Audiences of Motivation Theory

There are two primary audiences of motivation theory: researchers and practitioners. Researchers are behavioral scientists whose goal is to examine the validity of theories by designing rigorous empirical tests. One of the reasons why theories are useful is that they go beyond description and prediction and help get at explanation (Why are people who receive less than they feel they deserve displeased?). In contrast, the main goal of practitioners is to use theory to help solve existing organizational problems such as absenteeism, turnover, low productivity, and employee theft. Whereas researchers emphasize validity, practitioners emphasize utility.

Ideally, science and practice should work together. Science should provide the foundation for organizational interventions that are based on theories that have been rigorously tested. If no theories were available, managers' motivational attempts would be rather random or based on personal views of the world. In addition, researchers should be aware of organizational realities so that they develop theories and methods that will be applicable to current problems faced by organizations. In the words of Kurt Lewin, "there is nothing so practical as a good theory." Unfortunately, a synergistic relationship between science and practice does not always occur. Practitioners criticize researchers as being too "ivory tower," and researchers criticize practitioners for not caring enough about rigorous science. As you will see from the business periodicals, newspaper articles, and journal articles, practitioners and researchers also speak different languages, as evidenced by the diverse writing styles. Some theories of motivation that have fallen out of favor with researchers are popular among managers and vice versa.

Rather than taking an "either/or" approach in this course, we will adopt a "both/and" approach by examining each theory from a science as well as practice perspective. That is, we will address theoretical questions (e.g., What motivates people and why?) as well as applied questions (e.g., How can this knowledge be put to practical use?). In keeping with the scientist-practitioner model of Industrial/Organizational psychology, we will study how sound scientific research is applied to issues faced by managers in attempting to motivate their employees.