Motivational Theorists
6
Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 1917) advanced the idea that people; as a collective, are mainly motivated by money. His theory of Scientific Management argue the following:
People do not naturally enjoy work and need so close supervision and control. Therefore, managers, coaches and guardians of the like should break down production into a series of small tasks. People should be given the appropriate training and –tools so they are able to work as efficiently as possible on the one set task. Worker can then be paid according to the amount of output they can do in a set time period – piece rate pay.
Taylor’s methods were widely embraced in various organisations and businesses that saw increased productivity levels. The most notable advocate was Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, who used them to design the first ever production line, making Ford cars. This created the start of mass production for companies around the globe.
Taylors approach has close links with the concept of an autocratic management style (managers take all the decisions and simply give orders to subordinates) and McGregor’s Theory X approach to people (people are seen as lazy and avoid responsibility).
However, people soon came to dislike Taylor’s approach as they were only provided boring, repetitive task to carry out and were being treated like machines. Firms could also afford to layoff workers as the productivity increased, which lead to the obvious downfall in the economy and strikes that dis-satisfied workers.
There are a number of different views on the sociological aspect of motivation. The most commonly held view or theories are discussed below which have been developed over the past 100 years. Unfortunately these theories do not all reach the same conclusion, however, as a collective you will be able to see how different theories can compare against one another and also discover a viewpoint on how you can best put it into and personal context.