The Spirit of the Squirrel

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The Spirit of the Squirrel In observing the industriousness of squirrels in a spruce forest, Bowles and Blanchard teach lessons about the nature of work and the motivational factors related to that. For employees to become motivated to work, it must be worthwhile. (Bowles, 1998 p29) For the squirrels, survival depends upon cacheing sufficient food for the winter. Greenberg presents an entire chapter on what motivates people to work. (Greenberg, 2010 pp 160 - 190) In it Greenberg presents several theories of motivation including need hierarchy theory, equity theory and expectancy theory. Whereas Bowles and Blanchard present their program as indifferent to the objective content of the job, Greenberg goes out of his way to identify job characteristics (as distinct from managerial interventions) that affect employee satisfaction. He presents a job characteristics model (Greenberg, 2010 p186) that parallels several points in Gung Ho! This is not to say that Greenberg ignores management’s ability to influence the motivating potential of jobs. He discusses several interventions that can lead to more satisfying jobs. First, he suggests that employees be assigned a whole job, rather than using several workers to perform separate parts of the job. This provides greater skill variety and task identity, which serves to improve job satisfaction. Second, Greenberg suggests that jobs be arranged such that the person performing the service is in direct contact with the recipient of the service. This serves to build an accountability connection with customers. And, finally Greenberg suggests that jobs be arranged to provide as much feedback as possible. When people know how they are doing, they are better equipped to take corrective actions wh... ... middle of paper ... ...elves and others. Companies generate vitality by giving people the sense that what they do on a daily basis makes a difference.” (Spreitzer & Porath, 2012) Conclusions Greenberg and Bowles and Blanchard are congruent texts that address many of the same issues in different ways. Both are valuable for their intended audiences. As a popular business title, Gung Ho! has a remarkable staying power in the market place. The fact that it is the basis for a popular consultancy probably helps. Many companies attest to the methodology presented as being helpful. Managing Behavior in Organizations has an even longer tenure on the market. However, as a textbook it is much less visible to the public eye. Both texts present valuable information for the manager. One would expect that they can each continue to be successful in their spheres of influence into the foreseeable future.

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