Understanding Motives as a Special Activity Required in an Organisation - Coursework Example

?Introduction One could use the depicted image as a particular example on how the idea of Kenneth Burke in understanding the motive of a person couldbe put into application. Burke believed that there are definite reasons why people do the way they do (Burke and Ruekert, 2007; Burke, 1969). Employing the idea of Burke and using the illustrated image, we could find that there are important reasons why the two subjects in the picture act the way they do. There is a story behind this picture and as one would try to ask relevant questions, there are potential answers one could generate along the way. There are many important reasons why the two subjects in the picture act the way they do. Here in this image is a particular situation which requires meaningful understanding. Motive is a very important point in this image. In the first place, one would eventually want to find out why the woman and that somebody else act the way they do. A woman was spreading her legs wide open in front of another woman who is wearing a white suite. This would give us an idea that the setting must have taken place somewhere inside a medical clinic or a hospital. The woman in suite might be a doctor attending to her patient who is waiting to be checked. This scenario would be enough for us to understand the act, scene, agent, agency and purpose, Burke’s idea of a Pentad that would truly lead us to understanding about the motives of the actors involved within the stated actual scenario and he definitely made a point of making it easy for us to understand the actual motive. The image could also be a depiction of how we could understand the actual behavior in an organisation particularly the actual purpose of a precise action. It is relevant to ask the necessary information or ideas that are tantamount to understanding why a specified act was performed, and the Pentad makes it easy for us to understand the main point. In doing so, there are elemental information that one should need to unearth. It would make sense to ask some relevant questions associated with Burke’s Pentad in order to make certain of the actual concept or information involved in the context of the given situation. In an organisation, understanding the motives of the human resource is common to take place because this eventually lead to doing important things that could enhance performance and achievement of organisational goals. On the part of the management, knowing the exact motives of the human resource is an advantage because this could be a way to inform them of the ultimate move to do to maximise the achievement of organisational goals. For this reason, there are varying theories in psychology that try to explicate the different approaches to motivation applied in the context of an organisation. There are many important points that one should understand why an individual would have the motivation to do something, and Burke’s Pentad is an essential tool to support the following approaches to understanding motives. Instincts drive motives There is a theory of instinct approach by which it assumes that some motivating factors are biologically determined and are essential to survival (Pastorino and Portillo, 2011, p.308; Nevid, 2008, p.284). This means that hunger or thirst might be explained as a response to an instinct for survival. This would also mean that to have sex is an essential response to an instinct for reproduction. Based on the image, the woman seeing her gyneacologist and acording to the theory of instinct in understanding motives could therefore be a specific response to an instinct for both survival or reproduction. The reason that it could be for survival is due to the point how the woman might ensure a good health. The woman having her medical check up could be a way of getting rid of harmful diseases common among woman. This could also be due to the ongoing process of treatment, which allows the doctor to give diagnosis and treatment, all for the advantage of the patient to have a longer life. This picture from the point of view of instinct theory could be a depiction of the need for survival which motivates the woman to pay a visit to a doctor or be confined in the hospital, the very point that medical institutions are seeing to generate income and add value to their service. The patient might also be having a pre-natal check up, ensuring that the baby in her womb is in good shape. This is in line with ensuring a successful process of reproduction, which at the other point is another justification of instinct theory, a specific response to survival through successful inception and duplication of life. In the same way, in an organisation, the very reason why an employee would be motivated enough to work might be due to address specific needs associated with the human instinct. Based on the instinct theory, this could be due to ensuring survival as there is a need to generate money in order to buy the basic necessities in life for continued existence. Burke’s associated elements of the Pentad could therefore help one to understand the idea behind how instincts could successfully drive motives. Lost of basic drives enhances motives However, instinct approach could be limited because it is not clear how many human instincts really are there. Another important theory when it comes to understanding what exactly motivates the woman to visit a doctor or be confined at the hospital is the drive-reduction approach. This theory explicates the point that when there is lacking of basic biological requirement, an individual would be willing to produce it (Shah and Gardner, 2008, p.11; Wepman and Heine, 2008, p.81). In the given image, the woman’s basic biological drive that motivates her to visit a doctor could be an issue associated with sex. The woman might be having trouble or problem sustaining the normal response to sex or health, so having a way to make sure that she would enjoy it together with her partner would make sense. Paying a visit to her doctor would be the right possible option. The woman’s drive for sex that might have been essentially reduced made her to create a way to guarantee that her urge for this basic human drive could reach a high level satisfaction, for herself and to her partner. In an organisation, there are basic drives that a human resource should be able to obtain in order to ensure fulfillment of some important human needs. The reduction of drive for sleep for instance would make it a point for an individual to reduce work efficiency. Taking a break just to take a nap for a while might be an option, or to absent from work might be a better idea. This could happen if an individual may potentially lack of sleep and thus there is a need to revitalise the body. As a result, an employee might be motivated to find a remarkable time to relax and take a short sleep at break time. As noticed, the elements of Burke’s Pentad is still associated with this scenario prior to understanding the real motives of an individual. Maintaining a level of stimulation or activity sparks motives Aside from the two mentioned theories, there is another one that would want to elaborate the reason behind one’s motivation to do something. The arousal approach tries to elaborate the point that humans maintain a level of stimulation and activity (Leitenberg, 1990, p.238; McClelland, 1988, p.136). This means they could try to increase or reduce them. The woman in the image as stated earlier might have potential problem when it comes to sexual matter. For this reason, as she tries to increase her drive, another probable justification might be to potentially increase the level of her arousal. By being able to undergo a medical check up, the woman and together with her doctor could be a real approach that would depict a form of seeking sensation. In an organisation, based on the above-stated idea, there are individuals that would require a very high or low sensation-seeking activity. This means that if a particular weakness of an employee is procrastination which leads to delays and poor performance, the best thing that could motivate this person is the deadline itself. Setting a deadline is a stimulating effort that could increase performance of the said employee. On the other hand, this could also motivate that person to do the task in as efficient as possible. Here, the act, scene, agent, agency and purpose are clear. Desirable properties of external stimuli promote motives There is another probable reason why people do the things they do. This could be due to the desirable properties of the external stimuli such as the basic needs (Vivacqua et al., 2011, p.59; Blythe, 2008, p.208). This is underlying concept of the incentive as potential reason why individual ends up motivated to do the things they do. In the given image, and as stated earlier, the woman’s problem when it comes to sexual matter might be the reason why she visits her doctor. However, based on the incentive approach this could be due to the associated desirable property of sex that the woman might want to enjoy to the highest level. This could also be due to the linked desirable property of conceiving a child that the woman visits for a pre-natal check up assuming that she is pregnant. In an organisation, the reward for instance could lead to increase of sale of the sales team. Achieving the target sales could be realised throught the implementation of incentive. This could motivate an employee to hit the target qouta in order to achieve the incentive. However, the incentive itself which could be in a form of cash would guarantee a remarkable result because of its linked desirable property. Here in this case, based on the stimuli approach to motivation the purpose why there is an action could also be described based on the act, scene, agent and agency. The thoughts could light motives However, there is another point that also tries to expound the idea that the cognitive approach could motivate individuals to do the things they do. This has something to do with cognition implying that people’s motive could be due to thoughts, expectations and goals (Michman et al., 2003, p.60; Basili et al., 2012, p.179). Concerning this and based on the given picture, there could be varying thoughts running inside the woman’s mind so that one could see the actual reason why she pays her doctor a visit. As stated earlier, let us put it to the point that this patient is seeing the advantage of having constant or regular check up to be free from various illnesses that are common to many women today. In addition, she might be seeing the reward of a pre-natal check up to ensure good health of the baby. There are many potential reason why the woman acts the way she does. The attending physician on the other hand has also many thoughts, leading her to perform or create a service with more meaningful value for the patients. Thus, there must be remarkable basis why the attending doctor would listen carefully to her patient’s needs. Applying this in the context of an organisation, companies are motivated to improve the value for their customers that their product or service offerings may provide. Thinking of potentially achieving higher revenue or high market share prompts companies to provide invigorating product and service offerings with high value. This very thought from the point of view of cognitive theory could therefore remarkably explain why an organisation behaves the wy it does. However, it is also clear that Burke’s Pentad helps sustain the main point of cognitive theory to motivation. Need could ignite motives Aside from the mentioned theories so far that could potentially explain human motives, there is another point that the prevailing needs could also spark motives (Feldman, 2003). According to Maslow, the human needs are placed in a hierachy and that the next one cannot be satisfied prior to addressing the first ladder (Koontz and Weihrich, 2006, p.290; Montana and Charnov, 2008, p.238). For this reason Maslow argues that before safety needs are addressed, the physiological needs such as those primary drives must first be realised. That is, before achieving a safe and secure environment, it is the most crucial need of humans to first deal with the basic needs such as food, sleep, sex and more. As mentioned earlier, the woman’s actual action could be a manifestation of addressing the primary drives in life. This could also speak clearly well why the doctor was attending to her patient with quality time and it could be due to achievement of the state of self-fulfillment on her part. This even primarily includes the basic components of Burke’s Pentad to successfully internalise. Conclusion In this paper, based on the concept stated in the given image, it is found that understanding motives is a special activity required in an organisation. After all, every firm or company is dealing with human resource that has strong association with the human behavior. For this reason, it is important to understand motives. Burke’s Pentad and its related elements are therefore helpful in the investigation process especially if they have to be integrated with the prevailing theories of understanding the concept of motivation in an organisation. References Basili, M., Dimitri, N., and Gilboa, I. (2012) Cognitive processes and Routledge Siena studies in political economy. London: Routledge. Blythe, J. (2008). Consumer behavior. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Burke, K. (1969) A grammar of motives. 12th ed. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Burke, K., and Ruekert, W. H. (2007) Essays toward a symbolic of motives, 1950-1955. Indiana: Parlor Press LLC. Feldman, R. S. (2003) Essentials of understanding psychology. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Koontz, H., and Weihrich, H. (2006) Essentials of management. 7th ed. Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Leitenberg, H. (1990) Handbook of social and evaluation anxiety. New York: Springer. McClelland, D. C. (1988) Human motivation. Melbourne: CUP Archive. 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