MONEY AS A MOTIVATOR

Defining Motivation and Motivation Theory

Motivation is the process of persuading individuals to act in a desired way. Within most organizational environments, motivation is the process of persuading members of the organization to perform in a productive manner. The need to motivate members of an organization to perform in a productive manner is a well-accepted premise. Disagreement exists, however, in relation to the best means of motivating individuals within organizational environments (Luthans, 1997).

Several theoretical approaches for the explanation and development of motivation within organizational environments have been advanced. At a general level, these theories tend to fall into content and process categories.

Motivation is closely linked with the concept of job satisfaction. The early efforts to measure motivation and job satisfaction resulted in the development of causal models (Locke, 1983). The causal models were processoriented in that the researchers attempted to identify and assess the types of organizational phenomena that influenced individual perceptions of satisfaction that, in turn, would or would not motivate them to perform productively. Phenomenological factors incorporated in the causal models were p

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ti, & Snipes, 1994, p. 118). Expectancy theory functions through four factors, as follows: (1) the effort/performance expectancy (individuals must perceive that they possess both the ability and opportunity to perform); (2) the instrumentality of performance (a recognized linkage between specific behavior and reward must be in place); (3) the performance/reward expectancy (the level of effort required to obtain a specific level of reward must be known); (4) and the reward/cost balance (potential rewards must be commensurate with the effort required to obtain them). Expectancy theory, thus, could be applied effectively in an analysis of an individual's performance on any job; however, the theory would be less useful in the prediction of career choice decisions. Another motivational theory is goal setting. Goal setting is a cognitive theory of motivation based on the premise that people have needs that can be thought of as specific outcomes or goals they hope to obtain. Goal theory makes the assumption that human behaviour is purposeful and that goals direct and sustain an individual's energies towards performing a particular action (Locke & Latham, 1990). McClelland (1961) offered a dynamic theory of needs that implied that m
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Approximate Word count = 2467
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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