Business Communication UNIT 5

8/3/2019 Business Communication UNIT 5

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Managing Motivation'Motivation' is derived from the word 'motive'. Motive refers to the needs, wants, drives, impulses withinindividuals.

Motivation may be defined as the process of stimulating people to action, to Accomplish desired goats, ftinvolves arousing needs and desires in people to initiate and direct their behavior in a purposive manner.

According to likert "it is the core of management which shows that every human being gives him a senseof worth in face-to-face groups which are most important to him. A supervisor should strive to treat individualswith dignity and recognition of their personal worth."

According to S. P. Robbins, "Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort towardorganizational goals, conditioned by the effort and ability to satisfy some individual need."

According to Dalton E. McFarLand, "Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, desires,aspirations, and strivings or needs direct, control or explain the behavior of human beings."

Model of Motivation ProcessMotivation is a psychological phenomenon, which arises from the feeling of needs and wants of individuals. Itcauses goal directed behavior.

Motivation can be described as the drivingforce within individuals that impels themto action. This driving force is produced bya state of tension, which exists as theresult of an unfulfilled need. Individualsstrive both consciously andsubconsciously - to reduce this tensionthrough behavior that they anticipate willfulfil! their needs and thus relieve them ofthe stress they feel. The specific goalsthey select and the patterns of action theyundertake to achieve their goals are theresults of individual thinking and learning.

Figure 1 presents a model of themotivational process. It portraysmotivation as a state of need induced tension that exerts a "push" on the individual to engage in behaviorthat he or she expects will gratify a need and thus reduce the tension.

Characteristics of Motivation

1. Motivation is a Psychological Phenomenon: The person's activation depends upon the felt needs

and expectations. The process of motivation, which is mainly concerned with needs, desires,

expectations, confidence, satisfaction, is a psychological phenomenon. The psychology of every

individual is different from others and hence it is really difficult to ascertain in practice what devices and

incentives will motivate a person towards desired goals.

2. Motivation is Dynamic and Situational: The motives, behavior and goals all are dynamic in nature what

drive a person today may not drive him tomorrow. His needs, drives, expectations, value judgmental

changing and hence the process of motivation is highly dynamic. Motivation is also situational. In a set

of organizational climate, structure, physical facilities and nature of work, one may be highly

motivated, but any change in them may have an adverse effect on his motivation.

3) Motivation is Not Easily Observed Phenomenon: We can observe the actions of a person and then wetry to interpret the actions which constitute his behavior in terms of his underlying motives and

satisfaction. In this interpretation, there can be a widest-error of judgment.

4) Motivation is a Goal Oriented Process: The motives of a person drive him to achieve goat to relieve his

tension.


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5} Motivation is Influenced by Social and Cultural Norms: Social and cultural values, customs andattributes play important role in motivation. If society attaches respect, recognition and acceptance to a

job or organization, the individual is motivated to that job or organization.

Nature of MotivationMotivation is mainly concerned with the directing of employees towards organizational objectives and

mission. The nature of motivation is discussed as follows:

1) Motivation is a Continuous Process: As we have studied in economics, human wants are unlimited. It issaid that, 'Even' God cannot satisfy all human wants. With the satisfaction of one want, another

want preferably of the higher order is created. Thus, new wants emerge when the present wants-are

satisfied. Further, all the wants cannot be satisfied at the same time. Wants are to be satisfied one

after another continuously. Hence, motivation is also a continuous and an unending process.

2) Motivation is a Psychological Concept: Motivation is concerned with the psychological aspects of thehuman being. The levels of satisfaction, contentment, etc. by using the same reward/incentive vary

from person to person. This is due to variations in aspirations, attitudes, feelings and perceptions of the

individuals. Thus, motivation is reaction of the organs of the human body to the inducements/incentives

offered.

3) Entire individual is Motivated: As stated earlier, motivation is a psychological concept interacting with thetotal organs of an individual. Further, each individual is an integrated and comprehensive system.

The entire system of an individual reacts to the motivation, thus, the entire individual is motivated.

4) Frustrated Individual Fails to be motivated: Some individuals are frustrated despite of the rewards due to

the wide gap between his/her aspirations and rewards. Some of t he frustrated persons become mentally

ill and these persons cannot be motivated.

5) Goals Lead to Motivation: Goals form a part of the motivational process. Goal achievement results in the

satisfaction of want. Goal fulfillment leads to reduction of drives and fulfills deficiencies. Thus

goal achievement ends the motivation process.

6) Self-Concept as a Unifying Force: Self-concept is the life position of a person that he formulates abouthimself during his childhood. He thinks himself in the same way during his lifetime until and unless a

major change takes place in the rest of the life time. Therefore, those who formulated a positive

view about themselves during the childhood will be motivated by themselves in the rest of the life

time. And the vice versa is true in case of negative self-concept.

Importance of MotivationThe importance of motivation arises from its effects on organizational functions:

1) Motivation Sets in Motion the Action of People: In every organization there are physical, financial andhuman resources. The utilization of physical and financial resources depends on the ability and

willingness of people to work. Motivation puts human resources into action. Motivation builds the will

to work among employees and enables the management to secure the, best possible utilization of all

resources.

2) Motivation improves the Efficiency of Work Performance: Motivation influences the level of performanceof employees, which depends not only on individual's abilities but also on his willingness to achieve a

high level of performance. Motivation bridges the gap between the ability to work and willingness to work.

Thus, it helps in increasing productivity, reducing the cost of operations and securing overall efficiency.

3) Ensures Achievement of Organizational Goals: Management can achieve the goals effectively bymotivating subordinates to contribute their best efforts towards the fulfillment of the assigned

tasks. If people are not motivated, no purpose can be served by planning, organizing and staffing

functions. By meeting individual needs through a satisfactory system or rewards, the management can

secure the cooperation of subordinates towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.

4} Motivation Creates Friendly and Supportive Relationships: Motivation brings about employeesatisfaction through monetary rewards, recognition of efficient work and promotional opportunities.

Hence, it leads to cordial and friendly relationship between the employer and the employees. Industrial

disputes are reduced and there is high morale. Effective motivation helps management to overcome

resistance to change. Motivated employees support all changes that are in the organizational interestas they identify their own advancement with the prosperity of the enterprise.


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5) Motivation Leads to the Stability in the Work Force: Motivation creates confidence in the subordinatesand secures their loyalty to the organization. The rate of absenteeism and turnover is reduced. Thisresults in maintaining a stable work force. The skill and experience of employees continue to beavailable to the advantage of the organization as well as the employees. The organization thereby

builds a better image and is able to attract qualified and competent people.

6) Acceptance of Organizational Changes; Organizations are created in the society. Because of changes inthe society - changes in technology, value system, etc. Organization has to incorporate those changes to

cope up with the requirement of the time. When these changes are introduced in the organization, there isa tendency to resist these changes by the employees. However, if they are properly motivated, they

accept, introduce, and implement these changes keeping the organization on the right track of progress.

Types of Motivation.Motivation may be classified on various bases:

1) Positive versus Negative Motivation: People are said to be motivated positively when they are shown a

reward and the way to achieve it. Such reward .may be, financial or non-financial. Monetary motivation

may include different incentives, wage plans, productive bonus schemes, etc. Non-monetary

motivation may include praise for the work, participation in management, social recognition, etc.

Monetary incentives provide the worker a better standard of life while non-monetary incentives satisfy

the ego of a man.

Positive motivation seeks to create an optimistic atmosphere in the enterprise. Positive motivationinvolves identifying employee potentialities and makes him realize the possible result by achieving his

potentialities. Positive motivation can be referred as 'Anjaneya type of motivation' in Ramayana.

' One can get the desired work done by installing fear in the minds of people. In this method of motivation,

fear of consequences of doing something or not doing something keeps the worker in the desired

direction. This method has got several limitations. Fear creates frustration, a hostile state of mind and an

unfavorable attitude towards the job which hinders efficiency and productivity. So the use of it should be

kept to its minimum.

2}Rational Versus Emotional Motivation: Consumer behaviorists have also made a distinction between 'rational

motives' and 'emotional (or non-rational) motives'. Traditionally the term rationality is associated with

persons who carefully weigh the pros & cons of all the alternatives and then choose the one that gives them

the greatest utility. In the marketing context we can say that consumers who are 'rational' will select the

goals after ascertaining various objective criteria such as size, weight, price, etc. As against this emotional

motive are those goals, which are selected on the basis of emotion's involvement. Usually such goals areselected purely on personal or subjective criteria such as desire for recognition of status, fear, pride, esteem,

love, etc.

3) Primary Motivation vs. Secondary Motivation: Many motivation drives and motives are unknown to the

individual, although they exist in them and motivate them indirectly. Since these drives and motives are

physically attached to people, they are known as primary motivations. They are biological, and the word

primary does not mean that these motives take precedence over other motives. Primary motivations are

basically related, to human needs for psychological satisfaction. Primary motivations are unlearned and

natural, relating to physiological needs. Primary motivation may be of general types which are naturally felt

by the individual. They are competence motives, curiosity and affection. These primary motivational drives use

manipulation and activity to achieve satisfaction. Satisfaction here means the fulfillment of basic human needs.

Secondary motivation is learned whereas primary drives are unlearned and are as natural as feelings of thirst,hunger, etc. Secondary motives are learned and realized as a result of development. As human beings

develop and learn many new ways of satisfaction and comfort, secondary motives crop up, which prevail in

a cultured and educated society? -Secondary motives do not remain secondary in a developedorganization; rather they become essential for moving the activities of educated people. They become primemovers of developed people, because it is natural to feel these needs. Many authors have emphasized theseparation of secondary motivation from primary motivation to retain the identity of each. Secondary motives arealways learned. They are achievement motivation, affiliation motivation and power motivation.

4) Financial and Non-Financial Motivation/incentives: The term 'incentive1

means an inducement, whichrouses or stimulates one to action in a desired direction. An incentive has a motivational power; it influences the

decisions of individuals on putting in efforts towards tasks performance. In modern organizations, a largevariety of incentives are used to motivate the people. These incentives may be broadly grouped into :


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1. Financial or Pecuniary Incentives: The financial incentives are monetary in natures as they involveflow of money from the organization to its staff. The examples of pecuniary benefits are wages,salaries, allowances, bonus, fringe benefits, etc.

2. Non-Financial Incentives: Non-financial incentives do not involve much financial commitments on

the part of the organization. They do not add to the money income of those who .receive them. They

take the form of job enrichment, participative management, praise, opportunity for growth, etc.

Managing Motivation to Influence Interpersonal CommunicationInterpersonal communication is a communication between two persons. Part of your mind (some call it

the Superior ego) tends to evaluate you and interferes with the way you present yourself. If that part is dissatisfiedand disturbed, it will condemn "You" and will taint your output with that condemnation, i.e., it will add negativity to

the way you present yourself in the interpersonal communication.

Interpersonal Effects of Social Rewards and ReinforcesA range of outcomes tend to be associated with social rewards and reinforces. Following are the main

functions of reinforcement during interpersonal encounters:

1) Promoting interaction and maintaining relationships,

2) Increasing the involvement of the interactive partner,

3) Influencing the nature and content of the contribution of the other person,

4) Demonstrating a genuine interest in the ideas, thoughts and feelings of the other,

5) Making interaction interesting and enjoyable,6) Creating an impression ofWarmth and understanding,

7) Increasing the social attractiveness of the source of rewards,

8} Improving the confidence and self-esteem of the recipient,

9) * Manifesting power.

Interpersonal RelationshipsInterpersonal relationship refers to the relationships that exist among people. Interpersonal competence refers to

the degree to which one is accurately aware of his impact on others and of the impact of others on him. It is a

person's ability to engage in any mutually helpful relationship. A manager's role in an organization can be viewed

as a central role surrounded by at least three types of roles: superiors, colleagues, and subordinates.

Besides, these three types of role, he may have to interact with a lot of other people of different positions :

consumers, suppliers, people from regulatory agencies, general public, etc. Interactions with different interest

groups demand different types' of specific skills and competencies. Possession and understanding of these skills

may not guarantee successful human relations, but it can increase one's interpersonal sensitivity and help, to takeappropriate action to improve relationships. But any attempt to improve interpersonal competence must begin

with knowing oneself more accurately i.e., Self Concept. It refers to the attitude a person has towards himself or

herself. A person's self-concept is a reflection of all his past experiences with other persons and includes

characteristics that distinguish him from others.


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Developing Interpersonal Relationship:Developing good and enduring relationship with others requires patience, time and effort. Thus, thedevelopment of successful relationships takes time. Developing interpersonal relationship involves four stages:

Forming First impression: First impression, though inaccurate, are lasting impressions. Initial impressions do not

guarantee'-long-term relationships but they are essential for entering into enduring relationships with others. First

impressions are lasting because they influence the way in which people see subsequent data about the perceived

object or person. So, whether or not first impressions are correct, it is important for us to make favorableimpressions on other people. This is especially important in case of job interviews.

Developing Mutual Expectation: When people are mutually impressed, they are more likely to enter into a long-termrelationship. When this happens, they develop certain expectations about each other. In work organizations,

managers may expect new employees to be competent, productive, reliable and loyal and to conform to

organizational norms. New employees, on the other hand, expect their superiors to be fair, supportive and

considerate of their needs. Unless both the parties develop realistic expectations, the relationship becomes

superficial and less meaningful. The process of working out mutual expectations involves a series of exchanges and

adjustments to each other's expectations, A-set of mutual expectations that is worked out and understood by the

parties is called a psychological contract. (An effective interpersonal relationship cannot develop and be

maintained unless the participants are willing to honor their psychological contracts.)

Honoring Psychological Contract: Each party expects the other to be faithful in the relationship not to take

arbitrary actions and to be honest with him/her. There will, of course, be times when some of these expectations

cannot be fuliy satisfied. But, when this happens, each party must reassure that the other is acting in good faith.

Developing Trusts and Influence: The result of meeting the psychological contract is an increased level of trust andinfluence. When the parties to the contract try to fulfill each .other's expectations, the relationship produces mutual

trust and favorable sentiments. The more satisfactory the association becomes, the greater the influence the parties have

on each other. Since the relationship is fulfilling, the parties will continue to rely on it to satisfy their needs. This dependency

permits them to exert influence on each other.

PerceptionHuman beings are constantly attacked by numerous sensory stimulations including noise, sight, smell, taste

etc, The critical question in the study of perception is why the same universe is viewed differently by different

persons? The answer is the perception. Different people perceive the universe differently. .- .

Perception is the process through which the information from outside environment is selected, received,

organized and interpreted to make it meaningful to us.

Perception is the process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to givemeaning to their environment

According to Kolasa, "Perception is selection and organization of material which -stems from the outside

environment at one time or the other to provide the meaningful entity we experience."

According to S.P. Robbins, "Perception may be defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret

their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment."

According to Joseph Reitz, "Perception includes all those processes by which an individual receives

information about his environment - seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling."

Nature / Features of Perception :

From the above discussion, we can identify the features of perception as follows :

i) Perception is the intellectual process through which a person selects the data from the environment,

organizes it, and obtains meaning from it.ii) Perception is a basic cognitive or psychological process. The manner in which a person perceives the

environment affects his behavior. Thus, people's actions, emotions, thoughts, or feelings are triggeredby the perception of their surroundings.

iii) Perception is a subjective process and different peopl may perceiv the same environmental event

differently based on what particular aspects of the situation they choose to absorb, how they organize

this information, and the manner in which they interpret it to obtain the understanding of the situation.


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Importance of Perception1) Perception is very important in understanding the human behavior, because every person perceives the world

and approaches the life problems differently. Whatever we see or feel is not necessarily the same as it really is.It is because what we hear is not what is really said, but what we perceive as being said. When we buy

something, it is not because it is the best, but because we take it to be the best. Thus, it is because ofperception, we can find out why one individual finds a job satisfying whiie another one may not be satisfied

with it.

2) If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can predict their behavior in thechan ged circumstances by understanding their present perception of the environment. One person maybe viewing the facts in one way which may be different from the facts as seen by another viewer.

3) with the help of perception, the needs of various people can be determined, because people's perceptionis influenced by their needs. Like the mirrors at an amusement park, they distort the world in relation to

their tensions.

4) Perception is very important for the manager who wants to avoid making errors when dealing with

people and events in. the work setting. This problem is made more complicated by the fact that differentpeople perceive the same situation differently. In order to deal with the subordinates effectively, the

managers must understand their perceptions properly.

Thus, for understanding the human behavior, it is very important to understand their perception, that is,

how they perceive the different situations. People's behavior is based on their perceptions of what reality is,

not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is important for understanding the human

behavior.

Components of PerceptionPerception is a process of sensory organs. The mind gets information through the five sense organs, viz., the

eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. The stimulation coming to these organs may be through action, written

messages, oral communication, odor, taste, touch of the product and people. The perception starts with the

awareness of these stimuli. Recognizing these stimuli takes place only after paying attention to {hem. These

messages are then translated into action and behavior.


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EM OTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotion can override our thoughts and profoundly influence our behavior. Developing emotional intelligence skillshelps us recognize, contain and effectively communicate our emotions, as well as recognize the emotions of otherpeople. These abilities have been proven to surpass high cognitive intelligence (IQ) in predicting success in all

types of relationships, at home, at work and in all other areas of cur lives.

Importance of Emotional IntelligenceEmotion can override our thoughts and profoundly influence our behavior. Developing emotional intelligence skills

helps us recognize, contain, and effectively communicate our emotions, as well as recognize the emotions of other

people. These abilities have been proven to surpass high cognitive intelligence (IQ) in predicting success in all

types of relationships, at home, at work, and in all other areas of our lives.

Role of Emotions in interpersonal CommunicationEarly views of non-verbal emotional expressions as largely beneficial and indicative of an individual's internal states

rather than social in nature have given way to a recognition that displays of emotions are both highly communicative and

intended for reception by others. Some emotional expressions are displayed solely in public situations, they cannot besimply expressions of internal emotional states, but rather must be forms of interpersonal communication.

The following roles are played by emotions during the course of Interpersonal Communication:

1) The interpersonal roles of emotion, such as communication of internal mental states and behavioral intent,help improve human-machine interaction by enhancing the synthetic agent's realism and believability.

2) The integration of emotions into purely cognitive architectures also enables affective expressiveness andbehavioral variability that begins to resemble human behavior and thus enhances agent realism and

beiievability, thereby promotion more engaging human-machine interactions.

3) Models of the interpersonal role of emotions are particularly critical in organizational modeling, in whichexplicit models of social interactions must be represented. Augmenting purely cognitive architectures and

models with emotion also enables more accurate and realistic modeling of users in a variety of training and

tutoring applications.

4) Some researchers {e.g., Fischer and Tagney, have gone so far as to 'suggest that emotions function asorganizational structures that give rise to social, scripts that, in turn, produce particular communicative

actions on the part of both senders and receivers.

5) Emotions and emotional messages do riot occur within a vacuum - they are frequently situated withindynamic sequences of interpersonal behavior and interaction.

6) Individuals bring their emotions with them into interactions, and these emotions not only affect how theybehave toward others, but also how others behave towards them.

7} Moreover, an individual's emotional state may be changed through interaction. For this reason, skill at

encoding, decoding, and managing emotions is of utmost importance.

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Business Communication UNIT 5