MOTIVATION THEORY AND SELECTED RESEARCH - OB

In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review selected topics in motivation. The format was methodological primarily to illustrate that considerable controversy exists in the area, even though motivation has consumed much of the energy of writers in the behavioral sciences and management.

The important point to recognize is that the generality and pragmatic usefulness of a particular approach to motivation is closely related to the manner in which that approach is developed. Rational-deductive theories such as the Barnard-Simon model(exchange theory) and expectancy theory are based on certain prior assumptions about rational human choice. Consequently, they are extremely general, in a scientific sense, because they can be applied to a wide range of situations and circumstances. Herzberg’s two-factor theory and operant conditioning are more inductive and empirical. Thus, they are more specific and less universally adaptable.

Given the present sate of motivation theory, the best strategy for a prospective manager is to become as familiar as possible with all of the theories currently available. The truth is that thee is something new and something true in all of them. The manager’s problem is to carefully choose those new things that are true, and to skeptically decide which true things are really new. This, of course, is not an easy dilemma for the manager to resolve. Even behavioral scientists who devote most of their time studying motivational problems find the issue complex and frustrating.

Once the essential foundations of motivation theory and practice are understood, one is able to confront the more philosophical questions of how behavioral science knowledge should be used in the managerial context. Issues of this nature immediately converge on such questions as the ethics of behavior modification. This issue cannot be avoided by any managers because of very real pressures from society, including legal intervention into motivational practices and the protection of individual rights on and off the job.