...Expectancy Theory of Motivation, an approach to improving performance. Mark R. Mattox Western Governors University Expectancy Theory of Motivation “Expectancy Theory - A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.” (Judge 07/2012, p. 224) Explanation of the Three Components and Relationships of the Expectancy Theory of Motivation The three components of Expectancy Theory of Motivation are expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. 1 Expectancy: Expectancy is related to the amount of effort that an employee exerts towards task performance. Expectancy incorporates the belief of an employee, that for a given effort there will be a given task performance. Expectancy also states that an increase in effort will lead to an increase in performance. The closer the correlation of effort to reward, the higher the expectancy factor will be. 2 Instrumentality: Instrumentality is related to the performance leading to a reward. Instrumentality incorporates the belief of an employee, that for a given performance there will be a proportional rewards for that employee. The higher the association of performance to reward the higher the instrumentality factor will be. 3 Valence: Valence is the value that the employee places on the reward...
Words: 722 - Pages: 3
...Motivation “What managers expect of subordinates and the way they treat them largely determine their performance” (J. Sterling Livingstone) . A key issue for the success of any company is the performance of its employees. Whether the organization reaches its goals, whether it creates value and manages change and innovation effectively depends highly on the efficiency of the people working for it. Moreover, the extent to which employees will work efficiently is related to their motivation. Thus, it seems apparent that it should be the goal of every manager and leader to motivate their subordinates and peers as much as possible. But how can they do so? Andrew J. DuBrin explains the foundations of motivation in his book “Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills” according to the expectancy theory, which, simplified, explains the positive relationship between the amount of effort somebody puts into a task and the reward he expects from it in return. He refers to valence, instrumentality and expectancy as the underlying factors of motivation. The concept might seem rather theoretical at first, so I will try to apply it to a concrete example in order to point out and understand better its practical significance. Particularly interesting in this context is an organizational experiment described by Sterling Livingstone in his classic article mentioned above. In the experiment, a manager of an insurance company grouped his teams of agents according to their performance...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...LET1 Task 317.1.1-06 Expectancy Theory of Motivation Western Governors University Effort verse reward. This is a common discussion among many business executives, teachers, military leaders and other individuals that are in a supervisory role. A frequent question that I’m sure is often asked of oneself being in a supervisory role is “What can I do to get the desired results that I want/need, or am being told to achieve; from the people I am directly responsible?” And to answer that question and others like it is the Expectancy Theory. What is the Expectancy Theory? The Expectancy Theory of motivation was brought to life in 1964 by Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management, during “his study of the motivations behind decision making.” (Expectancy theory (2008). Retrieved August 8, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectancy_theory). What Vroom was able to theorize is that there are three components that comprise the Expectancy Theory of motivation: expectancy, instrumentality and valence, as defined below. Expectancy (effort > performance) – expectancy is an individual’s belief that they can reach a desired goal by putting forth a certain amount of effort. This belief is usually based on one’s past experiences, amount of self-confidence and how difficult they view the goal. For example, I want to be able to bench press 300lbs. again. I’ve done it in the past already, so I’m fairly certain I can do it again with a strong commitment to the gym, eating...
Words: 823 - Pages: 4
...Expectancy Theory of Motivation Name Institution Expectancy Theory of Motivation Expectancy theory states that a person will choose to behave or act in a certain way because they are encouraged to choose a particular behavior over other alternative behaviors due to what they perceive the outcome of that behavior to be (DuBrin, 2009). When selecting among different behaviors, people choose from alternatives which provide high motivational force. This force is presented as; Motivational Force (MF) = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valance. Where motivational Force is the strength of a person’s motivation, valence is the strength of an individual’s preference for an outcome, and expectancy as the probability that a particular action will lead to a desired outcome (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007). Tenants of Expectancy Theory The components of Expectany theory of motivation include: Instrumentality, Expectancy, Motivational Force, and valance. Instrumentality. This is the confidence that meeting performance expectations, will result into a substantial reward. The trust that a person’s endeavor will result in achievement of set goals. This is a person’s trust in their capability to successfully perform a particular behavior. The person will gauge whether they have the skills or knowledge desired to achieve their goals (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007). This is to say, that, individuals will not select particular actions when objectives are too difficult and are unachievable. The valance refers...
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation Motivation is defined as “psychological processes that arouse and direct goal-directed behavior” (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2006). As a more business-related definition, motivation can be defined as “forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work” (Young, 2000). Motivating employees can be extremely challenging and complex for an organization’s leaders and managers. For an organization to be successful and survive in the rapidly changing market, it is essential for managers to understand what motivates individuals within the context of the specific tasks being performed. Hiring employees that are self-motivated, who already have set their goals and expectations, can make a manager’s job less difficult. However, managers must continually motivate their employees to sustain satisfaction throughout the whole organization. Like personalities, individuals have different sets of goals and expectations for their jobs. They also have different choices on how they want to be rewarded for a “job well done,” whether it is a monetary bonus, a promotion, or organizational recognition. Knowing an individual’s profile, a manager can construct a motivation method for that person. For example, if the manager is considering giving an employee a raise and their profile shows that organizational recognition motivates this person, the manager should reward accordingly, otherwise...
Words: 1086 - Pages: 5
...have something useful to present”. Thus George questioned his effort and saw that even after he worked around the clock and arrived early to work on the project he could still not impress them with his report. This relates to Effort to performance outcome of the expectancy theory which refers to an individual’s perception that his or her effort will result in a particular level of performance it falls between two extremes 1.0 and 0.0, 1.0 where they believe they can definitely finish the task or 0.0 where they believe even their best effort is not going to get the task done (McShane et. al 2015). George’s expectancy that his effort will lead to a specific level of performance is 0.0 he felt even if he tried his best he will still not be able to impress his colleagues with his report or at least satisfy them with his report thus he did not care about their opinion anymore and only started doing the minimum, coming late for work and leaving early, because his best effort did not lead to an expected performance level. The second factor of expectancy theory called performance to outcome expectancy, explains why George was ready to quit after his three-month review with the HR director and Janet. Performance to outcome expectancy is a persons believe that if he or she engages in a specific behaviour or level of performance, it will lead to a certain outcome it also falls between two extremes 1.0 where Janet and the HR director made it sound reassuring that he will receive the 10% bonus...
Words: 363 - Pages: 2
...Porter Lawler Expectancy Theory of Work Motivation The job Description in question is a very senior person in the organisation. Hence, apart from monetary gains, he looks for other prominent sources of motivation as well. This Theory start with a premise that Motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance. Motivation, Satisfaction, and performance are all separate variables and relate in different ways. The Model states that the factors performance and satisfaction correspond to each other in a cyclic way such that one drives the other. The Porter-Lawler model explains what happens after the performance. Thus, in our case,On Performing as per the expectation of the organisation, two types of rewards are possible : * Instrinsic Rewards : 1. Sense of achievement : since, the person concerned is already at a very high post, the sense of achieving something significant is the biggest driver post performance for him. 2. Acknowledgment of authority : the person concerned is considered 2nd in line for CXO position. 3. Self-Actualization : more than anything else, its the self actualization and contentment of completing the task which drives him to perform better. * Extrinsic Rewards : 1. Awards and recognition : act as a huge motivator as compared to other monetary gains. 2. Variable pay commensurate to performance 3. Special benefits : lead to enhancing of confidence in the person. 4. New challenging responsibilities : the responsibilities...
Words: 302 - Pages: 2
...INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS, AND ADMINISTRATION VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1, 2011 Expectancy Theory of Motivation: Motivating by Altering Expectations Fred C. Lunenburg Sam Houston State University ________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Vroom’s expectancy theory differs from the content theories of Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg, and McClelland in that Vroom’s expectancy theory does not provide specific suggestions on what motivates organization members. Instead, Vroom’s theory provides a process of cognitive variables that reflects individual differences in work motivation. From a management standpoint, the expectancy theory has some important implications for motivating employees. It identifies several important things that can be done to motivate employees by altering the person’s effort-to-performance expectancy, performance-to-reward expectancy, and reward valences. ________________________________________________________________________ Need theories of motivation (Alderfer, 1972; Herzberg, 1968; Maslow, 1970; McClelland, 1976) attempt to explain what motivates people in the workplace. Expectancy theory is more concerned with the cognitive antecedents that go into motivation and the way they relate to each other. That is, expectancy theory is a cognitive process theory of motivation that is based on the idea that people believe there are relationships between the effort they put forth at work, the performance they...
Words: 1877 - Pages: 8
...Initiative 1: Use the expectancy theory to motivate the staffs. Perry says he was not averse to sharing profit to his staffs but he does not know how to sharing the profit equally to them. As well as he wants to adopt the consultant’s suggestion to increase the percentage of the collections. However he also worried about the mediocre ones cannot get the enough rewards; besides, he wanted to know why this option could improve staffs’ motivation. (1) We recommend Perry to use the Expectancy Theory. We believe this theory can solve Perry’s problem well and responds to his concern. “Expectancy theory is based on the premise that a person will be motivated to put forth a higher level of effort if they believe their efforts will result in higher performance and thus better rewards”(“Vroom’s Expectancy”, n.d.). The first step must to know the staffs’ expectancy; one-on-one meeting will be a good method to get a better understanding of the staffs and let the staffs know what will relate to their expectancy. “Expectancy is the faith that better efforts will result in better performance”(Expectancy Theory of Motivation, n.d.). Time Frame and Scope of Difficulty: 3 months, Medium Difficulty (2) Instrumentality, it means staffs gain reward or get punishment depend on their performance (Theories of Motivation, n.d.). Thus, we suggest that Perry may build a satisfactory set of records, which is used to record the staffs’ performance. As well as the record system must to be accurate...
Words: 629 - Pages: 3
...Behavioral Influences - Expectation Theory of Motivation ______________________________________________________________________________ Abstract This paper explores a contemporary and widely accepted motivational theory known as Expectancy theory of motivation introduced by Victor Vroom in 1964. It will first explain the three key components and relationships of the expectancy theory of motivation. These components include Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. In addition, it will explain how to enhance the motivation of employees in a fictional but real-life modeled scenario using the Expectancy theory of motivation. After studying this paper, the reader should be able to explain the main components of the Expectancy theory of motivation and apply it’s concepts as an approach to improving performance in a given workplace situation. ______________________________________________________________________________ Behavioral Influences - Expectation Theory of Motivation The subject of motivation has received a great deal of attention in the social sciences, especially when it comes to organizational behavior and management in the workplace. One of the most widely accepted theories of motivation includes Victor Vroom’s Expectancy theory, which was first introduced in 1964. Expectancy theory of motivation is a contemporary theory of motivation, which focuses primarily on a worker’s perceived outcomes. Vroom suggests workers will be highly motivated...
Words: 1096 - Pages: 5
...Vroom’s Model of Expectancy Theory Expectancy Theory is a mental form of motivation. It is based how employee makes their decisions and why they are motivated to perform the task. It identifies the motivational force behind the decision (Van Eerde & Thierry, 1996). Motivation is predetermined before an employee will complete an assignment (Kopp, 2014). The components that contribute an employee’s motivation are a positive link between their effort and performance; the performance leads to the reward and the reward satisfies an important need of the employee (Kopp, 2014). Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is based on three components these are Valence, Expectancy, and Instrumentality. These components are directly linked to effort-performance expectancy and performance-outcome expectancy (Kopp, 2014). Valence Valence refers to the preference for one outcome over another. A positive valence would be when the employee prefers achieving the outcome; it would be negative if the employee does not want to accomplish it, however if the employee is unconcerned about the reward, valence is zero. The valence of a behavior is directly related to its value for the employee’s needs such as pay increase, promotion, and the employer’s recognition ( Van Eerde & Thierry, 1996). Valence provides a link the needs theories of motivation. The manager has to determine what employees’ value. Expectancy Expectancy refers to the effort-performance relation (Snead, 1991). The perception of...
Words: 1169 - Pages: 5
...Assignment 1: Motivation Theory and Practice Analyze, compare, and contrast the two contemporary theories of motivation (a) equity theory and, (b) expectancy theory. Include in your discussion, an evaluation of each theory and the implications to managers in a global work environment. Your analysis should include identification of the strengths and weaknesses of each theory using scholarly references to defend your arguments. by Tassos Pericleous Student’s Number: 20153386 American College Semester 1 November 2015 Abstract The purpose of this paper was to analyze, compare, and contrast the two contemporary theories of motivation equity theory and, expectancy theory. Evaluate each theory and the implications of the theories to managers in a global work environment. Analysis should include identification of the strengths and weaknesses of each theory using scholarly references to defend your arguments. Motivation is the answer to the question “Why we do what we do?”. The motivation theories try to figure out what the “M” is in the equation: “M motivates P” (Motivator motivates the Person). It is one of most important duty of an entrepreneur to motivate people. Motivation theories can be classified broadly into two different perspectives: Content and Process theories. This paper explores the two contemporary theories of motivation process theories, equity (Adam’s) theory and expectancy (Vroom’s) theory. Analysis of equity theory (a) Equity Theory Equity Theory...
Words: 1700 - Pages: 7
...The Vroom Expectancy Theory of Motivation The Vroom Expectancy Theory is “based on the premise that felt needs cause human behavior” and that motivation strength depends on an individual's degree of desire to perform a behavior (Certo & Certo, 2008). As an individual recognizes a need, they will more than likely employ an action to satisfy that need. The motivational strength will also fluctuate correspondingly with their desire. If the desire increases, so will the motivation. The opposite is true as well. In equation form, motivation strength equals the perceived result value of performing behavior multiplied by the perceived probability that the result will actually materialize (Certo & Certo, 2008). For example, consider anovice stockbroker in training who was has been given a one-month probationary period to earn a position and make $500 commission from any successful trades. Assuming they really want the job, the motivation strength, or desire would be calculated as their perception of the value of that position with the bonus in relation to their perception of the probability that they can successfully trade during the trial. As the stockbroker’s perceived value of the two rewards and perceived probability that they would be able to achieve increases, their motivation strength to obtain those rewards will also increase. To put it briefly, the key to the Vroom Expectancy Theory is whether the individual perceives a positive relationship between effort, performance...
Words: 736 - Pages: 3
...foundations that link multiple psychological theories and process together that looks closer at individual attitudes, group dynamics and relationships between managers and workers. From this study and foundation we can look specifically at the role of two motivation theory process: Expectancy Theory of Motivation and Extrinsic Theory of Motivation. To begin we define motivation as "forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work." (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn-2008) Relating these forces to expectance and extrinsic theories, direction refers to the choice an individual makes when presented with multiple choices; level refers to the effort an individual put forth; and persistence refers to the tanasity of the individual to continue with or complete a particular task that is difficult in nature. While the process theory itself focuses on thoughts or cognitions taking place within an individual's mind that will influence behavior; it is in this process theory that we probe deeper into the expectance and extrinsic motivators that are influenced by these cognitions. Expectancy Theory of Motivation The expectancy theory of motivation is a process theory that Victor Vroom, a business school professor at the Yale School of Management, argues is determined by individual beliefs regarding effort and performance relationships with respect to work outcomes. In other words, Vroom's theory is about the cognitive processes associated...
Words: 849 - Pages: 4
...INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS, AND ADMINISTRATION VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1, 2011 Expectancy Theory of Motivation: Motivating by Altering Expectations Fred C. Lunenburg Sam Houston State University ________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Vroom’s expectancy theory differs from the content theories of Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg, and McClelland in that Vroom’s expectancy theory does not provide specific suggestions on what motivates organization members. Instead, Vroom’s theory provides a process of cognitive variables that reflects individual differences in work motivation. From a management standpoint, the expectancy theory has some important implications for motivating employees. It identifies several important things that can be done to motivate employees by altering the person’s effort-to-performance expectancy, performance-to-reward expectancy, and reward valences. ________________________________________________________________________ Need theories of motivation (Alderfer, 1972; Herzberg, 1968; Maslow, 1970; McClelland, 1976) attempt to explain what motivates people in the workplace. Expectancy theory is more concerned with the cognitive antecedents that go into motivation and the way they relate to each other. That is, expectancy theory is a cognitive process theory of motivation that is based on the idea that people believe there are relationships between the effort they put forth at work, the...
Words: 1877 - Pages: 8
