CHAPTER 13: MOTIVATION ACROSS CULTURES

OBJECTIVES OF THE CHAPTER

1. Definition of motivation

2. Examination of the hierarchy of needs

3. Discussion about the two factory theory of motivation

4. Description of achievement motivation theory

5. Relation of the importance of the job design and work centrality in understanding how to motivate employees in an international context.

I. The nature of motivation

Motivation is a physiological process through which unsatisfied wants or needs lead to drives that are aimed at goals or incentives.

Figure the basic Motivation Process

Example
Many MNCs managers assume they can motivate their foreign personnel with the same approaches in their country.
So, there are two agreed-on assumptions about work motivation in the international arena. 1. The universalist assumption

The motivation process is universal. The specific content and goals are influenced by culture.
Eg: in the USA money Japan respect and power
The motivational process is the same, but the needs and the goals are different because of differences between the two cultures.

2. The assumption of content and process

There are two categories: content and process.
Content theories explain work motivation in terms of what arouses, energizes, or initialed employee behavior.
They examine motivation in more general terms and are more useful in creating a composite picture of employee motivation in a particular country or region.
Process theories of worker motivation explain how employee behavior is initialized, redirected and halted.
This last are more sophisticated and tend to focus on individual behavior in specific settings.
Regarding international human resource management, they consider three content theory that we will see following. II. The hierarchy-of-need theory

Based on Abraham MASLOW work, this theory identifies the international management value in understanding