Starbucks: The Importance Of Motivation In Management

Introduction

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within individuals, or the process of stimulating people to accomplish goals. It was taken from the Latin word 'move ' for the first time. Motivation in management describes how managers promote employee productivity. All human behaviors are stimulated by a motivation or need. There can be positive motivation such as higher pay and power position, and negative motivation implies the use of penalties, and punishments. Punishment and encouragement are strong motivators. Human motivation stems from the person’s needs. The different perspectives to motivation have been classified into both early and contemporary theories.

It implements motivation both financially and non financially. In terms of financial motivation, Starbucks awards its employees with portions of the company’s shares, as well as bonuses for those who exceed 20 working hours per week. Starbucks also motivates its employees non-financially, through treating them equally, or referring to them as partners, as well as listening to them and taking their opinions into consideration. In addition, Starbucks cares about the well being of its employees and offers fringe benefits, such as medical insurance, holidays and price reductions. This report will be discussing the importance of motivation for Starbucks and how it is applied throughout the organization, while relating this to motivational

The alternatives related to Starbucks are related to three of these theories which are equity theory, Theory x and y, and the two-factor theory. First, equal treatment is related to equity theory that concerns equal treatment of employees in the workplace despite their gender, level of education and positions. Starbucks applies this by adapting "partners" concept as employees and managers are treated the same despite their titles, raising team spirit. Second, listening to employees is relevant to theory x and y by McGregor. Theory x oversees employees demotivated to get jobs done without caring about improving the working conditions so managers adapt an autocratic leadership style. On the contrary, theory y employees are the most significant asset in the organization; they are motivated by having sense of recognition so democratic leadership is implemented. Since the hierarchal scheme is collapsed, front line workers have the right to share their ideas same as managers. Third, pay and benefits correlate to two-factor theory by Herzberg. It involves two factors, hygiene factors that lead to dissatisfaction disappearance, and motivators essential for satisfaction. Not only does Starbucks offer salaries, bonuses to who work over 20 hours per week but it also considers them shareholders subscribing yearly dividends to the backbone of the company. The three perspectives are applied to achieve the highest level of