6 Years 3 5 2 4 3 example essay topic

Issues are bound to occur when corporate mergers and acquisitions take place. One issue is the complicated task of determining the correct method of motivating employees with different personality types and for these employees to peacefully co-exist. In this paper, we will analyze several different motivational theories, discuss the impact of these theories on employees of different positions, and discuss the impact of these theories on the group of employees. There are many theories that have been developed that attempt to explain what motivates employees. Some of these theories are old, classical theories that have been proved to be inaccurate in some cases. Others are modern and better explain motivation in the workplace today.

The first theories that we will discuss are Theory X and Theory Y, which were developed by Douglas McGregor. Both Theory X and Theory Y are classical theories and are based on a manager making assumptions about employees. Theory X is the belief that managers view their employees as disliking work, shying away from leadership roles, and must be controlled at all times. "There are soft and hard methods in the Theory X list.

Hard approaches are represented by "the stick" - coercive language, harsh authoritarian management. Soft applications- "the carrot" - dangle rewards and promises in front of the employees nose i.e. more pay (cash and non-cash), more work, a fair day's work for a fair day's pay". (Cover & Apply, 1964). Managers that believe in Theory Y think employees are internally driven and seek leadership roles.

They also believe employees seek responsibility and are motivated by the decision making process. The next theory that we will discuss is contemporary and is called McClelland's Theory of Needs, created by David McClelland. McClelland believes that employees are driven by three different needs. These three needs are known as McClelland's Theory of Needs: Need for Achievement (nAch), Need for Power (now), and Need for Affiliation (nAff). The Need for Achievement refers to employees with internal strive to succeed. Employees with the Need for Achievement seek to work on projects that they can obtain feedback on how well they are performing so they can adjust their actions accordingly.

The need for Power refers to employees that want to be in a powerful or administrative position so they can make have an influence on decisions. These are competitive employees that try to control others into believing in their decisions. The last of McClelland's needs is the Power for Affiliation and refers to employees that like to be accepted by others. Employees with the Power for Affiliation seek personal relationships and friendships at work. Individual Impact To assess the impact of these motivational theories, we asked seven different employees of different education levels and backgrounds to fill out a Work Motivation Survey.

In this section, we will display the surveys and analyze the results of the surveys for each individual employee. Elizabeth 1. My current position is more closely related to: Management 2. I have been associated with my current organization for: 10+ years 3. I am: female Assessment Questions Strongly Disagree - 1 Strongly Agree - 5 1. I try very hard to improve on my past performance at work.

5 2. I enjoy competition and winning. 4 3. I often find myself talking to those around me about non-work issues. 2 4. I enjoy a difficult challenge.

5 5. I enjoy being in charge. 5 6. I want to be liked by others. 2 7. I want to know how I am progressing as I complete tasks.

5 8. I confront others who do things I disagree with. 5 9. I tend to build close relationships with co-workers. 1 10.

I enjoy setting and achieving realistic goals. 4 11. I enjoy influencing others to get my way. 4 12. I enjoy belonging to groups and organizations. 3 13.

I enjoy the satisfaction of completing a difficult task. 5 14. I often work to gain more control over the events around me. 4 15. I enjoy working with others more than working alone.

4 Elizabeth has been in an upper management position for over 10 years. During this time, she has made decisions that impacted the organization. She directed the management team that evaluated the need for positions and eventually led to corporate downsizing of our company. Elizabeth falls into McGregor's Theory Y and McClelland's Need for Power. She believes that employees naturally work hard and want to take on added responsibility.

Employees under Elizabeth are motivated by her belief in their decisions and the involvement that she gives them. Elizabeth is motivated by the opportunity of climbing the corporate ladder. Joe 1. My current position is more closely related to: Professional 2. I have been associated with my current organization for: 0-2 years 3. I am: male Assessment Questions Strongly Disagree - 1 Strongly Agree - 5 1.4 2.4 3.2 4.2 5.

I enjoy being in charge. 2 6.5 7.4 8.2 9.3 10.5 11.1 12.4 13.3 14.4 15.4 Joe is a very bright and talented employee that has only been working for the company for one year. He has a technical background is still adapting to a corporate lifestyle. Joe's manager falls under McGregor's Theory X and believes that Joe does not like his job and needs to be motivated by financial rewards. This is not the true personality of Joe and he sometimes gets frustrated with his manager for assuming this attitude. Joe also falls under McClelland's Need for Achievement.

He completes quality work and feels a sense of accomplishments when one of his projects is completed as planned. Lori 1. My current position is more closely related to: Administrative Support 2. I have been associated with my current organization for: 3-5 years 3.3 2.2 3.5 4.1 5. I enjoy being in charge. 2 6.5 7.3 8.2 9.5 10.3 11.2 12.3 13.2 14.2 15.2 Lori is an administrative assistant and has a very energetic personality.

Her manager believes in Theory Y, which gives her the freedom to make her own decisions as to what is the best way to get a goal accomplished. She is motivated by the praise given to her by her manager and co-workers in her department. She also falls under the Need for Affiliation within the company. Lori is most comfortable interacting with employees and making personal relationships and friendships with her co-workers.

Jean 1. My current position is more closely related to which of the following Clerical 2.4 2.2 3.3 4.3 5. I enjoy being in charge. She is social and friendly with others. Her manager is a Theory Y believer, that allows her to improve her performance by setting her own goals. Under Theory Y, she will be a satisfied in her job but will increase her job performance because her hard working attitude will be rewarded.

Under the Theory of Needs, her strong need for to be liked by others and work with others falls under the need of affiliation. Frank 1. My current position is more closely related to which of the following: Production / Assembly 2.3 2.5 3.4 4.2 5. I enjoy being in charge.

4 6. I want to be liked by others 4.7. 2 8.4 9.4 10.3 11.3 12.5 13.3 14.2 15.3 Frank's boss is a believer in Theory X. His boss feels that workers must be forced to work hard. This will not be beneficial to Frank because he doesn't enjoy a challenge and likes to be in charge. He will also be coerced to set goals and improve performance.

If he were under a Theory of Needs manager, he would be persuaded to improved performance because his need for power comes from his like to be in charge and readiness to confront others with different ideas. Scott 1. I have been associated with my current organization for: 6+ years 3.5 2.4 3. I often find myself talking to those around me about non-work issues: 2 4. I enjoy a difficult challenge: 5 5. During is tenure as a manager, he has made decisions that have affected many and impacted the organization as well.

Scott directs the enrollment department of University of Phoenix, Maryland Campus. His main objective is to make sure the enrollment counselors reach their set goals both personal and University of Phoenix as well. As a result of the survey, Scott falls into McGregor's Theory X and McClelland's Need for Achievement. He believes in the fact that employees need a strong and serious leader, and this will make employees do their jobs and also reach their goals.

Employees under Scott all have their personal and company goals that they need to meet. He believes his style of managing works very well because, when you set a quota for workers, it puts pressure on them to meet that goal. Scott is motivated by upward mobility and recognition in his organization. Bill 1.

My current position is more closely related to: Sales 2. I am: male Assessment Questions Strongly Disagree - 1 Strongly Agree - 5 1 Try very hard to improve on my past performance at work. 5 2 Enjoy competition and winning. 5 3 I often find myself talking to those around me about non-work issues: 3 4 I enjoy a difficult challenge: 4 5 I enjoy being in charge: 5 6 I want to be liked by others. 5 7 I want to know how I am progressing as I complete tasks. 3 8 I confront others who do things I disagree with.

2 9 I tend to build close relationships with co-workers. 3 10 I enjoy setting and achieving realistic goals. 5 11 I enjoy influencing others to get my way. 3 12 I enjoy belonging to groups and organizations. 3 13 I enjoy the satisfaction of completing a difficult task. 5 14 I often work to gain more control over the events around me.

4 15 I enjoy working with others more than working alone. 3 Bill is very energetic and always enthusiastic since I have known him. He has not been with company for long but what I have seen since he has been here is very impressive. Bills manager falls under McGregor's Theory Y because, he often more likely to delegate some of his authority to his subordinates. Doing this gives him chance to take care of his responsibility as to constantly watching over his workers.

Bill likes he fact that, his supervisor gives him his assignment and due dates and leaves him to do his work. He likes the fact that he is in charge of his office and he has some say in the way things are done around the office. Bill aspires to be a manager one day and he will more than like obtain some strategies that his supervisor uses or has used in the past. He believes in his manager style and will implement same style if he was the manager. He is not confrontational but finds ways to get the job done.

Group Impact Let's take a look at the anticipated workgroup behavior of these seven individuals in the merger / acquisition environment we are about to encounter and see how these motivational theories affect job performance. A workgroup is part of it's larger organization, it has it's own authority structures, creates it's own policies and procedures, manages it's own resources, employee selection, evaluation and reward system (Robbins 224). It also has a physical work environment. Since the organization is in the middle of a merger situation this is going to reflect on the workgroup. The workgroup already has a diverse mix of personalities, will now have a mix from each organization. With theory X authoritative method of management, it will be tough to get good job performance out of a mixed group like this.

If, under McClelland's needs theory, we can leverage the need for affiliation to get everyone on the same team, this would benefit job performance. The workgroup is going to have it's own authority structures; it's own manager and staff. Under Theory X, this may help job performance to have a strong manager that can dictate the way work should be done to achieve the performance upper management is looking for. McClelland's theory could capitalize on one individual's need for power and raise up a manager locally.

This would be a better for job performance than Theory X. Likewise, the management of policies, procedures and resources will show the same behavior as the authority structures. The selection, evaluation and reward of employee will also be a workgroup responsibility. Under theory X, dealing with a diverse group like we have, will be a disaster. Each individuals needs must be considered when evaluating and rewarding employees.

Otherwise the job satisfaction and performance will suffer as employees get frustrated and absenteeism and turnover will rise, kill any job performance that has been gained elsewhere. McClelland theory of needs will treat each employee as an individual and assure the right reward and motivation is given each employee. This new workgroup will also, most likely, be in a new area for most employees. The difference between the two theories will be seen where Theory X will dictate where each person will have their workspace and McClelland would allow for each person to pick and design a workspace to fit their needs.

When dealing with such a diverse group of people, it is often difficult to keep everyone happy. People are similar but yet we are so different at the same time. What makes one person happy might not be good enough for the other. Different people are driven by different motives. In this case, McClelland's Need Theories is more applicable because, it gives the opportunity to deal with different personalities on different levels. The X Theory in this instance will cause more damage than good based on the fact, people have emotions and when pressed into a corner, they do not react very well.

In the long run, all managers have to realize that after all, workers are humans and given the opportunity, they will react negatively in the face of constant pressure and strict authority.