Marketing Concept

GOAL SETTING & EQUITY THEORY
Does anyone know why Thomas Alfa Edison managed to invent a light bulb after 20,000 times trials-and-errors? Could you imagine how many 20.000 times is? Most people will surely give up before reaching 20,000 times trials. He could do that because he has a motivation. Motivation is “the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal” (Robbins and Judge, 2011, p. 238). This essay will describe the comparison, contrast, and the usefulness for manager of motivation theories, specifically about Goal Setting and Equity Theory.
Goal setting theory is “a work motivation theory unconcerned with individual differences in needs, desires, or instrumentality perceptions” (Schneider, 1985, p. 577). Goal is assumed as motivator that motivates people to perform job better in order to attain the goal. When people are not success to achieve the goals, they will feel dissatisfied and will work harder to reach the goal. In addition, when they achieve it, they will feel that they have fulfilled the highest need in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is self - actualization (Greenberg and Baron, 2000).
Goals that are applied in goal setting theory, should have certain conditions, which are: specific, difficult but acceptable performance goals, and possible to be given feedback. For example: Harold is a sales employee of Toyota Company. His   manager sets goals to sell 15 cars in a month.   Though normally Harold could only sell 10 cars every month, but because his manager set such goals, he was motivated and succeeded to sell 15 cars each month.
Equity theory is “a social exchange process theory of motivation that focuses on the individual – environment interaction” (Nelson and Quick, 2009, p. 165). Individuals want the fairness judgment between the inputs (their effort and performance) and output (pay, prestige, bonus and promotions) of themselves and others.
There are two types of... [continues]

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