Barriers to Effective Decision-Making What barriers exist that make effective decision-making difficult? There are a number of barriers to effective decision-making. Effective managers are aware of these potential barriers and try to overcome them as much as possible. Bounded Rationality While we might like to think that we can make completely rational decisions, this is often unrealistic given the complex issues faced by managers. Nonrational decision-making is common, especially with nonprogrammed decisions. Since we haven’t faced a particular situation previously, we don’t always know what questions to ask or what information to gather. Even when we have gathered all the possible information, we may not be able to make rational sense of all of it, or to accurately forecast or predict the outcomes of our choice. Bounded rationality is the idea that for complex issues we cannot be completely rational because we cannot fully grasp all the possible alternatives, nor can we understand all the implications of every possible alternative. Our brains have limitations in terms of the amount of information they can process. Similarly, as was alluded to earlier in the chapter, even when managers have the cognitive ability to process all the relevant information, they often must make decisions without first having time to collect all the relevant data—their information is incomplete. Escalation of Commitment Given the lack of complete information, managers don’t always make the right decision initially, and it may not be clear that a decision was a bad one until after some time has passed. For example, consider a manager who had to choose between two competing software packages that her organization will use on a daily basis to enhance efficiency. She initially chooses the product that was developed by the larger, more well-established company, reasoning that they will have greater financial resources to invest in ensuring that the technology is good. However, after some time it becomes clear that the competing software package is going to be far superior. While the smaller company’s product could be integrated into the organization’s existing systems at little additional expense, the larger company’s product will require a much greater initial investment, as well as substantial ongoing costs for maintaining it. At this point, however, let’s assume that the manager has already paid for the larger company’s (inferior) software. Will she abandon the path that she’s on, accept the loss on the money that’s been invested so far, and switch to the better software? Or will she continue to invest time and money into trying to make the first product work? Escalation of commitment is the tendency of decision makers to remain committed to poor decision, even when doing so leads to increasingly negative outcomes. Once we commit to a decision, we may find it difficult to reevaluate that decision rationally. It can seem easier to “stay the course” than to admit (or to recognize) that a decision was poor. It’s important to acknowledge that not all decisions are going to be good ones, in spite of our best efforts. Effective managers recognize that progress down the wrong path isn’t really progress, and they are willing to reevaluate decisions and change direction when appropriate. Time Constraints Managers often face time constraints that can make effective decision-making a challenge. When there is little time available to collect information and to rationally process it, we are much less likely to make a good nonprogrammed decision. Time pressures can cause us to rely on heuristics rather than engage in deep processing. While heuristics save time, however, they don’t necessarily lead to the best possible solution. The best managers are constantly assessing the risks associated with acting too quickly against those associated with not acting quickly enough. Uncertainty In addition, managers frequently make decisions under conditions of uncertainty—they cannot know the outcome of each alternative until they’ve actually chosen that alternative. Consider, for example, a manager who is trying to decide between one of two possible marketing campaigns. The first is more conservative but is consistent with what the organization has done in the past. The second is more modern and edgier, and might bring much better results . . . or it might be a spectacular failure. The manager making the decision will ultimately have to choose one campaign and see what happens, without ever knowing what the results would have been with the alternate campaign. That uncertainty can make it difficult for some managers to make decisions, because committing to one option means forgoing other options. Personal Biases Our decision-making is also limited by our own biases. We tend to be more comfortable with ideas, concepts, things, and people that are familiar to us or similar to us. We tend to be less comfortable with that which is unfamiliar, new, and different. One of the most common biases that we have, as humans, is the tendency to like other people who we think are similar to us (because we like ourselves). Christopher L. Aberson, Michael Healy, & Victoria Romero. 2000. Ingroup Bias and Self-Esteem: A Meta-Analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review , 4: 157-173. While these similarities can be observable (based on demographic characteristics such as race, gender, and age), they can also be a result of shared experiences (such as attending the same university) or shared interests (such as being in a book club together). This “similar to me” bias and preference for the familiar can lead to a variety of problems for managers: hiring less-qualified applicants because they are similar to the manager in some way, paying more attention to some employees’ opinions and ignoring or discounting others, choosing a familiar technology over a new one that is superior, sticking with a supplier that is known over one that has better quality, and so on. It can be incredibly difficult to overcome our biases because of the way our brains work. The brain excels at organizing information into categories, and it doesn’t like to expend the effort to re-arrange once the categories are established. As a result, we tend to pay more attention to information that confirms our existing beliefs and less attention to information that is contrary to our beliefs, a shortcoming that is referred to as confirmation bias . Elizabeth Kolbert. 2017. Why Facts Don’t Change our Minds. The New Yorker , February 27, 2017. In fact, we don’t like our existing beliefs to be challenged. Such challenges feel like a threat, which tends to push our brains towards the reactive system and prevent us from being able to logically process the new information via the reflective system. It is hard to change people’s minds about something if they are already confident in their convictions. So, for example, when a manager hires a new employee who they really like and are convinced is going to be excellent, they will tend to pay attention to examples of excellent performance and ignore examples of poor performance (or attribute those events to things outside the employee’s control). The manager will also tend to trust that employee and therefore accept their explanations for poor performance without verifying the truth or accuracy of those statements. The opposite is also true; if we dislike someone, we will pay attention to their negatives and ignore or discount their positives. We are less likely to trust them or believe what they say at face value. This is why politics tend to become very polarized and antagonistic within a two-party system. It can be very difficult to have accurate perceptions of those we like and those we dislike. The effective manager will try to evaluate situations from multiple perspectives and gather multiple opinions to offset this bias when making decisions. Conflict Finally, effective decision-making can be difficult because of conflict. Most individuals dislike conflict and will avoid it when possible. However, the best decision might be one that is going to involve some conflict. Consider a manager who has a subordinate who is often late to work, causing others to have to step away from their responsibilities in order to cover for the late employee. The manager needs to have a conversation with that employee to correct the behavior, but the employee is not going to like the conversation and may react in a negative way. Both of them are going to be uncomfortable. The situation is likely to involve conflict, which most people find stressful. Yet, the correct decision is still to have the conversation even if (or especially if) the employee otherwise is an asset to the department. Dante Disparte Dante Disparte is the founder and CEO of Risk Cooperative and also coauthor of Global Risk Agility and Decision Making . He suggests that unforeseen and unanticipated risks are becoming more frequent and less predictable and are having a greater impact on more people at one time. Credit (New America/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)) If the bad behavior is not corrected, it will continue, which is going to cause more problems in the workplace in the long run. Other employees may recognize that this behavior is allowed, and they may also start coming to work late or engaging in other negative behaviors. Eventually, some employees may become sufficiently frustrated that they look for another place to work. It’s worth noting that in this situation, the best employees will find new jobs the most quickly. It’s important for managers to recognize that while conflict can be uncomfortable (especially in the short-term), there are times when it is necessary for the group, department, or organization to function effectively in the long run. It is also helpful to think about conflict in terms of process conflict or relationship conflict. Karen A. Jehn & Elizabeth A. Mannix. 2001. The Dynamic Nature of Conflict: A Longitudinal Study of Intragroup Conflict and Group Performance. Academy of Management Journal , 44: 238-251. Process conflict, conflict about the best way to do something, can actually lead to improved performance, as individuals explore various options together in order to identify superior solutions. Relationship conflict is conflict between individuals that is more personal and involves attacks on a person rather than an idea. This kind of conflict is generally harmful and should be quelled when possible. The harm from relationship conflict arises at least in part because feeling personally attacked will cause an individual to revert to the reactive system of the brain. Effective managers should be particularly aware of the possibility of relationship conflict when giving feedback and should keep feedback focused on behaviors and activities (how things are done) rather than on the individual. Being aware of and dealing with relationship conflict points to why emotional intelligence and empathy are beneficial in organizational leaders. Such leaders are more likely to be attentive to the harmful consequences of relationship conflict. The “Managerial Leadership” segment shows how one CEO encourages empathetic collaboration and how that effort is proving beneficial. Satya Nadella’s Transformation of Microsoft When Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he set in motion a major transformation of the organization’s culture. He wanted it to shift from a culture that valued “know-it-alls” to one that values “learn-it-all.” Instead of employees feeling the need to prove that they were the smartest person in the room, he wanted them to become curious and effective listeners, learners, and communicators. Only through continual learning and collaboration with one another, and with customers, would Microsoft remain able to develop and provide great technology solutions. One of Nadella’s first mandates as CEO was to ask all the members of the top management team to read the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. The primary focus of the book is on empathetic communication—a kinder, gentler approach than Microsoft employees were accustomed to. Nadella believes that developing empathy leads to a heightened understanding of consumer needs and wants and an enhanced ability to develop better products and services through collaboration. Nadella has also embraced diversity and inclusion initiatives, though he readily acknowledges that there is more to be done. This is, in part, an extension of his focus on empathy. However, it’s also good business, because increasing the diversity of perspectives can help to drive innovation. This cultural shift is reflected in Microsoft’s new mission statement: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Empowering every person includes Microsoft’s own employees. Achieving diversity is particularly a challenge in an industry that is male dominated, and Nadella admits that he has made mistakes based on his own biases. At a Women in Computing conference early in his tenure as CEO, Nadella suggested that women did not need to ask for raises when they deserved them; the system, he said, would work it out. He later admitted that he was wrong and used the mistake as a platform for making greater strides in this arena. Senior management team meetings at Microsoft have apparently changed dramatically as a result of the culture change driven by Nadella. Previously, members felt the need to constantly prove that they knew all the right answers at team meetings. Nadella has established different norms; he seeks out honest opinions from team members and gives positive feedback on a regular basis. By moving the focus away from always being right and toward a focus of continual learning, the culture at Microsoft has become more collaborative, and employees are more willing to take risks to create something amazing. The culture shift seems to be paying off: Microsoft’s products are being described as “cool” and “exciting,” its cloud-computing platform is outperforming the competition, and its financial performance has improved dramatically. Transforming the culture of an organization is a massive undertaking, but Nadella’s leadership of Microsoft clearly shows that it’s a decision that can pay off. Discussion Questions Do you think a culture focused on learning makes sense for Microsoft? Why or why not? What are the advantages of a culture that emphasizes empathetic communication? Can you think of any disadvantages? The job of CEO means making big decisions that impact the entire organization—like deciding to change the culture. How do you think you prepare for that job? Sources: Kendall Baker, “Confirmed: Microsoft is a legit threat to Apple,” The Hustle , March 16, 2017. Bob Evans, “10 Powerful examples of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Transformative Vision,” Forbes, July 26, 2017. Harry McCraken, “Satya Nadella Rewrites Microsoft’s Code,” Fast Company , September 18, 2017, https://www.fastcompany.com/40457458/satya-nadella-rewrites-microsofts-code. Annie Palmer, “Microsoft has been reborn under CEO Satya Nadella,” The Street , September 20, 2017. Explain the concept of confirmation bias. List and describe at least three barriers to effective decision-making. When is conflict beneficial, and when is it harmful? Why? What barriers exist that make effective decision-making difficult? There are numerous barriers to effective decision-making. Managers are limited in their ability to collect comprehensive information, and they are limited in their ability to cognitively process all the information that is available. Managers cannot always know all the possible outcomes of all the possible options, and they often face time constraints that limit their ability to collect all the information that they would like to have. In addition, managers, like all humans, have biases that influence their decision-making, and that can make it difficult for them to make good decisions. One of the most common biases that can confound decision-making is confirmation bias, the tendency for a person to pay attention to information that confirms her existing beliefs and ignore information that conflicts with these existing beliefs. Finally, conflict between individuals in organizations can make it challenging to reach a good decision. Bounded rationality The concept that when we make decisions, we cannot be fully rational because we don’t have all the possible information or the cognitive processing ability to make fully informed, completely rational decisions. Confirmation bias The tendency to pay attention to information that confirms our existing beliefs and to ignore or discount information that conflicts with our existing beliefs. Escalation of commitment The tendency of decision makers to remain committed to poor decision, even when doing so leads to increasingly negative outcomes. Process conflict Conflict about the best way to do something; conflict that is task-oriented and constructive, and not focused on the individuals involved. Relationship conflict Conflict between individuals that is based on personal (or personality) differences; this type of conflict tends to be destructive rather than constructive.

Business


Improving the Quality of Decision-Making How can a manager improve the quality of her individual decision-making? Managers can use a variety of techniques to improve their decision-making by making better-quality decisions or making decisions more quickly. summarizes some of these tactics. Summary of Techniques That May Improve Individual Decision-Making Type of Decision Technique Benefit Programmed decisions Heuristics (mental shortcuts) Saves time Satisficing (choosing first acceptable solution) Saves time Nonprogrammed decisions Systematically go through the six steps of the decision-making process. Improves quality Talk to other people. Improves quality: generates more options, reduces bias Be creative. Improves quality: generates more options Conduct research; engage in evidence-based decision-making. Improves quality Engage in critical thinking. Improves quality Think about the long-term implications. Improves quality Consider the ethical implications. Improves quality (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license) The Importance of Experience An often overlooked factor in effective decision-making is experience. Managers with more experience have generally learned more and developed greater expertise that they can draw on when making decisions. Experience helps managers develop methods and heuristics to quickly deal with programmed decisions and helps them know what additional information to seek out before making a nonprogrammed decision. Techniques for Making Better Programmed Decisions In addition, experience enables managers to recognize when to minimize the time spent making decisions on issues that are not particularly important but must still be addressed. As discussed previously, heuristics are mental shortcuts that managers take when making programmed (routine, low-involvement) decisions. Another technique that managers use with these types of decisions is satisficing. When satisficing , a decision maker selects the first acceptable solution without engaging in additional effort to identify the best solution. We all engage in satisficing every day. For example, suppose you are shopping for groceries and you don’t want to overspend. If you have plenty of time, you might compare prices and figure out the price by weight (or volume) to ensure that every item you select is the cheapest option. But if you are in a hurry, you might just select generic products, knowing that they are cheap enough. This allows you to finish the task quickly at a reasonably low cost. Techniques for Making Better Nonprogrammed Decisions For situations in which the quality of the decision is more critical than the time spent on the decision, decision makers can use several tactics. As stated previously, nonprogrammed decisions should be addressed using a systematic process. We therefore discuss these tactics within the context of the decision-making steps. To review, the steps include the following: Recognize that a decision needs to be made. Generate multiple alternatives. Analyze the alternatives. Select an alternative. Implement the selected alternative. Evaluate its effectiveness. Step 1: Recognizing That a Decision Needs to Be Made Ineffective managers will sometimes ignore problems because they aren’t sure how to address them. However, this tends to lead to more and bigger problems over time. Effective managers will be attentive to problems and to opportunities and will not shy away from making decisions that could make their team, department, or organization more effective and more successful. Step 2: Generating Multiple Alternatives Often a manager only spends enough time on Step 2 to generate two alternatives and then quickly moves to Step 3 in order to make a quick decision. A better solution may have been available, but it wasn’t even considered. It’s important to remember that for nonprogrammed decisions, you don’t want to rush the process. Generating many possible options will increase the likelihood of reaching a good decision. Some tactics to help with generating more options include talking to other people (to get their ideas) and thinking creatively about the problem. Talk to other people Managers can often improve the quality of their decision-making by involving others in the process, especially when generating alternatives. Other people tend to view problems from different perspectives because they have had different life experiences. This can help generate alternatives that you might not otherwise have considered. Talking through big decisions with a mentor can also be beneficial, especially for new managers who are still learning and developing their expertise; someone with more experience will often be able to suggest more options. Be creative We don’t always associate management with creativity, but creativity can be quite beneficial in some situations. In decision-making, creativity can be particularly helpful when generating alternatives. Creativity is the generation of new or original ideas; it requires the use of imagination and the ability to step back from traditional ways of doing things and seeing the world. While some people seem to be naturally creative, it is a skill that you can develop. Being creative requires letting your mind wander and combining existing knowledge from past experiences in novel ways. Creative inspiration may come when we least expect it (in the shower, for example) because we aren’t intensely focused on the problem—we’ve allowed our minds to wander. Managers who strive to be creative will take the time to view a problem from multiple perspectives, try to combine information in new ways, search for overarching patterns, and use their imaginations to generate new solutions to existing problems. We’ll review creativity in more detail in future chapters. Step 3: Analyzing Alternatives When implementing Step 3, it is important to take many factors into consideration. Some alternatives might be more expensive than others, for example, and that information is often essential when analyzing options. Effective managers will ensure that they have collected sufficient information to assess the quality of the various options. They will also utilize the tactics described below: engaging in evidence-based decision-making, thinking critically, talking to other people, and considering long-term and ethical implications. Do you have the best-quality data and evidence? Evidence-based decision-making is an approach to decision-making that states that managers should systematically collect the best evidence available to help them make effective decisions. The evidence that is collected might include the decision maker’s own expertise, but it is also likely to include external evidence, such as a consideration of other stakeholders, contextual factors relevant to the organization, potential costs and benefits, and other relevant information. With evidence-based decision-making, managers are encouraged to rely on data and information rather than their intuition. This can be particularly beneficial for new managers or for experienced managers who are starting something new. (Consider all the research that Rubio and Korey conducted while starting Away). Talk to other people As mentioned previously, it can be worthwhile to get help from others when generating options. Another good time to talk to other people is while analyzing those options; other individuals in the organization may help you assess the quality of your choices. Seeking out the opinions and preferences of others is also a great way to maintain perspective, so getting others involved can help you to be less biased in your decision-making (provided you talk to people whose biases are different from your own). Are you thinking critically about the options? Our skill at assessing alternatives can also be improved by a focus on critical thinking . Critical thinking is a disciplined process of evaluating the quality of information, especially data collected from other sources and arguments made by other people, to determine whether the source should be trusted or whether the argument is valid. An important factor in critical thinking is the recognition that a person’s analysis of the available information may be flawed by a number of logical fallacies that they may use when they are arguing their point or defending their perspective. Learning what those fallacies are and being able to recognize them when they occur can help improve decision-making quality. See for several examples of common logical fallacies. Common Logical Fallacies Name Description Examples Ways to Combat This Logical Fallacy Non sequitur (does not follow) The conclusion that is presented isn’t a logical conclusion or isn’t the only logical conclusion based on the argument(s). Our biggest competitor is spending more on marketing than we are. They have a larger share of the market. Therefore, we should spend more on marketing. The unspoken assumption: They have a larger share of the market BECAUSE they spend more on marketing. Examine all the arguments. Are they reasonable? Look for any assumptions that are being made in the argument sequence. Are they reasonable? Try to gather evidence that supports or refutes the arguments and/or assumptions. In this example, you should ask: Are there any other reasons, besides their spending on marketing, why our competitor has a larger share of the market? False cause Assuming that because two things are related, one caused the other “Our employees get sick more when we close for holidays. So we should stop closing for holidays.” This is similar to non sequitur; it makes an assumption in the argument sequence. Ask yourself whether the first thing really causes the second, or if something else may be the cause. In this case, most holidays for which businesses close are in the late fall and winter (Thanksgiving, Christmas), and there are more illnesses at this time of year because of the weather, not because of the business being closed. Ad hominem (attack the man) Redirects from the argument itself to attack the person making the argument “You aren’t really going to take John seriously, are you? I heard his biggest client just dropped him for another vendor because he’s all talk and no substance.” The goal: if you stop trusting the person, you’ll discount their argument. Does the second person have something to gain, a hidden agenda, in trying to make you distrust the first person? If the first person’s argument came from someone else, would it be persuasive? Genetic fallacy You can’t trust something because of its origins. “This was made in China, so it must be low quality.” “He is a lawyer, so you can’t trust anything he says.” This fallacy is based on stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations; some are grossly inaccurate, and even those that are accurate in SOME cases are never accurate in ALL cases. Recognize this for what it is—an attempt to prey on existing biases. Appeal to tradition If we have always done it one particular way, that must be the right or best way. “We’ve always done it this way.” “We shouldn’t change this; it works fine the way it is.” Consider whether the situation has changed, calling for a change in the way things are being done. Consider whether new information suggests that the traditional viewpoint is incorrect. Remember, we used to think that the earth was flat. Bandwagon approach If the majority of people are doing it, it must be good. “Everybody does it.” “Our customers don’t want to be served by people like that.” Remember that the majority is sometimes wrong, and what is popular isn’t always what is right. Ask yourself whether “following the pack” is going to get you where you want to be. Remember that organizations are usually successful by being better than their competitors at something . . . so following the crowd might not be the best approach to success. Appeal to emotion Redirects the argument from logic to emotion “We should do it for [recently deceased] Steve; it’s what they would have wanted.” Develop your awareness of your own emotions, and recognize when someone is trying to use them. Ask yourself whether the argument stands on its own without the appeal to your emotions. (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license) Have you considered the long-term implications? A focus on immediate, short-term outcomes—with little consideration for the future—can cause problems. For example, imagine that a manager must decide whether to issue dividends to investors or put that money into research and development to maintain a pipeline of innovative products. It’s tempting to just focus on the short-term: providing dividends to investors tends to be good for stock prices. But failing to invest in research and development might mean that in five years the company is unable to compete effectively in the marketplace, and as a result the business closes. Paying attention to the possible long-term outcomes is a crucial part of analyzing alternatives. Are there ethical implications? It’s important to think about whether the various alternatives available to you are better or worse from an ethical perspective, as well. Sometimes managers make unethical choices because they haven’t considered the ethical implications of their actions. In the 1970s, Ford manufactured the Pinto, which had an unfortunate flaw: the car would easily burst into flames when rear-ended. The company did not initially recall the vehicle because they viewed the problem from a financial perspective, without considering the ethical implications. Linda K. Trevino & Michael E. Brown. 2004. Managing to be ethical: Debunking five business ethics myths. Academy of Management Executive , 18: 69-81. People died as a result of the company’s inaction. Unfortunately, these unethical decisions continue to occur—and cause harm—on a regular basis in our society. Effective managers strive to avoid these situations by thinking through the possible ethical implications of their decisions. The decision tree in is a great example of a way to make managerial decisions while also taking ethical issues into account. Ethical Decision Tree (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license) Thinking through the steps of ethical decision-making may also be helpful as you strive to make good decisions. James Rest’s ethical decision-making model James R. Rest. 1986. Moral development: Advances in research and theory . Praeger Publishers. identifies four components to ethical decision-making: Moral sensitivity—recognizing that the issue has a moral component; Moral judgment—determining which actions are right vs. wrong; Moral motivation/intention—deciding to do the right thing; and Moral character/action—actually doing what is right. Note that a failure at any point in the chain can lead to unethical actions! Taking the time to identify possible ethical implications will help you develop moral sensitivity, which is a critical first step to ensuring that you are making ethical decisions. Once you have determined that a decision has ethical implications, you must consider whether your various alternatives are right or wrong—whether or not they will cause harm, and if so, how much and to whom. This is the moral judgment component. If you aren’t sure about whether something is right or wrong, think about how you would feel if that decision ended up on the front page of a major newspaper. If you would feel guilty or ashamed, don’t do it! Pay attention to those emotional cues—they are providing important information about the option that you are contemplating. The third step in the ethical decision-making model involves making a decision to do what is right, and the fourth step involves following through on that decision. These may sound straightforward, but consider a situation in which your boss tells you to do something that you know to be wrong. When you push back, your boss makes it clear that you will lose your job if you don’t do what you’ve been told to do. Now, consider that you have family at home who rely on your income. Making the decision to do what you know is right could come at a substantial cost to you personally. In these situations, your best course of action is to find a way to persuade your boss that the unethical action will cause greater harm to the organization in the long-term. Step 4: Selecting an Alternative Once alternative options have been generated and analyzed, the decision maker must select one of the options. Sometimes this is easy—one option is clearly superior to the others. Often, however, this is a challenge because there is not a clear “winner” in terms of the best alternative. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, there may be multiple good options, and which one will be best is unclear even after gathering all available evidence. There may not be a single option that doesn’t upset some stakeholder group, so you will make someone unhappy no matter what you choose. A weak decision maker may become paralyzed in this situation, unable to select among the various alternatives for lack of a clearly “best” option. They may decide to keep gathering additional information in hopes of making their decision easier. As a manager, it’s important to think about whether the benefit of gathering additional information will outweigh the cost of waiting. If there are time pressures, waiting may not be possible. Recognize that perfection is unattainable Effective managers recognize that they will not always make optimal (best possible) decisions because they don’t have complete information and/or don’t have the time or resources to gather and process all the possible information. They accept that their decision-making will not be perfect and strive to make good decisions overall. Recognizing that perfection is impossible will also help managers to adjust and change if they realize later on that the selected alternative was not the best option. Talk to other people This is another point in the process at which talking to others can be helpful. Selecting one of the alternatives will ultimately be your responsibility, but when faced with a difficult decision, talking through your choice with someone else may help you clarify that you are indeed making the best possible decision from among the available options. Sharing information verbally also causes our brains to process that information differently, which can provide new insights and bring greater clarity to our decision-making. Step 5: Implementing the Selected Alternative After selecting an alternative, you must implement it. This may seem too obvious to even mention, but implementation can sometimes be a challenge, particularly if the decision is going to create conflict or dissatisfaction among some stakeholders. Sometimes we know what we need to do but still try to avoid actually doing it because we know others in the organization will be upset—even if it’s the best solution. Follow-through is a necessity, however, to be effective as a manager. If you are not willing to implement a decision, it’s a good idea to engage in some self-reflection to understand why. If you know that the decision is going to create conflict, try to think about how you’ll address that conflict in a productive way. It’s also possible that we feel that there is no good alternative, or we are feeling pressured to make a decision that we know deep down is not right from an ethical perspective. These can be among the most difficult of decisions. You should always strive to make decisions that you feel good about—which means doing the right thing, even in the face of pressures to do wrong. Step 6: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Decision Managers sometimes skip the last step in the decision-making process because evaluating the effectiveness of a decision takes time, and managers, who are generally busy, may have already moved on to other projects. Yet evaluating effectiveness is important. When we fail to evaluate our own performance and the outcomes of our decisions, we cannot learn from the experience in a way that enables us to improve the quality of our future decisions. Attending fully to each step in the decision-making process improves the quality of decision-making and, as we’ve seen, managers can engage in a number of tactics to help them make good decisions. Take a look at the Ethics in Practice box to see an example of how one particular manager puts these techniques into practice to make good decisions. Rob Ault, Project Manager, Bayside Community Church Bradenton, Florida When it comes to decision-making, ethical dilemmas require particular care. Because managers make many decisions, it should not be surprising that some of those decisions will have ethical implications. With multiple stakeholders to consider, sometimes what is best for one group of stakeholders is not what is best for others. I talked to Rob Ault about his experiences with ethical dilemmas over the course of his career. Rob has been in managerial roles for over 25 years, since he was 19 years old. He told me that he had experienced a number of ethical dilemmas in that time. Rob has spent most of his career working for for-profit organizations, and for about half of that time he has worked in a union environment. What he has found most frustrating, regardless of environment, was when it was clear to him what was right, but what was right conflicted with what his boss was telling him to do. This included a situation in which he felt an employee should be fired for misbehavior (but wasn’t), as well as situation in which he was asked to fire someone undeservedly. What we mostly talked about, though, was his process. How did he go about making decisions in these challenging situations? Rob clearly stated that his approach to these situations has changed with experience. What he did early in his career is not necessarily what he would do now. He said that it takes experience and some maturity to recognize that, as a leader, the decisions you make affect other people’s lives. He also explained that a starting point for the decision-making process is always a recognition of the fact that you have been hired to generate a benefit for your company. So a manager’s decisions need to come from the perspective of what is going to be in the best long-term interest of the organization (in addition to what is morally right). This isn’t always easy, because short-term consequences are much easier to observe and predict. I asked Rob who he talked to prior to making decisions in situations with an ethical component. Rob told me that he felt one of the most important things you should do as a leader is to intentionally create and build relationships with people you trust in the organization. That way you have people you know you can talk to when difficult situations come up. He was very clear that you should always talk to your boss, who will tend to have a broader understanding of what is going on in the context of the larger organization. He also told me that he liked to talk to his father, who happened to work in human resource management for a large Fortune 500 organization. His father was always helpful in providing the perspective of how things were likely to play out long-term if one person was allowed to bend the rules. Rob realized eventually that the long-term consequences of this were almost always negative: once one person is allowed to misbehave, others find out about it and realize that they can do the same thing without repercussions. Rob also seeks out the opinions of other individuals in the organization before reaching decisions with an ethical component; he told me that when he worked in a union environment, he tried to make sure he had a good relationship with the union steward, because it was helpful to get the perspective of someone who was committed to the side of the employee. The biggest ethical dilemma Rob faced was one that he actually couldn’t talk to me about. He disagreed with what he was being asked to do, and when it was clear that he had no other choice in the matter, he quit his job rather than do something he felt wasn’t right. He accepted a severance package in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement, which is why he can’t share any details . . . but it was clear from our conversation that he feels he made the right choice. That particular ethical dilemma makes it clear how challenging managerial decision-making can sometimes be. Discussion Questions If you were faced with an ethical dilemma, from whom would you seek advice? Describe some decisions that might be good for an organization’s profitability in the short-term, but bad for the organization in the long-term. What factors would you take into consideration if you were thinking about leaving your job rather than do something unethical? Explain what satisficing is and when it may be a good strategy. What are the six steps in the decision-making process? What are the four steps involved in ethical decision-making? How can a manager improve the quality of her individual decision-making? Managers tend to get better at decision-making with time and experience, which helps them build expertise. Heuristics and satisficing can also be useful techniques for making programmed decisions quickly. For nonprogrammed decisions, a manager can improve the quality of her decision-making by utilizing a variety of other techniques. Managers should also be careful to not skip steps in the decision-making process, to involve others in the process at various points, and to be creative in generating alternatives. They should also engage in evidence-based decision-making: doing research and collecting data and information on which to base the decision. Effective managers also think critically about the quality of the evidence that they collect, and they carefully consider long-term outcomes and ethical implications prior to making a decision. Creativity The generation of new or original ideas. Critical thinking A disciplined process of evaluating the quality of information, especially by identifying logical fallacies in arguments. Evidence-based decision-making A process of collecting the best available evidence prior to making a decision. Satisficing Choosing the first acceptable solution to minimize time spent on a decision.

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Group Decision-Making What are the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making, and how can a manager improve the quality of group decision-making? Involving more people in the decision-making process can greatly improve the quality of a manager's decisions and outcomes. However, involving more people can also increase conflict and generate other challenges. We turn now to the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making. Advantages of Group Decisions An advantage to involving groups in decision-making is that you can incorporate different perspectives and ideas. For this advantage to be realized, however, you need a diverse group. In a diverse group, the different group members will each tend to have different preferences, opinions, biases, and stereotypes. Because a variety of viewpoints must be negotiated and worked through, group decision-making creates additional work for a manager, but (provided the group members reflect different perspectives) it also tends to reduce the effects of bias on the outcome. For example, a hiring committee made up of all men might end up hiring a larger proportion of male applicants (simply because they tend to prefer people who are more similar to themselves). But with a hiring committee made up of an equal number of men and women, the bias should be cancelled out, resulting in more applicants being hired based on their qualifications rather than their physical attributes. Having more people involved in decision-making is also beneficial because each individual brings unique information or knowledge to the group, as well as different perspectives on the problem. Additionally, having the participation of multiple people will often lead to more options being generated and to greater intellectual stimulation as group members discuss the available options. Brainstorming is a process of generating as many solutions or options as possible and is a popular technique associated with group decision-making. All of these factors can lead to superior outcomes when groups are involved in decision-making. Furthermore, involving people who will be affected by a decision in the decision-making process will allow those individuals to have a greater understanding of the issues or problems and a greater commitment to the solutions. Disadvantages of Group Decisions Group decision-making is not without challenges. Some groups get bogged down by conflict, while others go to the opposite extreme and push for agreement at the expense of quality discussions. Groupthink occurs when group members choose not to voice their concerns or objections because they would rather keep the peace and not annoy or antagonize others. Sometimes groupthink occurs because the group has a positive team spirit and camaraderie, and individual group members don’t want that to change by introducing conflict. It can also occur because past successes have made the team complacent. Often, one individual in the group has more power or exerts more influence than others and discourages those with differing opinions from speaking up ( suppression of dissent ) to ensure that only their own ideas are implemented. If members of the group are not really contributing their ideas and perspectives, however, then the group is not getting the benefits of group decision-making. How to Form a Quality Group Effective managers will try to ensure quality group decision-making by forming groups with diverse members so that a variety of perspectives will contribute to the process. They will also encourage everyone to speak up and voice their opinions and thoughts prior to the group reaching a decision. Sometimes groups will also assign a member to play the devil’s advocate in order to reduce groupthink. The devil’s advocate intentionally takes on the role of critic. Their job is to point out flawed logic, to challenge the group’s evaluations of various alternatives, and to identify weaknesses in proposed solutions. This pushes the other group members to think more deeply about the advantages and disadvantages of proposed solutions before reaching a decision and implementing it. The Devils Advocate At a meeting of McDonald’s franchise owners, attorney Brian Schnell was placed in the audience as a devil’s advocate and often would strongly disagree with franchisee attorney Bob Zarco that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s joint-employer ruling on McDonald’s is a boon for franchisees. He would raise his hand often and vehemently, which Zarco had asked him to do before the meeting. In that way, the franchisors’ articulate arguments could be heard by all franchisee leaders in attendance, and rebutted. Credit (Mr. Blue MauMau/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)) The methods we’ve just described can all help ensure that groups reach good decisions, but what can a manager do when there is too much conflict within a group? In this situation, managers need to help group members reduce conflict by finding some common ground—areas in which they can agree, such as common interests, values, beliefs, experiences, or goals. Keeping a group focused on a common goal can be a very worthwhile tactic to keep group members working with rather than against one another. summarizes the techniques to improve group decision-making. Summary of Techniques That May Improve Group Decision-Making Type of Decision Technique Benefit Group decisions Have diverse members in the group. Improves quality: generates more options, reduces bias Assign a devil’s advocate. Improves quality: reduces groupthink Encourage everyone to speak up and contribute. Improves quality: generates more options, prevents suppression of dissent Help group members find common ground. Improves quality: reduces personality conflict (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license) Conclusion Decision-making is a crucial daily activity for managers. Decisions range from small and simple, with straightforward answers, to big and complex, with little clarity about what the best choice will be. Being an effective manager requires learning how to successfully navigate all kinds of decisions. Expertise, which develops gradually through learning and experience, generally improves managerial decision-making, but managers rarely rely solely on their own expertise. They also conduct research and collect information from others; they pay attention to their own biases and to ethical implications; and they think critically about the information that they have received to make decisions that will benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Explain why group decision-making can be more effective than individual decision-making. What are some things that can prevent groups from making good decisions? As a manager, what can you do to enhance the quality of group decision-making? What are the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making, and how can a manager improve the quality of group decision-making? Groups can make better decisions than individuals because group members can contribute more knowledge and a diversity of perspectives. Groups will tend to generate more options as well, which can lead to better solutions. Also, having people involved in making decisions that will affect them can improve their attitudes about the decision that is made. However, groups sometimes fail to generate added value in the decision-making process as a result of groupthink, conflict, or suppression of dissent. Managers can improve the quality of group decision-making in a number of ways. First, when forming the group, the manager should ensure that the individual group members are diverse in terms of knowledge and perspectives. The manager may also want to assign a devil’s advocate to discourage groupthink. Managers should also encourage all group members to contribute their ideas and opinions, and they should not allow a single voice to dominate. Finally, they should not allow personality conflicts to derail group processes. Chapter Review Questions What are some of the factors that enabled Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey to make good decisions when they established their luggage company, Away? What are the two systems that the brain uses in decision-making? How are they related to programmed and nonprogrammed decisions? What is a heuristic, and when would it be appropriate to use a heuristic for decision-making? What is confirmation bias? Explain how it can be a barrier to effective decision-making. What is a logical fallacy? What are the two types of conflict? Which one is constructive, and which is destructive? What are the steps in the decision-making process? Which ones do people tend to skip or spend insufficient time on? What can individuals do to improve the quality of their decision-making? What can groups or group leaders do to improve the quality of group decision-making? What are the benefits of decision-making in a group, instead of individually? Management Skills Application Exercises If you wanted to buy a new car, what research would you do first to increase the likelihood of making a good decision? As a manager, do you think you would engage in more research or less research than that prior to making big decisions for the organization? Think about a big decision that you have made. What impact did your emotions have on that decision? Did they help or hinder your decision-making? Would you make the same decision again? If you were faced with an ethical dilemma at work, who would you want to talk to for advice prior to reaching a decision? Which would be better to involve a group with, a programmed or a nonprogrammed decision? Why? If you were manager of a group with a lot of personality conflict, what would you do? Managerial Decision Exercises Imagine that you are a manager and that two of your employees are blaming one another for a recent project not going well. What factors would you consider in deciding whom to believe? Who else would you talk to before making a decision? What would you do to try to reduce the likelihood of this happening again? You have been asked whether your organization should expand from selling its products only in North America to selling its products in Europe as well. What information would you want to collect? Who would you want to discuss the idea with before making a decision? You have a colleague who decided the organization should pursue a new technology. Nine months into the project of transitioning to the new technology, based on new information you are convinced that the new technology is not going to work out as anticipated. In fact, you expect it to be a colossal failure. However, when you try to talk to your colleague about the issue, she won’t listen to your arguments. She is adamant that this new technology is the correct direction for your organization. Why do you think she is so resistant to seeing reason? Given what you learned in this chapter, what could you do to persuade her? Your manager has asked you to take the lead on a new and creative project. She has encouraged you to create your own team (from existing employees) to work with you on the project. What factors would you want to consider in deciding who should join your project team? What would you want to do as the team leader to increase the likelihood that the group will be successful? Identify the logical flaw(s) in this argument: We want to have effective leaders in this organization. Taller individuals tend to be perceived as more leader-like. Men are usually taller than women. So, we should only hire men to be managers in our organization. Critical Thinking Case Vinyl Records Make a Comeback The music industry has seen a series of innovations that have improved audio quality—vinyl records sales were eventually surpassed by compact discs in the 1980s, which were then eclipsed by digital music in the early 2000s. Both of the newer technologies boast superior sound quality to vinyl records. Vinyl should be dead . . . yet it’s not. Some say this is simply a result of nostalgia—people love to harken back to older times. However, some audiophiles say that vinyl records produce a “warm” sound that can’t be reproduced in any other format. In addition, a vinyl record is a tangible product (you can feel it, touch it, and see it when you own the physical record) and is more attractive, from an aesthetic perspective, than a CD. It is also a format that encourages listening to an entire album at once, rather than just listening to individual tracks, which can change the listening experience. Whatever the reasons, vinyl is making an impressive comeback. Sales growth has been in the double digits for the last several years (over 50% in 2015 and again in 2016) and is expected to exceed $5 billion in 2017. Sony, which hasn’t produced a vinyl record since 1989, recently announced that it is back in the vinyl business. One of the biggest challenges to making vinyl records is that most of the presses are 40+ years old. In the record-making process, vinyl bits are heated to 170 degrees, and then a specialized machine exerts 150 tons of pressure to press the vinyl into the shape of the record. About a dozen new vinyl record manufacturers have sprung up in the last decade in the United States. Independent Record Pressing, a company based in New Jersey, began producing vinyl records in 2015 using old, existing presses. Their goal upon starting up was to produce over a million records a year. Even at that level of production, though, demand far outstrips the company’s capacity to produce because of the limited number of presses available. They could run their machines nonstop, 24 hours a day, and not catch up with demand. The big question is what the future holds for this industry. Will this just be a passing fad? Will the vinyl record industry remain a small niche market? Or is this the renaissance, the rebirth of a product that can withstand the test of time and alternative technologies? If it’s a rebirth, then we should see demand continue to grow at its recent rapid pace . . . and if demand remains strong, then investing in new presses may well be worthwhile. If this is just a short-lived nostalgic return to an outdated media, however, then the large capital investment required to purchase new presses will never be recouped. Even with the recent growth, vinyl records still accounted for only 7% of overall music industry sales in 2015. That may be enough to get old presses running again, but so far it hasn’t been enough to promote a lot of investment in new machines. The cost of a new press? Almost half a million dollars. At least one manufacturer is optimistic about the future of vinyl. GZ Media, based in Czechoslovakia, is currently the world’s largest producer of vinyl records. President and owner Zdenek Pelc kept his record factory going during the lean years when vinyl sales bottomed out. He admits that the decision was not wholly logical; he continued in part because of an emotional attachment to the media. After demand for vinyl records practically disappeared, Pelc kept just a few of the presses running to meet the demand that remained. His intention was to be the last remaining manufacturer of vinyl records. Pelc’s emotional attachment to vinyl records seems to have served him well, and it’s a great example of why basing decisions on pure logic doesn’t always lead to the best results. Consumers make purchasing decisions in part based on the emotional appeal of the product, so it shouldn’t be surprising that consumers also feel an emotional attachment to vinyl records, as Pelc did. When demand for vinyl records was low, Pelc stored the company’s presses that were no longer in use so that they could be cannibalized for parts as needed. When sales began to grow again in 2005, he started pulling old machines out of storage and even invested in a few new ones. This has made GZ Media not only the largest vinyl record producer in the world, but also one of the only ones with new factory equipment. GZ Media produces over 20 million vinyl records a year, and Pelc is excited to continue that trend and to remain a major manufacturer in what is currently still considered a niche market. Critical Thinking Questions Why do you think vinyl records are appealing to customers? Do you think the sales growth will continue to be strong for vinyl sales? Why or why not? What research would you want to conduct prior to making a decision to invest in new presses? Sources: Lee Barron, “Back on record – the reasons behind vinyl’s unlikely comeback,” The Conversation , April 17, 2015, https://theconversation.com/back-on-record-the-reasons-behind-vinyls-unlikely-comeback-39964. Hannah Ellis-Peterson, “Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high,” The Guardian, January 3, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming. Allan Kozinn, “Weaned on CDs, They’re Reaching for Vinyl,” The New York Times , June 9, 2013. Rick Lyman, “Czech company, pressing hits for years on vinyl, finds it has become one,” The New York Times, August 6, 2015. Alec Macfarlane and Chie Kobayashi, “Vinyl comeback: Sony to produce records again after 28-year break,” CNN Money , June 30, 2017, http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/news/sony-music-brings-back-vinyl-records/index.html. Kate Rogers, “Why millennials are buying more vinyl records,” CNBC.com, November 6, 2015. https://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/06/why-millennials-are-buying-more-vinyl-records.html. Robert Tait, “In the groove: Czech firm tops list of world’s vinyl record producers,” The Guardian , August 18, 2016. Brainstorming A process of generating as many ideas or alternatives as possible, often in groups. Devil’s advocate A group member who intentionally takes on the role of being critical of the group’s ideas in order to discourage groupthink and encourage deep thought and discussion about issues prior to making decisions. Groupthink The tendency of a group to reach agreement very quickly and without substantive discussion. Suppression of dissent When a group member exerts his or her power to prevent others from voicing their thoughts or opinions.

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Introduction (Credit: mohamed_hassan/ Pixabay/ (CC BY 0)) Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions: Define motivation, and distinguish direction and intensity of motivation. Describe a content theory of motivation, and compare and contrast the main content theories of motivation: manifest needs theory, learned needs theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory, and self-determination theory. Describe the process theories of motivation, and compare and contrast the main process theories of motivation: operant conditioning theory, equity theory, goal theory, and expectancy theory. Describe the modern advancements in the study of human motivation. Bridget Anderson Bridget Anderson thought life would be perfect out in the “real world.” After earning her degree in computer science, she landed a well-paying job as a programmer for a large nonprofit organization whose mission she strongly believed in. And—initially—she was happy with her job. Lately however, Bridget gets a sick feeling in her stomach every morning when her alarm goes off. Why this feeling of misery? After all, she’s working in her chosen field in an environment that matches her values. What else could she want? She’s more puzzled than anyone. It’s the end of her second year with the organization, and Bridget apprehensively schedules her annual performance evaluation. She knows she’s a competent programmer, but she also knows that lately she’s been motivated to do only the minimum required to get by. Her heart is just not in her work with this organization. Not exactly how she thought things would turn out, that’s for sure. Bridget’s manager Kyle Jacobs surprises her when he begins the evaluation by inquiring about her professional goals. She admits that she hasn’t thought much about her future. Kyle asks if she’s content in her current position and if she feels that anything is missing. Suddenly, Bridget realizes that she does want more professionally. Question: Are Bridget’s motivational problems intrinsic or extrinsic? Which of her needs are currently not being met? What steps should she and her manager take to improve her motivation and ultimately her performance? Outcome: Once Bridget admits that she’s unhappy with her position as a computer programmer, she’s ready to explore other possibilities. She and Kyle brainstorm for tasks that will motivate her and bring her greater job satisfaction. Bridget tells Kyle that while she enjoys programming, she feels isolated and misses interacting with other groups in the organization. She also realizes that once she had mastered the initial learning curve, she felt bored. Bridget is ready for a challenge. Kyle recommends that Bridget move to an information systems team as their technical representative. The team can use Bridget’s knowledge of programming, and Bridget will be able to collaborate more frequently with others in the organization. Bridget and Kyle set specific goals to satisfy her needs to achieve and to work collaboratively. One of Bridget’s goals is to take graduate classes in management and information systems. She hopes that this will lead to an MBA and, eventually, to a position as a team leader. Suddenly the prospect of going to work doesn’t seem so grim—and lately, Bridget’s been beating her alarm! If you’ve ever worked with a group of people, and we all have, you have no doubt noticed differences in their performance. Researchers have pondered these differences for many years. Indeed, John B. Watson first studied this issue in the early 1900s. Performance is, of course, an extremely important issue to employers because organizations with high-performing employees will almost always be more effective. To better understand why people perform at different levels, researchers consider the major determinants of performance: ability, effort (motivation), accurate role perceptions, and environmental factors (see ). Each performance determinant is important, and a deficit in one can seriously affect the others. People who don’t understand what is expected of them will be constrained by their own inaccurate role perceptions, even if they have strong abilities and motivation and the necessary resources to perform their job. None of the performance determinants can compensate for a deficiency in any of the other determinants. Thus, a manager cannot compensate for an employee’s lack of skills and ability by strengthening their motivation. Determinants of Performance (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license)

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Motivation: Direction and Intensity Define motivation and distinguish direction and intensity of motivation. Ability refers to the knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to learning that a person brings to a task or job. Knowledge is what a person knows. Skill is their capacity to perform some particular activity (like welding or accounting), including knowing what is expected of them (called accurate role perceptions). Receptiveness to learning is a function of how quickly a person acquires new knowledge. Some people have more ability than others, and high-ability people generally perform better than low-ability people (although we will see that this is not always the case). J.E. Hunter & R.E. Hunter. 1984. Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin 96: 72–98. Accurate role perceptions refer to how well an individual understands their organizational role. This includes the goals (outcomes) the person is expected to achieve and the process by which the goals will be achieved. An employee who has accurate role perceptions knows both their expected outcomes and how to go about making those outcomes a reality. Incomplete or inaccurate role perceptions limit employees’ capacity to meet expectations, regardless of their abilities and motivation. The performance environment refers to those factors that impact employees’ performance but are essentially out of their control. Many environmental factors influence performance. Some factors facilitate performance, while others constrain it. A word processor who has to work with a defective personal computer is certainly not going to perform at peak levels, regardless of ability or desire. Students who are working full time and carrying a full load of classes may not do as well on an exam as they would if they could cut back on their work hours, despite the fact that they have high ability and high motivation. Motivation is the fourth major factor that determines whether a person will perform a task well. Motivation is a force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior. Within the body, examples might be needs, personal values, and goals, while an incentive might be seen as a force outside of the body. The word stems from its Latin root movere , which means “to move.” Generally speaking, motivation arises as a consequence of a person’s desire to (1) fulfill unmet needs or (2) resolve conflicting thoughts that produce anxiety (an unpleasant experience). There are many ways in which we describe and categorize human needs, as we will see later in this chapter. Certain needs are fundamental to our existence, like the need for food and water. When we are hungry, we are energized to satisfy that need by securing and ingesting food. Our other needs operate in a similar manner. When a need is unfulfilled, we are motivated to engage in behaviors that will satisfy it. The same is true for situations in which we experience conflicting thoughts. When we find ourselves in situations inconsistent with our beliefs, values, or expectations, we endeavor to eliminate the inconsistency. We either change the situation, or we change our perception of it. In both cases, motivation arises out of our interaction with and perception of a particular situation. We perceive the situation as satisfying our needs, or not. Motivation is thus a result of our interacting with situations to satisfy unmet needs or to resolve cognitive dissonance. Tom Brady At the University of Michigan, Tom Brady was always a backup to high-potential quarterbacks and was a sixth-round draft pick after his college career. He commented, “A lot of people don’t believe in you. It’s obvious by now, six other quarterbacks taken and 198 other picks. And I always thought ‘you know what, once I get my shot, I’m gonna be ready. I’m gonna really take advantage of that.’” Rather than give up, he hired a sports psychologist to help him deal with constant frustrations. Brady would eventually become an elite quarterback and is now considered one of the greatest players ever. “I guess in a sense I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder. If you were the 199th pick, you were the 199th pick for a reason: because someone didn’t think you were good enough.” His passion and motivation helped him achieve that status. (Credit: Brook Ward/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)) Simply stated, work motivation is the amount of effort a person exerts to achieve a certain level of job performance. Some people try very hard to perform their jobs well. They work long hours, even if it interferes with their family life. Highly motivated people go the “extra mile.” High scorers on an exam make sure they know the examination material to the best of their ability, no matter how much midnight oil they have to burn. Other students who don’t do as well may just want to get by—football games and parties are a lot more fun, after all. Motivation is of great interest to employers: All employers want their people to perform to the best of their abilities. They take great pains to screen applicants to make sure they have the necessary abilities and motivation to perform well. They endeavor to supply all the necessary resources and a good work environment. Yet motivation remains a difficult factor to manage. As a result, it receives the most attention from organizations and researchers alike, who ask the perennial question “What motivates people to perform well?” In this chapter we look at current answers to this question. What work conditions foster motivation? How can theories of motivation help us understand the general principles that guide organizational behavior? Rather than analyze why a particular student studies hard for a test, we’ll look at the underlying principles of our general behavior in a variety of situations (including test taking). We also discuss the major theories of motivation, along with their implications for management and organizational behavior. By the end of this chapter you should have a better understanding of why some people are more motivated than others. Successful employees know what they want to achieve (direction), and they persist until they achieve their goals (intensity). Our discussion thus far implies that motivation is a matter of effort. This is only partially true. Motivation has two major components: direction and intensity. Direction is what a person wants to achieve, what they intend to do. It implies a target that motivated people try to “hit.” That target may be to do well on a test. Or it may be to perform better than anyone else in a work group. Intensity is how hard people try to achieve their targets. Intensity is what we think of as effort. It represents the energy we expend to accomplish something. If our efforts are getting nowhere, will we try different strategies to succeed? (High-intensity-motivated people are persistent!) It is important to distinguish the direction and intensity aspects of motivation. If either is lacking, performance will suffer. A person who knows what they want to accomplish (direction) but doesn’t exert much effort (intensity) will not succeed. (Scoring 100 percent on an exam—your target—won’t happen unless you study!) Conversely, people who don’t have a direction (what they want to accomplish) probably won’t succeed either. (At some point you have to decide on a major if you want to graduate, even if you do have straight As.) Employees’ targets don’t always match with what their employers want. Absenteeism (some employees call this “calling in well”) is a major example. Statistics on the prevalence of this choice are available. “Calling in Well: A Look at leave Time Tracking Trends,” actiTIME website, June 2016, https://www.actitime.com/human-resources/leave-time-tracking-trends.php. Pursuing your favorite hobby (your target) on a workday (your employer’s target) is a conflict in direction; below, we’ll examine some theories about why this conflict occurs. There is another reason why employees’ targets are sometimes contrary to their employers’—sometimes employers do not ensure that employees understand what the employer wants. Employees can have great intensity but poor direction. It is management’s job to provide direction: Should we stress quality as well as quantity? Work independently or as a team? Meet deadlines at the expense of costs? Employees flounder without direction. Clarifying direction results in accurate role perceptions, the behaviors employees think they are expected to perform as members of an organization. Employees with accurate role perceptions understand their purpose in the organization and how the performance of their job duties contributes to organizational objectives. Some motivation theorists assume that employees know the correct direction for their jobs. Others do not. These differences are highlighted in the discussion of motivation theories below. At this point, as we begin our discussion of the various motivation theories, it is reasonable to ask “Why isn’t there just one motivation theory?” The answer is that the different theories are driven by different philosophies of motivation. Some theorists assume that humans are propelled more by needs and instincts than by reasoned actions. Their content motivation theories focus on the content of what motivates people. Other theorists focus on the process by which people are motivated. Process motivation theories address how people become motivated—that is, how people perceive and think about a situation. Content and process theories endeavor to predict motivation in a variety of situations. However, none of these theories can predict what will motivate an individual in a given situation 100 percent of the time. Given the complexity of human behavior, a “grand theory” of motivation will probably never be developed. A second reasonable question at this point is “Which theory is best?” If that question could be easily answered, this chapter would be quite short. The simple answer is that there is no “one best theory.” All have been supported by organizational behavior research. All have strengths and weaknesses. However, understanding something about each theory is a major step toward effective management practices. Explain the two drivers of motivation: direction and intensity. What are the differences between content and process theories of motivation? Will there ever be a grand theory of motivation? Define motivation, and distinguish direction and intensity of motivation. This chapter has covered the major motivation theories in organizational behavior. Motivation theories endeavor to explain how people become motivated. Motivation has two major components: direction and intensity. Direction is what a person is trying to achieve. Intensity is the degree of effort a person expends to achieve the target. All motivation theories address the ways in which people develop direction and intensity. ability The knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to learning that an individual brings to a task or job. content motivation theories Theories that focus on what motivates people. direction What a person is motivated to achieve. intensity (1) The degree to which people try to achieve their targets; (2) the forcefulness that enhances the likelihood that a stimulus will be selected for perceptual processing. motivation A force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior. Within the body, examples might be needs, personal values, and goals, while an incentive might be seen as a force outside of the body. The word stems from its Latin root movere , which means “to move.” performance environment Refers to those factors that impact employees’ performance but are essentially out of their control. process motivation theories Theories that focus on the how and why of motivation. role perceptions The set of behaviors employees think they are expected to perform as members of an organization. work motivation The amount of effort a person exerts to achieve a level of job performance

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