MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP:Reinforcement Theory, Leadership, The Trait Approach

<< MOTIVATION:Assumptions about Motivation, Early ViewsThree Needs

LEADERSHIP:Contingency Approaches, Personal Characteristics of Employees >>

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

LESSON 33

MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP

After the lecture students should be able to examine:

Remaining theories of motivation;

Relation of motivation to leadership;

Defining leader and leadership and

Importance of leadership;

Expectancy Theory

Another important theory of motivation is expectancy theory that helps us understand human

behaviour and people in organization can be motivated.

According to expectancy theory, people choose how to behave from among alternative courses of

action, based on their expectations of what there is to gain from each action. There are four assumptions

about behaviour in organizations on which the expectancy approach is based. These assumptions are:

Behavior is determined by a combination of factors in the individual and factors in the

environment. Individual's behaviour is not simple. It is complex as many factors are affecting

person.

Individuals make conscious decisions about their behavior in the organization. Individuals

know how they have to behave in organization because they can judge their actions and

response.

Individuals have different needs, desires, and goals.

Individuals decide between alternative behaviors on the basis of their expectations that a

given behavior will lead to a desired outcome. For example individuals know that if they

disobey or do not comply they will be fired from the job.

These assumptions become the basis for the

expectancy model, which has three major

components:

1. Performance-0utcome expectancy: Individuals expect certain consequences of their

behavior. These expectations, in turn, affect their decisions on how to behave. For

example, a student who is thinking about getting good marks may expect praise if he gets

good marks or an employee who has achieved the desired results expects that he/she will

be rewarded.

2. Valence: The outcome of a particular behavior has a specific valence, or power to

motivate, which varies from individual to individual. For example, to a manager who values

money and achievement, a transfer to a higher paying position in another city may have

high valence. Valence can be expressed in mathematical term from the example given to

you. If transfer (T) has high value or valence and where transfer brings "money". The

individual will give high value or preference or valence to transfer.

3. Effort-performance expectancy: People's expectations of how difficult it will be to

perform successfully, affect their decisions about behavior. If the task is difficult and

complex, employee will assess the effort involved in doing or completing the job.

Accordingly he will put his effort commensurate with reward. The employee will ask what

I will get in return in doing such a difficult job.

These three components of Expectancy Theory can be summarized in three questions. These

questions are:

If I do this, what will be the outcome?

Is the outcome worth the effort to me?

What are my chances of achieving an outcome that will be worthwhile for me?

118

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

Thus, according to expectancy theory, individuals are motivated when they see a favourable

combination of what is important to them and what they expect as a reward for their efforts, and they

behave accordingly.

Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory is associated with the psychologist B.F. Skinner and other contemporary. He

has shown through the experiment that how the consequences of past behavior affect future actions in a

cyclical learning process. He conducted an experiment on a dog. What he did was that he brought food in

front of a dog. When the food came in front of dog his mouth started to salivate. Every time the food

came the mouth salivated. Now, in his experiment he introduced another element. The food was presented

and as soon as food was presented the dog was given electric shock. The sequence of event was:

Food → salivation→ shock.

This experiment was repeated number of times. After sometime it was observed that the dog

stopped salivating whenever the food was presented.

The results of the experiment were that behaviour can be modified. This process may be expressed

as follows:

Stimulus →

Response → Consequences → Future Response.

(Food)

(Salivation)

(Electric Shock)

(no salivation).

We see that behind the Reinforcement Theory is the concept of punishment and reward. The

application of this theory is seen when animals are trained to perform certain actions. You might have seen

monkeys being asked to dance by monkey-man and when monkey performs an act he is given something to

eat. Reinforcement Theory is useful in understanding human behaviour as well. Human behaviour can also

be modified through reward and punishment.

If in organizations we want to encourage people to come on time, then those who come on time

have to be encouraged. Now encouragement is a kind of reward. We have to remember that rewards have

many forms and dimensions. Rewards are not only in money form. Even a nice word can be reward. In

organization sometimes certificates, badges, mugs etc can be used as rewards for good behaviour.

Similarly punishment has many dimensions in organization. The severe being thrown out of job

and a mild punishment could be to use word of censure for behaviour that is not desirable.

Figure 1

Team Building/Work

Coping Change

Leadership

MOTIVATION

Environment

Feel Good about Yourself

(Non-complaining, non-cynical)

Personal Charisma

Behaviour

119

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

Figure 1 presents the importance and relationship of motivation to other dimensions of life in

general and organizational life as well. A motivated person in general is a good person because he/she has

positive and pleasant affect on environment. A motivated employee or manager or superior can lead and

makes other feel good about themselves. Motivation is required also to build team and make teams work.

Motivation also helps that environment are non complaining environment. All of this is manifestation of

positive behaviour; which is essential for a good manger.

Leadership

Leader and leadership are two different concepts. A leader is a person who leads a group of

individuals. Leadership on the other hand defines the characteristics of the person who leads. Thus

Leadership is the software that makes a leader.

Managerial Leadership

Leader and leadership are often thought of in the larger context like, political leader, reformers,

prophets, thinkers, philosophers etc. But in the discussion of leadership that will follow the emphasis is on

Managerial leadership. Managerial leadership is the leadership that managers exercise in organizational

situation to achieve its goals.

Defining Leadership

There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have

attempted to define the concept. We will define managerial leadership as the process of directing and

influencing the task-related activities of group members. There are four important implications of our

definition of managerial leadership. This is discussed below:

First, leadership involves other people-employees or followers. By their willingness to accept

directions from the leader, group members help define the leader's status and make the

leadership process possible; without people to lead, all the leadership qualities of a manager

would be irrelevant.

Second, leadership involves an Unequal distribution of power between leaders and group

members. Group members are not powerless; they can and do shape group activities in a

number of ways. Still the leader will usually have more power. Where does a manager's power

come from? The five bases of a manager's power are:

Reward power;

Coercive power;

Legitimate power;

Referent power and

Expert power.

The Trait Approach

There is a believe that leaders are born and that people are born with certain traits or characteristics

that are peculiar to leaders. Others who are not born with those traits cannot be leaders

The third aspect of leadership is the ability to use the different forms of power to influence

followers' behaviours in a number of ways.

The fourth aspect combines the first three and acknowledges that leadership is about values.

Moral leadership concerns values and requires that followers be given enough knowledge of

alternatives to make intelligent choices.

The first systematic effort by psychologists and other researchers to understand leadership was the

attempt to identify the personal characteristics of leaders. This approach assumed that leaders share certain

inborn personality traits. This view that leaders are born and not made is still popular among laypersons,

though not among professional researchers.

What are the traits? Following are some of the traits that leaders possess:

Confidence.

Sense of direction (clear goals)

Human insight

120

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

Discipline

clarity of tasks

Consistency

Hard work

Motivate

Good communication skills

10.

Integrity

11.

Honesty

In searching for measurable leadership traits, researchers have taken two approaches:

(1)

Comparing the traits of those who have emerged as leadership with the traits of those who

have not; and

(2)

Comparing the traits of effective leaders with those of ineffective leaders.

Leaders and Non-leaders

It is true that leaders as a group have been found to be brighter, more extroverted, and more self-

confident than non leaders. So some of the traits identified may be the results of leadership experience

rather than of leadership ability i.e., people who get more opportunity to interact may acquire some of the

traits of leaders.

Effective & Ineffective Leaders

Comparing the characteristics of effective and ineffective leaders are more recent studies. One

study did find that intelligence, initiative, and self-assurance was associated with high managerial

performance. The study also found that manager's supervisory ability for better performance was most

important.

Concepts

Expectancy theory:

The theory explains that people try to assess the response of their

actions and expect something in return.

Leader:

A person who leads.

Leadership:

It is a quality or a trait that leaders possess that makes them unique.

Managerial leadership:

It is the leadership that managers exercise in organization to achieve

goals.

121

Table of Contents: