Motivation+and+Technology

__Motivation and Technology__

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Motivating employees can be very difficult. Many jobs in the past as well as today can be very monotonous. Sometimes, there is only one way to do the job, so it can become monotonous, tedious, and boring. Now thanks to technology many of the old 1 step jobs are being replaced by automated programs, and people are encouraged, and usually rewarded, for finding new and more efficient ways to perform their jobs. With the ever-growing technology individual employees are being held more and more accountable for their work. With most companies using programs such as SAP, which can track and monitor everything an individual employee does, holding them more accountable for their actions on a company wide level. Shortcomings may be recorded as well. Not only in the business world, but also in schools, students are being encouraged to use technology. Today, professors and teachers are using more electronic gadgets such as; computers, computer programs, overhead screens, and etc... The internet provides books online, websites, e-mails, research tools and many more things that a student uses almost everyday.

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1. Motivation Theories
media type="youtube" key="rrkrvAUbU9Y" width="425" height="350" >> >> Two decisions every one must make constantly to support motivation: No matter where you are in an organization you can decide how people work with you by how you reward people, or not.
 * Individual Motivation
 * Motivation is the internal will power that an individual has to accomplish ones goal
 * Group Motivation
 * Motivation is the driving force behind a group or organization, to achieve a collective goal
 * Technology
 * the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area (as defined by merriam-webster).
 * || Apply || Withhold ||
 * Reward || positive reinforcement (raise above baseline) || negative reinforcement (raise up to baseline) ||
 * Stress-or || punishment (bring down below baseline) || extinction (stay at baseline) ||

**2. Technology in the work place**
Technology in the work place has become common from large industries and businesses to smaller and family owned businesses. This has allowed these industries and businesses to grow more quickly while also improving their efficiency. The growth of technology in the industrial world has made things more simplistic, but it does have its pros and cons. The pros are beneficial to an industry or business big or small and can be separated into categories of efficiency and ease of access. While the cons could outweigh the beneficiaries of technology being in the work place. For example, to much reliability on technology, the distraction technology can cause, and the price in which to obtain the needed technology are all reasonable arguments on why technology might not be needed. Technology is now part of everyday life for every person in the modern world. Whether you live in the United States, Asia, or Africa it is everywhere. Technology is not just a part of everyday life, but it is also the reason why businesses stay afloat the way they do. The profound effect that it has had on business life is monumental. A few years ago, some of the tasks that would have taken hours or days to complete can now be finished with the click of a button. The efficiency rate on getting things done have exponentially grown as technology has grown. Ease of access can be interpreted many ways whether it is the vast amount of information that you can obtain within seconds or the ease of which you can get your daily tasks done in such a short amount of time. The internet and search engines have given people around the world the ease to gain the knowledge of, almost, whatever they please. And nowadays the amount of information that can be processed and evaluated is an astonishing amount. The reliability that we have on technology on a daily basis is huge. If we were to not have our computers, smartphones, or other electronics most people wouldn't be able to get much done or just completely not be able to do their job. We rely so much on technology that it is one of the biggest things people worry about in the modern world. Relying on technology has also made people a lot more lazy and well to put it simply not as smart. People rely on doing simple math with a calculator instead of in their head. Sure sometimes it allows them to do a task more quickly, but other times people just can't do the math in the first place. This could be a huge impact on the growth of the human brain in the future. The other big con of technology in the workplace is that it can be a distraction for many people. With the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and many more social network sites that could be of distraction to many people. Along with these social networking sites people have smartphones where you're able to play games, stream movies, and of course text. This would hinder the workplace in many different ways. For example, if there is a group project that is needed to be done for the next big release of a phone and the Operating System developer is to busy texting his girlfriend and seeing how many new comments he has on his Facebook picture upload, there is going to be a delay in the project. This could make or break a company if they're in competition with another business to get people to buy their product. This can swing either way. Some might say that the cost for technology is needed and that the amount of things you're able to get done will allow a company to profit from spending the amount of money it costs to get technology and some may say that the long term cost, at the rate in which technology is growing, may just not be worth it. Technology is growing at an exponential rate and its going be growing faster and faster everyday. And the cost will surely rise along with it so for the company or business you're running you must analyze whether it is beneficial to spend the amount of many and then have it be outdated a year later. But will it still satisfy the needs of the company to work, or will you spend thousands upon thousands of dollars updating and repairing the technology whenever it is needed. In which can no one can ever know, but this could be beneficial to a business or hurt them in the long run.
 * Efficiency
 * Ease of Access
 * Reliability on Technology
 * Distraction of Technology
 * Cost

**3. How information management can affect motivation**
The modern age of information management has enabled organizations to keep large databases of employees and customers alike. The ability to keep detailed information about these groups has proven to be very advantageous to organizations who chose to utilize this technology. One benefit that information management can provide is that it can record information that the organization can use to effectively motivate their employees and customers. According to an article written by the Incentive Performance Center "It is easier and less costly to sell to existing customers than to new customers". In the same article a study by the Deloitte Research company found that manufacturing companies that tracked and rewarded customer loyalty were 60% more profitable than those who did not. Many companies have more than a few customers making it very difficult to track each customers purchase, monitor their purchasing patterns, and keep track of other information such as the customer's contact information. Profits aside, the more direct the connection that employees have with their customer base can also lead to higher motivation. Employees will have deeper understanding of how their work impacts others, making their jobs more meaningful and important to them. . There is much information on the internet explaining different kinds of performance incentives and the consequences that go along with them. One thing that many of these articles fail to explain is exactly how we will we track information such as employee sales, solutions, time spent with company, or even something as simple as hours worked. Effective Information Management is the foundation of all these wonderful ideas. We can not even have the conversation of what incentive plan to pick if there is no way to monitor the swaths of information created in an organization. Choosing the proper information management system is surely one of the most important decisions you can make for your company. Often this choice will be a major investment that you will have to work with for a long time as it is not easy to switch from program to program, especially once you have built a substantial database. Large companies can purchase multimillion dollar programs provided by other companies such as SAP (Systems, Applications and Products), SAS (Statistical Analysis Systems), IBM, and Microsoft. All of the programs these companies offer have very effective customer relation and human resources management systems modules that can be useful for tracking the information explained above. Smaller companies may be able to get by on less heavy investments such as Microsoft Access. Whether your organization is large or small the decision is of the same relative importance. Making the proper choice can be rough, below is a suggestion of choosing the right technology vendor. This information is provided by the "Npower network" - a subset of the National Business Information Clearinghouse. // **__SEVEN STEP MODE__L** // 1 ASSESS FEASIBILITY – Is this viable for my organization? 2 GATHER REQUIREMENTS – What does my organization need? 3 RESEARCH & REFINE OPTIONS – What solutions/vendors might fit my needs? 4 EVALUATE VENDORS – What is the best fit for my organization’s needs? 5 SELECT & ENGAGE VENDOR – Is this a reasonable price and contract? 6 MANAGE IMPLEMENTATION – Has the vendor delivered on its promises? 7 SUPPORT & MAINTENANCE – How will we maintain the solution and support it?
 * Customer and Employee Retention
 * Performance Incentives
 * Information Management hardware and software.

**4. Technology and Productivity**
People are buying more softwares, databases, and electronics for themselves and for businesses everyday. It's used almost everyday because its quick, organized and it saves a lot of time. In the business field, a computer can process word and excel that helps understand their productivity and performance; what's been selling the most, what's not selling, what does the business need to improve on and etc... Business cards are passed out by others or set on tables all the time. It's also useful when you have the business card information in the electronic device, so then no one really has to go look through cards one by one when you can search it up on the device. Technology makes impossible possible. Without technology growing this far, people wouldn't have accomplished or discovered many things in life. Technology was used for people, to make their lives easier and better. But now, technology has improved on making our lives easier and getting a lot of the work done quickly. It helped us reach to our goals as we improved on them to be more successful and useful. People are motivated to learn new things as we explore deeply about our world that leads to miracles one after another. People aren't always motivated that easily but these strategies are useful for motivation. -Satisfying employee needs -Setting work related goals -Rewards on job performance -Positive reinforcement Well motivated employees are more productive and creative. People who look foward to their job know and love what they're doing. They tend to be more successful and more accomplished because they put effort in their work. If they weren't motivated, there would be no effort and there would be no results. Technology plays a primary role in the economic transformation. Within the hundred years from 18th, modern science and technology has gradually entered into every field of the economy, society, and life. Technology has been applied to production on an unprecedented scale and with unprecedented speed. Not only in the amount of size and speed, technology has changed the economy qualitatively and revolutionized the economic, labor, and industrial structure. Technology plays the first role of the various factors of production. After World War II, science and technology has turned the production into a complex system in which not only technology itself is an advanced productivity, it also directly acts on other factors. It has improved the quality of workers, the production tools and processes, and expanded the sources and subjects of labor, thus has become the most important force of social productivity. Moreover, modern science and technology promotes scientification, rationalization, and practicalization of the scientific management, which dynamically integrates human and non-human factors and has been a key to turn the potential productivity into reality. The combination of the technology and economy makes scientific management an important area of productivity.
 * Technology helps and improves productivity more efficiently.
 * Role of motivation on productivity
 * Technology is the primary productive force.

**5. Technology and how it affects motivation**
Technology in the workplace allows one to learn and evolve. There has been several advancements in training methods for employees. There are systems available to employers such as E-learning, HR tools that enable mini seminars and classes on-line, and training courses that take one through a step-by-step hands on experience. As the years have progressed technology has enhanced productivity within an organization as well as given it the ability to enhance its human capital. Technology has given organizations the ability to enhance and implement training programs. Training programs enable one to further the existing skill set improving ones ability to perform a task. Training has become apart of the everyday work environment allowing one to adapt to its changes. One of the key factors of motivation is the ability to further ones career awarding one extrinsically as well as intrinsically. Technology can be used to motivate an employee intrinsically. According to (Ryan and Deci, 2000) (pp. 56),"Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated, a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external products, pressures or reward." There are several ways that technology can motivate employees intrinsically. In today's work place an employer is able to use the intranet and email to motivate its employees. Email and the use of an intranet are a powerful tool to promote and recognize employees that have done a great job. Recognition gives one a sense of accomplishment, achievement, and empowerment. These tools also allow an easy forum for knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing can further a team or group's level of productivity as well as give one recognition for sharing ideas. Teams are defined as a, "collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, who share responsibility for outcomes, who see themselves and who are seen by others as an intact social entity embedded in one or more larger social systems (e.g. business unit or the corporation), and who manage their relationships across organizational boundaries (Cohen & Bailey, 1997, p. 242). Working in teams motivates one on an intrinsic level. It has been suggested that in a team setting one feels more accountability toward the organization or group and in turn puts forth more effort and efficiency to complete a task or accomplish a goal. Teams can create a positive affect for both employee and employer. In today's workplace technology is used in several ways to enhance the teams ability to better communicate, share ideas, and effectively plan and execute their agenda. A variety of tools are available to aid teams to better communication such as emails, the use of an intranet, and mobile technologies. All of these examples help a team or group communicate on a much faster pace allowing the individual to multitask and literally be in two places at once working on a project on an independent level that can be interdependent on a team level. Technology affects ones ability to contribute ideas and education to the team making the team more effective. The use of the internet has made many sources available to an individual in the matter of minutes. Technology has made the presentation or the execution of an outcome of a project more effective. The use of software has enhanced one's ability to deliver the outcome of a teams effort on a more appealing level. Technology aids individuals to be more productive in a team setting making tools available to better communicate, share ideas, and ultimately present or accomplish a goal thus motivating the employee to put forth more effort. Teams and groups give one a sense of accomplishment and job well done motivating one intrinsically.
 * Technology enhances ones ability to evolve
 * Technology can be used to motivate employees intrinsically
 * Technology further the success of teams and groups

**Conclusion**:
Technology has come a long way in today's workplace. There are several ways that technology has been implemented to increase productivity for employers and improve the work environment for the employee. This working relationship has a reciprocating affect and is the key to success for both parties involved. Motivation is becoming more difficult to achieve as the workplace evolves. Technology plays a key role in the changes and growth that society continues to push towards.

Tips For Managers:
1. Chose an IT system carefully and understand the impact of the decision. Quality is important, if your technology system is under control you will save many hours and it will provide many benefits to your organization. If you have a problematic system, your employees can become frustrated and you will not be able to take advantage of processes being used to increase customer satisfaction which is directly related to your employees motivation.

2. Managers must understand that people will always be their greatest assets, no matter how advanced technology becomes. Managers must understand that there is always a learning curve with new tools, and they need to be supportive and patient with the employees.

=__References:__= Cohen, S. G., & Bailey, D. E. 1997. What makes teams work: Group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite. Journal of Management,23: 239–290.

Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions.Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25:54–67. "What is the Impact of New Technology in the Workplace." Helium.com N.p., 11 August 2008. Web. 27 Nov 2011. http://www.helium.com/items/591975-what-is-the-impact-of-new-technology-in-the-workplace?page=2

BJC,. "Pros and Con of Technology." Hubpages.com N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2011. http://bjc.hubpages.com/hub/Pros-and-Cons-of-Technology.

Levinson, CJ. "Do we rely too heavily on technology?." CJLevinson.com N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2011. http://cjlevinson.com/2008/09/03/do-we-rely-too-heavily-on-technology

"Michael P. O'Driscoll, Caroline Biron and Cary L. Cooper","Work-related technological change and psychological well-being","Yair Amichai-Hamburger","Technology and Psychological Well-being",Cambridge University Press,2009,Cambridge Books Online,Cambridge University Press,10 October 2011,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511635373,

Hardré, Patricia L. "The motivating opportunities model for performance SUCCESS: Design, development, and instructional implications." //Performance Improvement Quarterly// 22.1 (2009): 5-26. //Education Research Complete//. EBSCO. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.

Holman D. //Essentials Of The New Workplace : A Guide To The Human Impact Of Modern Working Practices// [e-book]. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (UK); 2005. Available from: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 9, 2011.


 * Information management**

"Incentive Central | Employees: Overview." //Incentive Central |//. Incentive Performance Center, 2008. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. < http://www.incentivecentral.org/employees/employees.1867.html >.

Incentive Performance Center. "Incentive Central | Customer Retention: Keeping Your Best Customers for the Long Term." //Incentive Central |//. Incentive Performance Center, 2008. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. < http://www.incentivecentral.org/consumers/whitepapers/customer_retention_keeping_your_best_customers.1829.html >.

Npower Network. "Selecting the Right Technology Vendor." //Techsoup.org//. NPower Network. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. .

HELPFUL LINKS:
Effects of technology on motivation []

Some schools use technology to motivate students []

Technology, motivation and learning []

Action Research-motivation and technology []

Ted Talks:Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation []

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