retrenchment and downsizing are the order of the day, this insecurity assumes a serious dimension.

Security seems to be a very simple motive and is generally base don fear and is avoidance-oriented. We can sum it up by saying that people have a learned security motive to protect themselves from the contingencies of life and actively try and avoid situations which would prevent them from satisfying their primary, general, and secondary motives. Status motive or prestige motive is especially relevant to today's dynamic society. The rich person in today's modern context is often seen as a status seeker. This person is likely to be accused of being more concerned with the material symbols of status such as the right clothes, the right car, the right address or the latest electronic gizmos. This person is obviously likely to be less concerned with basic human-oriented values. Status means a relative ranking that a person holds in a group, organization, or society. Whenever two or more persons come together, a status hierarchy is likely to evolve even if both have equal status. The status symbols help in representing only a relative ranking of the person in the status hierarchy. So status does not only mean "high status" but that everyone has status and it may be high or low depending on how relative positions are ranked. Status determination essentially depends on the prevailing cultural values and social roles. And status-determining factors have different meanings depending on the values of a given culture. One example is that in some cultures, such as our own culture, the older the persons are the higher is their statllS. On the other hand, in some other cultures just as a person a particular age, his status declines. And again these cultural values are highly volatile and keep on changing with times and circumstances. Within a given society also, there may be sub-cultures leading to different values and correspondingly different statuses.

We have seen motivation as a psychological process consisting of different drives. There are several theoretical streams for study of work-motivation. The content approach in the study of motivation dates back to the time when pioneering scientific managers like Frederick Taylor and Frank Gilberth offered lucrative and refined models of wage incentives to motivate the workers. Then it was the human relations movement followed and then the content approach of Maslow Herzberg and Alderfer. The process models have been recent additions to this gamut of approaches. A major portion of the work here has been done on the expectancy-based process models. But it is the equity and attribution theories that have received attention. These process models are cognition-oriented and these models have had the greatest influence on work motivation so far. These two approaches have been recognized independently without any over-arching motivation theory to integrate all these approaches. So now let's discuss each of these approaches.

order to explain what motivat es people at work. Based on his clinical txperie nce, he arrange d the motivat ional needs in a hierarc hy. It was his belief that if ag iv e n level of need was satisfie d, it did not motivat e any longer. In order to motivat e
87 Motivation

8.3.1 Content Theories - Maslow, Herzberg, Alderfer and Mcclelland Theories

The content theories essentially focus on finding out what is the motivates peop9le at work. These theories essentially identify the needs or the drives that people possess and how these are prioritized. These theories deal with the types of incentives as well as goals that people seek to achieve in order to remain satisfied and also to perform better. These are "static" theories and are rooted in time, either past or present. These Iheories do not predict work motivation or behavior but still help us in understanding wha t motivates people at work. Let's look at a few important Content theories.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Abraham Maslow propounded the Hierarchy of Needs theory in

88
Organisational Behaviour

the person, one has to activate the next level of needs. So what are these famous needs in the hierarchy? These are Physiological needs which include the unlearned primary needs such as hunger, thirst, sleep and sex. Maslow believed that if a person had satisfied his hunger with food then he would no longer crave for food and will b e motivated by the next level of needs. Safety needs are those needs, which are the needs for security, both physical as well as emotional. Again the same is true of these needs too. The third level of needs is the Love needs. This is akin to the affiliation and affection needs. What Maslow her meant was the need for belonging or social affiliation. Then we move on to the Esteem needs, which represent the higher order needs. These needs include

the need for power, achievement and status. This includes both self-esteem and esteem from others. The culmination of all these levels of needs is the level of Needs for Self-actualization. Those who reach this level are self fulfilled and have realized their full potential. This is a person's motivation to transform perception of his or her self into reality. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory has had a tremendous impact on the study of management in modern organizations. This theory when converted into the content model of work motivation would mean that at the first level of needs, i.e. at Physiological needs level we would have payor salary. Then at the Safety level, we would have Superannuating plans, Union membership, Severance pay, Medical benefits etc. At the Love needs level, w e would have formal and informal work groups' membership. At the level of Esteem needs, we would have titles, status symbols, promotions etc. At the level of Esteem needs, we would have titles, status symbols, promotions etc. And at the Self actualization level, we would have the employee's realization of his true potential through enriching work and self-development opportunities. Now let's take a look at this pyramid of Hierarchy of Needs in the figure given below:

Figure 8.2: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Herzber'g Two-factor Theory: Herzberg developed a particular content theory of motivation

by carrying Maslow's work forward. He conducted a study with nearly 200 accountants and engineers and based on this study, Herzberg concluded that there are motivating factors or motivators and the hygiene factors. He labeled the motivating factors as satisfiers and the dissatisfies were labeled as hygiene factors. Therefore his theory came to be known as the Twofactor theory of Motivation. Herzberg advocated that the hygiene factors are essential for good working conditions but they by themselves do not motivate an empl0yee. On the other hand, the lack or absence of these hygiene factors may lead to employee dissatisfaction. Whereas motivators an employee to perform better and help him attain satisfaction. Let's look at the table given below for a list of hygiene factors as well as motivators:
Hygiene Factors Company policy and administration Technical Supervision Salary/Pay Inter-personal relations, Supervisor Working condition Achievement Recognition Work itself Responsibility Advancement Motivators

This theory of Herzberg bought a new dimension to the study of motivation by suggesting that in order to motivate it is not enough to concentrate on hygiene factors, but the motivating factors have to be looked at more carefully. It clearly suggests that by merely paying higher salaries or maintaining excellent working conditions, you are not motivating your employees. Because if you really have to motivate them then give them challenging jobs with opportunities for recognition, advancement & greater responsibility.

Alderfer's ERS Theory: Clayton Alderfer extended the work of Maslow and Herzberg
further, when he propounded the need category model, which was in sync with the existing empirical evidence. He identified three groups of core needs: existence, relatedness and growth (so it is ERG theory). The existence needs are concerned with survival. The related needs place emphasis on interpersonal and social relationships. The growth needs are more concerned with the individual's intrinsic desire for personal development. These needs do not have a strict line of demarcation, though they do relate to Maslow's and Herzberg's categories. Alderfer here suggests a continuum of needs. He propounded that it is not necessary to fulfill a lower level need to move on to the higher level. It ultimately depends on the person's background or cultural environment and this may decide that the relatedness needs take precedence over unfulfilled existence needs and the growth needs when satisfied may grow more strong in their intensity.

discuss a few signific ant process theories first and then move on to equity and attributi on theories .

D a id McClelland's Theory of Needs: McClelland and his associates developed the theory of v
needs, which concentrates on three needs: achievement, power and affiliation. These are given below:

Needfor achievement: This is the drive to excel to achieve in relation to a set of standards
and to strive to succeed.

V room's Expect ancy Theory : This

theory has its roots in the cognitiv e concept s of Kurt Lewin, and Edward Tolman . Victor Vroom pioneer ed the expecta ncy theory
89
Motivation

Needfor power: This is the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have
behaved otherwise.

Need for affiliation: This is the desire to forge friendly and close inter-personal
relationships. The drive to achieve (n ach) propels a person towards personal achievement without much concern for the rewards per se. Because here a person may just want to do something better or more efficiently as compared to others. The drive for power (1 1pwr) is the desire to have impact and to be influential and to control others. The person with this drive enjoys to be in charge, strives for influence over others, and likes to be placed in competitive and status-oriented position. This type is more concerned with prestige and gaining influence rather than with effective performance. The need for affiliation (n afl) is an individual's desire to be liked and accepted by others. This type of person strives for friendship, likes co-operative situations as opposed to competitive ones, and also has a desire for relationships involving mutual understanding. Now after having looked at these theories of motiyation, let us discuss the Process Theories of Vroom's & Porter-Lawler & Equity and Attribution Theory.

8.3.2 Process Theories - Vroo m's & Porter-Lawler Theories and Equity & Attribu tion Theory
Besides the content theories of motivation, there are several other approaches on work motivation. On the one hand where the content theories of motivation attempt to identify what motivates people at work, the process theories are more concerned with the cognitive aspects which go into motivation and importantly the way they relate to one another. Now let us