Page 238 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Unit 11: Work Motivation

Notes
Table 11.3: Lists the Assumptions that McGregor makes about people, resolving them
in his now famous Theory X and Theory Y

Source: D.M. McGregor, "The Human Side of Enterprise", Management Review, November 1957:
Page 22-28, 88-92.

11.2.3 Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Fredrick Herzberg departed from the need hierarchy approach to motivation and examined the
experiences that satisfied or dissatisfied people's needs at work. This need motivation theory
became known as the 'two-factor theory'. Herzberg's original study included 200 engineers and
accountants in Western Pennsylvania during the 1950s. Prior to that time, it was common for
those researching work motivation to view the concept of job satisfaction as one-dimensional,
that is, job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction were viewed as opposite ends of the same continuum.
This meant that something that caused job satisfaction, would cause job dissatisfaction if it were
removed; similarly, something that caused job dissatisfaction, if removed, would result in job
satisfaction. Based upon unstructured interviews with 200 engineers and accountants, Herzberg
concluded that this view of job satisfaction was incorrect, and that satisfaction and dissatisfaction
were actually conceptually different factors caused by different phenomena in the work
environment. These two views of job satisfaction are shown in Figure 11.2.
Figure 11.2: Contrasting Views of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

Traditional View

Satisfaction Dissatisfaction
Herzberg's View
Motivators
Satisfaction
No Satisfaction

Hygiene Factors
No dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction
Source: Stephen P Robbins "Organisation Behaviour – Concepts, Controversies, Applications", (Seventh Edition),
1996, page 217.
Work conditions related to satisfaction of the need for psychological growth were labelled
motivation factors. Work conditions related to dissatisfaction caused by discomfort or pain was
labelled 'hygiene factors'. Each set of factors related to one aspect of what Herzberg identified as
the human-being's dual nature regarding the work environment. Thus, motivation factors relate

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