Chapter 5 Motivation 121

Figure 5.10
Type of Inequity
Possible Reactions
to Perceived Reactions
Inequity
Internal, Physical
Internal, Psychological
External, Physical
External, Physical
Possible Overreward Possible Underreward
Reactions Reaction
Work harder Lower Productivity
Discount the reward Inflate value of the reward
Encourage the referent Bargain for more; Possibly
person to obtain more quit
Change the referent Change the referent
person person

Or they might simply choose someone else for comparison purposes (external and psychologi-
cal).
Workers who feel they have been underrewarded seek to reduce their feelings of inequity
through the same types of strategies, but some of their specific actions are now reversed.
They might lower the quantity or quality of their productivity, they could inflate the perceived
value of the rewards received, or they could bargain for more actual rewards. Again, they could
find someone else to compare themselves (more favorably) with, or they might simply quit. In
any event, they are reacting to inequity by bringing their inputs into balance with their
outcomes. Knowledge of outcome/input ratios allows managers to predict part of their em-
ployees’ behavior through understanding when, and under what conditions, works will expe-
rience inequity.

An example of employee reaction to underpayment occurred in a manufacturing plant that

made small mechanical parts for the aerospace and automotive industries. 19 Some important
contracts were canceled, and the company was forced to announce a 15 percent cut in pay for
all employees. Compared with a control group in another plant whose pay was not cut, the
affected employees reacted by doubling their normal theft rate (tools and supplies stolen from
the company). Turnover also jumped to 23 percent, compared with a normal rate of 5 percent.
Apparently the employees experienced a change from relative equity to underpayment
inequity. They reacted to their perceived mistreatment by making unofficial transfers of
organizational resources to themselves. When the pay cut ended after 10 weeks, the theft rate
returned to normal levels.

Interpreting the Equity Model

An understanding of equity should remind managers that employees work within several
social systems. Employees may actually select a number of reference groups both inside and
outside the organization. Employees are also inclined to shift the basis for their

An Ethics Question
Employees have a tendency to consider themselves above average. This leads to a sense of
entitlement, as well as an inclination to judge the contributions of others more harshly (to make
themselves look better by comparison). This can lead to breakdowns within teams and a lack
of teamwork-especially when one employee learns of another’s (higher) level of compensation
or special treatment. It can also result in employees who magnify their self-worth to the
organization by exaggerating their contributions. What should a manager do with such
employees, who are engaging in what seems to be unethical behavior (lying)?
122 Part Two Motivation and Reward Systems

comparisons to the standard tat is most favorable to them. Educated people often
inflate the value of their education, while employees with longer service emphasize
seniority as the dominant criterion. Other employees choose somewhat higher
(economic) groups as their reference. Many employees have strong egos and even
inflated opinions of themselves. Consequently, all these factors (multiple reference
groups, shifting standards, upward orientation, and personal egos) make the task of
predicting when inequity will occur somewhat complex.
Equity theory has generated extensive research, with many of the results being
supportive. In particular, underreward seems to produce motivational tension with
predictable (negative) consequences; less consistent results are found for the
overreward condition. The different research results may be reconciled by the idea of
equity sensivity, which suggests that individuals have different preferences for equity.
Some people seem to prefer overreward, some conform to the traditional equity
model, and others prefer to be underreward. 20 Identifying which employees fall into
Equity sensitivity each class would help managers predict who would experience inequity and how
important it would be in affecting their behavior.
Similar element---effort (inputs) and rewards (outcomes)---can be seen when
comparing the equity and expectancy models. In both approaches, perception plays a
key role, again suggesting how valuable it is for a manager to gather information from
employees instead of trying to impose one’s own perceptions onto them. The major
challenges for a manager using the equity model lie in measuring employee
assessments of their inputs and outcomes, identifying their choice of references, and
evaluating employee perceptions of inputs and outcomes.
Fairness, from an employee’s equity perspective, applies not only to the actual size
of rewards and their relation to inputs provided, but also to the process by which they
are administered. This is the essence of the procedural justice approach to
motivation, which focuses on two elements---interpersonal treatment and clarity of
explanations. Interpersonal treatment encompasses both managerial respect for
employee inputs and managerial behavior that exhibits clear levels of respect,
esteem, consideration, and courtesy. Clarity of expectations is enhanced by
managers making the reward process more transparent, so that employees can
discover and understand how their inputs were assessed and how reward system is
administered. Procedural justice is especially important when organization resources
are tight and lesser levels of valued outcomes are provided to employees.

INTERPRETING MOTIVATIONAL MODELS

Several motivational models are presented in this chapter. All the models have
strengths and weaknesses, advocates and critics. No model is perfect, but all
of them add something to our understanding of motivation process. Other
models are being developed, and attempts are being made to integrate
Contingent use of existing approaches.
motivational models The cognitive (process) models are likely to continue dominating
organizational practice for some time. They are most consistent with our
supportive and holistic view of people as thinking individuals who make
somewhat conscious decisions about their behavior. However, behavior
modification also has some usefulness, especially in stable situations with minimum complexity, where
there appears to be a direct connection between behavior and its consequences. In more complex,
dynamic situations, cognitive models will be used more often. In other words, the motivational model used
must be adapted to the situation as well blended with other models.

ADVICE TO FUTURE MANAGERS

1. Identify each employee’s needs and drives and monitor how they change over time.
2. Reduce the distracting influence of hygiene factors before turning your attention to providing
motivators.
3. Establish strong connections between desired behaviors and rewards given; provide rewards that
recognize high achievers more than other employees.
4. Set performance-oriented goals that are specific, challenging, and acceptable.
5. Seek information regarding employee perceptions of valence, expectancy, and instrumentality;
share key information with employees to improve their assessments.
6. Discover the referent people or groups and perceived outcome/input ratios for employees’ equity
computation; compare your assessments of likely equity with theirs.
7. Remember that employees judge not only the fairness of the rewards they receive (in comparison
to their inputs) but also the process that accompanies them. Carefully communicate your
assessment of their inputs and your decisional process for distributing rewards.
8. Discover each employee’s sense of self-efficacy on the tasks to which they are assigned; offer
supportive feedback that increases the accuracy of their assessment and enhances their self-
efficacy.
9. Recall that employees have different levels of drives for achievement, affiliation, and power. Strive
to set goals for them that will stretch them and will, when completed, enhance their achievement
drives.
10. Recognize that all need theories of motivation are simplified attempts to describe a “universal
person.” Use them flexibly to probe for, and discover, each employee’s unique needs.

When people join an organization, they bring with them certain drives and needs that
Summary affect their on-the-job performance. Sometimes these are immediately apparent, but
often they not only are difficult to determine and satisfy but also vary greatly from one
person to another: Understanding how needs create tensions which stimulate effort to
perform and how effective performance brings to satisfaction of rewards is useful for
managers. Several approaches to understanding internal drives and needs within
employees are examined in the chapter. Each model makes a contribution to our
understanding of motivation. All the models share some similarities. In general, they
encourage managers not only to consider lower-order, maintenance, and extrinsic
factors but to use higher-order, motivational, and intrinsic factors as well. Behavior
modification focuses on the external environment by stating that a number of employee
behaviors can be affected by manipulating their consequences. The alternative
consequences include positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.
Reinforcement can be applied according to either continuous or partial schedules. A
blending of internal and external approaches is obtained through consideration of goal
setting. Managers are encouraged to use cues—such as goals that are accepted,
challenging, and specific--- to stimulate desired employee behavior. In this way, goal
setting, combined with the reinforcement of performance feedback, provides a
 balanced approach to motivation. Additional approaches to motivation presented in this chapter are
the expectancy and equity models. The expectancy model states that motivation is a product of
how much one wants something and the probabilities that effort will lead to task accomplishment
and reward. The formula is valence x expectancy x instrumentality = motivation. Valence is the
strength of a person’s preference for an outcome. Expectancy is the strength of belief that one’s
effort will be successful in accomplishing a task. Instrumentality is the strength of belief that
successful performance will be followed by a reward. The expectancy and equity motivational
models relate specifically to the employee’s intellectual processes. The equity model has a double
comparison in it---a match between an employee’s perceived inputs and outcomes, coupled with a
comparison with some referent person’s rewards for her or his input level. In addition, employees
use the procedural justice model to assess the fairness of how rewards are distributed.
Managers are encouraged to combine the perspectives of several models to create a complete
motivational environment for their employees.

Terms and Achievement Hygiene factors, 107 Positive reinforcement, 110

Concept for Motivation, 102
Review Affiliation motivation, 103
Continuous
Reinforcement, 112
Drives, 102
Equity sensitivity, 122
Equity theory, 119
E-R-G model, 108
Existence needs, 108
Expectancy, 116
Expectancy model, 115
Extinction, 112
Extrinsic motivators, 107
Goal setting, 113
Growth needs, 108
Hierarchy of needs, 105
Higher-order needs, 106
Inputs, 120 Power motivation, 103
Instrumentality, 116 Primary needs, 104
Intrinsic motivators, 107 Primary outcomes, 117
Job content, 107 Procedural justice, 122
Job context, 107 Punishment, 111
Law of effect, 109 Relatedness needs, 108
Lower-order needs, 106 Secondary needs, 104
Motivation, 101 Secondary outcomes, 117
Motivational factors, 107 Self-actualization, 106
Negative reinforcement, 111 Self-efficacy, 113
Organization behavior Shaping, 111
modification (OB mod), 109 Social learning, 110
Outcomes, 120 Two-factor model of
Partial reinforcement, 112 Motivation, 106
Performance feedback, 114 Valence, 115
Performance monitoring, 114 Work motivation, 104

Discussion 1. Think of someone who, in the past, did an excellent job of motivating you. Describe how
Questions this was done: which of the following approaches did that person use (either explicitly or
implicitly)?

a. Lower-order or higher-order needs?

b. Maintenance or motivational factors? If so, which one(s)?
c. Existence, relatedness, or growth needs?
d. Behavior modification?
e. Goal setting?
 Chapter 5 Motivation 125
2. In your role as a student, do you feel that you are motivated more by Maslow’s lower-order
or higher-order needs? Explain. Describe how you expect motivation to change once you
graduate.
3. Which one factor in Herzberg’s two-factor model is most motivating to you at the present
time? Explain. Is this a maintenance or motivational factor?
4. It is relatively easy for a manager to manipulate extrinsic rewards. Describe some ways in
which a manager could affect intrinsic satisfaction of an employee.
5. Discuss how behavior modification operates to motivate people. Why is it still important to
understand people’s needs when using this approach?
6. Explain the differences between negative reinforcement and punishment.
7. Divide the class into two groups (one in favor and one opposed) and debate this
proposition: “Rewards motivate people.”
8. How would you use the expectancy model in the following situations?

a. You want two employees to switch their vacations from the summer to the spring
so that job needs will be filled suitably during the summer.
b. You believe that one of your employees has excellent potential for promotion and
want to encourage her to prepare for it.
c. You have a sprained ankle and want a friend to walk to a fast-food restaurant and
get you a hamburger.
9. Apply the equity model to yourself as a student. How do you measure your inputs and
outcomes? Whom have you chosen as referent individuals? Do you perceive equity? If
not, how will you attain it? Is procedural justice present?
10. The test suggests that an individual’s equity can be distorted. If that is the case, how would
you go about correcting or adjusting them?

Role-Play The Downsized Firm

Instructions
Divide into groups of four persons, with one person taking the role of Phil, Sue, John, and Linda.
Each person should read only their role. When everyone is ready, Phil should meet with each
person and attempt to create a motivational atmosphere that will encourage each person to remain
with the firm and be productive.
Phil
You are the supervisor of the circulation department for a scientific publisher. Your department was
recently downsized, and you lost two customer service representatives. They were terminated for
business reasons that had nothing to do with their job performance. You have three remaining
representatives---Sue, John< and Linda---and are about to meet with each of them to try to
convince them to remain motivated and productive (doing the work of five persons previously) and
stay with the firm.
Sue
Your department was recently downsized, and two of the five customer service representatives
were laid off. They were allegedly terminated for business reasons that had nothing to do with their
job performance. You are one of the three remaining representatives (the others are John and
Linda). You are single mother and have to take extra days off when your children are sick.
Sometimes you work a flexible schedule of hours to accommodate the children’s schedules. You
are beginning to wonder if these allowances will make you more vulnerable in any future round of
layoffs. You are about to meet Phil now.
 Chapter 5 Motivation 125

John
Your department was recently downsized, and two of the five customer service representatives
were laid off. They were allegedly terminated for business reasons that had nothing to do with their
job performance. You are one of the three remaining representatives (the others are Sue and
Linda). You have been on the job for two years. You attend college at night and see the job as a
steppingstone into a management position. However, after seeing your two colleagues (and
friends) terminated, you are beginning to wonder if this company is one that you want to stay with.
You are about to see Phil now.
Linda
Your department was recently downsized, and two of the five customer service representatives
were laid off. They were allegedly terminated for business reasons that had nothing to do with their
job performance. You are one of the three remaining representatives (the others are Sue and
John). You have worked in customer service for 15 years and have always felt like you made a
lifetime commitment to work. Now even you are beginning to wonder how secure your job is. After
all, if it happened to two of your colleagues, it might happen to you, too. You are about to see Phil
now.
Discussion
1. What major motivational model(s) did Phil use with Sue, John, and Linda?
2. What other approaches might have worked better?
3. What are the major lessons you can derive from this exercise?

Incident The piano Builder21

Waverly Birds builds pianos from scratch. He is a consultant to a piano manufacturer. He is on call
and works about one week a month, including some travel, to solve problems of customers. He
also rebuilds about a dozen grand pianos every year for special customers; but, according to Bird
the most satisfying part of his life is his hobby of building pianos from the beginning. “It’s the part
that keeps a man alive,” he says. The challenge of the work is what lures bird onward. He derives
satisfaction from precision and quality, and he comments, “Details make the difference. When you
cut a little corner here and a little corner there, you’ve cut a big hole. A piano is like the human
body; all the parts are important.”
Bird has a substantial challenge in making a whole piano. His work combines skills in
cabinetmaking, metalworking, and engineering, with knowledge of acoustics and a keen ear for
music. It requires great precision, because a tiny misalignment would ruin a piano’s tune. It also
requires versatility: A keyboard must be balanced to respond to the touch of a finger; the pinblock,
on the other hand, must withstand up to 20 tons of pressure. In addition, Bird had to make many of
his own piano construction tools.
Bird has built 40 pianos in his 34-year career. Though construction takes nearly a year, he sells his
pianos at the modest price of commercial piano. He is seeking not money but challenge and
satisfaction. He says, “The whole business is a series of closed doors. You learn one thing, and
there’s another closed door waiting to be opened.” Bird