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The Impact Of Expectancy Theory On The Individual Values

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“A job will only be motivating if it leads to rewards that the individual values”, before considering the statement it is first important to understand motivation. Motivation is a broad, decision-making concept in which behaviour can be commenced and conducted, by a desire for fulfilment (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991). Having a motivated workforce is vital for a firm’s productivity and growth, however how best to motivate employees is subject to much debate, with many theories providing conflicting opinions. In this essay I will outline and use Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), a popular motivational theory, to evaluate and provide a convincing case for why I believe the statement above is weak at helping us understand motivation, expressing how I believe motivation is not always explicitly linked to rewards, including the fact individuals may be unmotivated by valued rewards. Additionally, I will discuss how expectancy theory has been applied in management, explaining some issues and implications this theory has created for employees, managers and the organisations themselves.
Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) is a process theory of motivation in which an employee’s endeavour is a function of the desirability of fixed outcomes together with an individual’s estimate of attainment (Starke and Behling, 1975). Vroom (1964) devised a set of algebraic formulae to argue how individual motivation is achieved by conscious choices. “F = V x E x I “. According to Vroom, one’s

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