Motivation in Retail Banking

Running head: Motivation in Retail Banking

Motivation in Retail Banking

Christopher Ebenezer

MQM 421 Organizational Behavior

Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and Personality (3rd Ed), 15 – 31

Abraham H. Maslow formulated a theory of motivation that portrays basic needs of mankind in the shape of a pyramid, with five layers of needs namely physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Maslow believes that human beings are motivated only by their unsatisfied needs. When such a level of need is sufficiently satisfied, it will no longer be a strong motivator and the human being will seek to satisfy the next higher level of need. Hence to motivate people, human beings must be offer an opportunity to satisfy their current level of need.

Herzberg, F. (1987). One more time: how do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, Sep-Oct, 88-99

Frederick Herzberg interviewed American accountants and engineers to understand factors that affect motivation at work. The research showed that responses tended to be consistent, revealing two different sets of factors that affect motivation at work. Herzberg believes that job enrichment is a continuous management function. An employer must use the employees on the job. If unable to use them, then the employer needs to get rid of those employees either by automating the functions or by replacing with a lesser ability employee. Otherwise, there will be motivation problem.

DeYoung, R., Spong, K., & Sullivan, R.J. (2001). Who's minding the store? Motivating and monitoring hired managers at small, closely held commercial banks. Journal of Banking & Finance, 25(7), 1209

DeYoung and others conducted an experiment using a random sample of 266 small, closely held US commercial banks with a broad range of ownership and management arrangements. Results suggest that hiring an outside manager can improve profitability, but these gains depend on aligning hired managers with owners via managerial...