Home Search Sitemap Contact Bookmark

Free Dissertations - Business Dissertations

A Review Of The Above: Robbins (2006) Defines Motivation As The ...

Robbins (2006) defines motivation as the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals . These goals are frequently defined as key performance indicators and the organisations achievements against them, monitored through performance management techniques.

Armstrong et al's (2004) definition of performance management is 'a process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organisational performance'. This would suggest that managers use their knowledge of motivational theories to encourage individuals to put in a greater level of effort in order to achieve organisational success.

However, questions arise as to the validity of the connection between motivation and organisational performance. If the theories are generally accepted, there should be little if any incidents of organisations not performing. Writers (e.g. Robbins 2006) suggest that motivation is an internal state and that a managers role is to provide an environment in which the individual can realise their personal motivator(s). This would raise the question of how employers can identify all their individual employees personal motivations and ensure they can be fulfilled. It also raises the question as to how much do managers and their employees recognise the importance of the established theories of motivation as being a prerequisite to success. It has been argued (e.g. by Legge 2005) that many human resource policies are introduced due to legislative requirements (e.g. anti-discrimination, equal pay, works councils) rather than a recognition that such practices will encourage improved performance. Furthermore, the research should indicate which of the motivating factors are deemed as more relevant to both the employers and the employees thereby giving an opportunity to assess the different theories.

The results will allow a judgement to be made as to the role of motivation within an organisation and its impact on the organisations performance. Furthermore, it is expected that it will be possible to investigate whether the link between motivation and performance is recognised by employers and how they measure their success at motivating their employees.

Overview of methodology:

To measure the role of motivation within organisations and how it influences the businesses performance it is intended to research the levels of motivation within an organisation and compare the results to the success of the business i.e. conduct an observational study. Levels of motivation will be assessed through questionnaires, informal interviews and an analysis of the results of employee attitude surveys and exit interviews. The success of the business will be assessed through analysis of statistics following interviews with senior managers to determine their key performance indicators.


Thanks