Motivation theory in a business — practice questions

Explain what is meant by motivation and state TWO benefits to a business of having motivated staff.

Explain the difference between collective and individual motivation, and why a business's choice between them matters.

A business is deciding whether to spend a fixed budget on a pay increase for all staff, or on improving the work itself — training, variety and more responsibility.

Justify, with TWO reasons, which would be more effective at motivating staff.

Explain the difference between job enlargement and job enrichment, and why enrichment is generally more motivating.

A business introduces a piece-rate payment system for its seasonal workers.

Explain how this could motivate staff, and one risk it creates for the business.

A business with high turnover among experienced staff is choosing between a 5% pay rise and a programme of training, rotation and increased responsibility.

Justify, with TWO reasons, which is more likely to reduce turnover.

Describe Maslow's hierarchy of needs and explain how a business could use it to motivate staff.

A business introduces an employee-of-the-month award, but staff turnover does not improve.

Using Maslow, fully explain why the award may not have worked.

Evaluate how useful Maslow's hierarchy is for explaining motivation in a business that employs a mix of permanent professional staff and seasonal workers.

Describe Taylor's theory of motivation and give one example of it in practice.

Fully explain why a business using Taylor's approach might still experience motivation problems.

A packhouse pays seasonal staff a piece rate and permanent staff a salary.

Justify, with TWO reasons, whether Taylor's approach is appropriate for this business.

Describe Mayo's theory of motivation and what his research found.

A business consults its staff before changing shift rosters, even though management has already decided the change is necessary.

Using Mayo, fully explain why this could still improve motivation.

A business restructures, breaking up long-standing work teams to place individuals where their skills are most needed.

Using Mayo, justify, with TWO reasons, whether this is likely to improve or damage performance.

Describe Herzberg's two-factor theory and give one example of each type of factor.

A business raises wages by 6% after a staff survey shows low motivation, but productivity does not change.

Using Herzberg, fully explain this result.

Evaluate the usefulness of Herzberg's two-factor theory for a business employing mostly minimum-wage retail staff.

Describe McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and explain how each affects a manager's style.

A business introduces a productivity bonus, but staff make no extra effort to earn it.

Using Vroom's expectancy theory, fully explain three possible reasons.

A supervisor of experienced staff manages according to Theory X assumptions.

Justify, with TWO reasons, whether the business should require the supervisor to adopt a Theory Y approach.

State TWO measures a business could use to judge whether a motivation technique has worked, and explain what each shows.

A business's attendance bonus reduces absenteeism but customer complaints rise.

Explain what has happened and what the business should do.

A business has run an annual profit-share for six years. Staff no longer mention it as a benefit, but reacted angrily when a smaller payment was announced.

Evaluate what this tells the business about its scheme.

State THREE sources of evidence you could use when investigating motivation practices in a business, and what each would tell you.

In an investigation, a manager reports that the recognition scheme is popular, but employees rarely mention it.

Explain how you would report and interpret this difference.

A business pays a piece rate and also runs weekly team meals and a long-service recognition scheme.

Justify which motivation theory best explains the motivation of its staff.