MAN130 Management Research Methods Assignment Sample 2023
1. Introduction
Motivation is considered a critical factor that encourages employees to improve performance if conditions are met. According to Sureephong et al. (2020), Organisations often provide monetary and non-monetary rewards to motivate employees. Motivated employees are energetic and creative towards achieving organisational goals and objectives and assisting the organisation in obtaining a competitive edge.
Non-financial incentives are defined as the kind of reward that is not a part of the employees’ payment. This is typically a cost that the company carries significantly. Though companies cut the employees compensation, non-financial incentives remain crucial always. All employees surely cherish more money, but there is an exception to the money that does not engage loyalty. Non-financial incentives encourage the employees in such a way that money is found to be incapable. Often employees feel to be mistreated and unrecognised by the organisation. Strenuous work conditions, unappreciative bosses, uncooperative peers, ungracious bosses contribute to worker disengagement. Employee satisfaction and engagement builds the relationship of great aspirations and intentions. Non-financial incentives are powerful motivators as compared to financial incentives. Kinds of non-financial incentives can be recognition, flexibility, reward, opportunity etc. This leads to the productivity of the company and assists in achieving goals. These kinds of incentives enhance the performance of the workers.
Employee motivation is regarded as the critical factor to the company’s success. It is a commitment that employers bring to the part of the organisation every day. It is the energy and drives which the employers play to the role. The absence of this company lowers its productivity. Motivation to employees brings higher productivity. Employees work faster and efficiently, which lead the production more. A motivated worker enthusiastically executes their responsibility and lowers the level of absenteeism. This enables the worker to work attentively in the organisation. Motivation brings innovation to production. Motivated workers make offerings better than ever. Being chiefly focussed on the objective motivated worker’s insight the areas for the extensive improvisation.
2. Aims and objectives
The research proposal is aiming to explore the non-monetary benefits incorporated with motivation, retention and employee productivity and performance.
The objectives are also incorporated with the topic for this research proposal, which is required to meet in order to complete the research proposal.
- To examine employee impressions connected with non-monetary incentives in the procedure.
- To analyse the relationship between non-monetary incentives in the procedure such as employee motivation, recognition and promotion.
- To examine elements of influence connected with employee job satisfaction and potential reasons for it.
- To examine features connected with employee morals and aligned with performance regards incorporated in the procedure.
3. Literature review
3.1 Introduction
The literature review is widely used in research to determine hypotheses in relation to the aim of the study (Paul and Criado, 2020). Furthermore, different types of sources are amended, critically examined and introduced in this part. Therefore, the literature review section will thoroughly discuss each point collected from other research and literature to offer valuable knowledge for this research topic.
3.2 The importance of non-financial incentives for employee motivation
Further research suggests that non-financial rewards pose a positive impact on employee motivation and performance. Non-financial rewards are typically divided into three sections as “tangible non-monetary rewards”, “Social non-monetary rewards”, and “job-related non-monetary rewards”, as stated by Sureephong et al. (2020). Furthermore, psychology research studies show that non-financial rewards offer excellent outcomes in improving employee motivation and performance at the workplace, opined by Sureephong et al. (2020). According to Srna and Dinc (2017), non-monetary rewards emphasise the recognition needs, self-respect, growth, valuable work experience, and social functions necessary as monetary rewards towards enhancing employee morale and performance. Apart from that Kefay and Kero, (2019), it is stated that non-monetary incentives have the flexibility to reinforce the idea that focuses on the framework of the reward ought to influence employees to remain with the organisation for a more extended period. It scales up the motivation and dedication to the organisation, thereby increasing the performance and productivity of the employees.
However, it is argued that most of the organisations offer monetary rewards over non-monetary rewards to empower employees for higher productivity and performance which could potentially lead to loss of skilled employees in the workforce and lower productivity and employee morale in the organisational function, stated by Kefay and Kero, (2019). Apart from that, it is considered that non-monetary incentives are not directly related to monetary incentives, yet it offers similar value to improving employee performance and motivation. Some of the renowned non-monetary incentives include promotion, recollection, training and professional development, argued by Mashauri, (2020). Recognition as a part of non-monetary incentive discusses the employee’s effort in the workplace, and leaders serve this as an appreciation, stated by Ramdhani et al. (2017).
3.3 Relationship between non-financial incentives and employee performance
There are many incentives for the employee among the incentives. Some incentives are called non-financial incentives, which is one of the keys to improving the employee’s motivation, job satisfaction, and performance in the job (Antoni et al. 2017)
Role of incentive
Incentives improve results by the importance people place on job targets, allowing them to contribute to and accomplish those goals. The company must have context, incentives, contact, and encouragement to cultivate a sense of worth for the employee (Antoni et al. 2017)
Promotion
If the promotion of the employee is done fairly, then the motivation and competitiveness of the employee increases (Antoni et al. 2017). This shows the employee that the work by the individual is good and is appreciated by the company, and the person is responsible. This responsibility is then further increased for the person, and more authority and power is given to the person.
Recognition
It is given to the person who is doing outstanding work, and the performance is excellent. When attaining a specific goal or having the influence to achieve the plan, the worker is recognised (Landry et al. 2017). It shows the person the appreciation for the job well done. The person then further gets motivated to attain future goals as he will be recognised for the effort by the individual. The companies should use the recognition system carefully. Otherwise, some workers will only work for recognition and will do any kind of work, either ethical or unethical, to achieve the goal (Landry et al. 2017).
Training
Training is provided to the new employee for the job role. For experienced employees, training is provided to improve the skill and qualification of the employee (Landry et al. 2017). This helps the employee to broaden their knowledge. After training, the workers are empowered to effectively manage the work that they are doing, which builds massive confidence in them and helps them to work quickly. When they do the job efficiently, the overall performance is increased, and the chances of the promotion generally follow (Thibault Landry et al. 2017).
3.4 Factors behind employee job satisfaction and morale
Working environment
It is one of the significant factors which help the employee and the company to be successful. The employee needs an environment that will be safe and healthy and will cater to personal comfort and the facilities for a good job (Thibault Landry et al. 2017). If the working conditions are wrong, then the employee finds it difficult to work in the performance decreases.
Company policies
If the employee knows that the promotion decision of the company is very fair, then the employee experiences job satisfaction in the job (Thibault Landry et al. 2017). Often the employees complain of unfair practices and policies of the organisation. So the companies should maintain a fair procedure.
Appreciation
Appreciation is one thing all human beings love to have. Whether the job is big or small, appreciation helps the person feel good about himself. When the company or the boss appreciates the staff or juniors, then the team are encouraged (Hopper, 2020).
Feeling of belongings
When the employee thinks that he is a part of the organisation, then the work that the person does becomes personal, and the work’s success is ensured. So the company should create some system, so the employee feels a belonging to the company (Hopper, 2020).
3.5 Theory for employee motivation and performance
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
The “Maslow hierarchy of needs” is a theory of psychology that explains human motivation (Hopper, 2020). This is based on the different levels of needs and their persuasion. As per Maslow’s law, humans are motivated to complete the needs in a hierarchical order (Hopper, 2020). The order of the human begins with the most basic need and moves onwards to the more advanced needs. Self-actualisation is the ultimate level: the fifty levels and all humans try to attain the goals. The five levels of the Maslow theory are:
Physiological needs
These needs include the most basic needs of humans: food, water, shelter, health and rest. This is the basic motivation, and it arises from the instinct to survive (Hopper, 2020).
Safety needs
Humans should have safety and security in their surroundings and life.
Love and belongings
Humans need friendship, family, love, and intimacy as they are social animals and crave interaction with others.
Esteem needs
As per this, the human needs to get recognition, status and respect.
Self-actualisation needs
It shows that the human needs the realisation of the full human potential. People try to become the best version of themselves (Hopper, 2020).
All the organisations use this motivation theory and try to provide for the needs of the human being. On the basis of this, the organisation decides the policy of promotion, training and development and recognition.
3.6 Literature gap
According to Gammage et al. (2017), a research gap emerges when the capability of the systematic reviewer to extract conclusions is limited. The paper sought to answer the essential questions regarding non-monetary benefits that positively impacted employees’ motivation. Theories related to the motivation factors and its implication has been explained in the literature review section using different journals, books, pdfs. Despite the researcher’s full effort in the literature review section, some limitations are proven difficult for further analysis, although that has indications for future research. Furthermore, researchers have tried their best to put authentic information in the literature section, yet some paid journals, pdfs, and online books have not provided satisfactory answers to the question. Apart from that, limited time and resources have forced the researcher to utilise unpaid journals and books to finish the section.
4. Methodology
The research methodology suggests a specific procedure or techniques used to identify, select, process and analyse data on a context (Kumar, 2018). The main purpose of the research methodology is to describe phenomena, collect evidence for hypotheses and contribute to the improvement of knowledge in the research study.
4.1 Research philosophy
The research philosophy is a reliance that indicates how data collection would take place, its analysis and utilisation at the same time (Thakurta, 2018). Apart from that, directing research philosophy in the research project requires formulation of the reliance and presumptions. Thereby, the research philosophy has four distinctive stages such as pragmatism, positivism, realism and interpretive. Differences between positivist and interpretivist represent the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods, it is still argued by researchers. The pragmatism research philosophy deals with different ideas that are important to the supported action, and it interprets the understanding of the research and requires multiple views to bring an understanding (Ragab and Arisha, 2018). On the other hand, positivism research philosophy gains knowledge from accurate inspection. The research has certain limitations in data collection and explanation. However, interpretivism research philosophy focuses on the human interest in the research, and it is connected with the philosophical state of idealism (Dudovskiy, 2017). Furthermore, interpretivism research philosophy will be selected for this research proposal to obtain the managed reality and situational data.
4.2 Research approach
The research approach is considered a plan and process that contains necessary steps of more exhaustive assumptions to detailed data gathering techniques, examination, and interpretation (Abbasi et al. 2020). Furthermore, the research approach is divided into three segments, and the importance of theories to the research in the main characters point between inductive and deductive approaches. Meanwhile, the deductive method is focused on developing an idea related to the existing hypothesis and formulating a research strategy to check the theory (Azungah, 2018). Furthermore, deductive refers to reasoning with particulars to prevalent. On the other hand, the inductive research approach refers to inductive reasoning, and it starts with inspections and hypotheses are proposed to the end of the research procedure as a result of reviews.
Furthermore, an inductive research approach deals with the incpection and explanation of the developed theories in the research study (Azungah, 2018). The abductive research approach depicts weaknesses incorporated with the deductive and inductive approaches. Therefore, the researcher will follow the reasoned research approach because the topic indicates employee motivation through non-financial benefits. A deductive research approach would describe a causal relationship between non-monetary incentives and employee performance, promotion and recognition and other variables.
4.3 Research design
The research design is considered to select qualitative and quantitative research methods (Tobi and Kampen, 2018). Furthermore, the research design is fractionated into two segments as exploratory and conclusive. While experimental research is used mainly to explore the research questions and does not offer final results or draw conclusive proofs, it provides insights for better comprehending the issue (Boru, 2018). Researchers would be able to change the research direction based on the outcomes of the declaration of the new data and information. However, a conclusive research design aims to generate more findings to reach conclusions and decision making (Boru, 2018).
Researchers are responsible for accurately defining the objectives of the research and the requirements of the data. Therefore, the researcher would use both research design in this research proposal because a conclusive research design would assist researchers in conducting quantitative methods of data collection through surveys and data examinations of the selected data. At the same time, experimental research design would help researchers to explore the research methodologically and to conduct interviews of the managers.
4.4 Data collection technique
The data collection technique refers to collecting various data from different sources to accurately answer the research issue, examine the theory and evaluate the results. Data collection methods are divided into two parts such as secondary methods and primary methods of data collection (Flick, 2017). Secondary data is considered as existing data in online libraries, research, books, and reports in newspapers, magazines, journals, and PDFs. Furthermore, the availability of secondary data makes this research area so reliable and valuable in the research projects. However, primary data collection techniques are divided into two parts as quantitative and qualitative (Flick, 2017).
Qualitative data collection deals with mathematical measurements in different configurations and techniques of qualitative data collection and examination of close-ended questions. Therefore, the researcher will use both data collection techniques. Secondary data collection would gather relevant information from the online sources to increase the value of the research. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection would gather information through questionnaires, surveys, and interviews for this research proposal.
4.5 Data analysis process
There are two types of data analysis: qualitative and quantitative data analysis (Assarroudi et al. 2018). Qualitative data analysis uses interviews, target groups and analysis stages to recognise standard designs and critical analysis of research aims and objectives. Different secondary data sources will be examined to offer an objective judgement on the problem ((Assarroudi et al. 2018). However, questionnaires will deliver valuable and accurate outcomes for the research proposals, and the arguments would be based on empirical and conceptual data. The first part would concentrate on the study using hypothesis, and the second section would analyse the morale of the employees impacting the effectiveness and workforce movements.
Furthermore, the questionnaire will be utilised for the data collection procedure incorporated with surveys. Apart from that, examine a set of systematised questions and understand the factors following the fixed plan for data collection connected with the context. Furthermore, the non-monetary benefits are posing a positive impact on employee motivation and detainments. Thereby, these research methods could be beneficial for comprehending outcomes. Again, the quantitative database is likely to be more significant. That’s why the sample size will be limited to 100, and assessing necessary techniques is essential for the research’s success.
4.6 Timescale and ethical contemplation
Ethical considerations are an essential part of any research project, and dissertations could be failed if honest sections are not followed. As per the view of Palaskar, (2018), the researcher should ensure that ethical principles should be implemented in every research project. The researcher should be aware of the protection and privacy of the employees during participation and publication of the research, and anonymity should be followed throughout the investigation. The participants should be out of harm’s way, which is also the researcher’s responsibility. Misleading and biased information should be avoided at any cost to maintain the authenticity of the research.
Furthermore, the researcher is responsible for the research project and finishing it within the desired timeline (Prince and Mallabon, 2019). It is also considered that qualitative and quantitative data collection would take most of the time, and researchers do not want to rush through it because gathering valuable information from participants would require time and patience. Apart from that, creating questionnaires for the staff of the organisations would require time because standardised questions would extract actual answers out from the staff.
[Referred to appendix]
5. Conclusion
According to the outcomes of the research proposal, it can be concluded that non-financial benefits have a mixed impact on employee motivation and performance. It could be argued that private and public organisations would choose monetary rewards over non-monetary rewards to motivate employees for higher productivity and performances. However, different employee motivation theories suggest that incentive inclinations are also focused on understanding the motivational perspective. As per the above analysis, it could be stated that non-financial incentives are assessed highly by employees in the organisations in the truancy of monetary incentives. It has been found that employees have been given particular preferences to the job related to non-monetary rewards because that has been an essential part of increasing employee’s interest in the position and thereby maintains employee retention rate in the organisation. Furthermore, it has been examined throughout the literature review section that employees have valued meaningful jobs that have responsibility, growth opportunity and offers learning experiences develop skills and knowledge and provide an opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Furthermore, it has been determined that surveying the target population would not extract exact answers for the research questions. Therefore, it is difficult to oversimplify the outcomes of the study. Apart from that, the topic is essential towards determining employee’s situation in the private organisations regarding the use of non-financial rewards efficiently. Apart from that, the research represents several facts that indicate that sufficient levels of monetary incentives in private organisations outperform the non-monetary incentive scheme for employee motivation and performance.
6. References
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