Essentials of

Organizational Behavior, 10/e

Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 6

Motivation: From Concepts

to Application
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-1
 After studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
1. Describe the way in which employees can be motivated
by changing their work environment.
2. Compare and contrast the three main ways jobs can be
redesigned.
3. Give examples of employee involvement measures and
how they can motivate employees.
4. Describe the four major strategic rewards decisions.
5. Demonstrate how the different types of variable-pay
programs can increase employee motivation.
6. Describe how the application of motivation theories
varies across cultures.
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-2
 Motivating by Changing the
Work Environment: JCM
The Job Characteristics Model - jobs are
described in terms of five core dimensions:
 Skill variety
 Task identity
 Task significance
 Autonomy
 Feedback

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-3

 The Job Characteristics
Model

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-4

 JCM: Designing
Motivational Jobs
• JCM-designed jobs give internal rewards
• Individual’s growth needs are moderating
factors
• Motivating jobs must be:
 Autonomous
 Provide feedback, and
 Have at least one of the three meaningfulness factors

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-5

 How Can Jobs be
Redesigned?
Job Rotation
The periodic shifting of an employee from one task
to another

Job Enlargement
Increasing the number and variety of tasks

Job Enrichment
Increasing the degree to which the worker controls
the planning, execution and evaluation of the work

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-6

 Guidelines for Enriching a
Job Using JCM

Enrichment reduces turnover and absenteeism

while increasing satisfaction.
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-7
 Alternate Work
Arrangements
• Flextime
 Some discretion over when
worker starts and leaves
• Job Sharing
 Two or more individuals split a
traditional job
• Telecommuting
 Work remotely at least two days
per week

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-8

 Employee
Involvement
A participative process that
uses the input of employees
to increase their commitment
to the organization’s success

Two types:
Participative Management
Representative Participation
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-9
 Participative Management

• Subordinates share a significant degree

of decision-making power with superiors
• Required conditions:
 Issues must be relevant
 Employees must be competent and knowledgeable
 All parties must act in good faith

• Only a modest influence on productivity,

motivation, and job satisfaction
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-10
 Representative Participation

• Workers are represented by a small

group of employees who participate in
decisions affecting personnel
 Works Councils
 Board membership
• Desires to redistribute power within an
organization
• Does not appear to be very motivational

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-11

 Rewarding Employees

Major strategic rewards

decisions:
1. What to pay employees
2. How to pay individual employees
3. What benefits to offer
4. How to construct employee
recognition programs

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-12

 1. What to Pay

• Need to establish a pay structure

• Balance between:
 Internal equity – the worth of the job to the
organization
 External equity – the external competitiveness of an
organization’s pay relative to pay elsewhere in its
industry
• A strategic decision with trade-offs

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-13

 2. How to Pay:
Variable-Pay Programs
Bases a portion of the pay on a given
measure of performance
 Piece-Rate Pay – workers are paid a fixed sum for
each unit of production completed
 Merit-Based Pay – pay is based on individual
performance appraisal ratings
 Bonuses – rewards employees for recent
performance
 Skill-Based Pay – pay is based on skills acquired
instead of job title or rank – doesn’t address the level
of performance
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-14
 More Variable Pay Programs
• Profit-Sharing Plans – organization-wide programs that
distribute compensation based on an established formula
designed around profitability
• Gainsharing – compensation based on sharing of gains
from improved productivity
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) – plans in
which employees acquire stock, often at below-market
prices

While it appears that pay does increase

productivity, it seems that not everyone responds
positively to variable-pay plans.
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-15
 3. What Benefit to Offer:
Flexible Benefits
Each employee creates a benefit
package tailored to their own
needs and situation
 Modular plans – predesigned
packages to meet the needs of a
specific group
 Core-plus plans – core of
essential benefits and menu of
options to choose from
 Flexible spending plans – full
choice from menu of options
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-16
 4. How to Recognize Them:
Employee Recognition Programs
• In addition to pay there are intrinsic
rewards
 Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment
 Can be formalized in a program
• Recognition is the most powerful
workplace motivator – and the least
expensive!

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-17

 Global Implications

Do motivational approaches vary by culture?

 Job Characteristics/Enrichment: may not be the
same in collectivist cultures
 Telecommuting, variable pay, flexible benefits:
while all of these seem to be on the increase, not
enough research has been done to make any
conclusions
 Employee Involvement: important to modify
practices to reflect national culture
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-18
 Implications for Managers

• Recognize and allow for individual

differences
• Use specific goals and feedback
• Allow employees to participate in
decisions that affect them
• Link rewards to performance
• Check the reward system for equity
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-19
 Keep in Mind…

• Most people respond to the intrinsic

job characteristics of the JCM
• It is not clear that employee
involvement programs work – use
caution!
• Variable-pay plans can enhance
motivation
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-20
 Summary
1. Described the way in which employees could be
motivated by changing their work environment.
2. Compared and contrasted the three main ways jobs
could be redesigned.
3. Gave examples of employee involvement measures and
how they could motivate employees.
4. Described the four major strategic rewards decisions.
5. Demonstrated how the different types of variable-pay
programs could increase employee motivation.
6. Described how the application of motivation theories
varied across cultures.
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-21
 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America.

Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6-22