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Contemporary Theories of Motivation

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Contemporary Theories of Motivation
Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort to organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need. This need is the internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive. Motivation is also the process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. The concept of motivation refers to internal factors that impel action and to external factors that can act as inducements to action. Individuals differ in their basic motivational drive and the level of motivations varies both between individuals and within individuals at different times.
Since individuals differ in their motivation drive, there is not right or wrong method that will enforce a productive workforce. Early theories of motivation included the following: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, McGregor’s theory X and theory Y, and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory.
However, there are new theories that are being adopted in today’s contemporary and modern workforce. Work motivation has been of interest for quit some time, and it was not until 1964 that Victor Vroom made the first attempt to formulate a theory called the Valance Expectancy Model. This widely accepted explanation of motivation is commonly known as expectancy theory. Expectancy theory states that an individual tends to act in a certain way on the basis of the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. The theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a specific way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual to make this simple, expectancy theory says that an employee can be motivated to perform better when there is a belief that the better performance will lead to good performance appraisal and that this shall result



References: Lock, E., & Latham G. (2004, July). What should we do about motivation theory? Six recommendations for the Twenty-First Century. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 388-403. Reviewed October 20, 2008, from Business Source Complete Database. Bassett-Jones, N., Lloyd, G. C. (2005). Does Herzberg’s motivation theory have staying power? Journal of Management Development, 24(10), 929-943. Reviewed October 20, 2008, from Emerald database. Borders, A., Earleywine, M., Huey, S. J. (2004, October). Predicting problem behaviors with multiple expectancies: Expanding Expectancy-Value Theory. Adolescence, 35, 539. Reviewed October 20, 2008, from eLibrary Curriculum Edition Database. Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68-81. Reviewed October 20, 2008, from eLibrary Curriculum Edition Database. Lee, S. (2007). Vroom’s expectancy theory and the public library customer motivation model. Library Review, 56(9), 788-796. Reviewed October 20, 2008, from Emerald database.

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