Leadership and Motivation: The Effective Application of Expectancy Theory

This model, namely expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964: Porter and Lawler, 1968), suggests that individuals, acting through self-interest, adopt courses of action perceived as maximizing profitability of desirable outcomes for themselves. This desire to maximize self-interest provides aspiring leaders with unique opportunities to assume leadership roles by simultaneously meeting both follower needs and organizational requirements. High levels of performance occur when we establish motivational environments that inspire followers & leaders (employees reporting to us and those in organizational hierarchy above us) to achieve levels of performance that meet our expectations and perhaps exceed their beliefs in their own capabilities. This is done by developing our capacity to influence others through the use of expectancy theory principles, thereby choosing pull strategy; employed a workforce of leaders to attract anothers journey towards the vision shared by all.

Inequities in organizations, salesperson motivation and job satisfaction

This research indicates that salespersons perceptions of various inequities can produce strong negative influence on their motivation to perform and on job satisfaction. The objective of this paper is to examine how, in a selling job situation, inequities perceived by salespersons affect their work motivation and job satisfaction. The concept of inequity is often interpreted as a nonproportionate association between an individuals effort or performance on the job and the rewards he or she receives (Goodman, 1977; Vecchio, 1984). The results of this study are encouraging as findings confirm most of the expected relationships between inequities perceived by salespersons and their work motivation and satisfaction. Results indicate that inequities tend to produce a more adverse effect on extrinsic as compared to intrinsic valence and instrumentality components of salesperson motivation. Since from an

organizations point of view, extrinsic motivation is generally easier to control than intrinsic motivation, inequity reducing strategies can be very useful in influencing extrinsic motivation of salespersons. Among different types of inequities, monetary reward inequity was shown to be the most potent source of an adverse influence on extrinsic motivation. It is, therefore, important for sales executives to identify the major sources of monetary reward inequities so that salesperson work motivation can be enhanced. At the same time, other inequities (i.e., task assignment inequity, supervisory behavior inequity, promotion inequity, and re- cognition inequity) were also substantial instrumental in affecting extrinsic motivation of salespersons. Only

supervisory behavior inequity and recognition inequity influenced the intrinsic dimension of work motivation. Findings also show that perceived inequities produce significant negative influence on both the general satisfaction and the growth satisfaction of salespersons. Since satisfaction levels among salespersons can further influence their work motivation (Walker, Churchill and Ford, 1977), a focus on inequity reducing strategies should be considered even more important from a managerial perspective. Based on the findings of this study, a number of implications can be considered. First, there are inequities other than the monetary reward inequities which can have profound impact on salesperson motivation and job satisfaction; supervisory behavior inequity, task assignment inequity, promotion inequity, and recognition inequity. Second, though inequities can be viewed as a major source of affecting extrinsic motivation, supervisory behavior inequity and recognition inequity can produce a significant adverse effect on salesperson intrinsic motivation as well. Third, the management should attempt to identify antecedents of various inequities. Though this study has not addressed the issue of factors leading to inequities, a number of studies in organizational psychology have discussed the determinants of inequities (Adams, 1979; Mowday, 1979). Fourth, it should be recognized that the inequity problem should be viewed from a perspective of salesperson perception and not as an objective characteristic of the organization. Redesigning a salespersons job or territory or offering more rewards may not increase motivation and job satisfaction if such efforts are not seen by the salesperson as changing the input-output mix.