Concept of Motivation

The term ‘motivation’ has been derived from the word ‘motive’. Motive may be defined as an inner state of our mind that activates and directs our behaviour. It makes us move to act. It is always internal to us and is externalized via our behaviour. Motivation is one’s willingness to exert efforts towards the accomplishment of his/her goal. 

Definitions

Fred Luthans defined motivation as a “process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive”.

According to Stephen P. Robbins “motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of efforts toward organisational goals, conditioned by the effort ability to satisfy some individual need”.

Importance of motivation

Organisations are run by people. Hence, mangers cannot afford to avoid a concern with human behaviour at work. This is because the motivated employees are more productive and quality- conscious than apathetic ones.

Motivation as a pervasive concept affects and is also affected by a host of factors in the organisational milieu. It enables managers to understand why people behave as they behave.

Organisational effectiveness becomes, to some extent, the question of management’s ability to motivate its employees. Hence, an appreciation of motivation helps the managers how to motivate their employees.

Machines become necessary in case of complex technology. However, these remain inefficient vehicles of effective and efficient operations without man to operate them. Therefore, organisations need to have employees with required capability and willingness to use the advanced complex technology to achieve the organisational goal.

With the realisation that organisations will run in more complex milieu in future, an increasing attention has been given to develop employees as future resources (a ‘talent bank’). This facilitates the managers to draw upon them as and when organisations grow and develop.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is when you engage in a behavior because you find it rewarding. You are performing an activity for its own sake rather than from the desire for some external reward. The behavior itself is its own reward.

Examples

• Participating in a sport because you find the activity enjoyable
• Cleaning your room because you like tidying up
• Solving a word puzzle because you find the challenge fun and exciting
• Studying a subject you find fascinating

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity because we want to earn a reward or avoid You will engage in behavior not because you enjoy it or because you find it satisfying, but because you expect to get something in return or avoid something unpleasant.

Examples

• Participating in a sport to win awards
• Cleaning your room to avoid being reprimanded by your parents
• Competing in a contest to win a scholarship
• Studying because you want to get a good grade

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Do Not Write below this note

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Redrafted for Educational Purpose.

Deekshith Kumar,

Assistant Professor of Commerce

Book Reference:

1. Management: A Global and Entrepreneurial Perspective by Heinz Weihrich, Mark V. Cannice, Harold Koontz

2. Principles and Practice of Management by T N Chabra

3. Principles of management by L M Prasad

4. Management process and organization by V.S.P Rao