Investigating the motivation of retail managers at a retail organisation in the Western Cape
Motivation is considered to be the desired positive willingness that prompts a person to action. The factors that influence or lead to this positive willingness, are considered to be motivation factors, and include specific needs, wants, drives or impulses (Hersey & Blanchard, 1988). People are motivated by different things, both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. For some, it is power and money that motivate them while for others, it is flexibility or a social workplace. According to Herzberg’s theory, intrinsic factors are motivators or satisfiers and can be described as a person's relationship with what she or he does, many related to the tasks being performed (Buitendach & De Witte, 2005; Mehta, Anderson & Dubinsky, 2000). Extrinsic factors, also known as hygiene factors or dissatisfiers, have to do with a person's relationship to the context or environment in which she or he performs a job (Buitendach & De Witte, 2005; Mehta et al., 2000). Some individuals are highly motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. This is supported in a study amongst medical students (Beswick, 2002). In another study by Shim, Gehrt and Goldsberry (1999), it was found that students entering a career in retail viewed intrinsic aspects as the most important predictor of a retail career, followed by lifestyle flexibility aspects and then extrinsic aspects. Furthermore, research within a service organisation has indicated that various biographical factors have an influence on work motivation (Bezuidenhout, 2001). However, limited research has been conducted to determine whether biographical factors have an influence on work motivation within the retail industry. The aim of the study was to investigate the motivation of retail managers in a retail organisation in the Western Cape. Furthermore, it investigates whether the motivation levels of retail managers are influenced by their biographical variables. The Work Satisfaction and Motivation Questionnaire developed by De Beer (1987) and a self-developed biographical questionnaire was administered to elicit work content, promotion, supervision, reward and recognition in relation to work motivation. The questionnaires were distributed to the target population (n=236) of retail managers which were inclusive of store managers, store assistant managers and department managers. Convenience sampling was used to draw a sample (n=109) of male and female retail managers. Statistical analyses involved both descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA, Multiple Regression Analysis, Pearson’s Correlation Co-efficient and Scheffe’s test). The results revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between the investigated dimensions of work motivation and satisfaction. It was found that the investigated dimensions of motivation only account for 49.5% of the variance in total motivation experienced by retail managers. Furthermore, significant differences were found between the biographical variables and responses to the questionnaire. It is suggested, for future research that a proportionate stratified random sample be drawn which will allow the findings of the study to be reliably generalised to the population. Furthermore, it is also recommended that future research consider dimensions of motivation, such as, achievement, responsibility, security, autonomy, feedback and morale, which are not investigated in this study.
Motivation, Job satisfaction, Intrinsic factors, Extrinsic factors, Retail managers
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