Organizational Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership

Citation

Miner, J. B. (2005). Organizational Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership. M.E. Sharpe (now listed by Routledge).

Chapter Summary

The book has nineteen chapters in three parts: a scientific introduction, nine chapters on motivation, and eight on leadership. According to the publisher, each theory chapter follows a common plan: the background of the theorist, the context in which the theory arose, its initial and later statements, research on it by its author and others, including meta-analyses and reviews, and practical applications. Each chapter also opens with a boxed summary of the theory.

Part I: Scientific Introduction (Chapters 1–2)

Chapter 1, Science and Its Theory, and Chapter 2, The Conduct of Research and the Development of Knowledge, are the two introductory chapters on the scientific method and on how knowledge develops. Their subject matter is the scientific method as applied to theory building in the field.

Part II: Theories of Motivation (Chapters 3–11)

Chapter 3, From Social Psychology and Personality Theory, opens the motivation part with the contribution of social psychology and personality theory.

Chapters 4–6 cover three named theories: Achievement Motivation Theory, Motivation-Hygiene Theory and Job Characteristics Theory.

Chapters 7–9 cover Expectancy Theories, Operant Behavior and Organizational Behavior Modification and Equity Theory.

Chapter 10, Goal-Setting Theory, and Chapter 11, Attribution Theory: Managerial Perceptions of the Poor Performing Subordinate, close the motivation part. The latter is the one chapter whose title ties the theory to a specific managerial situation.

Part III: Theories of Leadership (Chapters 12–19)

Chapter 12, Normative Decision Process Theory, and Chapter 13, Contingency Theory of Leadership, open the leadership part.

Chapter 14, Vertical Dyad Linkage and Leader–Member Exchange Theory, and Chapter 15, Information Processing Theory of Leadership, continue with leader-member relations and with an information-processing approach.

Chapter 16, Substitutes for Leadership, and Chapter 17, Role Motivation Theory, follow.

Chapter 18, Charismatic Leadership Theory, and Chapter 19, Transformational Leadership Theory, end the book.

Key Concepts

Part I

• Theory and the scientific method: the criteria used to judge whether a theory in organizational behavior is sound.
• Development of knowledge: how research accumulates, and is reviewed, in the field.

Part II

• Achievement motivation, motivation-hygiene and job characteristics: three named theories treated in successive chapters.
• Expectancy, operant behavior and equity: three further named theories, the second concerned with behavior modification in organizations.
• Goal setting and attribution: goal-setting as a theory of motivation, and attribution as applied to managers' perceptions of poorly performing subordinates.

Part III

• Decision process and contingency theories: the first two leadership chapters.
• Leader–member relations and information processing: leadership treated as a relationship and as a cognitive process.
• Role motivation, substitutes for leadership, charismatic and transformational leadership: the remaining leadership theories.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A uniform chapter plan. Because every theory chapter follows the same plan, the book works as a reference: a reader can find the origins, later development, research record and applications of a theory in a predictable place.
• Boxed summaries. The summary at the start of each chapter allows quick revision or a first scan before the detailed discussion.
• Evidence over description. The publisher stresses the research on each theory, including meta-analyses and reviews, which suits readers who want to judge theories rather than just learn them.
• Scientific framing. The two opening chapters on science and theory give a standard against which the other seventeen chapters can be read.
• Reception. The Routledge page quotes Academy of Management Review calling the book "the state of the art of organizational behaviour theories".

Limitations

• Selective coverage. The book covers nine motivation theories and eight leadership theories; topics outside those, such as groups, culture or organizational design, are not in its table of contents, and the numeral in the title marks it as the first volume of a larger work.
• Theory-centred. The description says it is a review and analysis of building-block theories and not a practical guide, and readers wanting management advice will not find it here.
• Dated evidence. Published in 2005, it cannot reflect research on motivation and leadership from the years since.

Where It Fits in the Course

The course lists several textbooks that survey organizational behavior. Robbins and Judge's Organizational Behavior is a standard introductory text that moves from individuals to groups to organizational systems; Buchanan and Huczynski's Organizational Behaviour is a broad, research-based, critical introduction from a British and European perspective; Mullins and Rees's Management and Organisational Behaviour combines the subject with management practice. Miner's book is narrower and deeper than any of these: it takes only motivation and leadership and examines each theory's evidence.

Two other books add historical and conceptual depth. March and Simon's Organizations is an earlier, integrative framework built around decision-making, while Hatch's Organizations: A Very Short Introduction is a short overview of how scholars study organizations. Read Miner after one of the introductory texts, and beside March and Simon if you want to see how a classic framework relates to the specific theories of motivation and leadership.

How to Use This Book

The book is aimed at graduate courses in organizational behavior and industrial/organizational psychology, according to the publisher, and suits doctoral and master's students, seminar leaders and advanced undergraduates writing a thesis on motivation or leadership. A previous course in organizational behavior and some familiarity with research methods will help.

• Start with Part I. Read Chapters 1 and 2 first, since they set the criteria used throughout.
• Choose by topic. Parts II and III are built from independent theory chapters, so read those that match your course or thesis; there is no need to read all seventeen in order.
• Use the boxed summary as a first pass, then the detailed discussion and the references, and go on to the original articles the chapter cites.
• Compare theories. A useful exercise is to take two theories from the same part, for example Expectancy Theories and Equity Theory, or Contingency Theory and Charismatic Leadership Theory, and compare what evidence each chapter reports for them.