Assignment:
1. NEED-BASED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Many managers assume that if an employee is not performing well, the reason must be lack of motivation.What is the problem with this assumption?
2. Review Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Do you agree with the particular ranking of employee needs?
3. Review the hygiene factors and motivators in the two-factor theory. Are there any hygiene factors that youwould consider to be motivators and vice versa?
4. A friend of yours is competitive, requires frequent and immediate feedback, and enjoys accomplishingthings. She has recently been promoted to a managerial position and seeks your advice. What would youtell her?
5. Which theory of motivation have you found to be most useful in explaining your behavior? Why?
2. PROCESS-BASED THEORIES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Your manager tells you that the best way of ensuring fairness in reward distribution is to keep the pay asecret. How would you respond to this assertion?
2. What are the distinctions among procedural, interactional, and distributive justice? List ways in which youcould increase each of these justice perceptions.
3. Using an example from your own experience in school or at work, explain the concepts of expectancy,instrumentality, and valence.
4. Some practitioners and researchers consider OB Mod as unethical because it may be viewed as employeemanipulation. What would be your reaction to this criticism?
5. Consider a job you held in the past. Analyze the job using the framework of job characteristics model.
6. If a manager tells you to “sell as much as you can,” is this goal likely to be effective? Why or why not?
3. DEVELOPING YOUR PERSONAL MOTIVATION SKILLS
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why can discussing performance feedback with employees be so hard?
2. What barriers do you perceive in asking for feedback?
3. How would you react if one of your employees came to you for feedback?
4. Imagine that your good friend is starting a new job next week. What recommendations would you give tohelp your friend do a great job seeking feedback?
4. CASE IN POINT: ZAPPOS CREATES A MOTIVATINGPLACE TO WORK
CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Motivation is an essential element of the leading facet of the P-O-L-C framework. Besides those used byZappos, what are other means that organizations use to motivate employees?
2. Why do you think Zappos’s approach is not utilized more often? In other words, what are the challengesof using these techniques?
3. Why do you think Zappos offers a $3,000 incentive to quit? What are your thoughts on a buy out ofemployees who disagree with organizational change?
4. Would you be motivated to work at Zappos? Why or why not?
5. Is happiness synonymous with motivation? When does happiness translate into motivated employees?