relationshipbetweenmotivationandperanceandjobsatisfaction.doc

what does process theories of motivation provide for job satisfaction, performance, job design and management?introductionfor a long time, relationship between motivation and performance and job satisfaction has been intensely studied and debated. motivation, being the driving force within individuals, plays a significant role in the performance management. even though motivation is an internal cognition for the individual, to a great extent good understanding of it helps managers to predict and know behaviours of their employees. nowadays in order to maximize the benefits, modern organisations pay much attention both on the adjustment of themselves and employees development. therefore better understanding of motivations contribution to performance and job satisfaction become more and more necessary. according to mullins and christys point (2010), there are two common recognised theories of motivation: content theories and process theories. this essay is to mainly concern on what contribution process theories of motivation makes to improving performance and job satisfaction. in terms of the process theories, four major representatives are expectancy theory, equity theory, goal theory and attribution theory. then based on these four theories, this essay is going to explore those contributions. in addition, after explaining four process theories of motivation, this essay will talk about some implications provided for organisational job design and management. normally, as the driving force within individuals, motivation can be interpreted as needs and expectations. needs and expectations could be various due to individual differences. generally, motivation is categorised into two kinds: one is extrinsic and the other is intrinsic. since those four process theories attempt to identify the relationship among the dynamic variables that make up motivation and the actions required to influence and behaviour and actions (mullins, 2002, p. 435), so motivation discussed hereafter is in extrinsic manner. one more thing needs to be pointed out is that, as mullins and christy (2010, p. 254) stating in the book, “performance = function (ability motivation)”. obviously, motivation is not the only factor determining the outcome of performance. however, the close relation between performance and motivation is an undeniable fact. grounded on this fact, managers could lead their staff to set up correspondent motivations in the direction of realising organisations benefits and individual objectives as well. expectancy theoryunder this theory, vrooms expectancy model, and porter and lawlers extension model are famous ones among others. as a result, this part will focus on these two representatives.1. vrooms expectancy modelvroom is seen as the first person who combined expectancy theory with motivation. according to his view, there are three elements determining an individuals motivation: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. vrooms theory could be interpreted as follow: employee will be motivated to perform in a high level when he/she believes that his/her efforts inputted will lead to desirable outcome (martin, 2001). an equation explains the relationship concretely: m (motivational force) = e (expectancy) * v (valence). 2. porter and lawler expectancy modeltheir model is regarded as further expanding and developing vrooms model in which they believe ranges of other variables together with motivation determining the performance. also, they suggest that job satisfaction is the outcome of the performance rather than cause of performance (mullins and christy, 2010).contributions and implicationssince increasing individual expectancy, instrumentality and valence will lead high motivation within expectancy model, therefore, managers could pay attention to make employees believe that their efforts can lead to worthy outcome. consequently, improved performance is realised by motivated efforts. another method could be providing training to employees, because better necessary skills and expertise result in better performance (george and jones, 2003). one implication generated from porter and lawlers model is that managers should try to tighten connection between employees input, performance and reward system. job satisfaction is the outcome of performance. then once performance received confirmation with appropriate rewards, employee will feel satisfied. this inspires the organisation to develop relative performance appraisal system and reward system.equity theorythis theory is mostly in relation to adams work which focuses on peoples perceptions of the fairness of their work outcomes relative to, or in proportion to, their work inputs (meyer et al., 2007, p 435). this is about the feeling towards equity. people in the organisation have their own comparing standards on which they compare their input and outcome with others. feeling inequity is one result of comparison. according to meyers statement (meyer et al., 2007, p 436), there are two conditions of inequity: under-payment inequity and over-payment inequity. both of them will cause tension, therefore leading to series changes including affecting motivation. these changes are embodied on: changes to inputs, changes to outputs, altering perception of equity, leaving situation, influencing others and changing comparators (martin, 2001, p 417). contributions and implicationsunder the condition of equity existing in the organisation, employees keep or increase their inputs for gain what they expect to get in return. hence, motivation-related performance received improvement. also, feeling on equity apparently contributes to higher job satisfaction. moreover, equity normally is reflected on the aspect of financial outcome. therefore, equity theory implies that when designing reward system, managers should ensure that employees get what they deserve and feel being treated fairly. in terms of over-payment or under-payment inequity existing in some organisation, some restructures and adjustment are needed to put into practice. recent years, a few new pay structures emerge, such as profit-sharing schemes, savings-related share option schemes and gainsharing scheme, shedding light on designing reward system. thus, organisations could consider set up another form of reward system by integrating financial reward with non-financial reward (closely relating to employees higher level of motivation). goal theoryed locke who is the prominent theory representative suggests that goals of employees are prime determinants of their motivation and subsequent performance (george and jones, 2003, p 419). in a certain degree, this theory and expectancy theory share something in common. both of them indicate that individuals in order to achieve their desirable outcomes/goals by making more motivated efforts. differently, goals under this theory are required to be specific and difficult for yielding higher motivation and improved performance. in martins understanding (2001), specific and difficult goal is more likely to be achieved.contributions and implicationsbased on this theory, performance appraisal system is designed to shape behaviour and achieve improved performance (martin, 2001, p 418). furthermore, specific and difficult goals impact individuals motivation in two ways. first, they motivate people to contribute more inputs to their jobs. second, they help people focus their inputs in the right direction (meyer et al., 2007, p 438-439). both of the two effects result in obvious improved performance. regarding this theory, some practical implications are provided for managers. in respect of setting goals, it should be realistic in accordance to organisational need and feasibility. in addition, setting goals with participation of staff would on one hand increase their acceptance and commitment (george and jones, 2003, p 420) and generate feelings of ownership or involvement, on the other hand generate better performance. thirdly, based on performance relative feedback needs to be produced to evaluate employees attainment and help them make reciprocal adjustment for future performance. attribution theorythe attribution theory indicates that behaviour is determined by a combination of perceived internal forces and external forces (mullins, 2002, p 403). there are three basic criteria in making attributions: distinctiveness, consensus and consistency; two types of factors in the evaluation of performance: stable factors and unstable factors.contributions and implicationsas mullins (2002) states in his book, there are studies supporting that employees with an internal control orientation have higher satisfaction with their jobs and the participatory style of management than people with an external control orientation. complexity of evaluating an employees performance is attributed to the compounding both internal and external attribution with two types of factors. therefore, one implication for managers would be evaluating employees performance critically in an objective manner with taking all aspects into consideration. conclusionto sum up, this essay analyses four types of process theories of motivation: expectancy theory, equity theory, goal theory and attribution theory. based on these four theories, it could be concluded that motivation (driving force) as an internal cognitive indicator not directly determine but indeed has certain impacts on the job satisfaction and performance. for example, from aspect of expectancy theory, believing in expected outcome could be realised by increasing inputs. as a result of this, relative performance receives improvement. at the same time, job satisfaction of employees is increased for gaining desirable outcomes. in addition,