MG302 Ch12 Motivating Employees

What can you expect as a result of your job design strategy? Check all that apply.

Increased flexibility when scheduling jobs An initial increase in employee stimulation

The job characteristics model is most effective in economically __ countries.

advantaged

Researchers who ask "What do people want to get when they take action?" are investigating _____ of motivation.

content theories

Content theories

emphasize the needs that motivate people.

Process theories,

including goal-setting theory, equity theory, and expectancy theory, explain how people select behaviors with which to meet their needs and determine whether their choices were successful.

equity

A situation of equity exists when the ratio of one person's outcomes to inputs equals that of another's.

The making progress principle

is the idea that the single most important factor that can boost motivation, positive emotions, and perceptions during a workday is making progress toward meaningful goals.

Empowerment

A management practice of sharing information, rewards, and power with employees, facilitating rather than controlling employees, so that they can take initiative and make decisions to solve problems and improve service and performance.

E → P expectancy

A person's E → P expectancy is the expectancy that putting effort into a given task will lead to high performance.

Danny, a farmer, works all night harvesting crops because he wants to bring the freshest possible produce to market.

Achievement

President Obama praised Cumberland Farms, a convenience store chain based in Framingham, Massachusetts, for empowering its employees. In part, the company does this through online apps that allow workers to give input to decisions. If Cumberland Farms wanted to take other actions to empower its workforce, which of the following should it consider? Check all that apply

Adopt a compensation plan that pays employees more when the company meets its goals Allow employees to make more decisions about how they do their work without seeking approval from management. Communicate regularly about the firm's progress toward meeting its strategic objectives as well as the threats and weaknesses that pose challenges.

Rosangel, your manager, wants everyone to like her, so she brings lunch for everyone in the office on Fridays.

Affiliation

ERG theory

ERG theory is a modification of the needs hierarchy and proposes three categories of needs: existence, relatedness, and growth. Clayton Alderfer

Bob Hanson emphasizes that sending MBSC employees to seminars on a regular basis is highly motivating. It's possible that for some employees, having to attend seminars is a burden. However, for an employee like Marco, who was excited when he found out he could major in strength and conditioning in college, having the opportunity to further their professional development is a major source of satisfaction and it motivates him to work hard for MBSC. Professional development is described in different ways by different theories of motivation. If Bob and Mike were analyzing how they motivate their employees in terms of ERG theory, which of the following would be true?

Learning at seminars could meet an employee's need for growth, and if the employee were not allowed to attend seminars, then he or she might desire greater participation at work or more pay.

hygiene factors

One element of Herzberg's two-factor theory, hygiene factors, focuses on lower-level needs and involves the presence or absence of job dissatisfiers, including working conditions, pay, and company policies.

Lukas believed that his company's merit pay system would reward him with a higher salary if he worked harder than other employees. His desire to work hard could be explained by the __ of motivation.

equity theory

Vicarious learning,

or observational learning, occurs when an individual sees others perform certain behaviors and get rewarded for them.

Job enrichment

refers to incorporating high-level motivators, such as achievement, recognition, and opportunities for growth, into the work.

When a manager uses __ to increase motivation, the manager is seeking to change job characteristics, such as the skill involved and the meaningfulness of the work, in such a way that both employee satisfaction and productivity will improve.

work redesign

If a manager uses positive reinforcers, such as money and gift certificates, to shape the behavior of his or her employees, what can the manager then expect? Check all that apply.

To satisfy the employees' lower-level needs To see a temporary increase in the rewarded behaviors

P → O expectancy

P → O expectancy is the expectancy that high performance of a task will lead to the desired outcome.

George is taking a management class with the biggest jerk of a professor on his campus. This professor wants students to be absolutely quiet during his lectures, so when students first walk into class, they are treated to the music of Lawrence Welk being played over the sound system. In order to get the music to stop playing, all of the students in the class have to be absolutely quiet. Only then does the professor turn off the music and start his lecture. George's professor is using __ to control the students in his classroom.

avoidance learning

Suppose Marco says, "I don't think I can reach the goals you've set for me." Mike and Bob should address __ One way they could do this would be by:

effort to performance expectancy, Sending Marco to an appropriate seminar

Equity theory

focuses on individuals' perceptions of how fairly they are treated relative to others.

The student who knows almost immediately how well he or she did on a test is high on this dimension, but the employee who hasn't talked to his or her boss for a year is probably low.

Feedback

Saketh loved teaching because he could tell right away when students "got it"—their faces would light up, and he'd know he had done his job well and helped them learn.

Intristic

If a manager has a need for ______ , the manager's primary desire is to establish and maintain warm relationships and to be liked. The need for power is a desire to influence others, and the need for achievement is a desire to be very good at one's job

affiliation

Social learning theory

is related to the reinforcement perspective, but it proposes that an individual's motivation can result not just from direct experience of rewards and punishments but also from the person's observations of other people's behavior.

Positive reinforcement

is the administration of a pleasant and rewarding consequence following a desired behavior

You're a consultant, and the CEO of a client company says the new vice president of sales has poor relationships with her subordinates. You respond that the CEO can expect __ in the sales department.

more employee turnover

Expectancy theory

proposes that motivation depends on individuals' expectations about their ability to perform tasks and receive desired rewards.

A person in a one-man band who plays guitar, drums, and harmonica is higher on this dimension than a musician who plays only the piano

Skill variety

hierarchy of needs theory

The most well known content theory is Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, which proposes that people are motivated by five categories of needs—physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization—that exist in a hierarchical order.

Extrinsic rewards

are given by another person, typically a manager, and include promotions, praise, and pay increases. They originate externally, as a result of pleasing others.

Intrinsic rewards

are the satisfactions that a person receives in the process of performing a particular action.

Valence

is the value of outcomes (rewards) to the individual.

After five years with his employer, Barth was excited to receive the notice that he was 100 percent "vested" in the retirement plan, meaning that the employer's contributions to his account were now fully his.

Extrinsic

Rewards such as bonuses, thank-yous, and gift cards are all forms of __ that increase the probability that the behavior they follow will occur again

positive reinforcement

When researchers study how people determine what behaviors will meet their needs, the researchers are working with ___ of motivation, and they are dealing with individuals as active decision makers.

process theories

Management at Work A chemical plant makes toxic products such as herbicides and insecticides. Workplace safety is extremely important to the company, for financial and legal reasons as well as for ethical reasons, and the firm has a goal of zero serious incidents each quarter. Which of the following management actions would be most effective at motivating employees to adhere to safety rules?

Every day that no serious safety incident occurs, post a big sign where employees leave the building saying, "Zero accidents! Great job!"

Goal-setting theory

proposes that specific, challenging goals increase motivation and performance when the goals are accepted by subordinates and these subordinates receive feedback to indicate their progress toward goal achievement.

If the purpose of meeting with an employee is to motivate that individual, which of the following would be appropriate topics? Check all that apply.

How the employee's job could include more variety and be more meaningful The progress the employee is making toward achieving important goals What rewards the employee values

acquired needs theory, developed by David McClelland

Need for achievement. The desire to accomplish something difficult, attain a high standard of success, master complex tasks, and surpass others Need for affiliation. The desire to form close personal relationships, avoid conflict, and establish warm friendships Need for power. The desire to influence or control others, be responsible for others, and have authority over others

Job design

is the application of motivational theories to the structure of work for improving productivity and satisfaction.

Extinction

is the withholding of a positive reward. Whereas with punishment, the supervisor imposes an unpleasant outcome such as a reprimand, extinction involves withholding praise or other positive outcomes.

Reinforcement theory

simply looks at the relationship between behavior and its consequences. It focuses on changing or modifying employees' on-the-job behavior through the appropriate use of immediate rewards and punishments.

Motivation

is the arousal of enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action.

An organization has a _ when employees are not only satisfied with the current state but are actively engaged in creating a better future.

thriving workforce

Motivators

Herzberg's second factor, motivators, influences job satisfaction based on fulfilling higher-level needs such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, and opportunities for personal growth.

A manager has been tasked with turning around the performance of the maintenance department. Which of the following approaches is likely to be least effective?

Threatening to fire employees who do not complete enough work each day

Reinforcement

is defined as anything that causes a certain behavior to be repeated or inhibited.

Work redesign

means altering jobs to increase both the quality of employees' work experience and their productivity.

When Casey was promoted to head librarian of a small branch library, she really enjoyed the autonomy she had to hire employees, determine programming, and stock books that would best serve the local community.

Intristic

The level of ____ is key to a company's success, as measured by productivity and profitability, because it is employees' desire to pursue the organization's objectives.

motivation

Imagine you are hanging out on the sofa, enjoying a little TV. As you sit there, you think about your last conversation with your mom. She decided to set up a work schedule for you, your brother, and your sister, and now a "Household Chores" list hangs in the kitchen. Each person in your family will have a specific chore to do every week: doing the dishes, raking the lawn, taking out the garbage, and so forth. Pretty soon your sister, Diana, walks into the room. She has a huge smile on her face. Use your knowledge of equity theory to help you fill in the blanks in the conversation. YOU: Hey, Diana, what's up? Why are you so happy? DIANA: Did you see the chore list for this week? All I have to do is rake leaves. You have to do the dishes all week! What a sweet deal! YOU: What's so good about raking leaves? DIANA: Are you kidding? I get to be outside, it'll take an hour at the most, and I can have my friends over while I work. My ____ are much lower than yours, and you know it! And since I get the same allowance you do, our __ are equal! YOU: Wait, what? Thanks for helping me to recognize how __ this situation is! Outcomes are the rewards you receive from work. They include pay, recognition, and even the satisfaction you get from doing work you enjoy. Inputs are the things you bring to work. They include how much effort you put into your work, your levels of experience and education, and your skill levels. In this case, Diana's outcomes are high, while her inputs are low. However, your inputs are high, while your outcomes are equal to Diana's, which is likely to be interpreted as inequitable. According to equity theory, what is Diana likely to do in this situation? Check all that apply.

inputs , outcomes, inequitable, Decide that raking leaves is harder than she thought it was initially Work harder at raking leaves

The frustration-regression principle

is the idea that failure to meet a high-order need may cause a regression to an already satisfied lower-order need; thus, people may move down as well as up the needs hierarchy.

Punishment

is the imposition of unpleasant outcomes on an employee, typically occurring after undesirable behavior.

Behavior modification

is the name given to the set of techniques by which reinforcement theory is used to modify human behavior.

Avoidance learning

is the removal of an unpleasant consequence once a behavior is improved, thereby encouraging and strengthening the desired behavior. Managers apply avoidance learning, called negative reinforcement, when they remove an unpleasant consequence once a behavior is improved.

Carly knows that according to the __ , if she administers positive reinforcement or avoidance learning, her employees will tend to continue doing their jobs in the same way they are doing them now, and if she uses punishments or extinction, they will likely not repeat it.

law of effect

In order to promote __ , Doug matched employees with jobs carefully so they could use their strengths, and he made sure they had opportunities to take on more challenging work when they were ready for it.

learning and growth

In Herzberg's two-factor theory, ____ are things such as challenging work assignments, accomplishment and personal recognition, and autonomy that can create job satisfaction.

motivators