An integrative model of effort propensity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2007.07.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Over twenty years ago, Mitchell [Mitchell, T.R. (1982) Motivation: New directions for theory, research, and practice. Academy of Management Review, 7:80–88.] called for research which integrates and competitively tests the multitude of motivation theories competitively. Yet, with few exceptions, theories of motivation tend to be narrow in focus. However, many motivation theories incorporate similar predictor variables such as job satisfaction, perceived equity, and organizational commitment, suggesting that theory integration is warranted. In this paper, several literatures are reviewed which deal with employee effort at different levels (e.g., withholding effort, offering extra effort). “Effort propensity” is offered as an appropriate integrating variable, and an integrative model of effort propensity which pulls these various literatures together and stimulates the type of research described by Mitchell [Mitchell, T.R. (1982) Motivation: New directions for theory, research, and practice. Academy of Management Review, 7:80–88.] is proposed.

Section snippets

An integrative model of effort propensity

Employee effort, both the offering and the withholding of it, has long been of interest to managers and researchers. Many theories have been proposed over the last forty-plus years which attempt to predict when employees will (or won't) expend effort on behalf of the organization, while other theories have been offered which attempt to predict how much effort will be offered (Adams, 1975; Herzberg, 1968; Hackman and Lawler, 1971; Locke, 1975; Luthans and Krietner, 1975, Maslow, 1970, Skinner,

An integrative model of effort propensities

Many of previous theories of employee motivation have incorporated several common predictor variables, (such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and perceived equity). Although, independently, authors have typically not considered themselves as examining the same phenomenon, in a sense they are all attempting to predict employee effort, albeit at different ends of the effort continuum. Rather than focusing on those situations where employees may decide to withhold effort, or those

Selected theories which may be integrated

Several theories, in seemingly unrelated research streams, share two things in common. First, they deal with employee effort to perform a task. Some focus on in-role job performance, some on extra-role job performance, others focus on offering less than requested or expected levels of effort, and still others on escaping the workplace entirely. In all of these lines of research, employees are making decisions about whether to offer any effort in performing tasks, and/or how much effort to

Discussion

While previous authors have called for integrative theories and research, most theories of effort and motivation remain very narrow in focus, dealing with limited aspects of the motivation process. At the same time, many of these theories incorporate many of the same predictor variables, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This has lead to a number of related literatures flourishing, but perhaps reinventing at least parts of the same wheel. Various terms are proffered for

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