WORK MOTIVATION THEORY

Work Motivation Theory

Work Motivation Theory

1. Introduction

Work motivation is a driver to organization's performance. As organizations are increasingly becoming project-oriented, juxtaposing work motivation in traditional and project-based organizations is of primary interest. Though work motivation has been well-researched in organization behavior literature, its understanding has been limited in project management research. Further, a non-managerial perspective of this issue has been ignored. We address this lacuna in research.

Thus, we set forth the following objectives of this study:

What is work motivation and how is it different in traditional and project-based organizations?

What are the constructs that constitute work motivation in project-based organizations?

In this paper, we will first bring forward the dimensions of work motivation by reviewing content and process based-theories of motivation. Then, we will juxtapose work motivation in traditional and project-based environments. Having established a context and framework for work motivation in projects, we will describe our research methodology to investigate the dimensions of work motivation. This will be followed by a discussion of results, conclusion, and the managerial implications of this study.

2. Theory

2.1. Origins of work motivation

Work motivation is a set of energetic forces that originate both from within and beyond the individual's being leading to work-related behavior in terms of determining the form, direction, and intensity of this behavior (Pinder, 1998). These notions of work motivation are firmly grounded in theories of motivation such as theory of needs (McClelland, 1961), Equity theory (Adams, 1963), Goal setting theory (and job characteristic model (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) where references to specific features of work that are motivating to the employees have been given.

Early studies alluding to work motivation was given by Taylor through scientific management and then later by Weber, Foller, and Benedix in the 1930's. The focus was on managing the job design to improve performance. These studies gave rise to the 'content based approach' to motivation.

Work motivation was well-researched in content based-theories of motivation through the works of Maslow (1943; satisfaction of security, affiliate, and recognition needs), Herzberg et al. (1959; nature of work and pay), and McClelland (1961; collegiality and autonomy). This conceptual understanding of work motivation later gave rise to the job characteristic model (Hackman and Oldham, 1976).

The Process based-theories of work motivation gained prominence in the 1960's. These theories view motivation as being dynamic across time (during the tenure of the individual's employment), looking for causal factors pertaining to time (tenure), and events (job content, and job context). Most notable contributions came from (Vroom, 1964) and (Porter and Lawler, 1968), and Locke (1968).

Through these theories, we know that work motivation has been characterized by dimensions such as secured and interesting job, ability to perform the job, recognition from superiors and colleagues, adequate pay, and feedback on performance.

In the last twenty five years, there has been an increasing interest in defining work motivation through the identification of constructs for work motivation such as 'Challenging nature of work' (Jung et al., 1986), 'feedback on performance', 'enjoyable nature of work' (Campion and Thayer, 1987), 'task identity', 'task significance', and ...