Theories of Motivation in Organisations - Essay Example

Michael J. Julius refers to the idea of motivation as, “The act of stimulating someone or oneself to get the desired course of action” (cited in Bagad, 2009, pp.2-39). Besides this general definition, the idea becomes more specific within an organization and referred to be an internal force that directs the behaviors towards achieving organizational goals. It deals with human motive force and desire of competence is considered to be the strongest source of motivation for human action (Bagad, 2009, pp.2-39). Raju and Parthasarathy (2009) support Badad and explain that motivation is considered to be the drive to satisfy a want or goal, and satisfaction is experienced in case of achievement.

A person who has low level of motivation for a certain job might be high at satisfaction level, or the reverse (p.153). According to Moorhead and Griffin, performance at job depends on three factors: motivation, environment and ability. In order to achieve highest level of performance, employee must ‘have an urge to do the job’ (motivation), ability and material resources (environment).Deficiency of even one factor can result in low level of performance and consequently, productivity (cited in Bee, 2009).

Motivation in an organization also secures voluntary cooperation from workers. It creates will to work and build confidence among both employees and employers. Understanding motivation has never been simple as it involves complex human emotions and behaviors. There are different human motivation theories and also their various classifications which developed from early approaches and ideas of motivation. According to Bee (2009), early views about motivation came from the concept of hedonism. Hedonism refers to the idea that people avoid pain and look for comfort and satisfaction.

Despite explaining contemporary human ideology, this theory is unable to explain most of human behavior. For