A study of key motivational principles in the ever changing world of small businesses.

Context of research - The research is set in the context of the small business. That is, businesses employing between 9 and 99 employees. Literature on the definitions of small business was scrutinized, small business management, owners’ characteristics, and their educational background analysed. Entrepreneurship, organisational life cycle and motivation theories were all examined. Method - A pilot survey of 240 local businesses was used to inform the design of the main survey. The database for the main survey was compiled from a combination of sources described under Methodology. Systematic sampling, using the constant skip method, stratified by number of employees, was utilised. Postal questionnaires were sent to 1,000 businesses and a return of 29.7% questionnaires resulted in a return rate of 24% useable questionnaires. Findings - Respondents were identified as owners, owner-managers or managers and there were approximately equal numbers for all categories. Only 1% of managers, compared with 21% of owners and 16% owner-managers had no academic qualification. Owner-managers had more years experience than either managers or owners. Managers had an employee turnover rate that was 10% higher than other respondents. The reason for employee turnover was mainly to go to higher paid employment. Employee turnover emerged as a key concern and has implications for future study in the context of human resource management application in small businesses Structure change, in the sense of formalisation, was listed as a key concern. Change, surprisingly, was seen to have a positive impact on respondent’s motivation to continue within business. Two thirds of respondents had employees involved in change, half of them throughout the whole process, 80% involving employees generally in decision-making regarding ongoing operational tasks. The Hackman and Oldham (1976) Job Characteristics Model (JCM) was used to identify and rate employee job content, and reported medium to high ratings. The majority of respondents saw a need to provide training, and encouraged subordinates to contribute to business goals by a variety of different methods. The most highly reported was ‘employee support’ then ‘recognising the employee’, followed by ‘employee feedback’ and then ‘teambuilding’. The majority of respondents consider themselves as predominantly ‘democratic.’ Conclusions - The overall conclusions drawn from this survey are that small business owners and owner managers are unaware of motivational techniques and their application is by instinct rather than deliberately planned to provide employee motivation. Further Research - An area for further research are concerns on high employee turnover in small business. Related to this there is evidence of the need to consider management style in implementing disciplinary procedures. Issues relating to diverse perspectives on small business growth suggest further investigation in the context of employee motivation.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Robert Gordon University

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Lawson, Margret Rose

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• M. Lynas and P. Smart

• Motivational principals
• Small businesses owners
• Literature review
• Management methodology
• Employee turnover

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807443
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2807443

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807443