Контрольная работа № 3 Вариант 2

PRE-READING EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Before you read the text look at the following words and try to guess what the text is about:

manager, to motivate, employee, to encourage, authority, reward, responsibility, satisfy, discipline, self-development, motivator, participation, recognition, quality work.

Ex. 2. Choose a suitable word from those above and complete the sentences below:

1. _______ means to provide someone with a strong reason for doing something.

2. _______ is something received as a return for doing something good or valuable.

3. _______ is the state of being accepted as real or valuable.

4. _______ is a person who plans, organises, directs, and controls a company's business.

5. _______ is the work of oneself to improve professional skills or personal qualities.

Reading managers and motivation

Managers make conscious efforts to motivate their employees to do their best work. They motivate indirectly by trying to create the kind of physical and emotional environment that encourages workers. They motivate directly through authority, discipline, and rewards. A number of different approaches to this task are popular today.

How managers try to motivate others is determined partly by their attitudes toward people. Douglas McGregor has described two common views, calling them Theory X and Theory Y. Some managers hold the view that the average human being has an inherent dislike for work, that he or she must be pushed into it, prefers to be directed by others, and wishes to avoid responsibility. This is Theory X. Managers who uphold Theory Y believe that mental and physical work is as natural as play or rest, that employees commit themselves to goals that satisfy their need for self-respect and personal fulfilment, and that they readily accept responsibility for such work, disciplining themselves as they strive to achieve these goals.

Managers who hold one or the other view use different methods to motivate employees. Theory X managers usually stress material rewards and job security: wages, salary increases, and employee benefits. When these fail as motivators, they may rely on strict discipline, threats of job loss, suspensions, demotions and other punishments. Theory Y managers usually try to create work conditions that will bring more fulfilment to workers. They will often be more democratic and encourage workers to participate more in planning and management.

Frederick Herzberg has devised a useful system for organising motivating forces. According to Herzberg, two general factors influence motivation: (a) the need for survival, physical well-being, and comfort, and (b) the need for self-development, responsibility, and expression.

He calls the first group maintenance, or hygiene, factors because they relate to the maintenance of life and health. These hygiene factors can only cause dissatisfaction when they are not present. When they are satisfied, they are ignored. The second group is positive motivating, or satisfying, factors. Their presence brings actual satisfaction and fulfilment to humans. The positive motivators Herzberg lists include opportunities to achieve something important – reaching a difficult goal; recognition for achievement – how interesting and challenging the work is; the extent of responsibility an individual has.

Rensis Likert, in his extensive studies of managers and management styles, has identified an approach to management that ought to provide employees with positive motivators. He calls it System 4, or participative management, contrasting it with three other systems: exploitive-authoritative, benevolent-authoritative, and consultative. System 4 stresses the active participation of employees for the management process. This gives workers greater opportunities in achievement, recognition, interesting work assignments and responsibility. Likert's studies indicate that these factors really are motivating. He found greater group loyalty and more cooperation, along with high outputs, better quality work, and lower costs, under System 4 management.