Question

MANAGEMENT 3303

1. In what ways do the classical and administrative models of decision making help managers appreciate the complexities of real-world decision making?

2. How do hygiene and motivational factors differ? What are the implications of the two-factor theory for managers?

3. Define expectancy theory. Identify the theory's three key concepts and the ways in which managers can use expectancy theory to motivate employees.

4. How can managers use reinforcement theory to motivate their employees?

5. Describe goal-setting theory. Briefly identify the theory's basic components.

6. What is the job characteristics model (JCM)? Explain how it motivates employees.

Answer 1

Ans 1: In a perfect world managers would have all the information they needed and could take as much time as required to make the optimal decision. Since we all know these conditions rarely exist we can look at the administrative model. It has three concepts that allow managers to use limited time and information to make a practical decision.

Ans 2:

• Hygiene Factors or Needs are needs that if unmet cause dissatisfaction. These needs do not provide motivation when met though. These needs are primarily Extrinsically motivated.
• Motivational Factors or Needs under Herzberg’s Theory are factors that lead to high motivation and job satisfaction. These needs are typically intrinsically motivated
• Overall, Herzberg’s Hygiene-Motivator Theory failed to support research by other researchers and led to the prompting of researchers to study how jobs could be designed or redesigned to meet the intrinsic motivation needs

Ans 3: Expectancy theory posits that motivation will be high when workers believe that high levels of effort will lead to high performance and high performance will lead to the attainment of desired outcomes. Expectancy theory identifies three major factors that determine a person’s motivation level: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

• Members of an organization will be motivated to put forth a high level of effort only if they think that doing so will lead to high performance. Therefore, managers need to make sure that their subordinates believe that if they try hard, they actually can succeed.
• Managers can also boost subordinates’ expectancy levels by providing training so that people have the expertise they need for high performance

Ans 4: Reinforcement theory: approach to motivation that argues that behavior that results in rewarding consequences is likely to be repeated, whereas behavior that results in punishing consequences is less likely to be repeated kinds of reinforcement

4 basic kinds of reinforcement that can result from behavior- positive reinforcement, avoidance, punishment, and extinction

• Positive reinforcement: a method of strengthening behavior with rewards or positive outcomes after the desired behavior is performed
• Avoidance: used to strengthen behavior by avoiding unpleasant consequences that would result if the behavior were not performed
• Punishment: used to weaken undesired behavior by using negative outcomes or unpleasant consequences when the behavior is performed
• Extinction: used to weaken undesired behaviors by simply ignoring or not reinforcing them

Ans 5: A goal is a target, objective, or result that someone tries to accomplish. Goal-setting theory says that people will be motivated to the extent to which they accept specific, challenging goals and receive feedback that indicates their progress toward goal achievement. The basic components of the goal-setting theory are goal specificity, goal difficulty, goal acceptance, and performance feedback. Goal specificity is the extent to which goals are detailed, exact, and unambiguous. Goal difficulty is the extent to which a goal is hard or challenging to accomplish. Goal acceptance is the extent to which people consciously understand and agree to goals. Performance feedback is information about the quality or quantity of past performance and indicates whether progress is being made toward the accomplishment of a goal.

Ans 6: The job characteristics model is the Hackman and Oldham’s concept that any job can be described through five core job dimensions: skill variety – requirements for different tasks in the job; task identity – completion of a whole piece of work; task significance – the job’s impact on others; autonomy – level of discretion in decision making; and feedback – amount of direct and clear information on performance. The way elements in a job are organized (job design) impacts motivation, satisfaction, and performance