ABSTRACT
The organizational purpose of motivational systems is to find ethical ways of getting groups and their members to do what needs to be done under a variety of conditions. Energy mobilization in task groups reflects both individual and on-going social processes. A task group’s conformity inducing tendencies relate directly to the incentive “calculations” made by individuals. Members in failing groups appear to have a strong preference for unreasonably difficult tasks which makes them vulnerable to subsequent failure. It is clear that there is more than one way to motivate people and groups to perform tasks and achieve goals in work organizations. Cyclical variations in energy required by the task will be identified as experience accumulates. The employer’s motivational system and related administrative policies can be no better than the implicit theories and beliefs on which they are based. The presence of a group imposes extra considerations when weighing motivational methods.
