Usefulness of Cognitive Theories of Motivation Essay

Usefulness of Cognitive Theories of Motivation - Essay Example Observations made by economists indicate that entrepreneurial activities are deemed to be supreme sources of technological innovations hence it is important to understand the influence of regional culture on entrepreneurship activities. Recent surveys on entrepreneurship reveal that Wales has been doing quite well. This success is associated with regional focus on entrepreneurship behavior and development (Aldrich, 2000). Theories - These are set of statements devised to elaborate a phenomenon which has been reviewed more than once. The phenomena should be one that has been universally accepted and can be used to predict occurrence of natural phenomena. According to Aldrich (2000), success of entrepreneurs depends on their willingness to become what they want. In the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities, individual willingness is essential during decision-making upon discovery of these opportunities. This aspect matters a great deal when an individual is pursuing resources and wh en designing mechanisms to be used in exploiting the discovered opportunities. Human motivations should accompany willingness for the entrepreneurial activities to be effected. Cognitive theories of motivation are very useful during decision making and it influences the way one undertakes the enterprising process. They affect locus of control i.e. individuals’ beliefs that their actions affect the outcomes (Aldrich, 2000). These theories help individuals to explore entrepreneurial related phenomena.

Lived experience interacting with organizations that highlights either Essay

Lived experience interacting with organizations that highlights either motivation or stress - Essay Example The impact of motivation manifests in the supermarket, which equally faces the challenge of ensuring that the employees are motivated to perform well. Motivation is not only a personal urge to perform but also a fundamental necessity for one’s success in life, and individuals must therefore know how to motivate themselves. This is so because the workplace has many challenges required to be overcome by individual employees, and hence the need for motivation. In light of this, the management of reference organizations bears the responsibility of knowing how to motivate the employees though the management unfortunately lacks control of the derived motivation. As a result, the employees have a duty to derive personal motivation and to control the motivation generated by the management with a view of boosting the overall performance of the organization. Motivation may refer to a psychological force that stimulates or reinforces action geared towards a specified direction for purpos es of attaining a certain goal. Motivation aims at controlling and ensuring persistence in all goal-directed behaviors. As seen above, motivation is an employee’s quest to satisfy or fulfill their personal need. Various theories seek to address motivation, but in this context, McClelland's Need Theory stands out. McClelland's Need Theory of motivation asserts that unsatisfied needs are the motivators of human actions. McClelland's Need Theory further acknowledges the different levels of needs that derive human motivation where individuals must satisfy specific lower needs before satisfying higher ones. Nevertheless, the theory notes that individuals must bear the will and get the opportunity to satisfy such needs for them to derive motivation. Employment in different organizations acts as a better opportunity and measure for motivation among individuals. Indeed, through my interactions with the employees and management at the supermarket, I got the opportunity to experience v arious needs and the resultant motivation among the employees. My experience allowed me to confirm the complexity of the motivation phenomenon and the needs of individuals, which form a good base to address motivation in an organization. Just as the needs theory highlights, only the unsatisfied needs influence behavior among employees working for different organizations. At the supermarket, I experienced individuals with different levels of motivation based on their unsatisfied needs and other factors. The low-paid employees and junior employees seemingly manifested very low levels of motivation probably because they had very many unsatisfied needs. An interview and consistent observation of the employees, during and after work, established that low pay and low job levels demotivate reference employees from performing better. On the other hand, the management, high-paid workers, and the senior employees of the supermarket had very high levels of motivation based on the comfort of th eir work status. The management, high-paid workers, and the senior employees kept urging, pressuring, and encouraging the seemingly poor motivated employees to perform better. It is arguably true that the need for higher pay, promotions, better working conditions, and recognition acted as a motivation for the employees to perform better at the supermarket. The need to be in control and influence other employees, search for a competitive position, and the need