Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation And Motivational Theories Business Essay

Motivation is the source of individual’s action and determines the reason for their behavior. Motivation is something that enables individuals to be goal oriented and it inspires the individuals to work on the direction of the goal or objectives set by the organization. It drives the people to achieve the goal. It is related to distinct form of emotion. There are several motivational theories for an organization. These theories help in motivating the employees in the organization.

TYPES OF MOTIVATION

There are two types of motivation. They are:

Intrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that interests an individual to do a task. The individual may be driven out by interest or enjoyment by the task itself. This type does not require external pressure. People get motivated by their own interests.

Extrinsic motivation forms out from an individual. The workers will be forced to do the job or task. In this type of motivation the workers are rewarded with money, promotion, and threat of punishment. A crowd cheering is also one form of extrinsic motivation.

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

Incentive theory

Need hierarchy theory

Herzberg’s two factor theory

X theory and Y theory

INCENTIVE THEORY

Incentive theory is based on the rewards. The reward may be tangible or intangible. The rewards are given after some action or job. These rewards are provided for the workers who are performing well in the organization. Incentives are provided so that the workers get motivated about their works and the rewards and will perform further. If a person receives any sort of incentives his or her performance will increase even more. This effect can be seen right after the person receives the reward. While giving incentive to one person other people in the organization also gets motivated. Incentive theory is used in many organizations. These strategies also act as an additional profit for an employee. Incentives are given in terms of money, promotion and free home etc.

NEED HIERARCHY THEORY

Maslow’s theory is one of most popular theory of motivation. Need hierarchy theory is formulated by Maslow.

Human beings have wants and desires in their life to influence their own behavior. Only unsatisfied needs influence the behavior. Satisfied need does not influence.

Since the needs are many in humans life. The needs will be prioritized by our own. They are arranged in a order according to the importance, from basic to complex.

The person advance to the next level of need only if the lower level need is satisfied.

The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and psychological health a person will show.

Needs from basic level to complex level:

Physiology (hunger, thirst and sleep)

Safety/security/shelter/health

Belongingness/love/friendship

Self-esteem/recognition/achievement

Self actualization

HERBERG’S TWO FACTOR THEORY

Frederick Herzberg two-factor theory is both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It concludes that certain things in the organization or workplace result in job satisfaction. If not, they won’t lead to dissatisfaction but no satisfaction at all.

The factors that motivate people can change over a period of time but “respect for me as a person” is one of the best motivating factors at any stages of life.

Herzberg distinguishes into:

Motivators

Hygiene factors

Motivators; (Example, challenging work, recognition, responsibility.)

Gives positive satisfaction.

Hygiene factor (e.g job satisfaction, job security, salary and fringe benefits) that do not motivate if present, but will result in de-motivation if it is absent.

The name hygiene factor is used because, it’s like hygiene, the presence will not make you healthier but absence will lead to deterioration.

This theory is sometimes called as motivator’s hygiene theory or dual structure theory.

X and Y THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Theory X and theory Y are the human motivation theories. It is developed by Douglas McGregor. These theories describe two different aspects towards the workforce motivation. McGregor felt that the companies follow either one or the other approach.

X theory:

The management assumes that the employees are actually lazy and they try to avoid the work. They also dislike the work. As a result of this management believes that workers must be closely supervised or watched and controls should be set. There should be a narrow span of control to avoid such issues. If the organizational goals are to be met the management should be stern on the employees. The X theory managers will heavily rely on the threats and coercion of the employees. The employees in the management will prefer to be directed towards the goal.

Y theory:

In this theory, management sees the employees are so interested and excited about the work allotted. The employees may be ambitious or self-motivated and exercise self-control of the work. It is believed that employees enjoy about their mental and physical duties. The right job to the right employees is the key to achieve organizational goals. The people in the organization work as being as natural as play and rest. The people will do self-direction and control towards the objective that has been already set by the organization.

GOOGLE’S MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES

Google Inc. is the world famous American public corporation that specializes in internet search, cloud computing and online advertising. The Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc. is Mr. Eric Schmidt. The overall culture of the firm is as such that employees are always motivated to do more. The company supports innovation and abilities and skills. So people from all over the world can join the organization, based on their capabilities. There is no formal hierarchy, so everyone is at the same level and is open to speak his/her mind. This supports innovation and an open culture where employees do not face any threat. Employees have numerous workplace attractions that keep them motivated like a 24 hour dough nut shop, snack rooms, Google café, workout rooms, and higher power workstations.

As a motivational technique, Google uses a system called Innovation Time Off, where the employees can spend their 20% of their working time on projects that interests them. This motivates the workers to stay on the job. They enjoy working new services like Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense etc. They also create come jokes within and about the firm.

The “Googolplex” is the headquarters of Google situated in California. The lobby has a piano, lava lamps, old server clusters and projection of search queries on the wall with hallways full or exercise balls and bicycles. Each and every employee is free to access the corporate recreation center.

Google generate a truly unique and attractive working environment for their employees. According to Hammonds, Google is a ‘geeks dream house’. The employees in Google are motivated for working in Google which is not a thing in other firms. Google offers a high employment that they receive 1000 applications a day. The truth is people are desperate to work in Google. They treat their employee as their own family members. They put up activities like free movie nights for employees and families, and free ski holidays and other social trips have already created a social bond between employees. By provision for free holidays, sports facilities at work, nursery care for children and 25 holidays a year, Google encourages its employees to work hard and strive for the achievement of goals.

Unlike other firms the Google’s hierarchy is very flat. This helps in accomplishing the goals very fast. There will be free transfer of communication within the firm. The employees are given the high responsibility. They are the key for their ultimate success. Google encourages innovation and empowerment because they have talented workforces in the world.

Google has identified why people join their organization

Lending a helping hand

Life is beautiful

Appreciation is the best motivation

Work and play are not mutually exclusive

We love our employees, and we want them to know it

Innovation is our bloodline

Good company everywhere you look

Uniting the world, one user at a time

Boldly go where no one has ever gone before

There is such thing as a free lunch after all.

Google Inc. follows Y theory of motivation. They let the employees to work on what they are interested. They attract people by their own facilities. Employees are satisfied by their job. Google is the job satisfaction provider for the people. Rewards, promotions are also provided but the primary thing is the allocation of the job.

Measures to improve Google Inc.

Quality programs

Managerial roles

Performance appraisals

Stress management

Leadership style

There should be more advertisement

Employees plans must be strengthened

New motivational plans must be formulated

Servers should be fast

Better job satisfaction

All should be treated the same

CONCLUSION

Google is the number one search engine. It already overtook Yahoo! Google is the fastest growing company now. They started off with the search engine but at present they are providing software (Android) for mobile phones. That is actually a great technological growth. By this fast growth companies like Apple Corporation and Microsoft are in threat. Google will surely lead the world in technology by adopting some different and powerful strategies.