Managing People - Work Motivation and Job Performance - Essay Example

?Question one: work motivation and job performance Alderfer’s ERG Theory Alderfer’s model suggests that individuals have three levels of need – existence, relatedness and growth – that are more of a continuum than hierarchical levels. Furthermore, this model identifies that an individual can be motivated by needs at more than one of these levels at the same time (Mullins 2010a). To comprehend how this relates to the dabbawalah success one has to bear in mind the context of the dabbawalah industry. First of all, in Mumbai there is huge unemployment and poverty therefore people are concerned with survival and meeting their physiological and safety needs of a material nature. Secondly, by being in the ASEAN region culture plays a big role in terms of dictating how individuals behave. In this region, individuals are expected to think, act and live collectively as members of a family and or group. Those who do not are rejected by society. The dabbawalah organisation provides an environment within which the employees can satisfy both their existence needs and relatedness needs. The sense of belonging, affiliation and meaningful interpersonal relationships is as important as the physiological material needs in collectivist societies such as the Indian society. In the case Sapan Mare confirms this when he states that his family has been in the tiffin business for four generations. It is therefore likely that the tiffin-walahs are driven to increase their performance by the strong affiliation they have and the sense of ownership of the business. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: Vroom’s expectancy theory states that motivational force is a combination of valence and expectancy. Valence is the anticipated satisfaction from an outcome whereas expectancy is a perception of the degree of probability that the choice of a particular action will actually lead to the desired outcome (Mullins 2010a). In the case, Sapan Mare, a tiffin-walah since 1970 informs us that between 100 to 120 members of his family are in the tiffin business and also that four generations of his family have been in the tiffin business. From this revelation we could argue a typical tiffin-walah takes pride in his job not only because it enables him to earn money but it also makes him feeling affiliated to his ancestors. It could also be argued that there is some form of external pressure from either family or society for tiffin-walahs to join the trade. With these two arguments, and taking into consideration that the culture here is largely collectivist, it is possible to conceive that tiffin-walahs get satisfaction in joining the “ancestral” business. This high sense of ownership implies that their valence is high. Secondly the fact that they are also shareholders compels them to work harder thus increasing their expectancy. According to Vroom’s expectancy equation, combining the high valence and high expectancy equates to a high motivational force (Mullins 2010a). High motivational force makes the tiffin-walahs to increase their level of performance which results in the overall Six Sigma capabilities of the organisation. Herzberg’s two factor theory: Herzberg’s theory states that there are two sets of factors, hygiene and motivating factors, which affect motivation and job satisfaction. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job and are concerned with the job environment. They prevent dissatisfaction. Motivation is largely affected by the other set of factors, motivators, which are related to the job content (Mullins 2010a). From the evaluation so far one can identify that the dabbawalah scores highly in term of extrinsic factors while its intrinsic factors are not as remarkable. Example of the dabbawalah service’s extrinsic factors include: a very sociable job, strong policies on discipline and offences and job security – “it lasts for as long as the member is strong enough to do the work (from Case Study)”. However, according to Herzberg’s theory, the factors we have listed above have no effect on satisfaction, superior effort or performance. This, surprisingly, can be explained by some of the criticisms raised against motivation theories. For dabbawalahs, Herzberg’s motivator factors do not necessarily have a big impact on employee satisfaction or job performance. We are informed that most of the tiffin-walahs have low levels of literacy and they come from areas in India that suffer from chronic unemployment. This implies that within such a grouping of people higher-level needs may be lost and as such the motivator factors such as achievement, advancement and responsibility may not have high valence to them. These exceptional circumstances seem to be working in favour of the dabbawalah organisation in that employees are still able to maintain high performance without the need for motivator factors. Equity theory: According to Adam’s equity theory, perception of unfairness leads to tension, which then motivates the individual to resolve that unfairness. The dabbawalah have effectively used two tactics to create an environment that its membership perceives to be fair. First of all the organisation encourages all its employees to be shareholders. Those who come from non-affiliated families are hired on a fixed salary for a few years and when they earn the groups’ trust they are made shareholders. This process of integrating employees to shareholders is perceived to be fair. Secondly, by being shareholders employs benefit from the organisation’s earnings. Adair’s fifty-fifty rule in motivation reminds us that a substantial part of motivation lies with a person while a substantial part lies outside and beyond their control. Given that the tiffin-walahs are not only employees but shareholders as well it is more likely that they will increase their level of performance so as to better their own returns. Question two: Groups and teams Work is a group-based activity and as such for any organization to function effectively it requires collaboration and cooperation among its members (Mullins 2010b). The dabbawalahs in Mumbai are no different especially considering that they currently have about 5,000 members. According to Mullins (2010b) cooperation among members is likely to be greater in a united, cohesive group. Factors that affect group cohesiveness and performance are: membership, work environment, organisational arrangement and group development and maturity. The dabbawalah have been able to raise their performance by optimising on these four factors. Membership Membership of a group is affected by its size, the compatibility of members and the permanence of members. Most tiffin-walahs hail from the Pune district in India. This means that these individuals share similar backgrounds and values and beliefs. The dabbawalah is comprised of a largely homogenous group and as such compatibility of members is high. We are also informed by Sapan Mare that they not only have several kin working in the business but that their families have been in the tiffin business for generations. This demonstrates some form of group permanence. The tiffin-walah seem to pass on their tradition of working in the organization from one generations to the next. With such deep affiliations and compatibility even the slightly large group size of 20 – 25 members has little impact on the cohesiveness of these dabbawalah groups. Work environment According to Mullins (2010b) factors in the work environment that affect group cohesiveness include: the nature of tasks, physical setting, communications and technology. Other than in technology, the other three factors are enhanced in the dabbawalah system. The tiffin-walahs all do the same activities, face similar problem and as such are easily able to relate to what each individual does. From this standpoint, they experience feelings of cohesiveness in what they do. Secondly, the mere fact that they conduct their business in downtown Mumbai also enhances cohesiveness due to the close proximity. One member can easily cover for a sick or convalescing member because they are well-versed in each other’s task plus their area of operation. In addition to this, the close interrelationships amongst the tiffin-walah make them to be able to be free with one another. This ‘free-ness’ enhances communication which promotes more cohesion within the group. Organisational The case does not provide much information on the management or leadership style of the dabbawalah. However, we can deduce from activities such as accepting employees from other regions to work and affording them the opportunity to be shareholders that the leadership practices fairness and rewards commitment. Where individual adjudge that they are treated fairly they tend to increase their group cohesiveness and overall work performance. The organisation’s effective teams are also supported by a relatively flat hierarchical structure consisting of three levels: the carriers, contractors and the Mandal committee. This hierarchical structure bears strong resemblance to the Indian traditional social system thus it is easily accepted by the membership. In the case, one dabbawalah describes his work environment as being very social. We can attribute this to the fact that dabbawalahs can identify with their working environment because it resembles their traditional way of working, relating and communicating. Mullins (2010b) states that the more successful the group, the more cohesive it is likely to be, and cohesive groups are more likely to be successful. With the increasing global focus on the dabbawalah service, the members feel more appreciated and recognized for their work and as such increase their individual and group performance. The feeling of success is a feel good factor that could be viewed as a motivating factor. Group development and maturity The degree of cohesiveness is also affected by how groups progress through their development stages and maturity (Mullins 2010b). When we look at the dabbawalah organisation through the lenses of Tuckman’s model we can place it as having gone through the first three stages of forming, storming, norming and are now at the performing stage. According to Tuckman, at the performing stage the groups clearly know why there doing and what they are doing. The group can be said to be strategically aware. The dabbawalah could be said to be at this stage because its groups are able to work towards achieving the goal under minimal supervision. References Mullins, L.J., 2010a. Chapter 7: Work motivation and job satisfaction. In Management and organizational behaviour. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Mullins, L.J., 2010b. Chapter 8: The Nature of work groups and teams. In Management and organizational behaviour. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.  Read More