Manager Motivation and Organizational Change A case study of how manager motivation is fostered in a company and impacted by an organizational change effort

Abstract

Organizations are a fundamental part of today's society, playing an important part in people's everyday lives as well as in economic development. The key to running a successful organization in today’s complex business environment is to constantly develop and continuously motivate one’s workforce. Motivation is especially important to foster within managers, as it is an important trait for them to possess to do their job effectively. This study examines how manager motivation is fostered in a company, as well as how manager motivation is impacted by an organizational change effort. The research is designed as a single case-study, studying the Stockholm-based medium-sized company, ATA Hill & Smith AB, operating in the traffic safety industry. 15 qualitative interviews conducted with managers, resulted in expected and unexpected insights into how manager motivation is fostered. Feelings of involvement and opportunities for competence development were concluded to be the most important motivators for managers in an organization undergoing an organizational change effort. Whilst not aligning completely with the theoretical framework, the conclusions could still be analyzed in light of the thesis theoretical framework of Self- Determination Theory and Expectancy Theory. Though not deemed to be the most important factors for manager motivation, the theoretical assumptions of the importance of, feelings of autonomy, and relatedness as well as expectancy, was affirmed rather than disproven. It was also concluded that an organizational change process has to a large extent a positive effect on manager motivation as well as that the context of change most likely have influenced the findings of the study, making the results primarily applicable for companies a in similar situation.