ABSTRACT
Motivation is the study of why people think and act as they do. Motivation has three major components: activation; persistence; and intensity. Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, studied self-actualizing people whom he admired. His models included Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Eleanor Roosevelt. He investigated their frequent peak experiences, desires for creative work, and hopes for a better world. He suggested five broad layers of need: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a Case Western Reserve University and medical school psychology professor and his colleagues, designed a two-factor theory of motivation: the motivation/hygiene theory. Goal setting theory is arguably the most rigorously developed theory in organizational behavior. It has practical applications, and it continues to mature. Goals are central or implicit variables in several theories of motivation in organizational behavior. Locke and Latham's focus on goals helped clarify and articulate its key role in employee choices, behaviors, and satisfaction.
