英语专业毕业论文-On the Motivation of Senior utives in American Corporations.doc

On the Motivation of Senior Executives in American CorporationsA Thesis Presented to theFaculty of The School of English StudiesTianjin Foreign Studies UniversityIn Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for the DegreeBachelor of ArtsbyMay, 2007ContentsAbstract (in Chinese) Abstract (in English ) Chapter . Introduction 1AGeneral background1BPurpose of the study2COrganization of the thesis2ChapterLiterature Review2AHierarchy of Needs Theory2BMotivation-Hygiene Theory3CMcClellands Theory of Needs4DGoal-Setting Theory5EManagers motivation factors theory6Chapter Main Needs of the Executives7A.Compensation7B.Individual growth8C.Sense of achievement9D.Job independence10Chapter Corresponding Motivation Methods for Those needs Needs10A. Cafeteria compensation11B. Training15C. Objective Encouragement19D.Delegation22Chapter Conclusion23Works Cited25摘要管理者是构成企业核心竞争力的重要组成部分，因此，管理者的激励对一个企业的成功起着至关重要的作用。企业管理者通常事业心强，希望可以获得个人发展的自由空间。同时，他们也肩负重任，追求卓越。本文针对企业管理者，旨在研究企业人力资源管理中激励方面的一些问题。本文以前人的激励理论为基础，如：马斯洛的需求层次理论，赫兹伯格的双因素理论和麦克利兰的需求理论等，并将其运用于对管理者需求的分析。他们一般具有四方面主要需求：薪酬、个人成长、成就感需求和工作自主性。为了满足这些需求，本文介绍了四种激励方法：自助式薪酬、培训、目标激励和授权激励。在结论中指出，单一的激励方法无法起到有效的激励作用。所以，对各种激励方法的整合是十分重要的。关键词：企业高层管理者；需求；激励AbstractAs executives are essential to a corporations core competence, how to motivate executives is important to the success of business. Executives are generally enterprising and have strong desire for the freedom of self-development. They always bear responsibilities and pursue excellence. This thesis targets the subject on the executives, probing into some problems of the motivation system in the management of human resources in corporations. The argumentation is based on several previous motivation theories, such as Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory, Herzbergs Motivation- Hygiene theory, and McClellands theory, etc. Applying these theories, this thesis shows four main needs of executives: compensation, individual growth, sense of achievement and job independence. Then it introduces four motivation methods to satisfy these needs: cafeteria compensation, training, objective encouragement and delegation. Finally, it comes to the conclusion that no single motivation method can motivate executives effectively and the integration of the methods is very important.Key words: senior executives; needs; motivationIIChapter . Introduction A. General background The twenty-first century heralds an age of competition in the human capital market, an age that human capital turns out to be of paramount importance. The competition of a company tends to be determined by its executives qualities and abilities. In Davos Economic Forum, Bill Gates affirmed that the competition of talents had just begun. He said, “We have been bogged down in this trouble for two years, and it will last for 15 years. Undoubtedly, human capital is more important than financial capital. ” (Sarsnanc 1) Thomas Stuart from Fortune showed the similar view: seeking, training and retaining the talents are the most severe challenge to every corporation.In China, the war for talents is fiercer. The Survey of Executives in Chinese Corporations which was released by economic research center of Peking University shows that more than 50 percent of senior executives may leave or have left the corporations (Zhong 1). Corporations in China encounter the serious brain drain, especially the senior executives. Therefore, how to manage and motivate the executives to fully develop their talents and potentials is essential to the success of business to win out in the market competition.BPurpose of the studyExecutives have their own needs which are different from ordinary employees. Only on the basis of sound understanding of their needs can corporations apply appropriate motivation methods to motivate them to exert more efforts. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt different motivation methods for their needs. The study on motivation is practical in the management of the corporations. Obviously in this field, America has ranked the top. Analysis of its motivation system is beneficial to the development of management in our country. COrganization of the thesisFirst, this paper reviews previous motivation theories, such as Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory, Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Goal-Setting Theory, etc. Second, it introduces four main needs of the executives: compensation, individual growth, sense of achievement, job independence. Then, it analyses four motivation methods aiming at those main needs of executives: cafeteria compensation, training, objective encouragement, delegation. Finally, in the conclusion it presents the summary of the study.ChapterLiterature ReviewA Hierarchy of Needs Theory In 1943 Abraham Maslow put forward hierarchy of needs theory. He classifies peoples needs into five categories as followings: 1.physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, sex and other bodily needs, which are the most basic needs of people. The dissatisfaction of these needs may lead to threat to peoples existence. So, they are the greatest motion which motivates people to exert more efforts. 2. Safety and security needs, such as security, protection from physical and emotional harm, etc. 3. Social needs, such as affection, belongings, acceptance, and friendship. 4. Esteem needs including internal esteem such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement；and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention. Maslow thought that the satisfaction of the esteem needs enables people to be confident of themselves and be positive to the society. They can also experience the self-value. 5. Self-actualization, such as growth, achieving ones potential, and self-fulfillment. It is the highest level of peoples needs. And it means the desire for further growth. Maslow divides the five needs into higher and lower orders. When one of them becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. So, the first step to motivate one person is to make clear which level he is at.BMotivation-Hygiene TheoryThe Motivation-Hygiene theory was proposed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg. He assumes two groups of factors. One is motivators, such as achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility and advancement, which can motivate people to work actively and promote the productivity. The other is hygiene factors , such as interpersonal relationship, company policy, supervision and salary, which can only avoid the dissatisfactions but cannot lead to satisfaction of employees. Therefore, it is important to deal with the relationship between the motivators and hygiene factors. First, management should not neglect or excessively emphasize the hygiene factors. Second, it is better to convert the hygiene factors to the motivators.CMcClellands Theory of NeedsMcClelland focuses on peoples high level needs and classifies them into three types: need for achievement, need for power and need for affiliation. They are defined as follows:1) Need for achievement: the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed (Robbins 220). Its one of the distinctive characteristics of the high achievers. High achievers seek situations where they attain personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems, where they can receive rapid feedback on their performance so they can set moderately challenging goals.2) Need for power: the desire to have impact, to be influential, and control others. Individuals in high need for power enjoy being in charge, and strive for influence on others. They prefer to be placed into competitive and status-oriented situations, and tend to be more concerned with prestige and gaining influence over others than with effective performance (Robbins 221).3) Need for affiliation: the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationship. People in high need for affiliation desire relationships involving a high degree of mutual understanding.DGoal-Setting TheoryEdwin Locke first proposed that intentions to work toward a goal are a major source of working motivations. Employees performance goal is the most direct motive in working. So, it is an important task to set an appropriate goal for the employees. He believes that the specific and difficult task produce a high level of performance. And people will do better when they get the rapid feedback which helps them identify differences between the goal and what they have done. If one person can participate in proposing the goal, it will be easier for them to accept the difficult task.Self efficacy is another condition in implementing the goal-setting theory. It refers to the individuals belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. Individuals with high self-efficacy are prone to accept the risky and difficult tasks while people with low-efficacy are likely to give up. Moreover, facing the negative feedback, people in high self-efficacy may exert more efforts and motives while the ones in low self-efficacy may reduce their efforts.Goal-setting theory is very popular in America, because it believes that the subordinates will be independent and the executives and employees should seek for challenges.EManagers motivation factors theory According to the managers needs, Peden concludes six factors which motivate people effectively. The factors are: 1)The challenge of the work. This is a kind of strong motive. In order to put its motivation function in full, people should know their duty, goals, authorities, expectancy, which make them believe their jobs are valuable.2)Status, including title, promotion and the tokens of status such as the commodious offices and advanced office supplies, private secretaries, mobiles, etc.3)The desire to obtain the leadership. It relates to the needs of power, which means the control over others.4)Motivation of competition. Competitions are common in life such as competition for promotion with colleagues.5)Fear. It has many forms, such as fear for being dismissed or reduction of compensation.6)Money. In fact, money is the basic manifestation of motivation.Chapter Main Needs of the ExecutivesAccording to managerial psychology, executives are always more confident, power-oriented and with great need of self-fulfillment (Deng 1). We can easily see that executives needs are different from the ordinary employees. In the “Motivators for Middle and Senior Executives in Corporations”, the authors carried out an empirical research on executives needs. The result shows that the main needs of the executives are compensation, individual growth, sense of achievements and job independence.A. CompensationFirst of all, executives are economic men. The pursuit of profit is still their basic motivator, which is the first level of Hierarchy of Needs Theory. Compensation is not only the essential prerequisite for executives desire for the high quality life, but also the yardstick to measure their performance and values. This point has been well explained in Pedens theory. He believes that money is the basic motivator. When a researcher of Forbes China explained the Chinas richest list, he said, “Our standard of success is money.”(Yang 25) As the high achievers, executives have their own demands for compensation, which are different from the ordinary employees. They prefer challenges and feedback, so they need a compensation system relating to their performance instead of fixed pay. Moreover, they desire for not only the handsome pay but also the various pay which contains the benefit, vacation, welfare, etc. Therefore, in order to motivate the executives, its necessary to understand their distinctive needs of compensation.B. Individual growthNo management model has permanent effectiveness, and each of them works in certain situation. Facing the challenges, executives realize that their knowledge, skills and abilities are not enough to meet the requirements of the work. This point has been explained in Pedens theory that managers have the fear which motivates them to improve themselves continuously. They attach great importance to knowledge and experience they can build up in their job. They demand that the enterprises offer them the opportunities not only to apply their knowledge but also to acquire new knowledge. Besides the compensation, personal achievements, prestige, they pay great attention to the potential of self improvement. They take account of whether the job is beneficial to self-transcendence and self-perfection. According to the research described in the “Motivators for Middle and Senior Executives in Corporations” by Chen Weizheng, 46.7% executives take individual growth as the motivator of their jobs (2).C. Sense of achievementThe ability of the executives plays a key role in the management operations of a company in the market. Their internal characteristics-professional ability, high quality and clear aims-determine that they think highly of the realization of individual value. They focus on their career and are eager for great achievements. According to the survey, introduced in the “Motivators for Middle and Senior Executives in Corporations” by Chen Weizheng, 80 percent of executives choose sense of achievement as the motivator (2). McClelland finds that executives have a compelling drive to succeed. Theyre striving for personal achievement rather than rewards. They prefer the challenge of working out a problem and accepting the personal responsibility for success or failure rather than giving up chance or actions to others. They like the risky task with equal chance of success and failure, because it enables them to experience the feeling of achievements. In Pedens theory, the first motivator of executives is the challenge of work. The higher ranks executives possess, the greater their need of achievements is (Zhao 49). D. Job independenceExecutives are high achievers who have the higher level of needs besides compensation. According to McClellands theory, high achievers are with strong desire for power and incline to do the job by themselves. Based on Pedens theory, executives attach great importance to leadership. Its known to all that executives are always the high-quality talents, who possess the great ability to get, analyze and utilize the information and knowledge. They are vigorous, with high foresight and prefer to make decision and exploration by themselves. They need spheres of decision-making and operation, also the flexible job system, placing great emphasis on self-management and control. Only in this way can executives express their views, carry out their plans and work more efficiently (Zeng 3). Most of executives believe that the job independence is one of the most important factors which motivate them to implement their jobs actively (Chen 2).Chapter Corresponding Motivation Methods for Those NeedsFrom the discussion above, we can easily see that senior executives have distinct characters and diversified needs. So, in order to motivate them effectively, the corporations should take specific methods which are aimed at their characteristics. Now, various motivation methods have been applied in different corporations. Among them, the following four are proved to be effective in motivating executives. A.Cafeteria compensation Choice is everywhere today, in the workplace no less than in the supermarket. Employees are increasingly looking at their paycheck the way they look at their market basket-they want some say in what goes into it. They want the chance to configure, within reasonable limits, their own rewards systems. Choice itself has become a value. Employees, especially newer ones, may be satisfied with the money they receive and yet very dissatisfied with the pay system and the way pay information is communicated. As a result, traditional compensation system does not attract, retain or motivate the higher achievers. Its high time to change (Fu 302).Based on the analysis of the flaws of traditional compensation system, John E. Tropman brought forth the concept of cafeteria compensation system. It can be expressed in terms of an equation with ten variables, which together encompass various kinds of compensation that todays employees want from work: TC = (BP + AP + IP) + (WP + PP) + (OA + OG) + (PI + QL) + X, where TC = total compensation; BP = base pay, or salary; AP = augmented pay, that is, any one-time payment, even if received at regular intervals (such as overtime), bonus, or performance reward; IP = indirect pay (benefits);WP = works-pay, that is, employer-subsidized equipment, uniforms, and so on; PP = perks-pay, that is, special benefits-anything from accessories to employee discounts on company products; OA = opportunity for advancement and increased responsibility; OG = opportunity for growth, both through on-the-job training and through off-site training and degree attainment; PI = psychic income, the emotional enhancements provided by the job itself and the setting (the people); QL = quality of life, that is, opportunity to express other important aspects of life (location close to home, flextime, on-site child care, ski to work, or whatever); X = any unique element that an employee wants that the workplace can facilitate (“Can I bring my dog to work?”).The merits of cafeteria compensation can be easily seen in the comparison with the traditional system:First, the old compensation is fragmented. In most organizations many different forms of compensation only concentrate on the single aspect of needs. Some focus on pay, others on benefits, rew