetter him or herself. An employee might havea low growth need strength and not desire a

motivating job. That employee would be quite


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content to work in a job low on the five core job dimensions and to experience lowmeaningfulness, low responsibility, and low

knowledge of work results. A worker withhigh GNS would find such a job non-motivating. Work outcomes are therefore notlikely to be high.

There are two other variables thought toaffect the relationship between jobcharacteristics and performance. First, if anindividual does not have the knowledge andskills required to do a job then even a jobhigh on the core dimensions is not likely toresult in better work outcomes. The job canbe challenging, but a person who feels unable

to effectively perform the job will not feelchallenged. The second factor is contextsatisfactions. If the context of work isdisagreeable then the individual worker willprobably not be motivated by the jobscharacteristics. Motivating potential score

(MPS) is defined as:(Skill Variety + Task Identity + TaskSignificance)/3 * Autonomy * Feedback

Using seven-point scales where 1 is low and 7is high; the maximum MPS is 73 or 343. The


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average MPS for a variety of jobs has beendetermined to be 128.

If a job is determined to be low on MPS, anexamination of the levels of the five factorsmay identify one that is relatively low andtherefore a candidate for change. It isimportant to remember that MPS is ameasure of the characteristics of the jobitself, not of how any particular person mightperceive the dimensions of his or her job. Jobredesign, then, is a general concept. A morespecific concept of motivation would bealtering a job to better fit a particular person,or modifying a persons perceptions of a jobso that it is seen as more motivating.

Combining tasks to be performed is a way toincrease both skill variety and task identity.Building a bigger job out of smaller ones willrequire more skills and that the workerperforms a larger piece of the total work.Work units can be formed that follow natural

work clusters, thereby increasing taskidentity and task significance. This is becausethe formation of natural work units allowsthe individual to see the whole job being doneand the difference it makes. Building uprelationships with clients helps to increase

skill variety, autonomy, and feedback.


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Vertical loading can also enrich a job so thatthe jobholder has more autonomy andresponsibility for work outcomes. A salesclerk at Marks Work Wearhouse, forinstance, could be given responsibility forordering clothing for several productcategories and tracking sales and customerresponse to the product.

Opening feedback channels can increase theamount of feedback generated by a job.Clients can be asked to report on theirexperiences. Comment cards are often usedfor this purpose. Feedback can come fromsupervisors or from devices used to performthe work. For instance, supermarket

checkout scanners can be programmed toreport on the number of items scanned in agiven period.

After the job has been designed, a jobdescription is created, which is a summary ofthe tasks and role behaviours for theparticular job.


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THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION.

The key to leadership success is

MOTIVATING OTHERS TO DO THEIR BEST. The importance of satisfaction in theworkforce cannot be overstated.

Losing an employee can cost over $100,000.

Motivating the right people to join and remain with the organization is a key function ofmanagers.

People are motivated by a variety of things.

An INTRINSIC REWARD is the good feelingyou have when you have done a good job.

An EXTRINSIC REWARD is something givento you by someone else as recognition forgood work and include pay increases, praise,and promotions.

MOTIVATION, the drive to satisfy a need,

ultimately comes from WITHIN ANINDIVIDUAL.

The purpose of this chapter is to help youlearn how to stimulate people and bring outthat natural drive to do a good job.


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The job of a manager is to find each workerscommitment, encourage it, and focus it onsome common goal

EARLY MANAGEMENT STUDIES (TAYLOR).

FREDERICK TAYLOR is known as the"FATHER OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT."

His book The Principles of Scientific

Management was published in 1911. TAYLORS GOAL was to INCREASEPRODUCTIVITY by studying the most efficient

ways of doing things and then teachingworkers these methods.

The way to improve productivity was toscientifically study the most efficient way todo things then teach people those methods(SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.)

THREE ELEMENTS of his approach were:TIME, METHODS, and RULES OF WORK.

TIME-MOTION STUDIES break down thetasks needed to do a job and measure thetime needed to do each task.

Henry L. Gant, on of Taylors followers,developed GANTT CHARTS by which


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managers plotted the work of employees aday in advance.

FRANK AND LILLIAN GILBRETH usedTaylors ideas in the PRINCIPLE OF MOTIONECONOMYbreaking down every job into aseries of motions (therbligs) and thenanalyzing each motion to make it moreefficient.

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT viewed people asMACHINES that needed to be properlyprogrammed.

There was little concern for the psychologicalor human aspects of work.

Much emphasis in some companies is stillplaced on conformity to work rules ratherthan on creativity, flexibility, andresponsiveness.

THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES (MAYO.)

The HAWTHORNE STUDIES were conductedby Elton Mayo at the WESTERN ELECTRICCOMPANYs Hawthorne plant in Cicero,Illinois.

Begun in 1927, the studies ended six yearslater.


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The PURPOSE of the studies were toDETERMINE THE BEST LIGHTING foroptimum productivity.

The PRODUCTIVITY of the experimentalgroup INCREASED compared to the controlgroup whether the lighting was bright or dim.

These results confused the researchers, whohad expected productivity to fall as the

lighting was dimmed.

A second series of studies were conducted tosee if OTHER FACTORS, such as temperatureand humidity, contributed to increasedproduction.

PRODUCTIVITY INCREASED during each ofthe 13 experimental periods.

When conditions were returned to theiroriginal status (before the studies werestarted), PRODUCTIVITY CONTINUED TO GOUP. Why?

Mayo hypothesized that HUMAN orPSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS caused theincreases:

The workers in the test room thought ofthemselves as a SOCIAL GROUP.


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The workers were involved in the PLANNINGof the experiments.

The workers enjoyed the SPECIALATMOSPHERE and ADDITIONAL PAY for theincreased productivity.

The term HAWTHORNE EFFECT refers to thetendency for people to behave differently

when they know theyre being studied.

The Hawthorne studies results encouragedresearchers TO STUDY HUMAN MOTIVATIONand the MANAGERIAL STYLES that lead tomore productivity.

Mayos findings led to NEW ASSUMPTIONS

ABOUT EMPLOYEES.

MONEY was found to be a relatively LOWMOTIVATOR.

MOTIVATION AND MASLOWS HIERARCHYOF NEEDS.

ABRAHAM MASLOW believed thatMOTIVATION ARISES FROM NEED.

One is motivated to satisfy unmet needs.

Satisfied needs NO LONGER MOTIVATE.


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Maslow placed needs on a HIERARCHY ofimportance:

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Basic survivalneeds including the need to drink, eat, and besheltered from heat and cold.

SAFETY NEEDS: The need to feel secure atwork and at home.

SOCIAL NEEDS: The need to feel loved,accepted, and part of the group.

ESTEEM NEEDS: The need for recognitionand acknowledgment from others, as well asself-respect and a sense of status.

SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS: The need todevelop to your fullest potential.

When one need is satisfied, another, higher-level need emerges to be satisfied.

A SATISFIED NEED is no longer a motivator.

Lower-level needs, however, can pop up atany time and take attention away fromhigher-level needs.

APPLYING MASLOWS THEORY


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The text relates how Andrew Grove, presidentof Intel, uses Maslows concepts to motivateemployees in his firm.

Once one understands the need level ofemployees, it is easier to design programsthat will trigger self-motivation.

MCGREGORS THEORY X AND THEORY Y

DOUGLAS MCGREGOR categories managersby THEIR ATTITUDES which lead to differentmanagerial styles: THEORY X and THEORYY.

THEORY X.

The ASSUMPTIONS of Theory X managementare:

The average person DISLIKES WORK and willavoid it if possible.

Because of this dislike, the average personmust be FORCED, CONTROLLED,DIRECTED, OR THREATENED WITHPUNISHMENT TO BE MOTIVATED to putforth the effort to achieve the organizationsgoals.

The average worker prefers to be directed,

wishes TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY, has


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relatively LITTLE AMBITION, and wantsSECURITY.

Primary motivators are FEAR and MONEY. The CONSEQUENCE OF SUCH ATTITUDESis a manager who is very "busy."

Motivation is more likely to take the form ofPUNISHMENT for bad work rather than

REWARD for good work. Theory X managers give workers littleresponsibility, authority, or flexibility.

Those were the assumptions behind Taylorsscientific management

THEORY Y.

THEORY Y makes entirely differentASSUMPTIONS about people:

Most people LIKE WORK; it is as natural asplay or rest.

Most people NATURALLY WORK TOWARDGOALS to which he or she is committed.

The depth of a persons commitment to goalsdepends on the perceived REWARDS forachieving them.


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Under certain conditions, most people notonly accept but SEEKS RESPONSIBILITY.

People are capable of using a high degree ofIMAGINATION, CREATIVITY, andCLEVERNESS to solve problems.

In industry, the average personsINTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL IS ONLYPARTIALLY REALIZED.

People are MOTIVATED BY A VARIETY OFREWARDS. Each worker is stimulated by areward unique to that worker (time off,money, recognition, etc.)

Theory Y emphasizes a relaxed managerial

atmosphere in which workers are free to setobjectives and be flexible.

EMPOWERMENT is a key technique inmeeting these objectives. To be a realmotivator, empowerment requiresmanagement to:

Find out what people think the problems inthe organization are.

Let them design the solutions.

Get out of the way and let them put those

solutions into action.


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The trend in many U.S. businesses is towardTheory Y management.

OUCHIS THEORY Z.Another reason for a more flexible managerialstyle is to meet competition from foreignfirms.

In the 1980s WILLIAM OUCHI researched

how corporations in Japan are run differentlyfrom U.S. companies.

The Japanese management approach, calledTYPE J, involved:

Lifetime employment.

Consensual decision making.

Collective responsibility for the outcomes ofdecisions.

Slow evaluation and promotion.

Implied control mechanisms.Nonspecialized career paths.

Holistic concern for employees.

The American management approach, calledTYPE A, involved:


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Short-term employment.

Individual decision making.

Individual responsibility for the outcomes ofdecisions.

Rapid evaluation and promotion.

Explicit control mechanism.

Specialized career paths.

Segmented concern for employees.

Type J firms are based on the culture ofJapan; Type A firms are based on the cultureof America.

Ouchi realized that American managers couldnot be expected to accept a concept based onanother culture.

Ouchi recommended a hybrid of the twoapproaches, THEORY Z.

Long-term employment.

Collective decision making.

Individual responsibility for the outcome ofdecisions.

Slow evaluation and promotion.


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Moderately specialized career path.

Holistic concern for employees.

Today economic changes are forcing Japanese managers to reevaluate theirmanagement styles.

Today there is a realization that Japanesefirms need to become more efficient.

Some Japanese managers are changing theway they do business.

Many managers think that conformity hashurt Japanese business.

Many managers think that conformity has

hurt Japanese business.

THEORIES X, Y, AND Y are CONCERNEDWITH MANAGEMENT STYLES.

Another theory looks at what managers cando with the job itself to motivate employees.


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FREDERICK HERZBERGS work isCONCERNED IS WITH THE CONTENT OFWORK rather than style of management.

Frederick HERZBERG surveyed workers tofind out how they RANK JOB-RELATEDFACTORS. The results were:

Sense of achievement.

Earned recognition.Interest in the work itself.

Opportunity for growth.

Opportunity for advancement.

Importance of responsibility.Peer and group relationships.

Pay.

Supervisors fairness.

Company policies and rules.Status.

Job security.

Supervisors friendliness.

Working conditions.


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Herzberg noted that the HIGHEST RANKINGFACTORS DEALT WITH JOB CONTENT.

He referred to these as MOTIVATORS sincethey gave employees a great deal ofsatisfaction.

They include the work itself, achievement,and responsibility.

The OTHER FACTORS had to do with JOBENVIRONMENT.

They could CAUSE DISSATISFACTION Ifthem were missing but NOT NECESSARILYMOTIVATION if they increased.

These so called HYGIENE FACTORS includeworking conditions and salary.

APPLYING HERZBERGS THEORIES

The text offers several current examples ofHerzbergs theories in action, includingKingston Technology and Sunnen Products.

These firms believe that the best motivator forsome employees is a simple "Thanks, I reallyappreciate what youre doing."

Further surveys support his finding that thenumber one motivator is not money, but a

sense of achievement and recognition.


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One study identified lack of enough praiseand recognition as the primary reasonemployees leave their job.

There is a good deal of similarity in Maslowshierarchy and Herzbergs two-factor theory.

JOB ENRICHMENT.

JOB ENRICHMENT is a motivational strategy

that emphasizes motivating the workerthrough the job itself.

The FIVE CHARACTERISTICS of workbelieved to be IMPORTANT IN AFFECTINGMOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE are:

SKILL VARIETY, the extent to which a jobdemands different skills of the person.

TASK IDENTITY, the degree to which the jobrequires doing a task with a visible outcomefrom beginning to end.

TASK SIGNIFICANCE, the degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives ofothers in the company.

AUTONOMY, the degree of freedom,independence, and discretion in scheduling

work and determining procedures.


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FEEDBACK, the amount of direct, clearinformation received about job performance.

The text uses the examples of Herb Kelleherof Southwest Airlines, and Roger Sant if AES.

OTHER JOB DESIGNS

JOB SIMPLIFICATION produces taskefficiency by breaking down the job into

simple steps, sometimes necessary withpeople learning new skills.

JOB ENLARGEMENT combines a series oftasks into one assignment that is morechallenging and motivating.

JOB ROTATION makes work more interestingby moving employees from one job to another

GOAL-SETTING THEORY ANDMANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES.

GOAL-SETTING THEORY is based on settingspecific, attainable goals.

This will lead to high motivation andperformance if the goals are accepted,accompanied by feedback, and facilitated byorganizational conditions.


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Peter Drucker developed such a system in the1960s called MANAGEMENT BYOBJECTIVES (MBO.)

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO) is anexample of goal-setting.

Management by Objectives was developed toHELP EMPLOYEES MOTIVATE

THEMSELVES.

MBO is a system of goal setting andimplementation that involves a cycle ofdiscussion, review, and evaluation ofobjectives among all levels of managementand employees.

There are six steps in the MBO process.

Some critics see MBO as being out of dateand inconsistent with contemporarymanagement thought.

Almost one-half of firms surveyed, however

use some form of MBO.Management by objectives is most effective inrelatively stable situations.

It is important to understand the differencebetween helping and coaching subordinates

because helping tends to make subordinates


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weak and dependent while coaching makesthem feel capable and part of

Richard Field on Management and Information Science

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