Organizational Behaviour Principles (Essay Sample)

(Name of the University) Organizational Behaviour Principles (Name) (Course) (Instructor) (Date) Introduction Motivation can be defined as the force the initiates and sustains goal-oriented actions and behaviours (Manzoor, 2012). It is the fundamental energizing factor contributing to sustained engagement of efforts and attitudes towards a particular behaviour or activity. In organizational context, motivated employees tend to be more creative and productive in their work than their non-motivated counterparts. In the currently competitive business environment has increasingly become important for organizations to motivate their employees as a way of acquiring competitive advantage (Cho & Perry, 2012). In cases where employees are not motivated, productivity and overall efficiency in the organization declines. This paper explores the various theories of motivation by discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and ways through which an organization can apply them in motivating employees. 2. The Three Major Theories of Motivation 1) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory The Maslow’s need hierarchy theory was established by Abraham Maslow in the year 1943. According to this theory, human beings have innate curiosity for satisfying their needs based on their priority or urgency in a hierarchical order. Maslow categorized human needs into five major levels which include physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self esteem needs and self actualization need (Sysinger & Crispo, 2012). According to this theory, individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs based on their priority. According to this theory, psychological needs are considered to be fundamental for survival like food, shelter or clothing. In this regard, individuals tend to focus on these needs first before the other needs in the upper hierarchy like safety or social needs. This implies that, focusing on satisfying employees’ basic needs by providing good wages and salaries is a key factor that contributes towards increased satisfaction. In terms of security needs, providing employees with permanent jobs, and safe workplace environment can be a very effective way to motivate them (Manzoor, 2012). Other needs like social needs can be satisfied through providing a friendly work environment where employees are able to work in teams. Acknowledging employees’ performance and providing with challenging, yet interesting tasks can help then realize their self esteem and self actualization needs. However, this theory is faced with several limitations/weaknesses. According to Cho & Perry (2012), Maslow’s theory assumes homogeneity of different individual’s needs. In most cases, people’s individual interests vary from each other, and the rewards needed to motivate one individual may vary in another. Quite importantly, this theory is not empirically supported, and hence remains controversial on its applicability on actual situations. 2) Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory is based on the availability of motivators at workplace which results into job satisfaction. According to this theory, there are two sets of factors that contribute towards job satisfaction among the employees which include the motivator and hygiene factors (Dewhurst et al, 2010). The motivator factors involve the job content like opportunities for personal growth, prosperity, recognition and responsibilities among others; while the hygiene factors constitute of the factors that are not related to the job which include type of supervision, workplace conditions, organizational policies, interpersonal relations and job security among others. The Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory can be applied in an organization through various ways. Providing challenging yet interesting tasks can provide employees with growth and achievement opportunities which further contribute towards increased motivation (Sysinger & Crispo, 2012). Moreover, promoting employees and giving them more responsibilities and recognizing their efforts plays an important role in initiating motivation at workplace. On the other hand, providing hygiene factors like job security, good salaries, safe working conditions and favourable supervision and organizational policies enhances employees’ motivation. However, this theory is limited to its standardized scale of satisfaction. Like Maslow’s hierarchy theory, Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene factor theory is generalized to standardized human behaviour/needs and does not take into account other job factors that may result into satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Cho & Perry, 2012). 3) McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y Theory X and Theory Y are motivation theories which explain that the managers’ roles in facilitating motivation are to assemble the factors of production in the most effective manner. Since employees are key inputs of production, providing them with attractive rewards and compensation programs cultivates motivation (Sysinger & Crispo, 2012). The fundamental assumption of theory X is that, people tend to dislike work and therefore must be forced to work towards organizational goals. In addition, people tend to dislike being directed or responsibilities and tend to place more emphasis on security than anything else. Based on theory Y, McGregor suggested that participative management style can play an important role in nurturing and motivating employees’ motivation towards their ...