Motivation Theories

Roosevelt University

Management Theories & Practices in Hospitality Industry:

Motivation

A Research Paper Submitted to:

Professor Gerald F. Bober

Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Hospitality and Tourism Management (BSHTM)

 By:

Manerly Salvatore

February 22, 2010

MOTIVATION

“The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees and to do this the manager should be able to motivate employees” (ACCEL Team Development, 2010).

Even though it look simple and easy, motivation practice and theory are actually difficult subjects. According to ACCEL Team Development (2010), “In spite of enormous research, basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced” (para. 2)

“Understanding what constitutes human motivation has been a centuries old puzzle, addressed as far back as Aristotle” (Williams, 2010, para. 2). There are many notable researchers such as Robert Owen, Jeremy Bentham, Abraham Maslow, Rensis Likert, Frederick Hezberg, Elton Mayo, Victor Vroom, Clayton Alderfer, David Mclelland, J. Stacey Adams, B.F. Skinner, and Edwin Locke have tried to solve this puzzle, thus contributed to the many different theories of motivation. Some of those academic theories about motivation were listed and overviewed by Changing Mind Organization(2010):

• Acquired Needs Theory: We seek power, achievement or affiliation.

• Affect Perseverance: Preference persists after disconfirmation.

• Attitude-Behavior Consistency: Factors that align attitude and behavior.

• Attribution Theory: We need to attribute cause, that supports our ego.

• Cognitive Dissonance: Non-alignment is uncomfortable.

• Cognitive Evalution Theory: We select tasks based on how doable they are.

• Consistency Theory: We seek the comfort of internal alignment.

• Control Theory: We seek to control the world around us.

• Disconfirmation Bias: Agreeing with what...