Analysis of Barriers to Motivation Process Causing Frustrations in the Organizational Management - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Research ment In this manner, the researcher will focus on the following research statement to acquire the aims and objectives of the proposed research: “To identify and analyze barriers to motivation process causing frustrations in the organizational management” Objectives The main aims and objectives of this research are to: Identify and examine various physical, sociological, and physiological barriers that exist in an organization Investigate the extent of impact of such barriers in employees’ behaviors and whether such barriers result in reduction of motivation or not Evaluate the psychological and social barriers in employees’ decision-making processes that decide the success or failure of an organization Analyze the role of managers in identifying such barriers, and in reduction of frustrations in the organizational management. Literature Review It has been an observation that some organizations believe in motivating workers by offering opportunities, which may lead them to self-actualization, and work towards their maximum potential. However, analysis has indicated that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs counters this method of motivation, by presenting factors, which can act as barriers to the motivation process, if not dealt with accordingly. According to Maslow, there are five levels of needs in every worker, which need to be satisfied in order for the worker to perform at his job with motivation (Pareek, pp. 15-31, 1974). First, the workers’ physiological and security needs like food and shelter, should stand satisfied by their job. Then their social needs should be satisfied, as well as their self-esteem needs. Only then will they be ready to work towards fulfilling their need to actualize their dreams and ambitions, and strive for work-related advancements. In other words, Maslow presents us with an extremely accurate perspective on motivation and the barriers to its processes. If workers do not receive enough compensation from their job to be able to afford food and shelter, they will find no motivation to perform well at the job and gain advancement (Bateman et al, pp. 515-542, 2008). In other words, if their basic needs are not satisfied, this will act as a barrier from these workers feeling motivated to perform well. While this barrier seems to simplify the nature of human beings greatly, it is a very accurate model of motivation. While human beings are complicated individuals, their basic needs overpower their ability to act the way that is beneficial or desirable. Thus, it should be a priority for the organizational manager, that the workers’ basic needs have been satisfied, so that the manager may then motivate these workers to work harder and perform better. This has a simple implication for the managers also, which is to ensure that the workers are compensated with an adequate wage, before seeking to motivate them (“Nwlnk”, pp.1, 2010). This need-based model of motivation has also received considerable support form Herzberg’s ERG (Existence, Relatedness, and Growth) theory and McClelland’s need-based theory. Both of these are derivatives of the need hierarchy, and promote the understanding that unsatisfied basic human needs can be a significant barrier when trying to motivate a worker. The Expectancy Theory about motivation is another very well known model of motivation, which provides us with another barrier, which can stand between an employee and motivation. The expectancy theory states that a person will work for a higher purpose if they feel that this hard work connects them to achieving that higher purpose (Seo, Barrett and Bartunek, pp. 425, 2004). That is, they will be motivated to work for something if they feel that these actions are sure to lead them to that purpose. This expectation is the basis of their motivation. Where they feel that their actions (working hard at their job) is sure to lead to the desired outcome (a raise or a promotion), they attach ‘instrumentality’ to their jobs. Furthermore, when they believe they have the capability of working hard enough to achieve the desired outcome, they attach ‘valence’ to this job. According to the expectancy theory of motivation, the presence of instrumentality and valence in a job is very important for the worker, because without these factors, the worker does not feel any motivation to work hard (Drucker, pp.242, 2007). This finding leads us to believe that another considerable barrier to motivation can be the absence of instrumentality and valence in a job, which leads to frustration in the organizational management. This is another theory that has received considerable support, based on the simple yet factual belief that a worker will not spend time and energy on an action, which they do not see as connecting them to success (Gist, pp. 472, 1987). It is thus important that a manager ensure that the workers view their jobs and tasks as having instrumentality and valence. This means that the manager should make sure that each worker feels that they are capable of performing their jobs successfully, and that they understand that their jobs do have an attainable and rewarding outcome. Otherwise, these two factors will hinder the process of motivation and lead to an unproductive and dissatisfied workforce (Robbins et al, pp. 145, 2007). Apart from these classical theories, there are also several modern theories, which are from current research. Recent research (Cummings, pp. 67-81) done by researcher Esko Schuitema revealed a particularly interesting finding, which relates the motivational process to leadership. It states that workers will be motivated to work hard and help the organization achieve its purpose if their leader (supervisor/manager/boss) uses the correct mentality and intentions while directing the worker (Crosetto, pp. 20-41). That is, if the worker feels that the leader is simply using the worker to achieve success of the organization, the worker will not feel the motivation to work hard and help achieve that success. Here, the leadership style and the apparent intentions of the leader will be acting as a barrier to the motivation process of the employee (Carr, pp. 23-29). On the other hand, the leader could direct the employee to perform in such a way, that they make the growth and improvement of the employee the main purpose of the task performed. That is, instead of using the employee to get the task done, they could use the task to help the employee grow. This would lead to the employee realizing that the party benefitting from the task is themselves as well as the organization, and will thus be more motivated to work hard. Therefore, from the findings of Schuitema, it is apparent that yet another significant barrier to motivation can be an incorrect leadership style. Another recent finding (Daft, pp. 52-58), which holds prominence in this topic, is Dan Ariely’s discovery about the effect of rewards on the motivational process. A common belief is that a person is more motivated to act a certain way if they feel that they receive a reward after successful completion of the task. An athlete will be motivated to run the fastest she can in a race if she knows that there is a handsome cash reward for winning the race. What Dan Ariely of Duke University discovered, however, was that rewards only increase the effectiveness of the motivation process if the task is a mechanical one that requires physical effort without thinking ("Office Hours with Dan Ariely"). He found that if one tries using large rewards to motivate a worker doing a task that requires mental effort, the worker would experience stress to the extent that their performance on the task will actually worsen. This stress induced by large rewards especially has a dampening effect of the creativity of the worker. This has simple yet significant implications for organizational management. Companies often promise bonuses to employees if they perform well at their jobs. While these bonuses would act as successful motivational tools if the employee’s job were mechanical, they would act as barriers to motivation for workers who need to put in mental effort at their jobs. The management team should thus ensure that any such tools used for motivation are either not huge enough to induce stress, or that if they are, the task does not require mental effort. Considering the careers today, however, it is difficult to come across tasks, which do not require mental effort (Osterloh and Frey, pp. 540, 2000). Thus, the main factor that the manager should ensure is that they use the motivational tool of rewards carefully, so that the tool does not end up as a barrier to the motivational process. Methodology In particular, the researcher will be focusing primarily on qualitative approach while carrying out the proposed research. Additionally, besides endeavoring on identification of research statement and preliminary literature review, it is an understanding of the researcher that methodology plays an imperative role in the acquisition of constructive outcomes in any research. For this reason, the research proposal will now include slight explanation of the selected methodology for the research. During preliminary literature review, it is an observation that a number of resources are available on management in the form of books, journals, magazines, etc, and researcher will put efforts to benefit from such quality resources. In this regard, secondary research methodology will be one of the major bases of the proposed research that will include analysis and examination of different books, articles, magazines, journals, etc that will enable a critical understanding of various barriers that are hindering the process of motivation in the organizational management. Although one can find great number of information related to the identified research statement, however, primary research methodology will be another effective way of confirming the authenticity of acquired information during the secondary research. In this respect, the researcher will select employees of the “__________________” on random basis, and will be putting efforts to acquire information on real-scenario basis with the help of questionnaires and interviews that will be an efficient way of analyzing available information with respect to data collected from real scenarios. Convincingly, in specific, the researcher will utilize tools of primary method, as well as the secondary research methodology to obtain data regarding the existing barriers that cause frustrations in the motivation process, and thus, hindrances in the course of organizational management. Finally, the researcher will attain an unprejudiced approach by utilizing both primary and secondary research methodologies in a premeditated manner. Works Cited "Introducing Care and Growth." Schuitema, 2010. Retrieved on Dec 16, 2010: http://www.schuitema.co.za/company.asp Carr, Stuart C. The Psychology of Global Mobility. California: Springer, 2010. Crosetto, Gustavo. The Process-based Organization. New York: Human Resource Development, 2005. Cummings, Thomas G. Organization Development & Change. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Daft, Richard L. Organization Theory and Design. New York: Cengage Learning, 2007. "Office Hours with Dan Ariely." USTREAM, 2010. Retrieved on Dec 16, 2010: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1902175 "Theory X and Theory Y." NwLink, Oct 2010. Retrieved on Dec 16, 2010: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/xy.html Bateman, Thomas S. and Snell, Scott A. Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World. New Delhi: Tata McGraw‐Hill Publishing, 2008. Drucker, Peter F. Management Revised Edition. New York: Collins, 2008. Gist, Marilyn E. "Self-Efficacy: Implications for Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management." The Academy of Management Review. Volume 12, Issue 3. 1987: 472-485. Osterloh, Margit and Bruno S. Frey. "Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms." Organization Science. Volume 11, Issue 5. 2000: 538-550. Pareek, Udai. "A Conceptual Model of Work Motivation." Indian Journal of Industrial Relations. Volume 1, Issue 1. 1974: pp. 15-31. Robbins, Stephen P. and Coulter, Mary. Management. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc, 2007. Seo, Myeong-Gu, Lisa F. Barrett and Jean M. Bartunek. "The Role of Affective Experience in Work Motivation." The Academy of Management Review. Voluem 29, Issue 3. 2004: 423-439. Read More