The intrinsic - extrinsic dichotomy is another useful model (researched by a number of authors) for considering motivation in the workplace. Herzberg's research, for example, found two sets of needs: (I) motivational factors (intrinsic) and (2. maintenance factors (extrinsic). Results from others' research using Herzberg's model provide some insight into motivation in different countries and also help us to determine whether the intrinsic - extrinsic dichotomy is generalizable across cultures. Research on man-
- agers in Greece and on workers in general in an Israeli kibbutz indicate that all these people are motivated more by the nature of the work itself; dissatisfactions resulted from the conditions surrounding the work.18'9 Another study in Zambia found, in general, the same dichotomy. Work motivation was found to result from the intrinsic factors of the opportunity for growth and the nature of the work and, to some extent, physical provisions; factors that produced dissatisfaction and were not motivators were extrinsic - relations with others, fairness in organizational practices, and personal problems.
In addition to research on single countries, Herzberg's theory has been used to compare different countries on the basis of job factors and job satisfaction. A study of MBA candidates from the United States, Australia, Canada, and Singapore, for example, indicated that Herzberg's motivational factors were more important to these prospective managers than hygiene factors, In a broader study of managers from Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan to determine the relative importance of job factors to them and how satisfied they were with those factors, Kananga and Wright drew a number of interesting conclusions. Interpreting their results, we can draw some overall conclusions:
the managers indicated that internally mediated factors (intrinsic, job content factors) were more important than organizationally controlled factors (extrinsic, job context factors). However, they found differences across countries, in particular between the United Kingdom and France, in how much importance the managers placed on job outcomes and also in their relative levels of satisfaction with those outcomes. As a practical application of their research results, Kanungo and Wright suggest the following implications for motivation in the workplace:
Efforts to improve managerial performance in the UK should focus on job content rather than on job context. . . - Job enrichment programs are more likely to improve performance in an intrinsically oriented society
such as Britain, where satisfaction tends to be derived from the job itself, than in France, where job context factors, such as security and fringe
benefits, are more highly valued.
To answer common questions about whether Japanese-style management practices - work groups, quality circles, and long-term employment - make a difference to commitment and job satisfaction, Lincoln studied 8302 workers in 106 factories in the United States and Japan (though not specifically using Herzberg's factors): He concluded that those practices had similar positive or negative effects on work attitudes in both countries. But, while the level of commitment to the company was essentially the same in both samples, the Japanese indicated a lower level of job satLsfaction.
The lower level of satisfaction is contrary to popular expectations because of the well-known Japanese environment of teamwork, productivity, long-term employment, and dedication to the company. However, previous research has also found a lower level of job satisfaction in Japan. Lower work satisfaction indi cats a higher level of motivation to fulfill personal and company goals (that is, to do better), compared to a lower level of motivation indicated by complacency. As Lincoln points out, however, these research findings could be the result of another cultural variable introducing a measurement bias: the Japanese tendency to “color their evaluations of nearly everything with a large dose of pessimism, humility and understatement” in their persistent quest to do better. This underscores the need to consider carefully all the cultural variables involved in observing or managing motivation.
Clearly, there is a need for more cross-cultural research on motivation, but one can draw the tentative conclusion that managers around the world are motivated more by intrinsic than by extrinsic factors. Considerable doubt remains, however, about the universality of Herzberg's or Maslow's theories because of the inability to take into account all of the relevant cultural variables when researching motivation. Different factors have different meaning within the entire cultural context and must be taken into account on a situation-by-situation basis. The need to consider the entire national and cultural context is shown in the following Comparative Management in Focus, which highlights motivational issues for Mexican workers and indicates the importance to them of what I-Herzberg calls maintenance factors. As you read, consider whether this situation supports or refutes Herzberg's theory.
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