Culture, work, and motivation

Richard M. Steers; Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde; Luciara Nardon

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511810510.010

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9 - Culture, work, and motivation

Richard M. Steers ,

Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde and

Luciara Nardon

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Richard M. Steers: Affiliation:
University of Oregon
Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde: Affiliation:
IESE Business School, Barcelona
Luciara Nardon: Affiliation:
Carleton University, Ottawa

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Summary

To motivate employees, you must bring them into the family and treat them like respected members of it.

Akio Morita Founder and former CEO, Sony Corporation, Japan

We need the fork on employees' necks in Russia, not all these nice words and baby techniques.

Snejina Michailova University of Auckland, New Zealand

People in the workplace obviously come in different shapes and sizes, abilities and skills, ages and genders, educational and income levels, and so forth. They may be colleagues, managers, subordinates, advisors, customers, clients, and personal friends. They may speak different languages, approach problem solving in different ways, and sometimes seek different rewards and outcomes for doing the same job. What most of these people have in common, though, is a collective need to make useful contributions to those around them (as they define “useful”). That is, save for a few social loafers and free riders, most people seek to belong somewhere and to be recognized for their own personal worth. They seek to add value to their group or society and to be recognized and respected. When this drive is framed within the context of organizations, it becomes a question of work motivation. That is, what is it within people and their environments that influence them to work hard (or not), contribute their skills and expertise (or not), and continue to be a contributing member (or not)? And how do these motivational influences vary, if at all, across national boundaries?

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Type: Chapter
Information: Management across Cultures
Challenges and Strategies
, pp. 279 - 316

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810510.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2010

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