Page 269 - Introduction to Business

CHAPTER 7 Motivating and Leading Employees 243

The manager of a major retail store
rewards an employee for working
efficiently and promoting corporate
goals. Coworkers cheer the
employee on as he is recognized.

reality Which of the three contemporary motivation theories do you think best
CH ECK describes your motivation? Why?

Enhancing Employee Performance and Job Satisfaction

Managers of companies big and small, domestic, foreign, and international have
tried to use employee motivation theories to enhance employee performance to
gain corporate competitive advantage.
The general framework involved in the design of policies that are aimed at
enhancing employee performance and job satisfaction may be universal in nature.
However, managers should be careful not to apply the same approach in
• All companies in an industry
• All companies across the board
• All companies across international borders
• The same company all the time
The reasons are simple. Cultural diversity—gender, race, religion, custom, class,
caste—within and between countries will hinder the application of a “one size fits
all” approach to employee motivation. As they say, the “devil is in the details”;
hence policies aimed at promoting employee job satisfaction and performance
require careful planning and implementation. Also, time is an important factor. The
only factor that is constant in life is change. We live in a dynamic world where things
are happening faster all the time and people’s lifestyles keep changing as well. So
what motivated employees a decade or two ago may not motivate them anymore.
Yet, managers should stay away from fads or copying the Joneses by providing a lot
of freebies to motivate employees. Unless the dollar cost of motivating employees
is more than offset by increased revenues through rising productivity and corporate
profits, companies will fail.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 6
Compare management by objective with participative management
and the use of teams by firms.

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