Culture as a Determinant of Motivation Essay

why is the study of Different Theories of Motivation distinguished to motorbuss? The World has changed at a in truth fast pace and volition continue to do so. The understand point that some prominent researchers had on motivation has also evolved with changing times. There has been a phenomenal change in the way organizations and case-by-cases consumption in the twenty first century if we made a equality with how organizations functi mavend back in the day. There is a signifi flush toilettly greater direction on today on employee satis featureion, work life counterbalance, cross ethnic values, practical(prenominal) teams and formal performance management processes to name a few. Globalization is one the key concomitantors which has brought a prominent change in many organizational practices in the twenty first century.Hershey and Blanchard (1977) mentioned that motives can be defined as needs, wants, drives or impulses at heart the individual which be directed towar ds goals which may be conscious or sub conscious. Motivation has been defined by Robbins, Decenzo and Coulter (2011) as motivation is the process by which a soulfulnesss efforts atomic number 18 energized, directed, and sustained towards attaining a goal In this motif we will define motivation as the force which helps an individual focus on his immediate and long term goals and helps him run the extra mile. excessively in this essay we will be focusing on the involve of culture on organizational behavior and the reasons why managers need to be aware of various motivational theories so that they are well fit to handle this impact of culture change.Motivation is a very important tool that is non effectively utilized by managers. Motivation if apply effectively can significantly improve the performance of teams and employees. It was thought preferably that motivation could be directed unless by external factors, still it is now understood that all(prenominal) employee has his own set of motivators which if addressed a justly can significantly improve a manager and his teams performance. It is the managers responsibility to correctly identify these motivating factors and take for granted all steps possible to address them. But this is easier said than done. As observed in todays environment there are many issues which create a hindrance for managers to run their respective teams. In most organizations because of the growing impetus of globalization and the fact that individuals from different cultures, heathenish backgrounds take place on the same platform and work together, it is becoming progressively difficult for managers to be on top of these growing trends and continue to motivate their respective teams.It is very important for managers to understand how important the concept of culture plays in the way an employee conceptualises and be fuck offs. Only when a manager is aware of the tough changes in an individuals behavior because of the ir cultural background, can he rattling make a concentrated effort to analyze and prize methods to motivate that especial(a) individual. Geert Hofstedes (1980) theory of cultural dimensions describes how a particular beau mondes culture influences the behavior and values of individuals using a structure derived from factor analysis. This theory proposed four concepts on the substructure of which cultural values could be evaluated Individualism- collectivism, power distance, uncertainty shunning, power distance and masculinity- feminity. As per Sledge, Miles and Coppage (2008) power distance is the class to which control and influence are distri entirelyed raggedly in society.In countries with mellowed power distance it would non be recommended to give employees a lot of freedom with respect to their work. The employees would be much comfortable when they are abiding by a set protocol and set guidelines and procedures whereas in countries with first-class honours degre e power distance decentralization of power would be recommended where employees can be empowered and inspired to come up with creative ideas in their work. Countries like Venezuela and Malaysia are examples of nations which show spirited Power distance whereas Denmark and Great Britain are nations which show very low power distance. Sledge, Miles and Coppage (2008) defined the concept of individualism versus collectivism as I and Me versus We and Us. Cultures where the beliefs are that one is responsible for his own decisions and the normal object is to take care of only oneself and his own family are individualistic cultures.embodied cultures are those where people rely to a greater extent heavily on groups and the general tendency is to take care of each other. Individualism is common in USA, Canada and mostly in the West whereas collectivism is much common in Pakistan, India and Brazil. In collective cultures promotions and appraisals are mostly done on the basis of senior ity, age and loyalty whereas in individualistic cultures appraisals are done only on the basis of merit. In countries where the culture is individualistic strong individual recognition and rewards would be very strong motivators. Sledge, Miles and Coppage (2008) expounded that uncertainty avoidance was the degree of risk aversion. Individuals from Countries with high uncertainty avoidance are generally very wary of ambiguous situations and they create beliefs and situations to increase their smell of security. They wealthy person very strong belief in experts and they generally arrive at decisions only with consensus of their entire group.Denmark and Great Britain are examples of low uncertainty avoidance cultures whereas Germany, Japan and Spain are examples of High Uncertainty avoidance countries. Sledge, Miles, and Coppage (2008) elucidated on masculinity versus femininity as the desire for material possessions and recognition versus the desire for relationships and family In m asculine societies monetary rewards would make very good motivators whereas in preponderantly feminine societies Flexible work hours or more time extraneous from work for family would be very strong motivators. A feminine society is more concerned with family and personal relationships as against masculine societies where stemmas are more or less gender based.Examples of such masculine cultures are China, Japan, Philippines, India, Bangladesh whereas examples of more feminine cultures are Thailand, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia. Some researchers like William Ouchi (Theory Z) and Peters & Waterman(Excellence theory) developed theories on the discrimination between management practices between Nipponese and American business corporations . They unwaveringly believed that most American and Japanese corporations functioned similar to the McGregors Theory X & Theory Y where the American companies firmly believed that workers are generally grudging to work and can be propel only wit h sparing benefits whereas the Japanese corporations were of the belief that the workers can be motivated by a feel of duty and loyalty.The major difference in the functioning of these organizations was also the fact the managers from the west which are predominantly individualistic cultures could not generally think approximately the bigger picture and this probably showed in the treatment of their employees. hence the intrinsic factors of most employees were not catered to. Companies from the East like Japan which is a collective culture showed that managers used to generally behave with their workers like they were a part of a collective unit and this made the employees think about the companies as an extension to their individual self. This made them believe that money and stinting benefits were not primary motivators. Such employees were motivated with other factors like by knowledge sharing, upward(a) their self esteem, self respect, achievement, recognition and opportun ities for more contend work. make-ups need to birth utmost attention to the cultural and ethnic sentiments of their employees.lets say for instance Multinational Companies who have their setup in India also have to take many factors into status like the fact that every state in India has some festivals which have a very strong regional and cultural flavor. Organizations have to keep in learning ability that until now within Cultures there are many sub cultures and the sentiments of the employees within these sub cultures also need to be taken care of. standardised for instance in India in the state of Maharashtra the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is of very high cultural and emotional significance whereas in the state of Punjab Baisakhi as a festival is of very high importance. Organizations need to take these aspects also into consideration and keep a correct balance when they are deciding holidays for the employees in a particular culture or sub culture.If the management does not pay attention to the sentiments of their employees, this will send the wrong signals to their employees and they will be unable to identify themselves with the ideals of the family. In such situations motivating employees would extend very difficult. Having seen the impact of culture on the behavior of employees and individuals it would be very discriminatory for managers to understand the underlying and basic crux of motivation theories. These theories when used in the right context with employees will help motivate them and improve their performance. Herzbergs Two Factor Theory of Motivation (1968) emphasizes on core job factors and distinguishes them into two categories Hygiene Factors and Motivational Factors. Herzberg further added that the Hygiene Factors like Pay, phoner Policies, Fringe Benefits, Physical working conditions, Status, Interpersonal Relations, and Job Security were only factors that were extrinsic to the work environment and only prevented dis happines s.These factors never motivated individuals but only prevented the individuals from getting dissatisfied which might further lead to de-motivation. He further added that the motivational factors were intrinsic to an individual and were inherent in work. The motivational factors like recognition, Growth Opportunities, Responsibility, Leadership Quotient, and Meaningfulness of work were what were instrumental in creating satisfaction in an employee and motivating him. What is interesting to know is that in different cultures the motivators and hygienics factors are slightly different. In collective cultures sense of fulfillment and working towards company goal is considered far more important that individual pay and remuneration like in western cultures. Managers need to strike the right balance with employees to properly inspire them to perform better.In order to be able to do this they need to have sufficient background knowledge of the culture quotient of an employee along with ce rtain theories of motivation which might be relevant to those employees. In recent times of financial crisis it has survive even more important for managers to understand the key factors which can motivate their employees. Organizations in recent times have become hard pressed to offer economic benefits and rewards to their employees. In such situations it would a great advantage to managers if they have sufficient knowledge of motivation theories like the Equity theory of Motivation which states that every individual has an ingrained instinct to continuously evaluate what is it that he is gaining from the company with respect to what he investing in the company.Individuals also continuously equation themselves with their peers and colleagues. Such theories will help manages keep a right balance and ensure that certain factors which can give impetus to an employees dissatisfaction are sufficiently curtailed. They will then start focusing on improving an employees soft skills lik e interpersonal communication, instilling a sense of duty and loyalty towards the organization, making the employees strive for self improvement. Recognition and adulation for good work will also be used more effectively used to motivate employees. The uses of motivation theories have become even more important as in most organizations virtual teams have become the order of the day.Employees work with their associates and colleagues whom they have never even met. It has become even more instrumental for managers to instill a sense of collectivism in their teams so that individuals working in a group can transform into a team in an actual sense. As per the descry done by Mckinsey(2010) it was found that most employees in organizations feel de motivated when they are unable to idolize themselves with the leadership of the company.It was also found that the many employees in the organization would feel even more motivated if they were offered a few words of praise from their boss. Li ke for instance if a manager appreciates the efforts of an employee who is a part of his virtual team whose first language is not English, this will really do wonders for that specific employee. All the piddling bits when throw away together make a collage. The study of motivation theories has now become of paramount importance to managers as they really need to understand that small bit which will motivate their team and their associates to do better than they actually can. This is what will separate a manager from a leader and will elevate the performance of a group of people to a team.BibliographyReferences* Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, Leadership, and Organization Do American Theories Apply Abroad? Organizational Dynamics, 9(1), 42-63 * Hersey P, Kenneth Blanchard (1977). Management of Organisational Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs prentice Hall * Sledge, S., Miles, A. K., & Coppage, S. (2008). What role does culture play? A look at motivation and job satisfaction among hotel workers in Brazil. International Journal Of benignant Resource Management, 19(9), 1667-1682. doi10.1080/09585190802295157 * Blackwell RJ, Miniard PW, Enrgel JF (2007). Consumer Behaviour, 9thed., Thomson Press, London. * Decenzo DA (2001). Fundamentals of Management Essentials Concepts and Application. assimilator Hall, wise Jersey. * Deresky H (2007). International Management Managing Across Borders and Cultures (6th Edition). New Jersey Prentice Hall * Koenigs, R. (1982). An Interview with Dr. William Ouchi. Training & Development Journal, 36(3), 38 * Herzberg F (1968). single more time how do you motivate employee? Havard Business Review, Jan-Feb, 53-64 * Hofstede G (1991) Cultures and Organizations package of the mind.McGraw Hill. * Hofstede G (1980). Cultures Consequences International Differences in Work-Relate Values. Newbury Park CA Sage. * Dewhurst, M., Guthridge, M., & Mohr, E. (2010). Motivating people Getting beyond money. Mckinsey Quarterly, (1), 12-15