Wheel Works Cycling Company Business. Case Study - Essay Example

Supervisor In most organizations employee needs are used to motivate performance. Briefly explain Maslow's hierarchy of needs in your own words so that the Wheelworks managers will understand the theory. Then provide specific examples as to how Wheelworks meets each level of needs for their employees. 2. Similarly, explain Herzberg's Two Factor Theory so that Wheelworks' managers will understand Herzberg's concepts. Provide two or three specific examples of Motivation factors and a like number of Hygiene factors you were able to identify in the organization. 3. In your interviews, Wheelworks employees and managers state that "passion for the sport of cycling" is their number one motivator. In general, do you agree that love of the work itself is the strongest motivator of people Explain why or why not for the Wheelworks executives reading your report. If you disagree, based on your experiences, explain what other factors might be stronger motivators. (15 points) 4. Recap in your report the specific types of financial rewards and incentives are used at Wheelworks. Explain thoroughly for managers how each might work to increase employee motivation. 5. You know from your research that Wheelworks does not pay commission to its sales staff. Recap the reasons why not. Based on what you know about the organization and motivational theory, do you believe this decision is appropriate for the firm, given its goals and strategies Why or why not As a consultant, what other types of compensation systems would you propose 0.0 General Introduction In the work of Halepota (2005:16) motivation refers to "a person's active participation and commitment to achieve the prescribed results." The researcher further argues that the concept of motivation is abstract because different strategies produce different results at different times and there is no single strategy that can produce guaranteed favourable results all the times." (Halepota 2005:16). Some other researchers (e.g., Friedlander, (1964) refers to motivation as, "the amount of effort people are willing to put in their work depends on the degree to which they feel their motivational needs will be satisfied. On the other hand, individuals become de-motivated if they feel something in the organisation prevents them from attaining good outcomes (Friedlander 1964). It can be observed from the above definitions that, motivation in general, is more or less basically concern with factors or events that moves, leads, and drives certain human action or inaction over a given period of time given the prevailing conditions. Further more the definitions suggest that there need to be an" invisible force" to push people to do something in return. It could also be deduced from the definition that having a motivated work force or an environment in which high levels of motivation are maintained remains a challenge for today's management. This challenge may emanate from the simple fact that motivation is not a fixed trait -as it could change with changes in personal, psychological, financial or social factors. 1.1 Maslow's Hierarchy of Need Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a five-level hierarchical need theory of motivation that specifies that the lowest-level unsatisfied need has the greatest motivating potential (Greenberg & Baron 2003):. The needs include: Physiological needs Safety needs Belongingness needs Esteem needs Self-actualization needs According to Maslow, the lowest-level unsatisfied need category has the greatest motivating potential. When needs at a particular level of the hierarchy are satisfied, the individual turns his or her attention to the next higher level. A satisfied need is no longer an effective motivator. Self-actualization needs, however, become stronger as they are gratified (Greenberg and Baron 2000). At Wheelworks, to satisfy employee's needs following Maslow's doctrine, the Male Speaker does all personnel selection on personnel encouragement. At the same time lot of time serving as a coach or cheerleader. Employee's are made to work were they are best fit at and at the same time they are well paid. Enjoyable work environment is created, they try to pay the highest possible wages Gordon 1965). Other benefits include traditional vacation sick pay. Employee's at wheelworks also benefit from 401ks, profit sharing, health plans that's, you know, especially health plans, seeing as most of us ride our bikes to work and traffic is dodgy at the best of times. Bonuses are also often used to spur employees. 2.0 Hertzberg Two Factors Theory Hertzberg suggested that there are factors in a job, which causes satisfaction. These he called intrinsic factors (motivators) and other factor he refers to as dissatisfies (hygiene factors). According to him if the motivational factors are met, the employee becomes motivated and hence performs higher (Tietjan, .& Myers, 1998). This discussion on the above motivational theories explains the fact that the concept of employee's motivation has been a critical factor addressed by previous authors as what determines the core competence of every organisation in achieving a competitive position. Skinner who propounded that any behaviour that is rewarded tends to be repeated supported this view (Friedlander 1966 and Tietjan, .& Myers, 1998). The intrinsic factors at Wheelworks that causes motivation include, the condusive work environment, people are made to work at wheelworks were they are best at, the bonuses paid to workers. According to the Male Speaker, We do a lot of "clinicking, clinics and to run three, four, sometimes five a month". Some disatisfier include, the absence of opportunity for growth, and advanced career development, since Wheelworks is only a small bike shop. 3.0 Love of work as the strongest Motivator The term motivation has been used in numerous and often contradictory ways. Presently there appears to be some agreements that the crucial thread that distinguishes employee's motivated behaviours from other behaviour is that it is goal directed behaviour, (Tietjan, .& Myers, 1998). The researchers further echo that the core of motivating individuals lays in the goal-directed aspect of behaviour (Lindner, 1998). These researchers suggested "motivation is concern with how behaviour gets started, is energised, is sustained, is directed, is stopped and what kind of subjective re-action is present in the organisation while this is going on. The Jones statement can be converted into a diagram which shows the employee motivational process as it influences performance (Hersberg 1987, 1988, Diener, E & Diener, 1995). People love for particular work is the strongest motivator. According to the Female Speaker, "Cycling is something that I've always loved to do, and had a number of people along the way who've inspired me, and I like to provide that information and inspiration for other women". This same position was supported by the male speaker when he argues that, "She's a cycle enthusiast herself". I'm motivated to educate people about the sport of cycling (Graham & Messner, 1998). Thus, motivation begins because of tension within drives or needs of an employee. Next, there is a search within the company or groups or within employee to fulfill his desires. When the employee is satisfied with his financial motivation he redefines his desires and needs and the process is initiated again. 4.0Specific Types of Financial Motivation used by Wheelworks At Wheelworks, the different financial motivation used to motivate the employees includes wages and salaries. The shop pays the best salary and wages in the market. In addition, employees are entitle to traditional vacation and sick pay. Kreitner (1995), Buford, Bedeian &Linder (1995), Higgins (1994) all cited in Linder (1998,p3) defined motivation as "the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction, a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific unmet needs, an unsatisfied need, and the will to achieve, respectively. 5.0 Conclusion In sum, I would argue that the long-term survival of any organisation depends largely on the motivation of its employees be it financial or non-financial. Therefore organisations should be willing to continuously and on regular basis, undertake employees surveys in order to understand what their employees expects from their current job. The result of such exercises could prove useful for the organization, because knowing what their employees wants and efforts in meeting these needs facilitate a mutual working environment for both the employees and its management. Finally I believe the strongest motivation is the desire and love one has about a job. Recruitment specialist can use personal desire and likes about a particular job to find a perfect match. References Basset-Jones, N. & Lloyd, G.C. (2005), "Does Herzbergs Motivational Theory have staying power" Journal of Management Development, Vol.24, No.10, pp. 57-56 Diener, E & Diener, M. (1995), "cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem", Journal of personality and Social Psychology, April, Vol. 68, issue 4, pp 161-163. Friedlander, F. (1966) "Motivation to work and Organisational Performance", Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 143-152. Gordon, G. (1965), "The relationship of Satisfies and Dissatisfies to Productivity, Turnover and Morale", American Psychologist, Vol. 20, pp.499 Graham, M.W & Messner, P.E (1998), "Principals and job satisfaction", International Journal of Education Management, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp196-204. Hersberg, F. (1987), "One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees" Harvard Business Review, January, Vol.81, Issue 1-8,pp. 86-96. Hersberg, F. (1988) "Workers Needs: the same around the world", Industry week, 21 September, pp. 29-32, 34," Motivation and Job Satisfier Management Decision, Vol. 29,No4. Pp 226-231 Greenberg J &Baron A.R (2003) "Behaviour in Organisations", Prentice Hall, Vol. 8, pp. 188-215 Helepota, H.A. (2005) "Motivational Theories and their application in construction", Cost Engineering, Vol. 47, No. 3 pp. 14-35. Lindner, J.R, (1998), "Understanding employee Motivation", Journal of Extension, June, Vol. No3, pp.1-8 Tietjan, M.A.& Myers, R.M. (1998)," Motivation and Job Satisfaction" Journal of Management Decision, Vol. 29,No4. Pp 226-231 Read More