Motivation & OB

Douglas McGregor (1906–1964) of MIT Sloan — briefly president of Antioch College — crystallized the era's insight: managers' assumptions about people (Theory X or Theory Y) are self-fulfilling. Around him a generation of motivation science bloomed: Victor Vroom's expectancy theory, Frederick Herzberg's two factors, Edwin Locke's goal-setting, Edward Deci's intrinsic motivation, and Albert Bandura's self-efficacy.

A cascade of motivation science: McGregor's Theory X-Y (1960), Vroom's expectancy theory (1964), Herzberg's motivation-hygiene (1968), Locke's goal-setting (1968), Deci's intrinsic motivation (1975), and Bandura's self-efficacy (1977). The leader's assumptions about people became the leverage point.

The era: Situation & Contingency — Situational variables are considered; behavior is moderated by obstacles along the path between subordinates and goals.

Theory X-Y, expectancy, hygiene, goal-setting, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy.

This theory sits in the Situation & Contingency era of the map: Situational variables are considered; behavior is moderated by obstacles along the path between subordinates and goals.

• McGregor, D. (1960). The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar ↗
• Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and Motivation. Wiley. Google Scholar ↗
• Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 53–62. Google Scholar ↗
• Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215. Google Scholar ↗