Motivating Across Cultures

2. Motivation:
Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic or
extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the
causes for animal behavior as well.
According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain
and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired
object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as
altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.

3. The Nature of Motivation:
The Universalist Assumption:
The first assumption is that the motivation process is universal, that all people are motivated to pursue goals
they value – what the work-motivation theorists call goals with “high valence” or “preference”
1. The process is universal
2. Culture influences the specific content and goals pursued
3. Motivation differs across cultures

4. The Assumption of Content and Process:
 Content Theories of Motivation:
Theories that explain work motivation in terms of what arouses, energizes, or initiates employee
behavior.
 Process Theories of Motivation:
Theories that explain work motivation by how employee behavior is initiated, redirected, and
halted.

5. Maslow’s theory rests on a number of basic assumptions:
Lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become motivators
A need that is satisfied no longer serves as a motivator
There are more ways to satisfy higher-level than there are ways to satisfy lower-level needs
The Maslow Theory:

6. The Hierarchy-of-Needs Theory:
With some minor modification researchers examined the need satisfaction and need importance of the
four highest-level needs in the Maslow hierarch
Esteem needs were divided into two groups:
1. Esteem – including needs for self-esteem and prestige
2. Autonomy – including desires for authority and opportunities for independent thought and action

7. The Two-Factor Theory of Motivation: The Herzberg Theory
A theory that identifies two sets of factors that influence job satisfaction:
1. Motivators
2. Job-content factors such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the work itself.
3. Hygiene Factors
The two-factor theory holds that motivators and hygiene factors relate to employee satisfaction – a more
complex relationship than the traditional view that employees are either satisfied or dissatisfied
1. If hygiene factors are not taken care of or are deficient there will be dissatisfaction
2. There may be no dissatisfaction if hygiene factors are taken care of – there may be no satisfaction also
3. Only when motivators are present will there be satisfaction

8. Achievement Motivation Theory:
Characteristic profile of high achievers:
1. They like situations in which they take personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems.
2. Tend to be moderate risk-takers rather than high or low risk-takers.
3. Want concrete feedback on their performance.
4. Often tend to be loners, and not team players.
A high nach can be learned. Ways to develop high-achievement needs:
1. Obtain feedback on performance and use the information to channel efforts into areas where success will
likely be attained
2. Emulate people who have been successful achievers;
3. Develop an internal desire for success and challenges
4. Daydream in positive terms by picturing oneself as successful in the pursuit of important objectives.

9. Select Process Theories:
 Equity Theory
 Goal-Setting Theory
 Expectancy Theory

10. Equity Theory:
 When people perceive they are being treated equitably it will have a positive effect on their job satisfaction
 If they believe they are not being treated fairly (especially in relation to relevant others) they will be dissatisfied
which will have a negative effect on their job performance and they will strive to restore equity.
There is considerable research to support the fundamental equity principle in Western work groups. When the theory
is examined on an international basis, the results are mixed.
1. Equity perceptions among managers and non-managers in an Israeli kibbutz production unit:- Everyone was
treated the same but managers reported lower satisfaction levels than the workers. Managers perceived their
contributions to be greater than other groups in the kibbutz and felt under compensated for their value and effort.
2. Employees in Asia and the Middle East often readily accept inequitable treatment in order to preserve group
harmony
3. Men and women in Japan and Korea (and Latin America) typically receive different pay for doing the same work –
due to years of cultural conditioning women may not feel they are treated inequitably

11. Goal-Setting Theory:
A process theory that focuses on how individuals go about setting goals and responding to them and the overall
impact of this process on motivation .
Specific areas that are given attention in goal-setting theory include:
1. The level of participation in setting goals
2. Goal difficulty
3. Goal specificity
4. The importance of objective
5. Timely feedback to progress toward goals

12. Expectancy Theory:
A process theory that postulates that motivation is influenced by a person’s belief that
1. Effort will lead to performance
2. Performance will lead to specific outcomes, and
3. The outcomes will be of value to the individual.
Expectancy theory predicts that high performance followed by high rewards will lead to high
satisfaction. Does this theory have universal application?
1. Eden found some support for it while studying workers in an Israeli kibbutz
2. Matsui and colleagues found it could be successfully applied in Japan