Sustaining Motivation in Times of Change due to Crisis

Bachelor Thesis , 2004 , 115 Pages , Grade: 1,3

Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous

“Organizational Behavior – It’s all about people!” That is how the organizational behavior class is called at the Copenhagen Business School, where I spent the fifth semester of my studies in European Business Administration and which influenced the choice of topic for my Bachelor’s Thesis.

Organizing people’s daily cooperation is very important in order to ensure efficient and effective business operations. But coordination alone does not suffice: employee motivation is indispensable since a motivated staff with a high degree of commitment to the company is crucial for success. Especially the front-line people, who represent the company in the direct contact to the customer, should not only be well organized but also highly motivated in order to deliver an outstanding service, to put across the right image and to leave a good mark, so that the satisfied customer decides to return and to recommend the company to others.

In order to understand people’s needs, expectations and driving forces, the complex studies of motivation have established various theories over the past decades. However, drawing the right conclusions from theories which seem to be suitable in particular work situations, and effectively applying the results is very challenging for the manager in charge. This job becomes even harder in times of organizational change, when uncertainties exist among employees, which might easily result in low employee motivation. Employees’ fear of and resistance to change is one of the major problems when it comes to organizational change and motivation. Still, this difficult situation of organizational change can become even more challenging, namely in times of severe crisis when a company’s survival is heavily threatened.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction
1.1 Problem Description
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Methodology

2 Aspects of Change and Crisis Management
2.1 Organizational Change
2.1.1 Types of Organizational Change
2.1.2 Change Management
2.2 Organizational Crisis – Aggravated Conditions for Change
2.2.1 Crisis Management
2.3 Critical Behavioral Factors: Resistance and Conflict
2.3.1 Resistance
2.3.1.1 Organizational Resistance
2.3.1.2 Individual Resistance
2.3.2 Conflicts

3 Aspects of Motivation
3.1 Introduction to Motivation Concepts
3.1.1 Basic Terminology
3.1.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
3.2 Content and Process Theories
3.2.1 Content Theories
3.2.1.1 Common Key Findings
3.2.1.2 Models of Content Theories
a) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
b) Alderfer’s ERG Theory
c) Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
3.2.2 Process Theories
3.2.2.1 Common Characteristics
3.2.2.2 Models of Process Theories
a) Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
b) Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory
3.3 Critical Reflection and Synthesis

4 Motivation Theories against the Background of Change and Crisis - The Conceptual Framework
4.1 The Necessity for Sustaining Motivation during Times of Organizational Change due to Crisis
4.2 Key Issues for Motivation during Times of Change due to Crisis
4.2.1 Focusing on Higher-Order Needs and Intrinsic Motivation
4.2.2 Solving Motivation Problems Resulting from Lack of Confidence, Trust, and Direction
4.2.3 Establishing Adequate Working Conditions
4.3 Implementing the Key Issues through Communication – Concrete Measures for Management
4.3.1 Communication
4.3.1.1 Making Mission Statements
4.3.1.2 Providing Constructive Feedback
4.3.1.3 Using the Power of Emotions
4.3.1.4 Providing Proper Information
4.3.1.5 Overcoming Dysfunctional Conflicts
4.3.1.6 Supporting Team Building

5 Applying the Conceptual Framework to a Real Business Case: Scandinavian Airlines System
5.1 Company Presentation
5.1.1 The SAS Group
5.1.2 Scandinavian Airlines
5.1.3 Changes and Crisis around and within Scandinavian Airlines
5.2 History of Change in SAS under Jan Carlzon
5.3 The Cabin Crew as Frontline Employees
5.3.1 Cabin Crew Structure
5.3.2 Working as a SAS Cabin Crew Member - Reasons, Values and Motivation
5.4 Experiencing the Crisis – Perceptions, Attitudes, and Needs
5.4.1 Management’s Perspective and its Evaluation
5.4.2 Frontline People’s Perspective and its Evaluation
5.5 Summary of Impressions and Opinions
5.6 Solutions for Management to Sustain Motivation
5.6.1 Making Mission Statements
5.6.2 Providing Constructive Feedback
5.6.3 Using the Power of Emotions
5.6.4 Providing Proper Information
5.6.5 Overcoming Dysfunctional Conflicts
5.6.6 Supporting Team Building

6 Conclusion

7 Works Cited

8 Appendices
8.1 Appendix I: SAS Group Structure
8.2 Appendix II: SAS Revenue Distribution as of 2002
8.3 Appendix III: Interview with the vice-chairman of SAS Denmark’s Cabin Attendance Union – Werner Lundtoft, and a flight attendant with SAS – Kemi Welch
8.4 Appendix IV: Summary of the Interview with a Human Resource Manager at Scandinavian Airlines – Arne Sørensen

List of Figures

Figure 1: Types of Organizational Change

Figure 2: Sources of Individual Resistance to Change

Figure 3: Conflict Handling Model

Figure 4: Maslow’s Need Hierarchy: General and WorkRelated Rewards

Figure 5: Expectancy Theory: The Motivational Link

Figure 6: The Success Loop

Figure 7: The Doom Loop

List of Tables

Table 1: Employee Types

Table 2: Synopsis of Content Theories on Motivation

Table 3: Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Table 4: Synopsis of Impressions and Opinions

List of Abbreviations

illustration not visible in this excerpt

1 Introduction

1.1 Problem Description

“Organizational Behavior – It’s all about people!” That is how the organizational behavior class is called at the Copenhagen Business School, where I spent the fifth semester of my studies in European Business Administration and which influenced the choice of topic for my Bachelor’s Thesis.

Organizing people’s daily cooperation is very important in order to ensure efficient and effective business operations. But coordination alone does not suffice: employee motivation is indispensable since a motivated staff with a high degree of commitment to the company is crucial for success. Especially the front-line people, who represent the company in the direct contact to the customer, should not only be well organized but also highly motivated in order to deliver an outstanding service, to put across the right image and to leave a good mark, so that the satisfied customer decides to return and to recommend the company to others.

In order to understand people’s needs, expectations and driving forces, the complex studies of motivation have established various theories over the past decades. However, drawing the right conclusions from theories which seem to be suitable in particular work situations, and effectively applying the results is very challenging for the manager in charge. This job becomes even harder in times of organizational change, when uncertainties exist among employees, which might easily result in low employee motivation.^[1] Employees’ fear of and resistance to change is one of the major problems when it comes to organizational change and motivation. Still, this difficult situation of organizational change can become even more challenging, namely in times of severe crisis when a company’s survival is heavily threatened.

Thank to the recent literature on change management, solutions for managers to help and guide people through change have been elaborated. But what happens when in times of a severe financial crisis those “responsible” for motivating employees refuse this role? Let me quote a Human Resource Manager at Scandinavian Airlines Denmark (SA): “We are at a crossing point where any use of resources spend on motivation is a luxury”. Can this be true? Does a point exist where Human Resource tools become too high of a price to pay? One set of logic would state that it is not possible to spend resources in times of crisis. However, a second set of logic would suggest that especially in times of crisis staff’s output and loyalty is crucial and must be supported. Management’s argument of “the price of motivation is too high” could thus be modified into “the price of not motivating is higher”. The company is facing a dilemma, which cannot be solved easily.

1.2 Objectives

This thesis aims at analyzing this dilemma, while focusing on the questions:

- Why is employee motivation so crucial in turnaround situations?
- Which crucial aspects have to be considered from management’s side in order to sustain motivation in a crisis situation?
- How can this knowledge be effectively implemented in the organization?

The displayed problem is very challenging to me, most notably due to the fact that there is still a lack of literature available dealing with the problem illustrated; when a company is close to bankruptcy, when there is an organizational conflict, when management does not cooperate and refuses to motivate front-line employees, how can these employees still be motivated? Consequently, this thesis might lead to interesting and new insights not only for Scandinavian Airlines – the analysis will closely be connected to Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) as a case study – but also for many other airlines that are facing comparable difficulties within today’s fast changing airline industry. The internationality of the airline industry and resemblance of airline operators allows for this generalization. At the same time, the situation of crisis and change is not limited to the airline industry but is a universal and prevailing phenomenon which again adds value to the outcome of this Bachelor’s Thesis.

1.3 Methodology

The initial part of the thesis, chapter 2, will be concerned with providing general information on organizational change, particularly with respect to organizational crisis. In this context, the studies of change and crisis management will be introduced to the reader, focusing on essential factors emerging on the behavioral side. In the next chapter, the reader will learn about motivation concepts. Both chapter 2 and 3 are mainly derived from knowledge gained from primary and secondary literature. On the basis of these two fields of research, a conceptual framework will be developed in chapter 4, which allows for a systematic and academic approach in order to provide valuable advice from a consultant’s point of view. This theoretical framework will be put into operation in a case study on Scandinavian Airlines System: Chapter 5 will describe the company’s current crisis situation and will finally suggest solutions based on the established framework. Information concerning the case of SAS was mainly obtained through interviews with the Cabin Attendance Union (CAU) of SAS, a flight attendant and the Human Resource Manager of Scandinavian Airlines Denmark. These interviews were conducted during my stay in Copenhagen in November 2003. The interview with the CAU and the flight attendant was recorded on tape and afterwards transcribed to paper. The interview with the Human Resource Manager was conducted in Danish by three Danish fellow students and a written summary in English was set down.

Having established the goal and methodology of this Bachelor’s Thesis, it is also necessary to address its limitations. These are mainly concerned with resources and scope. Thus, as the main part of the empirical data used is based on the two interviews with management and cabin crew, inconsistency may occur between my interpretation of the answers given and reality. In addition, due to the fact that the interview with the flight attendant was not anonymous, she might possibly have stated her opinion in a biased way. Furthermore, the limited volume of this thesis dictates a level of complexity and detail of scope. Hence not all aspects and theories concerning the topic can be elaborated at lengths, but have to be limited to those directly applicable. These limitations, however, do not imply that the outcome will in any way be less feasible to the situation of SAS.

2 Aspects of Change and Crisis Management

2.1 Organizational Change

In order to keep pace with competition and other business environmental developments or pressures, and in order to grow and be innovative, companies need to change.

2.1.1 Types of Organizational Change

An organization performing change may either intend to fit or to create the environment; this implies that change can either be imposed or intentional.^[2] However, any change is different concerning at least the parameters scope and nature: Sometimes there are only minor changes or realignments, other times the whole organization is being transformed. An organization can be constantly changing a little over a long period of time, but it can also be a ‘big-bang’ type of change. In general, four different types of change can be distinguished, which are depicted in figure 1 below.

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Figure 1: Types of Organizational Change. Adapted from Gary Johnson and Kevan Scholes, Exploring Corporate Strategy (Prentice Hall, 2002):563.

2.1.2 Change Management

Change management is a comparatively new field of thought. It is concerned with the elaboration and implementation of a systematic program defining the different steps of change. According to Hiatt and Creasy, “change management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of business change to achieve the required business outcome and to realize that business change effectively within the social infrastructure of the workplace.”^[3] This definition entails that what needs to be managed is on the one hand the ‘technical’ part of the business, including processes, IT-systems and structure; on the other hand it is the people in the organization.^[4] For the technical issues, tools such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) have been established, which commonly are not regarded as part of change management but as techniques to improve business performance in general. The scene predominantly affected by change management is the human factor. However, as a basis for effective change management, both the ‘technical’ and the ‘human’ side of change need to be equally taken into account.^[5]

Key words and related topics for contemporary change management are amongst others ‘The Learning Organization’, ‘Knowledge Management’, ‘Stress Management’ and many more.

2.2 Organizational Crisis – Aggravated Conditions for Change

The original Greek word ‘krisis’ can be translated by 'differentiation’ or ‘decision’.^[6] This implies that a state of continual development is interrupted, leading into a new situation which is characterized by an “extreme ambivalence of development potentialities”^[7]. Hence it can be said that crisis is an extreme form of change. Speaking in terms of change management, crisis is a ‘big bang’ type. Its ambivalence can be visualized by an example taken from the field of medical science: "After the crisis the patient either dies or gets better. “^[8] Medical science is only one sphere where the term crisis is applied today. Others are politics, military, and national economics; however, this thesis will in the following only focus on its meaning for business administration, where the systematic employment of the term crisis is a comparably new tendency which started back in the 1970’s.^[9]

“With respect to business administration, an organizational crisis has to be understood as a process that is capable of substantially threatening the survival of an organization or even makes survival impossible.“^[10] While Krystek states, that this process is neither planned nor desired, Hurst recommends the deliberate creation of crisis under certain circumstances. This opinion is based on the assumption, that “[...] crisis itself can and does lead to innovation in organizations”^[11]. Without any doubt, an organizational crisis is a critical point which presents a huge challenge for management, since it holds the characteristics of a crossing point for the company’s future: “Almost every crisis contains within itself the seeds of success as well as the roots of failure”^[12] – or, as expressed above, “the patient either dies or gets better”.

Roughly, the reasons for crises can be categorized into internal and external factors. Internal factors are on the one hand concerned with the industry, the size or the age of the company etc., meaning that some industries are statistically more often struck by crises than others. These factors are of a ‘constitutive’ nature. On the other hand, they are concerned with mismanagement and are often ‘homemade’– these factors are called ‘process-related’. External factors can occur anywhere in the business environment, which holds a notable instability these days. Examples for external factors are natural disasters, wars, terrorism, scarcities of resources, changes in technology, sociopolitical upheavals as well as mere economic factors.

For any organization, a crisis will have unique characteristics. Significant variations can be observed among different industries. However, there is one feature that virtually all crises have in common: ”The achievement of existential [...] goals which are decisive factors in the survival of the entire system are seriously endangered”^[13]. These existential goals are often of a financial nature, such as liquidity. In addition, crises in organizations generally go along with insufficient information, stress, threat, and time pressure.^[14] Companies suffering from a crisis tend to have difficulties concerning communication – within the company as well as to third parties. Many crises are as well accompanied by a high level of uncertainty among employees.

The extent of seriousness of a crisis is to a great degree dependent on how the situation is sensed by the involved stakeholders; this is for example about “perceived value of possible losses; perceived probability of loss; perceived time pressure involved”^[15]. The attitude towards these variables will shape the general atmosphere, which in turn will have a crucial influence on decisions and actions taken and thus on the company’s future.

2.2.1 Crisis Management

“Crisis Management provides a systematic, orderly response to crisis while enabling the organization to continue its daily business. Organizational threat is controlled and opportunities become available [...].”^[16] As has been mentioned, crisis is an extreme form of change. Therefore, the basis of theoretical procedures in managing the situation corresponds to change management practices depicted above. However, given the fact that crisis goes hand in hand with constrictive and threatening parameters such as stress, threat, uncertainty, fear, and time pressure, it raises extreme challenges - to an even greater extent than minor, rather risk-free changes do: “The need for change may make it harder to change.”^[17] The main objective is apparently survival and reduction or repair of damage to the organization.

2.3 Critical Behavioral Factors: Resistance and Conflict

Browsing the web for the term change management, search engines virtually explode, with for example Google yielding approximately 12,300,000 strikes. Obviously an enormous trend goes into the direction that currently, countless consulting firms offer their management models for change and crisis. This thesis, however, neither intends to present nor to apply one of these models, since they are often designed for certain types of companies or customized for particular clients. Without judging their quality, they are not deemed appropriate for meeting scientific requirements. In addition, there is no ‘one fits all’ formula for the management of change and crisis, since the context (concerning e.g. capacity, capability and readiness) in which change is taking place will vary from case to case and needs to be evaluated separately. This thesis will instead introduce some theoretical approaches from the studies of organizational behavior and try to focus on the treatment of the most crucial issues when it comes to the question of ‘how to change for the better’. These issues are resistance and conflict.^[18]

2.3.1 Resistance

2.3.1.1 Organizational Resistance

According to Hiatt, resistance to change is indeed one of the key problems when it comes to organizational change. Since resistance seems to be the norm, the manager should be prepared for it. A manager facing organizational transformation will be trying to obtain an in-depth overview of a company’s situation and context for change. Since “feelings are so strong that they can make or break a change effort”^[19], it is necessary to discover blockages and facilitators to change that are raised in the organization itself in order to establish an effective approach. A useful tool for this so-called forcefield analysis is an examination of the “cultural web”^[20], which reflects experiences of an organization and its taken-for-grantedness. It consists of stories, symbols, power structures, organizational structures, control systems and rituals and routines, which altogether constitute the corporate culture. The manager will find out that some of these components might be facilitating change, others might not fit the espoused strategy, leading to organizational resistance. The extent of misfit will determine if the change can be realized within the existing culture, or if and where changes are required. Changing a culture is for sure a challenging task since it has emerged over years. For instance the modification of very complex descriptions will cause difficulties. Should there be an union interest in the company, changing existing work agreements will yet be more difficult, even if the union backs the changes.

2.3.1.2 Individual Resistance

Besides this organizational resistance, there is the delicate topic of individual resistance to change. This phenomenon may substantially hold back the progression of a project, because the human side of change does not work without acceptance. Acceptance needs to be achieved on the cognitive side - understanding what is actually going on - as well as on the emotional side - commitment to organizational purposes.^[21] Not all employees will oppose change. For example, those who favor a particular change and who feel most comfortable with it invariably will support the change, while employees adversely affected by the change usually will be less excited by it, are more likely to be anxious about it, and usually will resist it. People’s reactions and attitudes towards change will thus to a great extent be shaped through the overall situation and atmosphere in and around the company and through the perception of the situation.

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[illustration not visible in this excerpt] Individual resistance can take different forms - from overt and immediate, which is expressed in sometimes aggressive forms such as voicing complaints, strikes etc., to implicit and deferred, which are manifested by non–compliance, e.g. loss of commitment and motivation or by higher rates of absenteeism.^[22] figure 2 shows some common causes for individual resistance: People resist for a number of reasons—they are creatures of habit, they like security, and fear the unknown.

According to Robbins, the best way for a manager to deal with resistance is to undermine it by:^[23]

- providing rewards for accepting change,
- communicating reasons for the change,
- including the people who will be affected in the process

Another essential means for managing complex organizational changes and for overcoming resistance is reinforcing trust in the relationship between employer and employee, and strengthening employees’ trust in the organization itself. According to Luhmann, systems that are aware of the parameter trust and that actively try to shape the trust situation will be of a more resilient and flexible nature when coping with change situations.^[24]

As organizational culture is a complex system of human relationships, individual resistance to change can consecutively give further rise to organizational resistance. Resistant individuals have the power to create an environment in which resistance to change is the norm. That environment in turn encourages increased resistance to change among individual employees; a self-reinforcing loop of increasing resistance emerges.

2.3.2 Conflicts

Resistance is a form of organizational conflict. A conflict is apparent when at least one party perceives its existence. Many different parties hold interest in the change process – both inside and outside the company’s boundaries. Thus, there are various potential sources for conflicts. Today, conflict is no longer seen as entirely dysfunctional - on the contrary, according to the interactionist view^[25], it is even regarded as being fundamental, especially in times of change, as it challenges performance. Hence it might provide functional outcomes such as impulse for improvement and innovation. Still, if conflicts remain unsolved over a longer period of time, emotions like frustration will become so strong that they will have dysfunctional results for the organization.

A useful tool in overcoming resistance and building a collaborative climate is Thomas’ conflict-handling model:^[26]

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Figure 3: Conflict Handling Model . Adapted from Stephen P. Robbins in Organizational Behavior 10e -, PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook, www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~hennesse/MGT_300_files/ch14.ppt [2004-04-05].

The axis cooperativeness depicts the level of willingness to comply with the other party’s interest, whilst Assertiveness is concerned with the enforcement of one’s own matters. Thomas has identified five conflict handling courses: competition, collaboration, avoidance, accommodation, and compromise. As the arrows in the illustration demonstrate, the outcome will be functional, when both parties to the conflict work (together) into one direction. With accommodating, one party will try to subordinate its interests to the ones of the other party; with collaboration, parties involved wish to fulfill the matters of all, and with compromising, each party will have to make sacrifices. Dysfunctional behavior in conflict situations are avoiding and competing. The manager should be familiar with this concept in order to handle conflicts within and around the organization.

However, as has been depicted above, there might always exist some facilitators or constructive readiness for change, which should be taken advantage of. The support of influential stakeholder groups possessing at best a high accepted authority can form a power base, which will be helpful in implementing the change with other groupings. Without a doubt, it is also important to win over less powerful groupings and to build a network of sympathizers, which might in turn help to overcome the resistance of more powerful groups. However, establishing such alliances might be regarded as threat to existing power structures, and might therefore even provoke more resistance. Then again it is crucial to keep the supporters of change and not to risk them crossing the divide.

Succinctly, obtaining and maintaining acceptance for change and overcoming dysfunctional conflicts is absolutely vital to a successful implementation of change. The strong motivational importance of the means that try to achieve acceptance and collaboration will become clear in the next chapter.

3 Aspects of Motivation

3.1 Introduction to Motivation Concepts

3.1.1 Basic Terminology

In the preceding chapter, some implications of human behavior for business success have been introduced by describing the negative influence that conflict and resistance have to change efforts. Human behavior and the underlying psychological patterns are very individual phenomena. Due to the ‘law of individuality’ stating that all people are different^[27], human beings cannot be managed according to a standardized pattern. People might be physically and intellectually able to do what is required, but that does not necessarily mean that they are willing to do so. Their qualification is the product of ability and willingness. In order to get the best out of people, the factor willingness must be addressed. Therefore the manager needs to be familiar with what stimulates people to perform and how this knowledge can be used in practice – he/she will have to be acquainted with principles of employee motivation.

The basic idea of motivation is some driving force within an individual by which he/she tries to accomplish a goal in order to comply with a need or an expectation.^[28] Motivational psychology is concerned with three fundamental problems that are motives, motivation, and volition. Motives are “potential target states”^[29] that set people in motion and arouse action (‘ something motivates me to do something’). Motivation is rooted in a person’s own willpower to take on a desired behavior toward reaching a certain goal, a motive (‘ I am motivated to do something’). Existing motivation finally needs to be transformed into a concrete action. This transformation is called volition. It has to be noticed, that any kind of human behavior is an interaction between person and situation; this is also valid for motivation as a basis for behavior. In order to gain a thorough understanding of what motivates people, it is helpful to be familiar with the basics of motivational concepts, explained in the following sections of this chapter.

3.1.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation can be achieved through extrinsic or intrinsic rewards.^[30] Money or other tangible benefits that are provided by the organization are extrinsic rewards, that do not come from the work itself (e. g. Herzberg’s hygiene factors and Maslow’s higher-order needs, explained below), whereas intrinsic motivation is derived directly from the work itself and generates positive emotions, like for instance fun at work, a sense of achievement and recognition (e.g. Herzberg’s motivators and Maslow’s lower-order needs, explained below). The main forms of intrinsic motivation are job satisfaction (the experience itself), compliance with standards for their own sake, and the achievement of personal goals. It has to be taken into account that intrinsic motivation is voluntary (in line with the unique nature of the human resource) and therefore cannot simply be commanded or bought. For that reason, “money (...) pales as a motivator in the long term.”^[31] In order to maintain people’s intrinsic enthusiasm for the job, it is important to create an environment that is conducive to the promotion of intrinsic motivation and helps to provide the opportunity to perform. But how can that be achieved? At this point, extrinsic rewards other than money set in, which can support intrinsic motivation for example by establishing means of fairness, participation and communication in the organization. As a result, the manager should pay attention to both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, as they may support each other.^[32]

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The importance of individuality has been addressed several times by now. However, specific groupings or stereotypes can be identified, when it comes to what motivates employees. There are on the one hand rather extrinsically motivated employees, on the other hand highly intrinsically motivated ones. These head groupings are divided into several categories. The following table shows the different employee types and their primary goals or driving forces:^[33]

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Table 1: Employee Types. Adapted from Bruno S. Frey, Motivation and Compensation in Bruno S. Frey & Margit Osterloh (Eds.), Successful Management by Motivation – Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards Berlin (Springer, 2002):76.

Extrinsically motivated employees are motivated by money and position. With intrinsically motivated employees, pay itself does usually not raise performance. The manager needs to be aware of the fact that ‘negative’ rewards like using pressure, threats or harsh commands crowd out each type of the intrinsically motivated employees. What crowd them in are praise, participation and autonomy.^[34]

3.2 Content and Process Theories

All theories of motivation draw upon the “understanding of internal cognitive processes – that is, what people feel and how they think”^[35]. In order to do so, there are usually two different approaches: content theories and process theories.^[36] Content theories emphasize what motivates people and which needs should be addressed in order to do so. Process theories lay emphasis on the concrete process of motivation. These concepts will build the basis for understanding the findings presented in upcoming sections of this thesis and will therefore be explained in a concise manner.

3.2.1 Content Theories

3.2.1.1 Common Key Findings

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Content theories examine the nature of people’s needs and motives. They are connected through their basic finding, which is the categorization of needs. In order to simplify the intention of the content theories, they can be reduced to a common denominator, illustrated in table 2.

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Examples for content theories will now be explained, and the depicted interrelationship between them will become obvious.

3.2.1.2 Models of Content Theories

a) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

Maslow puts forward that within every individual, there are five different levels of needs, which emerge one after the other, starting from the bottom of the hierarchy.^[37] Physiological and safety needs are referred to as “lower-order needs (...) that are satisfied externally”^[38], social, esteem, and self-actualization needs are “higher-order needs (...) that are satisfied internally”^[39], and can hence be defined as intrinsic needs. Only if a level is satisfied, needs on the next level become decisive as motivators. Thus, what works as a motivator is addressing unsatisfied needs. Figure 4 illustrates the needs hierarchy itself and the general rewards which satisfy the single need levels. The third column translates these general rewards into company specific factors.

[...]

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^[1] Mary T. Pellak, ”Sustaining Motivation and Productivity During Significant Organizational Change” in Performance Improvement Vol.40(2001):12.

^[2] See Gary Johnson and Kevan Scholes, Exploring Corporate Strategy Harlow (Prentice Hall, 2002).

^[3] Jeffrey M. Hiatt and Timothy J. Creasy, The Definition and History of Change Management, The Change Management Learning Center, http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htm [2004-03-18]:2-3.

^[4] Supra. Footnote 3.

^[5] Supra. Footnote 3.

^[6] See Ulrich Krystek, Krisenbewältigungs –Management und Unternehmensplanung Wiesbaden (Gabler, 1981):5.

^[7] Ulrich Krystek, Krisenbewältigungs –Management und Unternehmensplanung Wiesbaden (Gabler, 1981):4, My translation.

^[8] The free dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Crisis [18 March 2004].

^[9] For this and the following elaborations see Dirk Glaesser, Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry Burlington (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003):5.

^[10] Ulrich Krystek, Krisenbewältigungs –Management und Unternehmensplanung Wiesbaden (Gabler, 1981):6, My translation.

^[11] David K. Hurst, Crisis and Renewal: Meeting the Challenge of Organizational Change Boston (Harvard Business School Press, 1995):18.

^[12] Norman R. Augustine, Managing the Crisis you Tried to Prevent in: Harvard Business Review on Crisis Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2000):3.

^[13] J.G. Burtscher, Wertorientiertes Krisenmanagement (1996):31 qtd. in Dirk Glaesser, Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry Burlington (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003):4.

^[14] For this and the following elaborations see Ulrich Krystek, Krisenbewältigungs –Management und Unternehmensplanung Wiesbaden (Gabler, 1981):4-6.

^[15] Crisis Management: Definition of Crisis, Carnelian, http://www.carnelian-international.com/ crisis_management_respon.htm [2004-03-19]:5.

^[16] Sally J. Ray, Strategic Communication in Crisis Management: Lessons from the Airline Industry Westport (Quorum Books, 1999):19.

^[17] Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Barry A. Stein, Todd D. Jick, The Challenge of Organizational Change- How Companies experience it and Leaders Guide it New York (Free Press, 1992):7.

^[18] See Gary Johnson and Kevan Scholes, Exploring Corporate Strategy Harlow (Prentice Hall, 2002);Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior - Concepts, Controversies, and Applications Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall,1991); Brooks, Organizational Power, Politics and Conflict:213-239 in Compendium Organizational Behavior, Fall 2003, Morten Egebjerg (ed.) Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School, 2003).

^[19] Thad B. Green and Raymond T. Butkus Motivation, Beliefs, and Organizational Transformation Westport (Quorum Books, 1999): 5.

^[20] See Gary Johnson and Kevan Scholes, Exploring Corporate Strategy Harlow (Prentice Hall, 2002):230.

^[21] See Markus Stamm, ”Change Management benötigt Qualität und Akzeptanz” in Controller Magazin Vol.5 (2002):457-462.

^[22] See Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior – Concepts, Controversies, and Applications Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall,1991):640.

^[23] See Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior 10e -, PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook, www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~hennesse/MGT_300_files/ch19.ppt [5 April 2004]; Lana Walker-Helmuth, „Nothing but the truth about change“, Society for Technical Communication, http://www.stc-sd.org/newsletter/november_2003/advice.htm [02 June 2004].

^[24] See Niklas Luhmann, Vertrauen: Ein Mechanismus der Reduktion sozialer Komplexität Stuttgart (Lucius und Lucius, 2002):79.

^[25] The interactionist view puts forward ”The belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but that it is absolutely necessary for a group to perform effectively.” Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall, 1991):429.

^[26] See Kilman Thomas, Conflict and Conflict Management, in M.D. Dunnette (ed.), Handbook of industrial and Organisational Psychology Chicago (Rand McNally, 1976.):900 qtd. in Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior – Concepts, Controversies, and Applications Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall, 1991):435.

^[27] See David Jaffee, Organization Theory – Tension and Change New York (McGraw-Hill, 2001):23.

^[28] For this and the following elaborations see Laurie J. Mullins, The Nature of Work Motivation:417-458 in Compendium Organizational Behavior, Fall 2003, Morten Egebjerg (ed.) Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School, 2003):417-425; Jürgen Berthel and Fred G. Becker, Personal-Management: Grundzüge für Konzeptionen betrieblicher Personalarbeit Stuttgart (Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, 2003):18.

^[29] Jürgen Berthel and Fred G. Becker, Personal-Management: Grundzüge für Konzeptionen betrieblicher Personalarbeit Stuttgart (Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, 2003):18, My translation.

^[30] For this and the following elaborations see Bruno S. Frey & Margit Osterloh (Eds.), Successful Management by Motivation – Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards Berlin (Springer, 2002):8-23.

^[31] Mary T. Pellak, ”Sustaining Motivation and Productivity During Significant Organizational Change” in Performance Improvement Vol.40(2001):13.

^[32] Earlier research on motivation argues that extrinsic motivation would crowd out intrinsic motivation. Contemporary research however shows that they often support each other. Compare Kenneth W. Thomas, Intrinsic Motivation at Work – Building Energy & Commitment San Francisco (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2000): 8.

^[33] See Bruno S. Frey, Motivation and Compensation: 53-87 in Bruno S. Frey & Margit Osterloh (Eds.), Successful Management by Motivation – Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards Berlin (Springer, 2002):76.

^[34] See Bruno S. Frey, Motivation and Compensation: 53-87 in Bruno S. Frey & Margit Osterloh (Eds.), Successful Management by Motivation – Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards Berlin (Springer, 2002):86.

^[35] Laurie J. Mullins, The Nature of Work Motivation:417-458 in Compendium Organizational Behavior, Fall 2003, Morten Egebjerg (ed.) Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School, 2003):425.

^[36] For this and the following elaborations see Mullins, The Nature of Work Motivation:417-458 in Compendium Organizational Behavior, Fall 2003, Morten Egebjerg (ed.) Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School, 2003).

^[37] For this and the following elaborations see Laurie J. Mullins, The Nature of Work Motivation:417-458 in Compendium Organizational Behavior, Fall 2003, Morten Egebjerg (ed.) Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School, 2003):417-425; Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior – Concepts, Controversies, and Applications Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall, 1991).

^[38] Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior – Concepts, Controversies, and Applications Englewood Cliffs (Prentice Hall, 1991):194.

^[39] Supra. Footnote 38.

• College: Cologne Business School Köln
• Grade: 1,3
• Author: Ellen Meyer (Author)
• Publication Year: 2004
• Pages: 115
• Catalog Number: V44617
• ISBN (eBook): 9783638421843
• Language: English
• Tags: Sustaining, Motivation, Times, Change, Crisis