An essay discussing the extent to which Historical
Approaches to OB and Theories of Motivation
explain current approaches to the management of
front-line nurses at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and
food preparation assistants at YO! Sushi
Word count: 913
Introduction
Throughout the years, different approaches on how to manage and motivate
employees have been made and two of which are in the health care and food retail
industries. After comparing food preparation staff at YO! Sushi, Liverpool One with
front line nurses at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, the workforce at YO! Sushi uses the
job characteristics model in their line of work (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). It can
further be argued that the nurses use the goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990,
pp.328-330) as well as the self-determination theory (Ahlstedt et al., 2020). Lastly,
the implementation of bureaucracy (Weber, 1958, pp.34-48) is especially relevant
when discussing the structure and hierarchy of staff at YO! Sushi.
Body
The business landscape of today is affected by the historical approaches of
management with bureaucracy being the most prevalent (Weber, 1958, pp.34-48).
The widespread theory makes it applicable to both professions, although it has been
identified that front line nurses at the Royal Liverpool Hospital are not managed by a
bureaucratic system and therefore, the concept is not as fitting (Dickinson et al,
2017). The reason for that statement is the lack of keeping and administering the
hierarchy and structure amongst the medical staff. For example, nurses lower down
the hierarchy are now encouraged to make more decisions, as opposed to
previously being under a clear bureaucratic arrangement not to elicit judgement. This
leads to how the correlation between bureaucratical systems and food service staff is
more relevant. One of the disadvantages of such a system is the bureaucratical
personality, which describes the inefficiency of management that occurs when
someone will not deviate from the rules laid out, even if the outcome benefits every
party involved (Weber, 1958, pp.34-48). Workers in fast-food restaurants are not
victims of this to the same extent nurses are, as they work in an environment that
allows more flexibility and initiatives to make decisions are encouraged (DortaAfonso et al., 2021).
However, the self-determination theory with its triad of components, which are
relatedness, competence and autonomy, could explain the front-line nurse’s
motivation better (Ahlstedt et al, 2020). The findings in the study emphasize on the
importance of a communicative relationship between nurses and physicians, to avoid
inter-professional barriers and strengthen relatedness. The nurses would feel a
stronger sense of belonging and security which would contribute to greater job
satisfaction. Another outcome was competence being improved if nurses work
together with doctors and solve problems, that way their capacities and talents will
expand. In addition to this, it was found that relevant factors connected to autonomy
were having nurses lead dialogues with physicians and discussing work-related
challenges.
Furthermore, the job characteristics model describes the incentive of food service
staff better than the front-line nurses (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). The philosophy of
the theory incorporates five characteristics where ‘task identity’, ‘task significance’
and ‘autonomy’ have been found to reduce job stress, therefore leading to more
satisfied and motivated staff (Zhao et al., 2016). Enhancing the empowerment and
making the staff understand their value in the organisation was one of the reasons
for the positive outcome. Additionally, motivation was recognised on a higher level
when labourers received feedback on the activities completed. Surprisingly, skill
variety was negatively correlated with job satisfaction. On the contrary, the ‘skill
variety’ characteristic was found to have a positive impact on nurses in relation to
their level of motivation (Moody & Pesut, 2006). However, in the same report, other
unique attributes were established and considered to have greater outcomes
regarding the nurses interest in their work. Some of these attributes were ‘time for
patient care’, ‘manageable levels of work complexity’ and ‘open communication’.
The unique desirable characteristics mentioned can also be considered as ‘smart
goals’ and therefore linked to the goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990, pp.328330). For example, having manageable levels of work complexity can be described
as a ‘realistic goal’. One of the other key principles is to design ‘achievable goals’
which lead to an increase in motivation. “The primary goal in nursing is proposed to
be human caring through competence.” (Moody & Pesut, 2006). Setting out
achievable goals is closely related to competence within the workforce, this is
because the manager is in charge of employing medical staff with enough
competence to reach the ‘achievable goals.
Conclusion
In closing, different motivational theories are useful for different types of jobs. The
reason the job characteristics model (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) suits the workers at
YO! Sushi better is because of its aspects that have been proven to decrease job
stress and increase the desire of the staff to perform better (Zhao et al., 2016).
Moreover, a comparison between bureaucracy in the health care and food retail
industries were made (Weber, 1958, pp.34-48) and it resulted in bureaucracy being
more suitable for the food preparation staff, due to the weakness of maintaining the
hierarchy within the healthcare industry and that the workforce at YO! Sushi is not
affected by the bureaucratical personality to the same extent (Dorta-Afonso et al.,
2021). The findings also shed light on how the competence of nurses are
fundamental for them to provide care for their patients (Moody & Pesut, 2006). In
other words, that indicates the process of setting ‘achievable goals’ being necessary
to enhance motivation (Locke & Latham, 1990, pp.328-330). Finally, the selfdetermination theory was recognized to be highly useful for nurses and one of the
factors associated with its structure were nurses working together with physicians to
advance in their profession (Ahlstedt et al, 2020).
References
Ahlstedt, C., Eriksson Lindvall, C., Holmström, I. and Muntlin, Å., 2020. Flourishing at
work: Nurses' motivation through daily communication - An ethnographic approach.
Nursing & health sciences, 22(4), pp.1169-1176. doi: 10.1111/nhs.12789
Dickinson, H., Snelling, I., Ham, C. and Spurgeon, P., 2017. Are we nearly there yet?
A study of the English National Health Service as professional bureaucracies.
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 31(4), pp.430-441. doi:
10.1108/JHOM-01-2017-0023
Dorta-Afonso, D., González-de-la-Rosa, M., García-Rodríguez, F. and RomeroDomínguez, L., 2021. Effects of High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) on
Hospitality Employees´ Outcomes through Their Organizational Commitment,
Motivation, and Job Satisfaction. 13(6), pp.6-8. doi: 10.3390/su13063226
King, D. and Lawley, S. (2019) Organizational Behaviour. 3rd edn. New York: Oxford
University. pp.34-330
Moody, R. and Pesut, D., 2006. The motivation to care: Application and extension of
motivation theory to professional nursing work. Journal of Health, Organization and
Management, 20(1), pp.25-32. doi: 10.1108/14777260610656543
Zhao, X., Ghiselli, R., Law, R. and Ma, J., 2016. Motivating frontline employees: Role
of job characteristics in work and life satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Management, 27, pp.28-30. doi: 10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.01.010