MOTIVATION | Why might an employer not want to offer employees the option of a compressed workweek schedule?

Why might an employer not want to offer employees the option of a compressed workweek schedule?

MOTIVATION | What is the common ground in Maslow's, Alderfer's, and McClelland's views of human needs?

What is the common ground in Maslow's, Alderfer's, and McClelland's views of human needs?

MOTIVATION | Why is participation important to goal-setting theory?

Why is participation important to goal-setting theory?

MOTIVATION | High Need for Achievement

What preferences does a person with a high need for achievement bring to the workplace?

MOTIVATION | Power of Goal Setting & Positive Reinforcement

How can a manager combine the powers of goal setting and positive reinforcement to create a highly motivational work environment for workers with high needs for achievement?

MOTIVATION | What are the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting?

ANSWER

The advantages of telecommuting are:

•        Increased productivity

•        Fewer distractions

•        Less time spent on commuting to and from work

•        Freedom to schedule work timings

The disadvantages of telecommuting are:

•        Spending more time on work

•        Difficulty in separating work and personal life

•        Devoting less time for family

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

MOTIVATION | How can managers effectively use positive reinforcement to increase the frequency of desirable behavior?

How can managers effectively use positive reinforcement to increase the frequency of desirable behavior?

ANSWER

Positive reinforcement can be effective when managers:

•        clearly identify desired work behaviors.

•        maintain a diverse inventory of rewards.

•        inform everyone what must be done to get rewards.

•        recognize individual differences when allocating rewards.

•        follow the laws of immediate and contingent reinforcement.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

MOTIVATION | How does the Alderfer’s ERG theory differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory?

How does the Alderfer’s ERG theory differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory?

ANSWER

Maslow’s theory classifies human needs as lower-order needs and higher-order needs. It states that a satisfied need is not a motivator of behavior. It states that five needs exist in a hierarchy and that a need does not become activated until the next-lower-level need is already satisfied. People are expected to advance step by step up the hierarchy in their attempt to satisfy the lowest-level need that is currently unfulfilled.

In contrast, Alderfer’s ERG theory groups human needs into three categories. This theory suggests that any or all needs can influence individual behavior at a given time. ERG theory does not assume that certain needs must be satisfied before other needs become activated. Alderfer also believes that satisfied needs do not lose their motivational impact and that they can become reactivated and influence behavior when a higher-level need cannot be satisfied.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

MOTIVATION | Explain the four major ways in which self-efficacy can be enhance, according to the work of Bandura

Explain the four major ways in which self-efficacy can be enhance, according to the work of Bandura.

ANSWER

Self-efficacy may be enhanced by encouraging people to 

(1) practice enactive mastery, the gaining of confidence through positive experience. This is accomplished by working at the task repetitively, practice, thereby becoming more practiced at doing the task and building one’s confidence in doing it; 

(2) practice vicarious modeling by watching a skilled person doing a task thereby building our confidence that we also can do it; 

(3) listen to verbal persuasion, the verbal encouragement that one can perform the task. This praise is often highly stimulating and motivating; and 

(4) get “psyched up” or personally stimulated and energized to do a task well.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

MOTIVATION | Describe the core characteristics model of job enrichment. Explain how this model can provide guidance to practicing managers

Describe the core characteristics model of job enrichment. Explain how this model can provide guidance to practicing managers.

ANSWER

According to the core characteristics model of job enrichment that is shown in Figure 14.7 of the textbook, an enriched job will be high on the following core job characteristics:

•        Skill variety  the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities to carry out the work and involves the use of a number of different skills and talents of the individual.

•        Task identity  the degree to which the job requires the completion of a “whole” and identifiable piece of work; that is, one that involves doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome.

•        Task significance  the degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people elsewhere in the organization or in the external environment.

•        Autonomy  the degree to which the job gives the individual substantial freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.

•        Feedback from the job itself  the degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the individual obtaining direct and clear information on the results of his or her performance.

          The core job characteristics directly impact three critical psychological states. Skill variety, task identity, and task significance affect experienced meaningfulness of work; autonomy influences experienced responsibility for the outcomes of the work; and feedback affects knowledge of actual results of work activities. The critical psychological states, in turn, influence the following job outcomes: high internal work motivation, high growth satisfaction, high general job satisfaction, and high work effectiveness. The core job characteristics will not affect everyone in the same way. Employees who have high growth-need strength and the requisite knowledge and skills, and are satisfied with the work context will respond more favorably to enriched jobs.

          For those employees who will likely respond favorably to job enrichment, managers can improve core job characteristics. Managers can do this in the following ways:

•        Form natural units of work  make sure that the tasks people perform are logically related to one another and provide a clear and meaningful task identity.

•        Combine tasks  expand job responsibilities by pulling together into one larger job a number of smaller tasks previously done by others.

•        Establish client relationships  put people in contact with others who, as clients inside and/or outside the organization, use the results of their work.

•        Open feedback channels  provide opportunities for people to receive performance feedback as they work and to learn how performance changes over time.

•        Practice vertical loading  give people more control over their work by increasing their authority for planning and controlling activities previously done by supervisors.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn