INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MGMT
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Chapter12.pptxChapter 12
Motivation across Cultures
Learning Objectives
Define motivation, and explain it as a psychological process
Examine the hierarchy-of-needs, two-factor, and achievement motivation theories, and assess their value to international human resource management
Discuss how an understanding of employee satisfaction can be useful in human resource management throughout the world
Examine the value of process theories in motivating employees worldwide
Understand the importance of job design, work centrality, and rewards in motivating employees in an international context
Motivating Employees in a Multicultural Context
Motivating and rewarding diverse workforces is a significant challenge to organizations
Employee preferences are correlated with culture
Managers must be aware that a reward in one culture may be viewed differently in another culture
Managers focus on extrinsic rewards and ignore intrinsic rewards
Figure 12.1 - Basic Motivation Process
Determinants of Motivation
Intrinsic
Individual experiences fulfillment through carrying out an activity and helping others
Extrinsic
External environment and result of the activity in the form of competition and compensation or incentive plans are of great importance
Universalist Assumption
Motivation process is universal
Culture influences the specific content and goals pursued
Specific needs and goals can be different between two cultures
Move toward free-market economies and emergence of new opportunities will change the ways in which individuals are motivated
Assumption of Content and Process
Content theories
Explain work motivation in terms of what arouses, energizes, or initiates employee behavior
Subject of most research in the field
Process theories
Explain work motivation by how employee behavior is initiated, redirected, and halted
More sophisticated and focused on individual behavior in specific setting
Hierarchy-of-Needs Theory
Known as Maslow’s theory
Five basic needs constitute a need hierarchy
Physiological: Basic physical needs for water, food, clothing, and shelter
Safety: Desires for security, stability, and absence of pain
Social: Desires to interact and affiliate with others and the need to feel wanted by others
Esteem: Needs for power and status
Self-actualization: Desire to reach one’s full potential
Assumptions Made by Maslow’s Theory
Lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become motivators
Need that is satisfied no longer motivates
More ways to satisfy higher-level needs than to satisfy lower-level needs
International Findings on Maslow’s Theory
Haire group's study indicated that all needs are important to respondents across cultures
Upper-level needs were of particular importance to international managers
Respondents reported that autonomy and self-actualization were the most important and least-satisfied needs
Some researchers suggested modification of Maslow’s Western-oriented hierarchy
Nevis's collectivist need hierarchy
Belonging (social)
Physiological
Safety
Self-actualization (in service of society)
Hofstede reported a link between job types and levels and the need hierarchy
Two-Factor Theory of Motivation
Formulated by Frederick Herzberg and his colleagues
Identifies two sets of factors that influence job satisfaction
Motivators: Job-content factors that ensure satisfaction
Achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the work itself
Hygiene factors: Job-context variables that lead to dissatisfaction when they are not taken care of
Salary, interpersonal relations, technical supervision, working conditions, and company policies and administration
Criticisms
Classification of money as a hygiene factor and not as a motivator
Findings support a theory of job satisfaction and not a total theory of motivation
Two-Factor Theory of Motivation: International Findings
Research holds the overall theory to be true
Cross-cultural studies show that motivators tend to be of more importance to job satisfaction than are hygiene factors
Results indicate that job content is more important than job context
Motivation-hygiene theory must be applied on a country-by-country or a regional basis
Achievement Motivation Theory
Holds that individuals can have a need to get ahead, attain success, and reach objectives
States that need for achievement is learned
Relies solely on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to measure individual achievement
Does not explain the need for achievement in cultures in which individual accomplishment is neither valued nor rewarded
High Achievers
Like situations in which they take personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems
Tend to be moderate risk takers rather than high or low risk takers
Want concrete feedback on performance
Tend to be loners and not team players
Select Process Theories
Equity theory
Goal-setting theory
Expectancy theory
Equity Theory
Focuses on how motivation is affected by people’s perception of how fairly they are being treated
Job performance is positive when people perceive they are treated equitably
Job performance is negative when people believe they are not treated fairly and are dissatisfied
Supported in the West but has mixed results internationally
Equity Theory: International Findings
In Israeli kibbutz production unit, everyone is treated the same but managers reported lower satisfaction levels than workers
Employees in Asia and the Middle East readily accept inequitable treatment in order to preserve group harmony
In Japan and Korea, men and women receive different pay for doing same work
Goal-Setting Theory
Focuses on how individuals set goals and respond to them and overall impact of this process on motivation
Specific areas given attention
Level of participation in goal setting
Goal difficulty
Goal specificity
Importance of objective
Timely feedback to progress toward goals
Has been continually refined and developed
Research shows that employees perform well if they are assigned specific and challenging goals that they have had a hand in setting
Most studies have been conducted in the U.S.
Goal-Setting Theory: International Findings
In the U.S., employee participation in goal setting is motivational
U.K. and Norwegian workers prefer to have their union representatives work with management in determining work goals
Value of goal-setting theory may well be determined by culture
Expectancy Theory
Postulates that motivation is influenced by a person’s belief that:
Effort will lead to performance
Performance will lead to specific outcomes
Outcomes will be of value to the individual
Predicts that high performance followed by high rewards will lead to high satisfaction
Expectancy Theory: International Findings
Theory seems culture-bound
May have less value in societies where people believe that much of what happens is beyond their control
Able to explain worker motivation in cultures where there is a strong internal locus of control
Managers must be aware of limitations in their efforts to apply the theory to motivate human resources
Job Design
Job’s content, the methods that are used on the job, and the way the job relates to other jobs in the organization
Quality of work life (QWL) - Directly related to culture of the country
Challenge for MNCs - Adjusting job design to meet the needs of the host country’s culture
Sociotechnical Designs
Job designs that blend personnel and technology
Objective - Integrate new technology into the workplace so that workers accept and use it to increase overall productivity
Employee resistance is common as new technology requires people to learn new methods
Must be a result of job to be done and cultural values that support a particular approach
Work Centrality
Importance of work in an individual’s life relative to other areas of interest
Provides vital insights into how to motivate human resources in different cultures
Levels
Highest - Japan
Moderately high - Israel
Average - U.S. and Belgium
Moderately low - Netherlands and Germany
Low - Britain
Value of Work
Culture, gender, industry, and organizational characteristics:
Influence the degree and type of work centrality within a country
Interact with national cultural characteristics
Growing interest exists in the impact of overwork on employees
Overwork or job burnout is now recognized as a real social problem
Job Satisfaction
Motivation approaches used in one culture may have limited value in another
Assumption - Satisfaction is highest at the upper levels of organizations
Job attitudes toward quality of work life is related to motivation
Work is important in every society, but the extent of importance varies
Reward Systems
Used to motivate personnel
Financial - Salary raises, bonuses, and stock options
Nonfinancial - Feedback and recognition
Differ from one country to another
Differences are a result of competitive environment or of government legislation
Financial Incentive Systems
Individual incentive-based pay systems
Workers are paid directly for their output
Organizational incentive-based pay systems
Employees earn individual bonuses based on how well the organization achieves certain goals
Incentives and Culture
Compensation is based on group membership or group effort in many cultures
Systems are designed to stress equality
Type of rewards that are used is not culture-bound
Cultures
Can affect the overall cost of an incentive system
Influence the effectiveness of various rewards
