Motivation Theory Scientific Management – F W Taylor 1856 – 1915

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Motivation Theory
Scientific Management – F W Taylor 1856 – 1915
Considered money to be the main motivator for workers therefore scientifically investigate how
jobs are done through ‘work study’ . Divide up the tasks – called ‘division of labour’ and
carefully train workers a smaller number of tasks to complete – training them and giving them
the right tools for them. Pay the workers ‘piece rates’ ie earnings relate to productivity.
Extreme division of labour
Payment by results (piecework)
Tight management control
Reduction in ‘unit costs’
Taylor’s ideas were the start of mass production. Henry Ford was one of the first to use his
methods with the production of the ‘Model T Ford’. Henry Ford famously said ‘You can have
any colour as long as it is black.’
Problems with Scientific Management
Boring and repetitive jobs
Lack of skills required leading to loss of skills in the workforce and also power for the
workers.
Led to low morale amongst the workforce
Taylor didn’t see workers as people, but rather cogs in a machine and that they need different
things from work; money was vitally important to them as many of them virtually lived on the
breadline.
Hawthorne Experiments – Elton Mayo 1880 – 1949
Elton Mayo was a Sociologist, and he investigated ‘behaviour’ in the workplace. Much of his
research was undertaken in the Western Electric Company at the Hawthorne plant – thus the
name.
Mayo set out to investigate how changing light and working conditions would affect productivity.
He undertook a set of scientific investigations – he had a control group of workers who worked
without the change in conditions and then he had his ‘group’ on whom he experimented – with
the changes. After each change productivity rose and despite not having a change in
conditions it also rose with his control group. After he change he also talked to those involved.
At the end of the experiments he put the conditions back to what they were and found that
productivity continued to improve.
Thus his results proved that greater communications and improved relations lead to increased
productivity and they:
o Showed the importance of recognition, belonging and security
o That work is a ‘group’ activity and workers belong to a group
o Social needs in the workplace must be recognized
o Communication is vital and understanding of the informal needs of the workers
Following Mayo and through improved ‘Human Relations’ facilities such as canteens and other
facilities at work including social clubs were introducted.
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Hierachy of Needs – Abraham Maslow 1908 – 1970
Maslow was a psychologist and he’s contribution to motivation and management thinking was
through the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ He suggests that we all have different needs but some needs
are fairly central to us.
Maslow believed that as you began to satisfy one set of needs you would start to have higher
needs and satisfying that level of need became your motivator.
Those that criticize Maslow would question whether social needs do actually come before self
esteem needs. And that those with a drive to achieve their full potential may do so at the
expense of being part of a team and therefore achieving any social needs. The principle is an
important one though.
Frederick Herzberg – Two Factor Theory – 1923 – 2000
He came up with the theory that we have motivators and hygiene factors after undertaking an
enormous amount of primary research.
There are two groups of factors – Motivators spur us on. Hygiene factors will reduced job
dissatisfaction and might enable us to be satisfied at work but will not spur us on.
Motivators include:
o Sense of achievement
o Recognition
o The work itself
o Responsibility
o Promotion/Advancement
Hygiene Factors (also called Maintenance Factors) include:
o Company policy and administration
o Supervision
o Pay
o Relations – peers, with supervisors, with subordinates and personal
o Working conditions
Physiological – food & water, shelter – need to
earn to survive
Safety and Security eg secure job
Social Needs - belonging
Self esteem
Self respect
Self
Actualistion –
the ability to
fulfil one’s
potential
Lower order
needs
Higher order
needs
Intrinsic rewards – coming from the job itself
– authority given to the individual means
they can make decisions and feel a sense of
achievement
Extrinsic – associated with the job
Higher order =
intrinsic
Lower order =
extrinsic – pay =
food etc
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Motivators are to do with the job and Hygiene factors ‘surround’ the job. Eg improved
working conditions may motivate you when they are improved but they won’t continue to
do so, but a ‘sense of achievement’ in your job will spur you on.
Herzberg also distinguished between movement and motivation. Movement occurs if we
have a short term goal to aim for eg we want to save up for a holiday, movement can also be
thought of as short term motivation ie work harder whilst saving. He therefore identified that
reward systems would not ensure motivation.
Herzberg came up with a policy called ‘job enrichment’ making the job better, allowing
workers to use the skills and abilities and also to plan and make decisions over their work.
Job enrichment also included bringing variety into jobs through job rotation and job
enlargement. Those that are critical of Herzberg felt it was just a way of making people do
more.
How important are theories of motivation?
o There are people in jobs who are there because they want to earn money that they
can then decide who to spend.
o If you don’t earn much and you get a pay rise this can ‘spur you on’
o Traditional manufacturing organizations with tall hierarchies and an authoritarian
approach to the routine work will also find that more money ‘spurs them on’ as it is an
opportunity to have more fun.
o Social factors inside and outside work help us feel comforted and may ‘spur us on’
o Individuals who have achieved well at university, or have had an opportunity to fulfill
their dream may feel naturally well motivated and more money may do little for them.
But praise, recognition, the authority to make their own decisions will ‘spur them on’.
Try and do more reading about these motivation theorists and think about your own
experiences.