Money as the Ultimate Motivator in Work and Society

Money as a Motivator: The reasoning behind it.
Organizational Behavior
March 26, 2013

Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………….3 What is money…………………………………………………………………….4 How important money is………………………………………………………….4-6 Why companies move to poor countries………………………………………..6 Money motivation theories……………………………………………………….7-8 Keeping employee’s satisfied……………………………………………………8-10 Embezzlement scandals………………………………………………………….10-12 Summary………………………………………………………………………….. 11-13

Executive Summary
The dynamic force that ultimately guides work-related behavior is money, money and only money. In defining the word money on the other hand, we look beyond of what is generally accepted money only being paper, notes and coins, seeing that we believe money in the circumstances of the workplace can exist in various forms.

In this case, it is obvious to see that what motivates a company to move towards globalization, according to the facts that it is money and only money. This is one of the reasons we disagree with theorists like Fredrick Herzberg that came up with reasoning or the idea that money does not motivate, "...So for Herzberg money was not a motivator" (Chapman, 2001).

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Money motivates me to do lots of things, as it does you, and a lot of money would motivate me to do things that I wouldn't do for less. Famous sayings like "money makes the world go around", "money makes the mare go" and "show me the money" successfully serve as testaments to our argument but reflecting on the previous examples, money as we have defined it, is clearly the sole motivator in work and many other environments. In the unfortunate cases, money as the sole motivator in the workplace ranges from exploitation of people for cheap labor in some countries, to more publicly-known crimes such as murder and embezzlement.

What is actually is money? This is a very commonly asked question, especially in today’s society. Money is nothing but what you see- printed coins and paper, yet looking at society today it is plain to see money plays a critical part. (Elliott, 2007) There is absolutely no question that we live in a very materialistic world today that we are selves have actually created. In this kind of society, it is strongly believed that the only true motivation is that of “making the most money.” We, the approving team believe this to be true, especially in the workplace where it seems play the biggest part. The dynamic force that ultimately guides work-related behavior is money, money and only money. That is “only money motivates people, to get the job done.”

According to the Oxford Dictionary the term motivate is defined as “to give incentive to”, or “the reason why a person(s) is behaving or acting in a certain way.” It is regarded as the “internal drive” that can enforce an individual to portray distinct behavior (Kreitner, 1995). In defining the word money on the other hand, we look beyond of what is generally accepted money only being paper, notes and coins, seeing that we believe money in the circumstances of the workplace can exist in various forms. Examples of which include; the sharing of profits, commissions, and tips, share issues as well as objects that can be or are of high monetary value. The following paragraphs will explain to the readers that prove the statement "only money motivates" by clarifying various examples that have perceived to confirm this statement as indefinitely true.

You only have to take one look at society today to really acknowledge that only money motivates. The lottery as an example, there are no other logical reason behind a person’s motive in buying a lottery ticket, or any other form of a gambling ticket other than that person being motivated by the idea they could win a very large lump-sum of money. Things like reality television and radio today will entice people with an amount of money to exploit themselves in every way possible or thinkable way.

Let’s can this statement for example, would you hunt down the one person that holds hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the fun of it? Would you eat a year old rotting cow’s intestine out of your own free will? There are also many significant past events have also given people that drive to be, motivated by money. In the years between1896-1900 the event known infamously as the Klondike Gold Rush created absolute chaos in the Yukon, Canada. The Yukon’s population exploded in the next 3 years as people rushed from everywhere in the world to try their luck in increasing their wealth and fortune, this is a prime example motivated purely by their hopes and in some cases dreams of discovering of gold, in “the great north of Canada.” (Yukon, 2013)

In the workplace today, we are also finding a very similar trend occurring. Money is the reason behind the choice made by numerous men and women today to bid farewell their love ones, friends and colleagues to seek better paid job opportunities overseas, or here in Canada across the country. Engineers, electricians, mechanics, and countless other people are being lured overseas or cross country by wages that allow those people to enjoy the greater comforts in life, and jobs that provide them enough opportunities to grow or move up the ‘totem pole’ in their fields. This opportunity is so great that it also allows for a possible job change.

A great man once said “Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature that to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.” That was said by Benjamin Franklin, former president of the United States of America. (Franklin, 2013) There is no doubt that this case is just one of many. An article with the heading ‘Growing crisis for our hospitals as 5,500 a year join the brain drain in search of better pay’ (Browne, 2001) says it all. Not only are engineers making the move overseas, but they are shifting their focus beyond their national home borders to seek better wages. These individuals are motivated purely by the concept and desire of higher salaries, and a seemingly better life.

The motivating powers of money are also drawing the attentions of many star athletes. Soccer and Hockey are a good example, where they take every possible opportunity to play for the ‘highest bidder’, or make the most amount of money, which unfortunately sees a lot of great talent leaving the country. Have they forgone the opportunity to pride fully play for their own country just for the sake of a higher salary? It does appear so. In addition, it has also been noted that professional tennis players have refused to play at some of the greatest tennis courts in the world, because the monetary awards were not to the player’s satisfaction.

Workers and professional athletes are not the only ones packing up to seek better financial opportunities and rewards. Companies have also started to focus their efforts in a more globalized-context by becoming promising multinational companies. There is only one motive behind big multinational companies; they make billions upon billions of dollars. What motivates a multinational company to hire labors from poor countries? They have the ability to make greater profits, because of the lower pay-out. Seeing as people in poorer countries will work for less, multinational companies have realized the way to save big on wages and further increase their profits is to utilize this ‘cheap labor’. In this case, it is obvious to see that what motivates a company to move towards globalization, according to the facts that it is money and only money.

This might not always be a bad thing, because these companies do bring work to these countries that might not otherwise have any work. (Dollar, 2012) There are a numerous jobs in society there today, some which most people are less than willing to perform. Yet there are so many people who are willing to perform these jobs every single day. A garbage collector who collects foul smelling trash daily stands by their work because they know they are getting paid enough for their efforts. This is the only reason why they choose to do what they do. You could say, to them “only money motivates” in this instance. These jobs have nothing to offer in terms of working conditions and other job benefits, all they have to offer is money. These people do not care about the conditions, because the money alone is enough to satisfy.

This is one of the reasons we disagree with theorists like Fredrick Herzberg that came up with reasoning or the idea that money does not motivate, “...So for Herzberg money was not a motivator” (Chapman A. , 2001). Thomas A Stewart a writer for Business 2.0 magazines claims "Money is not a motivator, and that statement is complete nonsense. Money motivates me to do lots of things, as it does you, and a lot of money would motivate me to do things that I wouldn't do for less. Money motivates.” (Chapman T. )

The reoccurring incidences of wages disputes and industrial strikes that have loomed society also offer a proving point as to why only money motivates. Qantas baggage handlers and freight workers were recently involved in a protracted dispute with the company about wages. (News, 2011) More significant recently were the strikes of nearly 4000 Sydney bus drivers, which affected most of us in some way. This big fuss was caused all by one major issue- pay. Bus drivers of Sydney had called for a 27% increase in their base wage over three years. Claiming that, their pay had fallen far behind other public sector jobs in recent years.

Everywhere in the media we hear about unhappy workers calling for pay rises. Yet you never do you hear workers striking over other workplace related issues. It almost sounds unbelievable for a group of staff if they were receiving high pay packages, to strike over their belief that they feel unappreciated or undervalued in the workplace and because they feel their achievement have gone unnoticed by managers at work.

This subject matter then makes want to ask where non-monetary gestures fit in all this? Our belief is that non-monetary factors such as working conditions, interpersonal relationships and organizational policies and procedures are not motivators but merely hygiene factors that only serve to keep people from being dissatisfied, so here we indeed agree with Herzberg’s theory of motivation. We believe the factors that provide job satisfaction only cause and strengthen organizational commitment, but not motivation or work performance. Many people these days would rather work overtime, weekends and nights than call it a day if they knew they were in return receiving a bonus from their supervisor.

As mentioned before monetary rewards such as share and stocks can also be regarded as money. Many companies offer these options to their employees to motivate them towards achieving the organizational goals of higher work productivity and performance. Last year, Vodafone granted share options to more than 42000 employees around the world. Each employee receiving an option to buy Vodafone shares with a face value equal to 50% of their annual salary (Vodafone, 2001).

Proposed plans like these have been a success as a survey conducted in 1997 discovered that broad-based stock option companies had 31% more productivity than all public companies (NCEO). Share schemes are improving productivity because employees are realizing that the more profit the business makes the greater the dividend they receive. This will thereby securely aligning the employee’s individual goals of making money with the organization’s overall objective of profitability and success.

Money is also the only reason behind employees staying with a company. Offering bonuses and having an above-average salary.

Entrepreneurship maintains if you want to keep and retain employees you must: 1. Pay employees higher than market rates; ‘employees stay happier and work harder if they are paid higher than the normal market rates.’ 2. Establish a signing or continuation bonus. One local entrepreneur offered a key receptionist a $5,000 bonus if she stayed three more years. If she left before the three years, then she was legally responsible for the prorated share of the bonus not earned. We believe that bonuses that tie employees to the company over a three to four year time period are excellent investments. 3. Have an incentive system in place.

It is plain to see that more money will motivate an employee to stay with their firm and therefore insure the long-term viability of the business. Would having flexible hours and challenging work entice an employee to stay, if they are not receiving an appealing pay package? It is highly unlikely. 4. Create a culture of education, for employees; the single most important motivational factor was the ability to learn. To keep employees motivated, agencies need to build a culture of learning, where employees leave more enriched at the end of each day.

5. Provide regular, consistent feedback. Employee feedback is a critical part of the education process, and shouldn’t just be relegated to the annual review. To be effective, feedback needs to be specific and actionable. But that’s not always how it works. In a study by Leadership IQ, 53 percent of employees said that when their boss praises excellent performance, the feedback does not provide enough useful information to help them repeat it. And 65 percent responded that when their boss criticizes poor performance, it doesn’t provide enough useful information to help them correct the issue. (Daniel Debow, 2011)

On a different note yet still on the context of the workplace, money has also motivated a minority group of individuals to the extreme point of corruption. Sneza Suteski, an accounts clerk, was found guilty of murder for arranging the death of her boss. What was her motive? Money, Suteski devised an "elaborate and complex" scheme by changing bank numbers in the automatic payments system for invoices she got approval for that would have seen $500,000 flow into the bank accounts of herself, her brother and her ex-boyfriend (Crichton, 2002). This case serves to prove the extreme motivational power of money in the workplace, even if it involved carrying out something horrendous like murder. Emphasizing the point once again, that people are purely driven by money.

Embezzlement is another workplace related crime purely motivated by money. It involves the act of an employee stealing company funds from their employers. This month, there are many “famous” embezzlement cases throughout the world, this case is just one of many. In 1997, Yasuyoshi Kato embezzled $90 million from Day-Lee Food’s Inc. (Marguet, 2011). This case is seen as the worst embezzlement case in the history of the United States. This is just one of many cases of embezzlement that is going on in workplaces today. Employees that carry out these unethical and dishonest acts are driven by the thought of getting their hands on one thing only- money.

Famous sayings like “money makes the world go around”, “money makes the mare go” and “show me the money” successfully serve as testaments to our argument but reflecting on the previous examples, money as we have defined it, is clearly the sole motivator in work and many other environments. In fact, it is such a powerful motivator that it enables people to consistently work under conditions that the majority wouldn’t wish to encounter for a day. On the other hand, if people don’t have enough, workers and unions are happy to disrupt the lives of the public to get more money and where this is not possible, many sporting and other individuals are happy to leave the country in search of it. In the unfortunate cases, money as the sole motivator in the workplace ranges from exploitation of people for cheap labor in some countries, to more publicly-known crimes such as murder and embezzlement. Ultimately, there is no doubt in our minds and everyone else’s heads that ‘only money motivates’.

Summary
Money is nothing but what you see- printed coins and paper, yet looking at society today it is plain to see money plays a critical part. The dynamic force that ultimately guides work-related behavior is money, money and only money. That is "only money motivates people, to get the job done." In defining the word money on the other hand, we look beyond of what is generally accepted money only being paper, notes and coins, seeing that we believe money in the circumstances of the workplace can exist in various forms. You only have to take one look at society today to really acknowledge that only money motivates.

The lottery as an example, there are no other logical reason behind a person's motive in buying a lottery ticket, or any other form of a gambling ticket other than that person being motivated by the idea they could win a very large lump-sum of money. There are also many significant past events have also given people that drive to be, motivated by money. Money is the reason behind the choice made by numerous men and women today to bid farewell their love ones, friends and colleagues to seek better paid job opportunities overseas, or here in Canada across the country. In this case, it is obvious to see that what motivates a company to move towards globalization, according to the facts that it is money and only money.

This is one of the reasons we disagree with theorists like Fredrick Herzberg that came up with reasoning or the idea that money does not motivate, "...So for Herzberg money was not a motivator" (Chapman, 2001). Money motivates me to do lots of things, as it does you, and a lot of money would motivate me to do things that I wouldn't do for less. The reoccurring incidences of wages disputes and industrial strikes that have loomed society also offer a proving point as to why only money motivates. Our belief is that non-monetary factors such as working conditions, interpersonal relationships and organizational policies and procedures are not motivators but merely hygiene factors that only serve to keep people from being dissatisfied, so here we indeed agree with Herzberg's theory of motivation. Many companies
offer these options to their employees to motivate them towards achieving the organizational goals of higher work productivity and performance.

It is plain to see that more money will motivate an employee to stay with their firm and therefore insure the long-term viability of the business. On a different note yet still on the context of the workplace; money has also motivated a minority group of individuals to the extreme point of corruption. This case serves to prove the extreme motivational power of money in the workplace, even if it involved carrying out something horrendous like murder. Embezzlement is another workplace related crime purely motivated by money. Famous sayings like "money makes the world go around", "money makes the mare go" and "show me the money" successfully serve as testaments to our argument but reflecting on the previous examples, money as we have defined it, is clearly the sole motivator in work and many other environments. In the unfortunate cases, money as the sole motivator in the workplace ranges from exploitation of people for cheap labor in some countries, to more publicly-known crimes such as murder and embezzlement.

Bibliography
Chapman, A. (2001). Frederick Herzberg motivational theory. Retrieved March 9, 2013, from http://businessball.com: http://www.businessballs.com/herzberg.htm Chapman, T. (n.d.). Business 2.0.
Crichton, S. (2002, May 29). Cold hang behind her boss's murder gets 24 years' jail. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://www.smh.com/au: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/28/1022569772348.html Daniel Debow, R. (2011). 5 ways to keep your rockstar employee's happy. Dollar, D. (2012). Making Globalization Work for the Poor. Retrieved from http://worldbank.org: http://live.worldbank.org/making-globalization-work-poor Elliott, M. F. (2007). Greenwood Guides to Business and Ecomomics: Money. Westport, Conneticut : Greenwood Press. Franklin, B. (2013, Feburary 24). www.brainyquotes.com. Retrieved from Brainy Quotes. Marguet, C. T. (2011, April 22). The top 10 embezzlement cases in modern US history. Retrieved March 16, 2013, from marquetinternational: http://www.marquetinternational.com/pdf/top_10_embezzlement_cases_in_us_history.pdf NCEO. (n.d.). Broadly Granted Stock Options Improve Corporate Performance. Retrieved March 16, 2013, from www.nceo.org: