Question

Scenario:

       This is from an old story, back in the ’30s, in the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less. A 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

“How much is an ice cream sundae?” the little boy asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins he had. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing very impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry. As she wiped down the table, there placed neatly beside the empty dish were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae because he had to have enough money to leave her a tip.

.

You are required to write a report on the following:

Question 01: Compare Vroom’s Expectancy theory against Maslow’s need theory. Interpret from the case the situations where Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation has been used in this story.

.

Question02: Present your case in the class justifying how communication plays a vital role in keeping employees motivated in your organization. Compare the communication styles.

Answer 1

According to Maslow's theory, it completely look at the relationship between internal needs and the resulting effort expended to fulfil them, Vroom's expectancy theory separates effort (which arises from motivation), performance, and outcomes.Vroom's expectancy theory assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities. He stated that effort, performance and motivation are linked in a person's motivation. He uses the variables Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence to account for this.

Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance i.e. if I work harder then this will be better. This is affected by such things as:

1. Having the right resources available (e.g. raw materials, time)
2. Having the right skills to do the job
3. Having the necessary support to get the job done (e.g. supervisor support, or correct information on the job)                                                                                                                                      

According to the above mentioned situations Vroom's expectancy theory is interpreted : when the boy started coins after asking the price for ice-cream sundae at that point of time waitress had realised that the boy is small kid and he'll not going to tip her as compares to other customers who are waiting to give an order , so that when the boy asked for plian dish of ice cream , she was confirmed that the boy doesn't have enough for his choice of ice-cream than how he'll going to give her tip so at second time she had answered him brusquely.Here comes the Vroom's expectancy theory into the picture.Instrumentality is the belief that if you perform well that a valued outcome will be received. The degree to which a first level outcome will lead to the second level outcome. i.e. if I do a good job, there is something in it for me. This is affected by such things as:

1. Clear understanding of the relationship between performance and outcomes – e.g. the rules of the reward 'game'
2. Trust in the people who will take the decisions on who gets what outcome
3. Transparency of the process that decides who gets what outcome

In today's fast pacing world many marketers have experienced the bad consequences of poor communication in the workplace. When information is not transferred in the right way and at the right time, workplace productivity can go down. Even more, tasks may can be incomplete and, as a result, goals will not be met.

Effective communication in the workplace can have a positive effect on the performance of employees by increasing the employee morale, retention rate and the overall productivity of the working environment. Here we present five ways that workplace communication effectiveness can increase the overall productivity of your company.Due to effective communication here are the consiquences that can be demolished like:

1. Less misunderstanding

2. Empowerment and Transparency

3. Healthy Culture

4. Increased accountability

5. Clear direction

There are 3 types of communications styles used by employers:

1. Passive Style: Communication style in which you put the rights of others before your own, minimizing your own self-worth

2. Assertive Style: Communication style in which you stand up for your rights while maintaining respect for the rights of others

3. Aggressive Style: Communication style in which you stand up for your rights but you violate the rights of others