Psychology of Motivation, The: Abraham Maslow and Frederick Winslow Taylor
In the late 19th and early 20th century, attitudes towards workers and how they could be motivated focused on what psychologist Abraham Maslow would later call lower level needs in his hierarchy of needs theory. Frederick Winslow Taylor, known as th...
Job Performance and Rewards
Sometimes it's very challenging to determine if an employee has met established goals, particularly if that individual is part of a larger team. And it can be especially challenging to appropriately reward individual job performance within the conte...
Human Resources and Planning
The notion that an organization's human resources are vital assets that should be included in each aspect of strategic planning sounds logical and obvious. But, in reality, the idea of integrating human resources into the fabric of strategic plannin...
Human Resources: Morale and Motivation
Morale in the workplace depends primarily on the working conditions that management creates. In most cases, the deciding factor is whether management treats employees as valued resources, and tries to provide meaningful, satisfying work, or instead ...
Increasing Productivity
One way to increase productivity is by improving technology. Another is through long-term investment. Research and development, capital improvements, and workforce training can all be extremely expensive and may not pay off for years. But they do ge...
Performance Appraisals
A very important, yet often neglected aspect of managerial responsibility is performance appraisal. Simply stated, appraisals measure how well an employee is accomplishing assigned tasks. They also provide a means for communication between managers ...
Organizational Culture and Quality
In the 1980's, the issue of quality became so critical that an entire philosophy of management--known as total quality management, or "TQM,"--evolved. It was based on the notion that, ultimately, corporate success rests on quality. The impact of thi...
Social Responsibility and Profitability
One reason some organizations are hesitant to adopt social responsibility programs is cost. The argument here is that profit is the cornerstone on which a business is built, and that additional responsibilities only jeopardize the efficiency of prof...