Business Commons^™

The Reality Or Illusion Of A General Contingency Theory Of Management: A Response To The Longenecker And Pringle Critique, Fred Luthans, Todd I. Stewart

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In April 1977, we introduced the concept of a General Contingency Theory (GCT) of Management and proposed for its development a conceptual framework to integrate and synthesize diverse process, behavioral, and management science concepts and techniques (3). In their critique of GCT, Longenecker and Pringle (2) have argued that the concept of a contingency-based general theory of management is illusory, too ill-defined and nebulous to serve as a truly viable general theory. Our response is offered to clarify some of the points they raise and stimulate a continuing dialogue over the GCT construct which will hopefully contribute to the development …

Incorporating Time-Lag Effects Into The Expectancy Model Of Motivation: A Reformulation Of The Model, Bronston T. Mayes

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Of cognitive theories of motivation, the most intensively researched in recent years is the Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) theory. A recent review of VIE research (9) shows the valence model to be reasonably predictive of occupational preference, job satisfaction, and valence of performance. The behavioral choice model has not fared so well; although it moderately predicts self-ratings of job effort, its efficiency in predicting criteria measured by other then self-ratings is questionable. When the behavioral choice model is used in research, the following findings are typical:

1. Intrinsic outcomes (feelings of accomplishment, etc.) are better predictors of satisfaction and performance than are …

Some Boundary Considerations In The Application Of Motivation Models, Bronston T. Mayes

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

From the actor's perspective, a behavioral environment can be typified by two continuous dimensions, knowledge of potential outcomes and knowledge of causal relationships among environmental elements. These dimensions determine the situational ambiguity perceived by the actor. Expectancy, equity, operant conditioning, and attitude theories of motivation are considered in such ambiguous environments. Propositions are set forth which allow the researcher to select the most predictive motivation model