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1. DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is the personal internal “force” that causes people to work to achieve
organizational goals and by doing it to satisfy their personal needs.

When we say that a job motivates employees, we mean that it activates this force or the

process within employees to behave in a particular way. When it seems that employees work only
to achieve the general goals of an organization, they behave in this way only to achieve their own

purposes to satisfy their needs.
The task of the manager is to create the possibilities for the employees to satisfy their needs

to the full extent as a reward for their work and skills.

Practical management is based on certain scientific theories.

2. SCIENTIFIC THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

There are several scientific theories of motivation. Taken together, these models of
motivation represent a good “guide book” for managers. We shall consider only some of them.

One of the first approaches to employees’ motivation was Frederick Taylor’s scientific

theory. Taylor believed that employees work only for money and that they must be closely
supervised and managed. He reasoned that the pay should be tied to output because workers

“soldiered” or worked slowly. He said that the more a person produced, the more he or she should

be paid. This gave rise to the piece-rate system under which employees are paid a certain amount
for each unit of output they produce. This theory didn’t take into account social processes in the

workplace.
Douglas McGregor labeled this view Theory X and then described an alternative view called

Theory Y, which was based as responsible members of an organization when it is clear to them that
accomplishing the organizational goals will bring them personal rewards. This leads to the

dedication and loyalty to the firm that are in evidence at the Japanese firms with the common desire

to do the job well. Dedication and satisfaction of employees’ needs can thus increase productivity.
People will work towards goals to which they are committed.

McGregor maintained that his theory (Theory Y) was much more effective as a guide for
managers. However, human motivation is a complex and dynamic process to which there is no

simple key. A variety of factors must be considered in any attempt to increase motivation.