Back to basics: Learning about employee energy and motivation from running on my treadmill
✍ Scribed by Theresa M. Welbourne; Steven B. Andrews; Alice O. Andrews
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 118 KB
- Volume
- 44
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0090-4848
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The concept of human motivation is at the core of any management-related discipline (e.g., human resource management, organization behavior, strategy, organization theory). The importance of this topic is attested to by the vast accumulation of research in this area. Fascination with the subject is based on the long-held assumption that more motivation leads to better performance, and, therefore, if we can understand what motivation is, how it is formed, and how to increase it, we can use that knowledge to enhance individual and firm performance (Lawler, 1973). Yet, despite decades of research and theorizing, the concept of motivation in the organization remains contested. Hundreds of definitions exist (Landy & Becker, 1987), numerous theories have been presented to ex-plain motivation (Ambrose & Kulik, 1999), and consistent measurement of the construct has suffered as a result (Pinder, 1984). Indeed, Ambrose and Kulik (1999) suggested that researchers have shied away from trying to define motivation at all. Given the critical role motivation plays in organizational studies, and how important motivation is becoming today, we make one more attempt at re-evaluating the concept of motivation but from a somewhat different perspective. We hope our novel approach not only adds to what we currently know about motivation, but also helps bring the topic even further into the forefront of managing businesses.
At the core of our argument is the assumption that motivation at work is really