Motivation Theories

This paper applies five theories of motivation to a fictitious organization. The fictitious organization is assumed to be an automobile dealership that sells both new and used cars. The five theories of motivation applied are as follows:

Maslow's (1954) Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Aldefer's ERG (Existence-Relatedness-Growth Theory (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2002)

Vroom's (Vroom & Yetton, 1973) Expectancy Theory

The Theories and Their Application to a Fictitious Automobile Dealership Organization

Maslow (1954) dealt with motivation through the theory of the hierarchy of needs. The hierarchy divides human needs into higher and lower orders. The lower order needs are primary, such as food, shelter, sex, and physical security, while the higher order needs involve affiliation, love for others, and selfactualization. When the lower order needs are absent in the life of an individual, the satisfaction of those needs become the center of the individual's life. In most modern societies, however, the primary needs are satisfied. Thus, real motivation · especially within organizational structures · results from individual desires to satisfy their higher order needs (Maslow, 1966).

Thus, it was Maslow's (1954) contention that other means had to be employed to motivate individual within organizational structures. Specifically, factors

. . .
First, in relation to hygiene factors the dealership provides above average base salaries and excellent working conditions to assure that a failure to satisfy hygiene needs will not create any disincentives to perform among the members of the dealership's sales staff. Second, in relation to motivation factors, the dealership provides members of the sales staff to develop solutions to the automotive transportation needs and wants of customers, as opposed to simply making hard sell pitches to earn commissions, as well as to have opportunities to advance in the organization as a reward for superior performance. Aldefer's (1963) ERG theory is related to some extent to both Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's (1966) two-factor theory. Within this comparative context, "E" (existence) in Aldefer's ERG theory involves the safety and psychological lower-order needs in Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs. As is true in Herzberg's two-factor theory, satisfaction of the existence needs in ERG theory will not motivate a person to excel, but dissatisfaction in relation to existence needs likely will cause a person to stop trying. The "R" (relatedness) in ERG theory involves the love need in Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs. In E
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mausner Snyderman, Aldefer's ERG, Ritti Snipes, Organization Maslow, Welbourne Gomez-Majia, Vroom Yetton, ORGANIZATION Introduction, Hunt Osborn, R Snipes, Fall Gain, erg theory, sales staff, automobile dealership, herzberg's 1966, maslow's 1954, two-factor theory, equity theory, expectancy theory, 1954 hierarchy, maslow's 1954 hierarchy, 1966 two-factor theory, fictitious automobile, average base salaries, vroom yetton 1973, fictitious automobile dealership,
Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Motivation Theories