Behavioral Science of Organization (BM060-3.

5-2-BSO)

Assignment question
Based on the case study critically evaluate the reasons for the failure of the employee motivation
programs.

Support your evaluation and discussion with relevant motivational theories to

improve employee motivation programs that can influence job satisfaction and increase
productivity.

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Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Analyze the case..............................................................................................................................6
The case of Ko.............................................................................................................................6
The case of Eric Lange.................................................................................................................7
Theories of motivation.....................................................................................................................7
Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs........................................................................................7
F.W. Taylor...................................................................................................................................9
Adams' equity theory...................................................................................................................9
Recommendation and Improvements..............................................................................................9
In the case of Ko........................................................................................................................10
In the case of Eric.......................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Behavioral Science of Organization (BM060-3.5-2-BSO)

Executive summary
This report contains issues about organizations that dont know what are the right elements to
reward their employees when they produce a high quality work performance, and it will show a
case study that contains two major problems that will show how the organizations reward their
employees in a negative way or in a unsatisfied way.
And it will show improvements to these cases along side with some motivational theories to help
and improve the organizations way to reward their employees and make them productive and
satisfied.

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Behavioral Science of Organization (BM060-3.5-2-BSO)

Introduction
Motivation is all about what drives a person to work in a particular way, in another word; it is the
process which encourage and guides behavior, the process of simulating to action, its the key to
an individuals productive life. (Cole, 2004).
Motivation is very important in our life, of course we all know that motivating the employees to
complete their job tasks or duties at a satisfactory level can be challenging and if a manger
doesnt have the right elements to motivate his employees in the organization it will cause a lot
of negative consequences in the workplace such as providing work performance at a lower level,
no intention to work, which will impact the company, whereby the revenue will be decreased
making the company with no profit and out of the competition.
Motivation has two types one is extrinsic and the other one is intrinsic, the extrinsic motivation
is the rewards given by the organization to motivate their employees to make them perform their
tasks in a better and more efficient way, its directly related to the employees needs and wants
such as increasing their salaries, provide them with comfortable facilities, provide them with
trips and etc, the intrinsic motivation is the influence by the mangers physically on their
employees to make them perform higher and affective as well.
And a short introduction about the case study given, it shows that there is a case study that
contains issues about rewarding the employees, whereby in the first case there is a 50 years old
lady her name is Ko who works as an employees, her company instituted a rewards program
designed to motivate employees whereby the Employees could receive a badge that read U
Done Good and each year could receive a T-shirt as a means of annual recognition but Ko
preferred a raise instead, and stated that the t-shirts are useless at work because there is a strict
code, and in the second case, there is an employee called Eric Lange, who works for a trucking
company, recalls a time when one of the companys vice presidents achieved a major financial
goal for the company. The vice president, who worked in an office next to Lange, received a
Cadillac Seville, as his company car and a new Rolex wristwatch, but the way it was handed left
a sour taste in the vice presidents mouth. And when Lange entered his office, he found a Rolex
in a cheap cardboard sitting on his desk with a brief letter explaining that he would be receiving a
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tax form so he could pay taxes on the watch. A mere two months later, Lange pawned the watch,
and he stated. It had absolutely no meaning for me.

Analyze the case

Relating to the case study given, it says that some companies are finding a hard time in
motivating their employees; they dont realize or even know whats happening with their
employees, they think that the employees have a behavioral issues or personality but in realty its
the company who is doing the wrong thing, According to Curt Coffman, global practice leader at
Gallop, 71 percent of the workers are disengaged essentially means they couldnt care less
for their organization, some of the motivational issues that the companys faces happen from
situations these as follow:
The case of Ko
Ko is a 50 years old lady, who works at a company that reward the employees to motivate them
in California, however the rewards that are given to her are pretty much useless for her age,
whereby she gets U Done Good every time when she do a job well done, and she stated that
the badges were given to her were not based on the work performance, that means that whenever
she provide a high performance at work she still gets the badge which leads her to not work
efficiently as she is going to get the badge no matter what. Badges almost are given to all the
employees which feels like all of the employees are the same.
She stated that if an employee collect 10 badges then he or she can trade in for something bigger,
in her case she is an old lady which means that she doesnt have the time or the years to collect
those badges to trade in for something,
furthermore she stated that there were T-shirts that the company give it to the employees every
year for annual recognition, but the company on the other hand has a strict dress code, which
means that the employees cant come to work if there are wearing that T-shirts that are given to
them, and for Ko she doesnt need the recognition, she preferred a raise but there was no respect
given to her because when she asked for a raise she still gets the badges and t-shirts. And the
reason for the raise is because she would be saving the money for retirement.
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The case of Eric Lange

Eric Lange is an employee that works for a trucking company, who was unsatisfied and
demotivated because of the distribution process of the rewards handed to him, whereby when he
entered his office he found a watch in a cheap cardboard that says he had to pay taxes for it, and
thats something which is so disrespectful. Eric Lange he contributed with the company, so he
deserves a meaningful reward and a satisfying one but when he got the reward turns out he pays
for it, which he quoted It had absolutely no meaning for him. The recognition programs in the
company backfired while trying to motivate their employees. The company is not quite expert
with the recognition programs as Eric recalls that when one of the companys vice president
achieved a major financial goal for the company, he was rewarded with lavish gifts but the way it
was distributed to him did not met his expectation which led to demotivated him to work.

Theories of motivation
The organization and their managers are worried about how to motivate their employees;
motivated employees are satisfied, productive and loyal, but the process of motivating them can
be challenging, there a number of theories about motivation that can be used to create procedures
and practices to affect employee motivation, these theories as follow:
Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs
Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of need that indicates how employees achieve a sense of
satisfaction either in a less or more hierarchal way, it helps to identify the crucial sets of needs
that are present in every employee. Maslows initial view was that the individuals had to satisfy
the lower level of needs before seeking to satisfy the higher level of needs.

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*Figure 1

The above diagram shows that Maslows hierarchy of needs, he concluded that there were five
sets of needs which are:

Physiological needs

Its the basic and simple needs, its the physical needs to survival, and its what the employees
look into first, it has to be met in order to make the employees functioning properly, and these
needs are food, water, air, shelter and sleep.

Safety needs

It what makes the employees comfortable and secure either at the work place or outside the work
place, and its the second need that the employees look for, it includes needs such as a safe
working environment, job security, personal security and freedom from threats.
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Social needs

Its the third needs that the employees seek for, which are the personal acceptance by others, a
sense of belonging to a group, and to be able to socialize with friends and family.

Esteem needs

Its the need for respect inside the organization and outside; its the need for recognition and
provides a statue to be felt as a valued and appreciated employee, which is the fourth need that
the employees seek for.

Self-actualization needs

Its the last level of the Maslows hierarchy of needs that the employee seek for, which is
basically the drive towards full-fulfillment, offer challenging and meaningful work or task which
enable creativity and progress.

F.W. Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor identified that some of the workers when they are being less
productive or dissatisfied the only way to satisfy them is by paying them with money.

Adams' equity theory

Equity theory is a theory that calls for a fair balance to be distributed between the employees
inputs such as effort and hard work and outputs such as salary and recognition.

Recommendation and Improvements

Relating to the case study given, the way that the managers distribute or reward their employees
are somehow not satisfying to them, the reason is because the managers doesnt know or listen
what are the employees needs and wants, so my suggestions for improving the reward problems:

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In the case of Ko
Whereby when she stated that she preferred a raise, she still receive the badges and the t-shirts,
and according to Maslows hierarchy of needs, Ko is looking for the first need which is food,
water, shelter and so on, but how can she provide those needs without money, especially when
she is on the verge of retirement, that means that she doesnt have the time to wait for another
year to get the raise that she wanted, and also she is looking for the fourth need of Maslow
which self-esteem whereby when she asked for a raise she still receive the badges and t-shirts
meaning that there is no respect given to her, so to improve this situation the manager of Ko
should monitor the needs and wants, whereby he should consider to give her a raise instead of
the badges and t-shirts, because she is looking for retirement in a few years so she need more
money so that she can stay in the safe side ,and the manager should obey and respect her need in
order to make her work in a affective manner.
And when she stated that the badges and t-shirts are given randomly not based on the
performance, that means that Kos input will not be treated equal as the output that she deserves
according to Adams Equity Theory, so in order to make Ko provide a high level of work, the
organization should focus on Kos input and needs so that they reward her and make her
satisfied, which are the raise and praise.
And according to F.W.Taylor theory which states that the only way to make employees motivated
is through money, and since Ko is considering retirement, so the organization should look to pay
Ko more money so that she can be satisfied and secure.
In the case of Eric
He helped the company to achieve some goals for the company, but all he got was Rolex in a
cheap cardboard on his desk with a letter saying that he had to pay taxes for it, people like Eric
seek for praise, respect and recognition for their hard work and thats something organizations
must know, and according to Maslows hierarchy of needs Eric is looking for the fourth level of
needs which is the Esteem needs whereby he wanted the respect, to be valued and appreciated in
the organization, not being given a cheap cardboard on his desk with taxes on it.

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and also according to Adams equity theory, the distribution was disrespectful and not fair
because Eric produced a good work performance he put his time, effort and hard work to help the
company to achieve some goal so he should get the reputation and respect because every
employee wants to feel that their contributions and performance are being rewarded and
recognized. Adam suggested that the higher an individual's perception of equity, the more
motivated they will be. So the organization should give Eric respect for his inputs and treat him
fairly and the organization should consider to put Eric employee of the month or make a
yearbook which features the accomplishments of him towards the company, and give him a
higher position, job security and more bonuses and salary to improve this situation and cause a
feeling of satisfaction.

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Conclusion
To conclude this report, the companies should understand that the way to motivate their
employees is to listen and know what are their needs and wants and reward them because they
are the backbone of the company, which will lead to make them perform their tasks efficiently
and effective as well, making the company with profit.
And according to Curt Coffman he said that Saying thanks to their employees is a way of
motivation. This is the simplest way to motivate the employees and it can make them feel
valued and appreciated for their hard work and contribution, so that the organizations wont have
any issues with their employees in the future.

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References
Cole, G. A., 2004. Organisational Behaviour. London: Thomson.
C, G. B., 2006. Personality Theories. [Online]
Available at: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html
[Accessed 18 12 2013].
Cliffsnotes.com. 2013. Motivation Theories: Individual Needs. [online] Available at:
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/principles-of-management/motivating-andrewarding-employees/motivation-theories-individual-needs [Accessed: 30 Nov 2013].
Dessler, G., 1997. Human Resource Management. 7th ed. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A., 2010. Organizational Behavior. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Newstrom, J. W. &. D. K., 1993. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: s.n.
Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A., 2011. Organizational Behavior. 14 ed. New Jersey: Pearson.
Sweeney, P. D. & MacFarlin, D. B., 2002. Organizational Behavior. International ed.
s.l.:McGraw-Hill.
Thill, J. V. & Bovee, C. L., 2002. Excellence in Business Communication.
5th ed. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Tutor2u.net. 2013. Theories of Motivation. [online] Available at:
http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/people_motivation_theories.htm [Accessed: 18 Dec 2013

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