The Basic Structure Of Motivation Theories. Management Essay

Homework 2
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Homework 2
The basic structure of motivation theories
Motivation theories try to explain how people in organizations can be motivated to improve their productivity. The main components of motivation theories are people, organizations, and what can be done by organizations to help the people attain a future desired state. While content theories focus on the needs and drives, process theories focus on the employee’s interaction with the environment (Wilson, 2010). The rationale behind motivation theories is that motivating the employee translates to improved productivity.
Goal-setting theory
The theory I feel most connected to is the goal-setting theory. Developed by John Locke and Gary P. Latham, the theory stipulates that setting motivating goals improves employee performance (Kaplan & Owings, 2017). Factors that determine employee motivation towards a goal are task difficulty and task specificity. Through setting goals, an individual’s attention is directed towards activities that contribute to attaining the goals. According to Kaplan and Owings (2017), goals influence employees’ performance through mobilizing effort, directing attention, increasing persistence, and driving the development of strategy. Goals mobilize the effort of employees in that challenging goals lead to greater effort compared to non-challenging goals. For example, employees are bound to work more intensely and faster with a short deadline compared to a longer deadline (Kaplan & Owings, 2017). With goals set, individuals can develop relevant strategies to attain them. In the organizational setting, employees can choose to develop their skills to attain a goal. According to Kaplan and Owings (2007), when individuals have new task goals, they engage in deliberate ...