case study on motivation

A Question of Motivation

CASE: A Question of Motivation Summary There are two college going students, name Alex and Stephanie, and at super market. To make ends meet and help pay for college fee. Both works for different departmental supervisor Dan and Jonathan respectively. Alex’s supervisor Dan assign him same work for days as he believes

that practicing the same thing over and over again master the job. Alex was being de-motivated by doing same work every day. At the same time Stephanie’s supervisor Jonathan takes care of his employees interests and use

to assign them work each week. The outcome of this practice was that his employees were motivated and were satisfied with the work assigned to them because they were having different task to perform each week that they were more enthusiastic towards the work. It was observed by the employees of the supermarket that Alex’s supervisor Dan was being bias

with his employees. For, instance, he was providing 2 more dollars pay to a girl who used to say good and sweet things to him as compare to Alex. He was also strict with lunch timing which was 45 minutes for all employee of the supermarket but he expects his employees to finish it within 30 minutes. On the other hand Stephanie’s supervisor Jonathan motivates his employees by giving them an

opportunity and responsibility to complete certain task without interfering in them and by also providing them bonus for completion of work in given time.

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Question: 1 How can expectancy theory be used to explain the differences in motivation between Alex and Stephanie? What specifies from the case apply to expectancy theory? Answer:

Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory:

This theory basically focuses on three relationships in contex t to individual efforts. (1) Effort-performance relationship (2) Performance-reward relationship (3) Reward-personal goal relationship

Individual effort

Individual erformance

Organizational reward

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Expectancy theory helps understanding how the workers who motivated &can exert maximum outcome by that. This can be understood by following questions First, “If I give a maximum effort, will it be recognized in my performance appraisal?

Here, it’s given in the case that Alex is highly de-motivated with his supervisor’s biased behavior that he thinks that no matter how hard he will work his efforts will not be recognized by Dan. He will not get any performance appraisal in terms of bonuses, salary increases or promotions. In contrast Stephanie is highly motivated with a job as she is getting fair performance appraisal from her supervisor Jonathan. As bonus and at the same time she is given opportunity to perform a certain task without any interference. There for Alex’s performance relationship is not working well due to de-motivation at the same time Stephanie’s effort performance relationship is well established. Second, “If I get a good performance appraisal, will it lead to organizational rewards?”

The situation is that Alex is totally de-motivated with his work as well as his supervisor Dan. He is not even getting proper recognisation so getting organizational reward is seemed to be out of question. On the other hand, Stephanie’s efforts are being fairly recognized by her supervisor Jonathan and

he is also providing her organizational rewards in terms of bonus. Because of the given opportunity she was feeling a sense of responsibility with regards to her job. Here, Stephanie’s performance relationship is again well furnished. Because of her satisfaction

with the job where as Alex is not at all getting any recognisation with his supervisor Dan. Thirdly, “If I’m rewarded, are the rewards ones that I find personally attractive?”

Employee expects different reward based on their need. It is manager who has to focus on basis of motivation of each employee’s need. By doing this they can easily uplift the level of

motivation and satisfy employees by giving them expected rewards. Same is the case of Alex also. He want that he should be allowed to work in different area. He also expects that as he is a

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senior he must be promoted or should be paid well compared to other fresher (Denise). Dan must be able to recognize Alex’s basis of Motivation and provide him various opportunities for

exploring his talent. In short, different employees have different basis of motivation which a manager must be able to recognize.

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Question 2: Alex states that he is underpaid for the work he does. What motivational theory does this apply to and how would it explain Alex’s behavior? Answer:

Alex is an experienced guy working under Dan – his boss since 2 years. His work is monotonous. He compares himself with his mate Denise who is fresher graduate. Though Denise is fresher she earns $2 per hour more than Alex who is senior compared to Denise. Dan’s 1inclination is more towards Denise as he allows her to work in different areas and also pay her more than Alex. Partial behavior of Dan hurts Alex. This is may be because of Denise’s

flattering behavior with Dan as she praises him say nice things about his looks and his stuffs like car an all. By referring the above points we can apply Equity Theory of Motivation. This theory studies about Worker’s Behavior in an Organization. This theory basically fo cu se s on in pu t of the wo rke r an d ou tco me th at wo rk er ex pe ct s. If an in pu t pr ov id ed by th e wo rk er do es no t fe tc h th e ex pe ct ed ou tc om e, fe el in g of dissatisfaction is generated among workers. There are 3 level of Equity in an organization.

1.

Self Outcome Input

2.

Self Outcome Input

3.

Self Outcome Input

Other’s Income

Input Other’s Income

Input Other’s Income

Input

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A Question of Motivation In this case Alex’s output and input compared to Denise is less (3 rd Situation). So, Alex is not

satisfied with his organization and especially with behavior of boss Dan. Alex is experienced and doing his job well than too his efforts are not appreciated and fewer opportunities are provided to him compared to other employees. Basically there are 4 different references that an employee selects ads to the complexity of Equity Theory. 1. Self Inside 2. Self Outside 3. Other Inside 4. Other Outside Employees might compare themselves to friends, neighbors, co-workers, or colleagues in other organizations or compare their present job with past jobs they themselves have had. Which referent an employee chooses will be influenced by the information the employee holds about referents as well as by the attractiveness of the referent. Four moderating variables are gender, length of tenure, level in the organization, and amount of education or professionalism. There are 4 moderating variables. 1. Gender In general male get more salary than female. But, here Alex gets less salary than Denise though the work of both is same. 2. Length of Tenure In general salary is paid according to seniority basis. But, here Alex is working from two years and Denise is fresher than also Alex gets less salary than Denise. 3. Level in Organization Alex and Danish both are working at same level and both are graduates. Then also salaries of both are different.

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4. Amount of Education In general more educated people get more salary in compression of less educated people. Here, Alex and Denise both are graduate than also both are getting different salary.

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Question 3: Using concepts from organizational justice, explain why Alex knocks his boss’s lunch to the floor. What should Alex’s boss do to improve the fairness of his treatment? Answer:

Dan, Alex’s boss is found to be bias regarding his behavior with Denise. In case we come across

instance like, Denise being allowed work at different place and also being paid more although she’s fresher. Dan’s behavior might be driven in that manner because of compliments given by

Denise. Relating this case to organizational justice theory we can notice that environment of justice is lacking somewhere from Dan’s side. He fails to include all three levels of justice which actually

employees demand. Alex had a perception that his boss is partial to him and treats him with bias. His perception is right because Dan is not a supervisor who treats all employees equally. Historically, equity theory focused on distributive justice, the employee’s perceived fairness of

the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals. But increasingly we think of equity from the standpoint of organizational justice, a larger perception of what is fair in the workplace. Employees perceive their organizations as just when they believe the outcomes they have received and the way they received them are fair. One key element of organizational justice is an individual’s perception of justice. For Example, There is few workers work in a factory. Manager tries to treat everyone equally. But the workers think that the manager biases between the workers. But sometimes it actually happens that employee’s perception is right. They use their cognition and relate themselves with other employees. While relating they found that they are not treated fair as compared to other employees in organization. In each and every term they compare themselves with other employees pay, rewards, choice of work etc. In our case also same situation has occurred. Alex compares himself with Denise and founds that he is treated in unfair manner. Organizational justice theory helps us to understand this.

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A Question of Motivation Due to Dan’s behavior Alex’s frustration was triggered and converted into anger. This anger lead Alex to throw his boss’s lunch box. This behavior of Alex is all due to Dan and he must do

something to control this behavior because today it is Alex tomorrow there may be some other employee. Model of Organizational Justice

Distributive Justice

Perceived fairness of outcome Ex. I got the pay raise I deserved. Organizational Justice

Overall perception of what is fair in the

Procedural Justice

workplace.

Perceived fairness of process used to determine outcome.

Ex. I think this is a fair

Ex. I received the raise I did.

Interactional Justice

Perceived degree to which one is treated with dignity and respect. D Ex. When telling me about my raise, my supervisor was very

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A Question of Motivation Dan should follow following steps to improve behavior of Alex: 

He should not be partial with employees.



He can improve his employee performance by giving them bonus and incentive.



Discuss all problems of his employees and try to solve them as soon as possible.



Employer Dan should behave in friendly manner with his employee and maintain a good Superior – Subordinate relationship.



He should give his employee opportunity to explore and motivate them by giving them reward for their work.



The pay should be raised as per the Alex deserve. Rewards should be given to motivate such employee.



The process of used to determine the overall outcome should be fair.

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Question 4: Using concepts from the emotions and moods chapter, explain why Alex retaliates towards his supervisor. Was his behavior driven purely by emotion, or did cognition also play a role? How so? Answer:

Emotions

Moods

Caused by specific Event.

Cause is often general and unclear.

Very brief in duration.

Last longer than emotions.

Specific and numerous in nature.

More general.

Usually accompanied by distinct facial expressions.

Generally not indicated by distinct expressions. Cognitive in nature.

Action oriented in nature.

Dan was quite the stickler about keeping lunch to a minimum. Although store policy allowed employees 45 minutes for lunch, Dan often pushed his employees to keep it to 30 minutes. When Alex and Stephanie were communicating with each other Dan enter and said, “I thought that college students were supposed to be smarter than this. At the very least I would hope that they could tell time.”

Alex who was already frustrated due to his boss’s behavior got even more frustrated and

that frustration was converted into anger. He was already de-motivated by his boss, as he was very bias with Alex. This behavior of Dan sprouted negative feeling in Alex about work and environment in which he is working.

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Relating this to emotions we can say that partial behavior of Dan lead to negative emotions and those emotions were particularly for Dan only. Reason behind throw the Sandwich was Emotion, Alex has such an emotion about his boss Dan who made him to do such unwanted thing as per the definition of emotion we can notice that, Alex behavior towards Dan is rude and negative because of inequitable behavior of Dan for Alex. As per our understanding cognition also played a role in Alex’s behavior. He was quite

aware about the things around him. He was knowing that his colleagues are been paid more than him though he is senior to all. Cognition helped to make sense about what is wrong or right.

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Question 5: Compare and contrast Alex and Stephanie in terms of each person’s level of work stress. How might stress affect their attitudes and behavior within their work environment? Answer:

Alex and Stephanie both are college students and work for fulfilling their needs and paying college fees. They both work in same super market and are working since last 2 years. But both are working in different departments and reports different bosses. Alex reports Dan and Stephanie reports Jonathan. Both bosses are different in nature and gets work done in their own manner. Here Alex is working under Dan who is not a person which provides freedom to workers to work their own way. Alex works under Dan since last 2 years and is bored with monotonous job of arranging stuffs on desk. He is not at all satisfied with his boss as well as he is not enjoying his job. With a talk with Stephanie he compares himself with his colleague Denise who is a fresher and is paid 2 $ more than Alex. Dan is more inclined towards Denise as she praises her boss in several ways. This partial behavior of Dan builds negative attitude in mind of Alex. One more reason of negativity is that store provide 45 min lunch break while Dan restricts his employees to only 30 min. Organizational factor plays an important role in any behavior of employee. Same goes with Alex also. His demanding and insensitive boss is responsible for Alex’s negative attitude and

behavior. He does not allow him to schedule his work in flexible manner and asks him to do a single job repeatedly. Moreover, he does not treat his employees equally. This is the reason why Alex feels high stress. When we compare Alex with that of Stephanie, Stephanie is quite happy with his work. She is in fact happy with her boss who allows her to work flexibly and allow her to work in different areas as per her choice. His boss is major factor for positive attitude of Stephanie. Various challenging jobs are also accomplished by Stephanie as her boss communicates regularly with her and guides her in same direction. Stephanie always wears a smile on her face and enjoys her job. The reason why Stephanie has positive attitude is her boss Jonathan. She doesn’t feels stressed and has no complains about her boss. She enjoys

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her job and accepts even challenging tasks. Circulation of her job role leads to low stress level and high motivation. Due to high level of stress experienced by Alex, he is not motivated to work in supermarket. His level of job satisfaction is also low compared to Stephanie as she is totally satisfied with her work and type of work allocated to her. Stress affects adversely to job satisfaction and attitudes both. In all, job satisfaction and attitude are closely related to level of stress in organisation.

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Question 6: Discuss Alex and Stephanie in terms of each person’s job attitudes. What factor might be responsible for any differences? Answer:

Job attitudes are of various types. Some of job attitudes affect employees of organization in several ways. Three component of job attitude also play a major role in defining attitude of each and every employee. Here in this case cognitive component of attitude plays a major role as Alex has a belief that his boss is partial towards him. Partial behavior of Dan creates negative attitude and causes dissatisfaction. There are different job attitudes at work place. Job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment and perceived organizational support are major job attitudes. When we talk about this case, Alex’s attitude towards his job is negative. He is not satisfied with his job because of

his monotonous boring job. This affects performance of Alex adversely. There are many other factors which are closely related with Job satisfaction. Alex is not involved in his job as he thinks his job is boredom. Organizational commitment is not seen in Alex as he doesn’t finds himself with his employee organization. His expectations are not given importance. Job attitude also include perceived organizational support, which Alex is not getting from his organization. Job satisfaction is related to POS also. If organizations do not support their employee and do not care for their well being employee’s morale is low for work and is least

motivated. Now talking about Stephanie she is quite satisfied with her job. She feels positive about her job means she has high level of job satisfaction. Her involvement in job is also high because her job is not monotonous which keeps her motivation level high. She has a high level of organizational commitment as she finds herself valuable in organization and considers her input to self worth. Overall she is quite satisfied and has a positive job attitude. A common factor which affects both of them is organization environment and nature of their boss.

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case study on motivation

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