Theory Z. Theory Z emerged in the 1980s. It attempts to motivate
workers by giving them more responsibility and making them feel
more appreciated. It was developed, in part, in the light of Japanese
management practices, which allowed for more worker participation
in decision making and provided for less specialized career paths.
Expectancy Theory. Developed by Victor Vroom, this concept assumes
that the quality of employees’ efforts is influenced by the outcomes
they will receive for their efforts. They will be motivated to the
degree that they feel that their efforts will result in an acceptable performance,
that that performance will be rewarded, and that the value
of the reward will be highly positive. In order for managers to practically
apply the theories associated with expectancy theory, they need to
define the desired behaviors clearly. Once this is accomplished, the
manager should think about rewards that could serve as possible reinforcers
and how these rewards will have different values for different
individuals. Employees must then be informed about what must be
done to receive these rewards, and managers need to provide feedback
on employee performance. If a desired behavior is achieved, the reward
must be given immediately.