Motivation Theories and Team Dynamics at Fraser Food Assignment Sample

1. Explain a content theory of motivation and a process theory of motivation and how they can explain the actions of individuals in Fraser Food.

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Content theory of motivation- Herzberg's Two Factor Theory

Content theories, also termed need theories of motivation, mainly consider the internal factors of the individuals which directly influence human behaviour (Thant and Chang., 2021). Analysing the case scenario of Fraser Food, it can be said that Herzberg's Two Factor Theory has been applied to Fraser Food. This theory argues that there exists a separate set of mutually distinctive factors within an organisational setting which causes job satisfaction (Motivation factor) and dissatisfaction (Hygiene factors). As per the theory, the presence of motivation factors encourages job satisfaction, while the lack of hygiene factors discourages job satisfaction (Alrawahi et al., 2020). The motivator and hygiene factor of Fraser Food has been identified in the following table.

Actions to improve Hygiene factors

• Fraser Food highly values its staff to provide a competitive remuneration package with a salary above minimum wage and bonus opportunities. The company also offers employee benefits including pension, health insurance, profit sharing scheme, and subsidised canteen. These benefits give the employees a sense of security and keep them engaged with the company.

Actions to improve Motivator factors

• Robin Fraser, the ongoing Operation Director, implements a democratic leadership style within the organisational setting, where employees are encouraged to participate in the decision-making process, which makes them feel valued by the company.
• Hazim Khan, who worked at the product development stage, led a team of chefs who are working towards new recipes. As a leader, Hazim gives their team the freedom to experiment and create a new product to add to the company's catering. In such an approach, the leader makes the team encourage and provides recognition, advancement and job satisfaction opportunities.
• Kathryn Hannah, the head of the HRM team, works to provide training to the staff, which allows them to develop the skills as per the changing need of the industry. Such actions enable the employees to get the opportunity for growth and advancement.

Process theory of motivation- Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Process theories of motivation attempt to clarify the rationale behind why actions are taken. These theories concentrate on how we select a target and the effort we put in to "strike" the objective (Chopra., 2019). Vroom’s Expectancy Theory was found most applicable to explain the scenario of Fraser Food. According to theory, behaviour is the product of conscious decisions made between alternatives with the goals of maximising pleasure and minimising pain.

Vroom came to the realisation that a worker's performance is dependent on a variety of human traits, including personality, skills, knowledge, experience, and capacities. In Fraser Food, staff are encouraged to increase their ability through implementing training programs, which allow them to develop the belief of expectancy . A proper bonus is issued to the employees based on their effort, which allows them to develop a belief in instrumentality . Finally, people get valance , which is about the importance employees places upon the expected outcome (Swain et al., 2020).

2. Explain the methods used by managers to improve job performance within Fresher Food and justify their suitability

There are different methods through which managers motivate the workforce and boost job performance. In the case scenario of Fresher Food, there are 3 managing directors and four senior managers in the organisation, and each one has its own field of functioning, goals and style of monument. For instance, managing director, David Fresher, believes in an autocratic style of leadership, and he believes the employees are motivated through higher pay and incentives. So in the organisation, a bonus system is there, which boosts motivation among the employees, improves performance and gets higher pay (Sabuhari et al., 2020). On the other hand, Hazim Khan Product Development manager uses the method of praise and encouraging feedback. Hazim Khan gives his team the freedom to experiment to come up with new recipes and provide feedback analysing their effort and evaluating the review from the customers. Further, Kathryn Hannah, the head of the HRM team, use the method of professional development opportunity to make the workforce adaptable to the changing need of the industry.

3. Explain the importance of team working and state and how it operates within Fraser Food.

Teamwork is crucial to lead an organisation towards its goal, as the success of the organisation comes with a collaborative effort from the people of the organisation. According to Zhang et al (2021), people who are supported by a team are more likely to take calculated risks that result in creativity, individual development, improved job satisfaction, stress reduction, and in turn, better individual and organisational performance. Analysing the case scenario of Fraser Food, it can be said that the organisation effectively maintains a proper team culture. The organisation has a proper management team with three Directors and Four Senior managers with well-defined roles and responsibilities, linking with the organisational mission and mantra of QPP (people, quality, profit). Each of the managers has a proper team to carry out the respective responsibility and contribute to the growth of the organisation.

4. Identify and analyse three factors that affect team cohesiveness and performance. Examine the influence of the three factors in Fraser Food.

The three identified factors affecting team cohesiveness are discussed as follows:

Similarities in values and attitudes : The similarity of views and ideals among group members is one of the most powerful elements of group cohesion. Working with individuals who share our values, principles, morals, and standards of behaviour is easier and more effective and builds greater bonds (Mutonyi et al., 2020). In Fraser Food, a distinction in attitude and values has been witnessed between the Managing Director (David Fraser) and the Operation Director (Robin Fresher), who shares a relationship of father and son. David holds an autocratic attitude, while Robin holds a democratic attitude. The difference could impact the cohesiveness and performance of the team.

Interdependency : In comparison to a group whose members perform tasks that depend on one another, which results in stronger cohesion, the cohesiveness of such a group will be lower when each member engages in separate activities. In Fraser Food, the lower-level teams under each manager have greater interdependency, but the upper-level team has lesser interdependency.

Management Behaviour : The level of cohesiveness that exists within a group is directly influenced by management behaviour. The manager might hinder interpersonal relationships by inciting unhealthy competition among the workforce (Bravo et al., 2019). On the other hand, he can encourage cooperation to increase solidarity. In Fraser Food, the management behaviour is mostly found to be positive, where positive relationship and greater team cohesiveness is encouraged.

References

Alrawahi, S., Sellgren, S.F., Altouby, S., Alwahaibi, N. and Brommels, M., (2020). The application of Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation to job satisfaction in clinical laboratories in Omani hospitals. Heliyon , 6 (9), p.e04829. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020316728

Bravo, R., Catalán, S. and Pina, J.M., (2019). Analysing teamwork in higher education: An empirical study on the antecedents and consequences of team cohesiveness. Studies in Higher Education , 44 (7), pp.1153-1165. https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/78135/Analysing_teamwork_in_higher_education.pdf?sequence=1

Chopra, K., (2019). Indian shopper motivation to use artificial intelligence: Generating Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation using grounded theory approach. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management . https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Komal-Chopra/publication/332387912_Indian_shopper_motivation_to_use_artificial_intelligence_Generating_Vroom's_expectancy_theory_of_motivation_using_grounded_theory_approach/links/614eabc6d2ebba7be7473857/Indian-shopper-motivation-to-use-artificial-intelligence-Generating-Vrooms-expectancy-theory-of-motivation-using-grounded-theory-approach.pdf

Mutonyi, B.R., Slåtten, T. and Lien, G., (2020). Empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness, individual learning orientation and individual innovative behaviour in the public sector: empirical evidence from Norway. International Journal of Public Leadership , 16 (2), pp.175-197. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJPL-07-2019-0045/full/html

Sabuhari, R., Sudiro, A., Irawanto, D. and Rahayu, M., (2020). The effects of human resource flexibility, employee competency, organizational culture adaptation and job satisfaction on employee performance. Management Science Letters , 10 (8), pp.1775-1786. http://m.growingscience.com/msl/Vol10/msl_2020_1.pdf

Swain, J., Kumlien, K. and Bond, A., (2020). An experiential exercise for teaching theories of work motivation: using a game to teach equity and expectancy theories. Organization Management Journal . https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/OMJ-06-2019-0742/full/html

Thant, Z.M. and Chang, Y., (2021). Determinants of public employee job satisfaction in Myanmar: Focus on Herzberg’s two factor theory. Public Organization Review , 21 (1), pp.157-175. https://www.academia.edu/download/86500795/s11115-020-00481-6.pdf

Zhang, Y., Wang, Z. and Wei, X., (2021). Team leaders HR attributions and their implications on teams and employee-level outcomes. In Handbook on HR Process Research (pp. 70-82). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Samia-Jamshed/publication/329501504_Relationship_between_team_culture_and_team_performance_through_lens_of_knowledge_sharing_and_team_emotional_intelligence/links/600e3ae2a6fdccdcb87abcd4/Relationship-between-team-culture-and-team-performance-through-lens-of-knowledge-sharing-and-team-emotional-intelligence.pdf