The Mediating Effects of Role Stress and Intrinsic Motivation - Research Paper Example

? BUSINESS Table of Contents Theories of Motivation 2 Introduction to problem ment and purpose of study 2 Extrinsic Motivation 2 Table on Extrinsic Motivation 3 Intrinsic Motivation 4 Problem statement 4 The significance of the study 5 Literature Review 6 Motivation and Organizational Commitment 7 Hypothesis Development and Conceptual Framework 7 Methodology 8 Data Collection and Statistical Analysis 9 Data Analysis 9 Principle component Factor Analysis for Intrinsic Motivation 10 Reliability 10 Inferential Analysis 11 Normality Test Results 11 One Sample T-test 11 Correlation between factors scores of Intrinsic Motivation and Organizational Commitment 12 Assumptions Test and Regression Analysis 12 Discussion 12 Conclusion 12 References 14 Theories of Motivation Introduction to problem statement and purpose of study The concept of motivation is important when it comes to understanding the behavior of a group of people and finding ways of improving their performance. Motivation can be defined as a force that initiates, controls and maintains behaviors that are goal oriented. This is what propels people to do certain things like eating, working, and socializing. The forces that control behavior can be social, emotional, biological or cognitive in nature. Researchers have come up with different theories of motivation in order to explain the behavior of people and the reasons behind such actions. Intrinsic motivation improves performance more than extrinsic motivation because it is innate. When an individual is intrinsically motivated he/she will perform tasks with the intention of achieving inward satisfaction hence the levels of efficiency will be relatively higher than that of an individual that is motivated by external rewards. At the organizational level, even though the performance of employees is a function of both the environment and innate drives, the innate drives often determine the achievement levels among the employees (Barney & Elias 2010). This explains the different in efficiency levels among different personnel working in the same environment. Extrinsic Motivation Extrinsic motivation is often driven by external factors and not internal factors. All behaviors here are functions of external rewards and are often carried with the objective of avoiding pain like in the case of punishment or gaining something like in the case of promotions at work. Behaviors that are motivated extrinsically do not give happiness to the individuals in question as he/she acts in that way because of the external rewards. The problem associated with this is that it kills intrinsic motivation, as people get more concerned with the rewards at the expense of enjoying what they are doing (Robinson 2010). There are three types of extrinsic motivation as shown below. Table on Extrinsic Motivation MOTIVATION BEHAVIOR SUSTAINED BY EXAMPLE External Motivation Environmental rewards or punishment contingencies Learning in order to get a job Introjected Motivation Desire to avoid internally imposed remorse and blame Working in order to get money and support family Identified Motivation Desire to express important self-identifications Working because that is what I want to do. Extrinsic motivation is crude and inefficient because using negative motivation like blackmail and threats or bribing someone to do something does not make him do it wholeheartedly as all the actions are subject to the expected rewards. The problem with this approach is that people are often concerned more with the outcome than the action itself and this leads to high levels of inefficiency (Eskildsen, Kristensen, & Westlund, 2004). These shortcomings can be fixed through using intrinsic motivation as it persuades people to concentrate on doing what they like for internal satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation is therefore the best way of focusing efforts as illustrated below. Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation can be defined as a type of motivation driven internally and not externally. This inward force pushes someone to do something for internal pleasure and not for external reward or pain avoidance. By virtue of doing something well, an individual gets pleasure because he or she has achieved it in the best way. For instance in the school situation, a student will struggle solving difficult mathematical problems because finding the answers makes him happy or he enjoys the whole mathematical process. It is important to note that no rewards are associated with such actions, as the push is not concerned with them at all. However, this doesn’t mean that this person does not need the external reward because at the end of the day we all have to meet our daily expenses hence the need for external rewards (Huang, & Evert 2003). The argument here is that external reward alone is not sufficient to motivate this type of people to offer the best they possibly can. Motivation should therefore be from within if performance is to be maximized and organizations should not emphasize so much on external rewards as this only serves to kill the innate drive to achieve something. Problem statement In this study, I intend to find evidence that intrinsic motivation determines the performance levels and employee commitment. The problem in this study is to explain it through comparing the achievement levels of people who are motivated using the two theories and proving beyond any reasonable doubt, that intrinsic motivation is very crucial when it comes to building the commitment of employees. This paper therefore examines the relationship between intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment in a company. We will use intrinsic motivation as the independent variable and organizational commitment as the dependent variable (Leat, & El-Kot, 2009). The significance of the study Through establishing the relationship between intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment, this paper will provide managers and administrators a better understanding of the behavior of the employees and their attitudes. Additionally, it will offer some suggestions on the best ways of handling employees in order to improve their commitment and performance levels. This will be difficult to implement in the short run but will prove to be very beneficial to business organizations in the long run, as they will be able to retain their best talents and get the best out of them. Apart from that, the levels of productivity, innovation and overall company performance will improve because of the increased levels of efficiency among the employees. Through ensuring that the employees are intrinsically motivated, organizations will be able to achieve their goals with ease given that they are dealing with employees that enjoy doing what they are paid to do. Literature Review Organizational commitment is multidimensional in nature and can be well understood through the use of an organizational commitment model. This model can be divided into three different components namely: Affective commitment: The desire of an employee to be attached emotionally and be identified with the organization. Employees with higher levels of affection are more likely to remain loyal to their employers and keep working hard with the objective of upping their output. They normally work hard for the organization because that is what they want owing to the high levels of satisfaction derived from it. The reverse is also true. Continuance commitment: The recognition or awareness of the benefits that the employees get by remaining loyal to the organization and serving it with zeal compared to the cost of leaving. When the employees perceive that the costs of leaving an organization exceed those of staying, then they are very likely to remain loyal to their employers. Normative commitment: The consequence of the feeling of an employee that he or she is obligated to stay with the organization based on personal norms and values. In this case, therefore, the decision to either remain with an organization or leave it depends on their perception of it morally. They will leave if they feel that that is the moral thing to do (Peterson, & Ruiz-Quintanilla, 2003). Organizational commitment can therefore be defined as the psychological state that deals with the feelings of employees about the organizations they work for and their desire to continue serving them. It is important for the management staff to ensure that their employees are motivated in order to get the best out of them. Higher levels of affective and normative commitment and low levels of continuance commitment is the common pattern displayed by committed employees. Motivation and Organizational Commitment Work motivation is positively correlated to the degree of organizational commitment since positive attitude towards an organization makes employees stick with their employers. The levels of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are positively related to the degree of organizational commitment. However, intrinsic motivation is more significant compared to extrinsic motivation when it comes to organizational commitment. The implication is that the external rewards offered by one organization can easily be equaled or even outdone by another different organization. Krishnamurthy (2006) says that what will therefore make an employee stick with one organization instead of switching to the other is because of the levels of inward satisfaction derived from working for that particular organization. This is so because the correlation between intrinsic motivation and external rewards is zero. Hypothesis Development and Conceptual Framework This paper used a conceptual framework on the relationship between intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment based on a study carried out in different organizations. From the literature review, it is expected that intrinsic motivation will have an effect on the levels of organizational commitment (Galletta, Portoghese, & Battistelli, 2011). Moreover, this research suggests that intrinsic motivation has an effect on the three dimensions of organizational commitment as discussed earlier in the paper. The research framework is shown below. This research came up with three hypotheses on organizational commitment among employees Employees perceive the sense of intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment Intrinsic Motivation is directly related to the three components of organizational commitment Intrinsic motivation is important in explaining the variation in levels of organizational commitment Methodology The assessment of organizational commitment was done using a scale of 24 items. The scale measures all the three components of organizational commitment with each consisting of 8 items with a ratings scale of 7 point likert scale (1= Strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree). A 4 item scale is then used in measuring intrinsic motivation. The 4 items therefore were anchored by a 7 point linkert scale with 1 representing strongly agree and 7 strongly disagree. Data Collection and Statistical Analysis Qualified responds were selected using a proportional stratified method. 550 questionnaires were administered through different means such as online survey, personal distribution and email. 271 participants took part in the survey with effective response rate of 49% which was good enough for the purpose of the research (Coelho, Augusto & Lages 2011). Out of that only 24 questionnaires were unusable meaning that the usable ones were adequate and reliable. The data was then analyzed using statistical package for social science software (SPSS version 16). The section for data analysis has 4 subsections as follows: (a). Descriptive analysis including the percentage of sample characteristics (b). Reliability test using cronbachs alpha coefficient and inter-item correlations to evaluate the internal consistency reliability of the items within the constructs. ©. One sample T-test to test the level of perceived organizational commitment and intrinsic motivation among the employees. (d). Pearson’s correlation coefficients used to determine the relationships between intrinsic motivation, organizational commitment and its components. Then a simple linear regression to analyze the linear relationships between organizational commitment and intrinsic motivation. Data Analysis Respondents=247, 55.5% (137) were male with majority having a working experience of less than 5 years. (n=173, 70%). Going by race, Caucasians (n=182, 74%), Hispanics (n=38, 15%) and Africans (n=27, 11%). Going by educational qualifications, professional certificates (6.6%), Masters Degree (80%), Phd (13.4%). The percentage distribution by age group, less than 30yrs (24%), Between 30 and 39 (38%), Between 40 and 49 (29.1%) and More than 40 years (9%). Going by the table below (KMO=0.786, Bartless’ =0.000 < 0.05), this is acceptable for the purpose of the research making the test significant for all variables. Factor analysis is apportiate here since the R matrix is not an identity matrix. Going by the table variance = 80.631% and eigenvalues= 3.225. Construct for intrinsic motivation > 1.0. This construct is made up of 4 items each with a factor loading that exceeds 0.4. Principle component Factor Analysis for Intrinsic Motivation FACTORS NAME VARIABLE FACTORS LOADING EIGENVALUES Feels a great sense of personal satisfaction when I do my job well Doing my job well increases my feeling of self esteem When I perform my job well, it contributes to my personal growth and development When I do work well, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment 0.938 0.933 0.867 0.857 3.225 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)= 0.786, Bartlet’s Test = 0.000 Reliability The reliability levels of intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment are shown in the table below. Reliability for motivation = 0.919, and that for organizational commitment = 0.863. VARIABLES NO. OF ITEMS CRONBACH’S ALPHA Psychological Empowerment 4 0.919 Organizational Commitment 24 0.863 Affective Commitment Continuance Commitment Normative Commitment 8/24 8/24 8/24 0.812 0.830 0.713 Inferential Analysis The data is normally distributed because the values for skewness and kurtosis for both intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment fall under the acceptable range. Normality Test Results VARIABLES SKEWNESS KURTOSIS Organizational Commitment (OC) 0.190 -0.099 Affective (A) 0.084 -0.239 Continuance (C) -0.651 0.497 Normative (N) -0.240 0.356 Intrinsic Motivation (IM) -0.312 -1.121 One Sample T-test TEST VALUE = 4 MEAN Std Deviation t df Sig. (2 tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference LOWER UPPER OC 8.257 246 .000 .34634 .2637 .4290 4.3463 .65918 AC 6.981 246 .000 .39474 .2834 .5061 4.3947 .88864 CC 4.782 246 .000 .27935 .1643 .3944 4.2794 .91815 NC 7.160 246 .000 .39098 .2834 .4985 4.3910 .85820 IM 44.083 246 .000 2.07490 1.9822 2.1676 6.0749 .73974 Correlation between factors scores of Intrinsic Motivation and Organizational Commitment Organizational Commitment Affective Commitment Continuance Commitment Normative Commitment Intrinsic Motivation Pearson Correlation 0.325 0.356 0.159 0.250 Sig (2 tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.012 0.000 N 247 247 247 247 Assumptions Test and Regression Analysis Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Sts Error Beta Constant 2.586 0.329 7.850 0.000 Intrinsic Motivation 0.29 0.054 0.325 5.382 0.000 R-Square=0.106 Adjusted R-Square=0.102 F value=28.961 Sig= 0.000 Standard Residual = -2.512 to 2.666 Mean standard residual=0.000 Mean Standard of predicted value=0.000 Discussion The results indicate that employees often have higher levels of affective and normative commitment but lower levels of continuance commitment. Hypothesis 1 is therefore true. The results also speculated that intrinsic motivation is positively correlated with organizational commitment and its components. Hypothesis 2 is also correct and hypothesis 3 is also supported because intrinsic motivation can be used to predict organizational commitment. Conclusion The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment in organizations. It also included the relationship between intrinsic motivation and the four components of organizational commitment. The findings indicated that there is positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment and its components. Employers are therefore encouraged to improve and enhance the levels of intrinsic motivation among their employees. This can be achieved through training, workshops, seminars and organizing social programs for newcomers and the existing employees. References Barney, C., & Elias, S. (2010). Flex-Time as a Moderator of the Job Stress-Work Motivation Relationship. Personnel Review, 39(4), 487-502. Coelho, F., Augusto, M., & Lages, L. (2011). Contextual Factors and the Creativity of Frontline Employees: The Mediating Effects of Role Stress and Intrinsic Motivation. Journal of Retailing, 87(1), 31-45. Eskildsen, J., Kristensen, K., & Westlund, A. (2004). Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction in The Nordic Countries. Employee Relations, 26(1), 122-136. Galletta, M., Portoghese, I., & Battistelli, A. (2011). Intrinsic Motivation, Job Autonomy and Turnover Intention in the Italian Healthcare: The Mediating Role of Affective Commitment. Journal of Management Research, 3(2), 1-19. Huang, X., & Evert Van, D. V. (2003). Where intrinsic job satisfaction fails to work: National moderators of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(2), 159-179. Krishnamurthy, S. (2006). On the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of free/libre/open source (FLOSS) developers. Philosophy & Technology, 18(4), 17-39. Leat, M., & El-Kot, G. (2009). Interpersonal Trust at Work, Intrinsic Motivation, Work-Related Tension and Satisfaction in Egypt. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 2(2), 180-194. Peterson, M., & Ruiz-Quintanilla, S. (2003). Cultural Socialization as a Source of Intrinsic Work Motivation. Group & Organization Management, 28(2), 188. Robinson, C. (2010). The Keys to Turbo-Charging Intrinsic Motivation. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 33(3), 4-8. Read More