Essay on Motivation and Herzberg’s Theory

Submitted By yanlingqian
Words: 711
Pages: 3
Open Document
Guided by the question what employees in the information society of the twenty-first century perceive as relevant for their personal motivation in comparison to Herzberg’s two-factor theory this dissertation presents a qualitative study conducted with a group of German knowledge workers. The participants reject Herzberg’s two factor theory as an adequate motivational theory for their workplace motivation. According to the participants view a cultural bias can be found in Herzberg’s theory. Furthermore the underlying assumption of Herzberg’s theory that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction depend on different factors is doubted. Instead it is suggested by the participants the difference needs to be made between motivation and job satisfaction. The theory does not reflect the German cultural tendency towards a team-based approach and the importance of safety needs for motivation. The motivator factors proposed by Herzberg only partially meet the perception of the group of participants. A mentally challenging work, visionary leadership and psychological safety are the key motivators in the researched organisation. Differences in the nature of the job and the cultural environment are suggested as reasons why earlier studies on Herzberg’s theory resulted in ambivalent findings concerning the validity of Herzberg’s theory. Implications of a possible misunderstanding of Herzberg concerning the relationship between job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction and motivation on the two-factor theory and other relevant motivational theories get discussed.

Honour where honour is due: in order to last for 45years without being disproved and maintain a place under the most influential of its kind an academic theory has to be a truly outstanding specimen. This is the case for Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory of workplace motivation, published in “The Motivation to Work” (Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman) in 1959. In its essence the theory relates motivation and job satisfaction with a set of work-related factors and job dissatisfaction with a set of factors in the organisational environment.

Since its introduction in 1959 it can be said that the two-factor theory has had considerable influence on the body of science on workplace motivation. Despite existing criticism it can be stated that the two-factory theory fulfils all four criteria of a valuable academic theory (Whitsett and Winslow 1967), it has resolving and explanatory power, has generated a vast amount of further research (Herzberg 1993) and is a useful base for prediction on the topic of workplace motivation. In addition Herzberg (Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman 1959) introduced a new research method to generate his findings, the so-called “critical incident technique” that caused great sensation and dispute in academic circles at that point in time. In this way Herzberg’s theory has lost nothing of its attractiveness to and influence on academics and manager’s alike over the past decades. In contrary it can still be found on the “manager’s motivational toolbag” for
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Motivation and Herzberg’s Theory

Business: Motivation and Hygiene Factors Essay

understanding of what motivates individuals and groups.” This assignment will look at the origin of Herzberg’s theory, those who agree with Herzberg’s two-factor theory and those that disagree with his two-factor theory. The assignment will look into what motivation means to individuals, and how motivation creates job satisfaction. It will then be possible to evaluate the relevance of Herzberg’s and how relevant it is to all individuals. Herzberg carried out a survey interviewing 200 Engineers…

Words 2167 - Pages 9

Motivation: Motivation and Equity Theory Essay

Motivation The invisible force that drives the mind to focus on reaching objectives, and allows an individual to work at their maximum capability is achieved through the process of motivation. Motivation is a psychological process through which unsatisfied wants or needs lead to drives that are aimed at goals or incentives (Luthans & Doh, 2012). The aim of this assignment is to compare the similarities and differences between two popular motivational theories and provide a personal opinion on…

Words 2318 - Pages 10

Motivational Methods Essay example

Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational method that has been around since 1943. The method consists of the following five steps: (“A Managerial Point of View on the Relationship between of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Dual Factor Theory,” 2014). 1. Physiological needs 2. Safety need 3. Social needs 4. Esteem needs 5. Self-actualization The goal of Maslow’s Hierarchy is to reach self-actualization. In the work place self-actualization is equivalent to advancement and growth…

Words 637 - Pages 3

Kellogs Case Essay

through motivation 1. Using two motivation theories of your choice, explain a) the similarities and the b) differences between the two theories. Among the various motivation theories, I chose Herzberg’s theory of motivation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. a) Similarities Herzberg is the person responsible for the birth of the two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting people’s attitudes about work. This is sometimes called the two-factor theory. The…

Words 1374 - Pages 6

Motivation: Maslow ' s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg Theory Essay

Motivation includes Financial and Nonfinancial factors. The Financial factors include salary, wage and money bonuses. The Non- Financial factors include luxury items such as work cars, pensions, holidays, petrol money etc. Motivation is important because it helps managers and businesses to achieve and set goals for their staff and companies. The main theories I am focusing on are the Maslow theory which is based around the hierarchy of needs and the herzberg theory which is also known as Herzberg’s…

Words 383 - Pages 2

Leadership and job satisfaction Essay

concept I think is the most important to any organisation is motivation. As according to Kvakhadze (2014) motivation concerns a set of “internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal”. Asides from the aforementioned, motivation also provides the following advantages to an organisation: 1. Motivation puts employees into action and improves level of efficiency…

Words 782 - Pages 4

Motivation in the Workplace Essay

Motivation in the Workplace In the current fierce economic market, organisations have been searching for the most efficient way to improve their competitiveness. To a great extent, businesses are relying on the performance of their employees to improve their competitiveness. Thus, employee performance can be a determining factor for an organisation to operate efficiently. According to Kelechi and Temitayo (2013), motivation plays a significant role in the workplace because employees should be motivated…

Words 1904 - Pages 8

Subject Matter Experts in Worker Motivation Techniques Essay

Subject Matter Experts in Worker Motivation Techniques When researching subject matter experts in worker motivation techniques, I found that there were many theories, but the ones that are generally acknowledged, when it comes to motivation in the workplace, are those that have been developed by Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, and Douglas McGregor. In Maslow’s theory he presents the concept that all humanity is driven by a universal hierarchy of needs. The levels of needs that are categorized…

Words 606 - Pages 3

Do all parrots look same Essay

questions/issues is the author trying to address? How important are they? Why? ANS: This article is about how motivation varies with cultural difference and what are the impacts of cultural difference in perception of motivation drives to these variant cultural people .Author analyze 3 theories of motivation-Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, Herzberg’s Two Factor theory and Vroom’s Expectancy Theory to employees in USA and Japan; to two culturally very diverse country. Author covers employee detail analysis…

Words 1189 - Pages 5

Teaching Hospital Essay

McClelland’s drives, Herzberg’s two-factory theory, and Expectancy Model of Motivation). 2. To…

Words 3227 - Pages 13