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9.2 Theories of motivation

The first theories of motivation assumed a direct relationship between motivation and substantive reward. This led directly to wages being seen by both employer and employee organisations as the great panacea for poor performance. This narrow view was quickly overtaken and there are now multitudes of different theories, all attempting to explain what motivates people. The sheer volume of research and the number of theories developed gives some idea of the importance placed on this area of management in both academia and industry.

Your textbook gives the background on a range of theories. It is broken into sections. The need theories, cognitive theories, reinforcement theory and social learning theory . Do not be concerned with conquering the jargon used. It is more important that you gain an understanding of the processes and gain some ideas rather than learning some new words or learning the theories 'off by rote'.

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