This is the sample question answer

Q.1 Identify, define and apply two motivation theories to illustrate the sources/causes of poor motivation.

Motivation Theory 1: Expectancy theory states there are three critical considerations that must be addressed for motivation to be high. They are expectancy (E>P), instrumentality and valence. All three of these considerations must be rated high for motivation to be maximised yet there would appear to be problems with all three in the Trial Phone Service case. Expectancy (or E>P expectancy) relates to whether an employee can achieve the performance standards expected of them. This is likely to be low because expectancy (E>P) with respect to good service quality is undermined by a time consuming referral process which relies on an overloaded decision maker (department manager) that may not be the ideal person for making routine service decisions. This suggests job design is a causative (primary) problem because the way work is organised is impeding on the expectancy of operators regarding customer service. Too little decision making discretion is given to the team leaders and the departmental leader would appear to be overloaded with routine decisions as a consequence. The lack of cooperation with other departments is also hindering E>P and given this teamwork problem should also be addressed by leadership, there are clear indications there has been insufficient investment in leadership and team development (another primary problem). Instrumentality (or P>O expectancy), relates to the allocation of an outcome/s (reward) for attainment of the needed performance standard. Instrumentality has been undermined by a failure to offer monetary rewards for good customer service so this rating is low. This reward system primary problem has meant that many employees focus efforts instead on the things that improve pay increases - new business sold and contacts per hour. While some staff appear to be trying to do the right thing by servicing customers well, they are disadvantaged in pay increase considerations as they are also dealing with general service enquiries that others are cutting off in order to inflate their contacts per hour. Valence is the value placed on the outcomes by employees and this behaviour suggests many employees value money highly (ie: high valence re bigger pay increases). So if the firm fixes the rewards system problem by offering larger pay increases for good customer service, this problem could be addressed.

Motivation Theory 2: Equity theory states motivation is best when employees feel they are being treated fairly when they compare their ratio of inputs to outcomes to those of others (or self in the past). In this case it is likely that the operators that are trying to service customers well are probably noticing others are cutting off these calls and getting bigger pay increases as a consequence. In this situation equity theory states individuals are likely to feel equity tensions and act to resolve those tensions. These responses include changing their own behaviour (which may involve adopting the same behaviour they observe others getting away with) or leaving the organisation (which some have already chosen to do). Clearly not acting to stop the problem behaviour is caused a failure of leadership but, the reward system is also a primary problem as it is not rewarding all the needed behaviours. Finally, given money is valued by many employees, the firm will also need to ensure their pay is competitive with other companies as this is another likely source of equity tensions.

This is the final question with the case study to answer.

Q1. Identify, define and apply two motivation theories (Excluding Maslow) in order to discuss the causes of poor motivation (primary problems) in the case.

Note: If you are asked to define or, discuss or explain a theory - fully define the key components. For example, with Expectancy E>P + P>O + Valence would all need to be identified and explained.

Case Study: Worn Out You are listening to a long-standing senior employee (Larry) of Occies talk about his time at the company. Occies was an old name in the Australian clothing industry. Started by its founder Kenneth Backman back in the late 1980s, the surfing apparel label rode a wave of popularity due to its popular designs and clever promotion strategies. Larry said, "In the early days Kenneth was amazing.... I remember early on when the retailers had never heard of us that nobody wanted to stock our merchandise. So, Kenneth talked to all his surfing friends and asked them to go into these shops and ask if they stocked Occies. Pretty soon we were getting calls from retailers saying 'we can't believe how many enquiries we're getting for your product... can we please see some samples?' and '...how soon can you deliver?'" Larry noted Kenneth always knew what needed to be done in the early years of the firm. He was young himself which meant he was targeting the same age group he was part of. It was good product development informed by 'knowing the market' and some hard work with retailers that helped to build their success. Larry continued his account of the early years of Occies for some time, obviously proud about the part he had played in its success. However, it wasn't long before some of the company's more recent problems became the focus and his tone changed. Unfortunately, times got tougher for Occies and a number of factors created a situation which threatened Occies's survival. Growing consolidation in retailing meant larger clothing retailers had the capacity to make greater demands of labels like Occies. Small repeat orders were a thing of the past and Kenneth had to borrow heavily to invest in the plant and equipment needed to meet these larger orders. This was sometimes done by buying out other apparel manufacturers. Eventually he had to turn to licensed clothing manufacturers in Southeast Asia to make many of his designs, as he simply could not increase local production quickly enough. By 2015, Occies had grown in many ways. The company had over 2000 employees in Australia alone, with roughly a third in the production facility in Melbourne, while the others worked in areas such as Retailing, Marketing, Accounts and Product Design. The brand was also into new product lines like sunglasses and watches which was a complete departure from their traditional focus of clothing apparel. Through much of this change, Larry had been working in product design and had been its senior manager for just over five years. He now reflected sadly on how his time there was nearing an end, as he seemed almost certain there was little hope of him continuing. He said regretfully, "There was a time we knew what the market wanted so you could say design was one of our distinctive competencies. That's no longer the case and we just aren't getting the orders needed to cover the debt repayments for our heavy borrowing over the last ten years." Larry now lamented that Kenneth seemed unable to let his product development team do their jobs effectively. Every time new designs to cater for changing customer tastes were presented, Kenneth made large changes, which led to many designers resigning. 3 Larry said, "We have some talented designers that love the creative side of their work. They live to make clothing apparel Millennials and Generation Z want and work carefully with production crews to refine the product. They're much more tuned into what the market wants than we are, and they want more control over decision making. We also get substantial bonuses for profits and have shares in the company so there is a personal financial impact when Kenneth steps in and sidelines this expertise. The salary here is good but, many look forward to the end of year bonuses and really miss them now they can't be paid." He then added, "Kenneth had his finger on the pulse once and when he did things were great. That hurts us more now as we've become a big operation with substantial offshore production and multiple product lines. We're not getting quality out of our offshore licensed manufacturers because Kenneth had to have a major hand in negotiating supply contracts himself with only the help of an old friend. While his friend had a legal background, he's not experienced in the industry or in dealing with offshore operations and because of this we now quality problems. It is these quality problems and the lack of interest by young buyers that is hurting the company." These sentiments were also substantially supported by staff opinion surveys done by the Human Resources Department. Larry was certain he won't see the year out and after putting his resume online, he had a couple of very interesting offers. He told you he will be handing in his resignation soon.