Which theory acknowledges that motivation doesnt just depend on your own beliefs and circumstances but also what happens to other people?

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of the factors that impact the effects of goal setting on task performance. A sample answer follows.

Goal setting theory views goals as the primary drivers of the intensity and persistence of effort. Goals are defined as the objective or aim of an action and typically refer to attaining a specific standard of proficiency, often within a specified time limit. More specifically, the theory argues that assigning employees specific and difficult goals will result in higher levels of performance than assigning no goals, easy goals, or "do-your-best" goals. The assignment of a specific and difficult goal shapes people's own self-set goals—the internalized goals that people use to monitor their own task progress. In the absence of an assigned goal, employees may not even consider what their own goals are, or they may self-set relatively easy goals that they are certain to meet. As a self-set goal becomes more difficult, the intensity of effort increases, and the persistence of effort gets extended. However, goals have another effect; they trigger the creation of task strategies, defined as learning plans and problem-solving approaches used to achieve successful performance. In the absence of a goal, it is easy to rely on trial and error to figure out how best to do a task. Under the pressure of a measuring stick, however, it becomes more effective to plan out the next move. Put differently, goals can motivate employees to work both harder and smarter.

Freddie should make sure to set team goals that are difficult and specific, and he should set a timeline for achieving them. This will increase the performance required for the goals his team will set for themselves as well, forcing them to challenge themselves more and take more creative approaches to problems. Freddie could set a goal for listings and sales within a timeframe, such as a month or six weeks. He should tell the agents exactly how many listings they should aim for. The goal should be a bit higher than what they typically achieve.

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of equity theory. A sample answer follows.

The first possibility is that the ratio of outcomes to inputs is balanced between you and your comparison other. In this case, you feel a sense of equity, and you're likely to maintain the intensity and persistence of your effort. The second possibility is that your ratio of outcomes to inputs is less than your comparison other's ratio. According to equity theory, any imbalance in ratios triggers equity distress—an internal tension that can only be alleviated by restoring balance to the ratios. In an underreward case, the equity distress likely takes the form of negative emotions, such as anger or envy. One way to stop feeling those emotions is to try to restore the balance in some way. You could be constructive and proactive by talking to your boss and explaining why you deserve better outcomes. Such actions would result in the growth of your outcomes, restoring balance to the ratio. Of course, anger often results in actions that are destructive rather than constructive, and research shows that feelings of underreward inequity are among the strongest predictors of counterproductive behaviors, such as employee theft. Another means of restoring balance is to shrink your inputs by lowering the intensity and persistence of effort. The third possibility is that your ratio of outcomes to inputs is greater than your comparison other's ratio. Equity distress again gets experienced, and the tension likely creates negative emotions such as guilt or anxiety. Balance could be restored by shrinking your outcomes (taking less money, giving something back to the comparison other), but the theory acknowledges that such actions are unlikely in most cases. Instead, the more likely solution is to increase your inputs in some way. You could increase the intensity and persistence of your task effort or decide to engage in more "extra mile" citizenship behaviors. At some point though, there may not be enough hours in the day to increase your inputs any further. An alternative (and less labor-intensive) means of increasing your inputs is to simply rethink them—to reexamine your mental ledger to see if you may have "undersold" your true contributions. On second thought, maybe your education or seniority is more critical than you realized, or maybe your skills and abilities are more vital to the organization. This cognitive distortion allows you to restore balance mentally, without altering your behavior in any way. There is one other way of restoring balance, regardless of underreward or overreward circumstances: Change your comparison other. After all, we compare our "lots in life" to a variety of other individuals. Some of those comparisons are internal comparisons, meaning that they refer to someone in the same company. Others are external comparisons, meaning that they refer to someone in a different company. If a given comparison results in high levels of anger and envy or high levels of guilt and anxiety, the frame of reference may be shifted.

Reva sees herself in an underreward situation, where her ratio of outcomes to inputs is less than Brit's, and she probably feels anger and resentment. She might complain to her boss about the inequity, or she may begin to engage in destructive behaviors or quit. Benny's ratio of outcomes to inputs is greater than Lanie's, and he probably feels guilt or anxiety. He could restore balance by working harder or by offering Lanie first choice of job assignments.

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation. A sample answer follows.

Psychological empowerment represents a form of intrinsic motivation, in that merely performing the work tasks serves as its own reward and supplies many intrinsic outcomes. Models of psychological empowerment argue that a similar set of concepts can make work tasks intrinsically motivating. Four concepts are particularly important: meaningfulness, self-determination, competence, and impact. Meaningfulness captures the value of a work goal or purpose, relative to a person's own ideals and passions. When a task is relevant to a meaningful purpose, it becomes easier to concentrate on the task and get excited about it. Self-determination reflects a sense of choice in the initiation and continuation of work tasks. Employees with high levels of self-determination can choose what tasks to work on, how to structure those tasks, and how long to pursue those tasks. That sense of self-determination is a strong driver of intrinsic motivation, because it allows employees to pursue activities that they themselves find meaningful and interesting. Competence captures a person's belief in his or her capability to perform work tasks successfully. Competence brings with it a sense of pride and mastery that is itself intrinsically motivating. Impact reflects the sense that a person's actions "make a difference"—that progress is being made toward fulfilling some important purpose. Phrases such as "moving forward," "being on track," and "getting there" convey a sense of impact. The polar opposite of impact is "learned helplessness"—the sense that it does not matter what a person does, nothing will make a difference. Here, phrases such as "stuck in a rut," "at a standstill," or "going nowhere" become more relevant.

Maitlyn's supervisors could structure the work so employees have more say in choosing how to do their work, which might give them a sense of self-determination. They might also set up a standard that workers can achieve to show that they are capable of doing their jobs, boosting their sense of confidence and competence. Supervisors could also use encouraging phrases to give the workers more of a sense of impact.

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of motivation and how it relates to job performance and organizational commitment. A sample answer follows.

Turning first to job performance, literally thousands of studies support the relationships between the various motivating forces and task performance. The motivating force with the strongest performance effect is self-efficacy/competence, because people who feel a sense of internal self-confidence tend to outperform those who doubt their capabilities. Difficult goals are the second most powerful motivating force; people who receive such goals outperform the recipients of easy goals. The motivational force created by high levels of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy is the next most powerful motivational variable for task performance. Finally, perceptions of equity have a somewhat weaker effect on task performance.

The relationship between motivation and organizational commitment seems straightforward. After all, the psychological and physical forms of withdrawal that characterize less committed employees are themselves evidence of low levels of motivation. Clearly employees who are daydreaming, coming in late, and taking longer breaks are struggling to put forth consistently high levels of work effort. Research on equity and organizational commitment offers the clearest insights into the motivation-commitment relationship. Specifically, employees who feel a sense of equity are more emotionally attached to their firms and feel a stronger sense of obligation to remain.

Iggy can set difficult goals that he knows will challenge his workers, but he should also make them attainable. When the employees achieve goals, Iggy should praise them so they gain self-confidence and believe in their abilities. Iggy can also make sure all employees are treated fairly and equally in order to boost their sense of equity.

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of compensation plan elements and how they can be used to motivate. A sample answer follows.

Individual-focused compensation plan elements include piece rates, merit pay, lump-sum bonuses, and recognition awards. Unit-focused compensation plan elements include gain sharing. Organization focused elements include profit sharing. Merit pay and profit sharing offer little in the way of difficult and specific goals because both essentially challenge employees to make next year as good (or better) than this year. In contrast, lump-sum bonuses and gain sharing provide a forum for assigning difficult and specific goals; the former does so at the individual level and the latter at the unit level. Partly for this reason, both types of plans have been credited with improvements in employee productivity. Profit sharing, for example, is unlikely to have strong motivational consequences because an individual employee can do little to improve the profitability of the company, regardless of the employee's job performance. Instrumentality and equity are more achievable with gain sharing because the relevant unit is smaller, and the relevant outcomes are more controllable. Still, the highest instrumentality and equity levels will typically be achieved through individual-focused compensation elements, such as piece-rate plans or merit pay plans.

Loren can try profit sharing again, but it does not provide difficult or specific goals, and the workers have little control over the result as individuals. He might try gain sharing because it allows workers to set goals together, but also gives them more control than profit sharing. He is likely to see the greatest gains in productivity and equity by implementing wage incentives at the individual level, such as piece wages or individual merit pay. He can increase the effectiveness and pinpoint the goals of merit pay better if he shortens the span between tracking and recognition of productivity to less than the standard annual interval that companies have traditionally used.

What does it mean to be equitably treated according to equity theory?

Which theory suggests that employees create a mental ledger?

What type of motivation is involved when an employee finds internal satisfaction in doing a job well?

Which of the following reflects the sense that a person's actions make a difference indicating that progress is being made toward fulfilling some important purpose?