However, a point of distinction in this discussion may be raised from the fact that different cultures often produce distinct motivational forces. To this extent, the differences that are accounted for betwixt nations and demographics may be seen as directly pertinent to specific cultural realities within each of these contexts. Moreover, as our reading on the subject of significantly culturally divergent nations suggests, "the type of work goals whose pursuit is encouraged and rewarded depend in part on the prevailing cultural value emphasized in society." (Jaw et al., 2) This is consistent with our findings here thus far, including the intrinsic ideals of Maslow, which may be read to suggest that the exact manifestation of work values will be reflected on a larger social level but may be still be traced to such internally valued goals as self-preservation and acceptance within a specific social context.
This is a theoretical approach which would provide fundamental basis for the theories of Herzberg thereafter, who believed that the common and shared needs should be considered in direct balance to those individualized needs to create something of a motivation and performance matrix. Essentially, Herzberg introduces the idea that every individual is constituted of a balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Therefore, he argues, every individual must be recognized according to this unique equation of factors. We find that this has been an extremely useful theoretical construct for many researchers who have proceeded in Herzberg's wake. For one example, "a new measure of motivation toward education has been developed in French, namely the Echelle de Motivation en Education (EME). The EME is based on the tenets of self-determination theory and is composed of 28 items subdivided into seven sub-scales assessing three types of intrinsic motivation (intrinsic motivation to know, to accomplish things, and to experience stimulation), three types of extrinsic motivation (external, introjected, and identified regulation), and a motivation." (Vallerand et al., 1003) Such instruments are designed to create a means to individual assessment where the balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is understood, recognized and, thereafter, utilized in making individualized performance decisions.
Thus, a major role of leadership is to provide an organization with the context and organizational culture which can help to identify and apply that which motivates employees. This is perhaps the preeminent skill underscoring good leadership, with heavy demands being placed upon a managerial team to provide the company with a clear vision, with concretely definable benchmarking metrics and with the motivation to help move the organization toward success. According to Mitchell (2001) this helps to draw an important and perhaps an academically obscured principle that leadership is not the same as authority, with the managerial position naturally endowing one with the structures to demonstrate the latter. Essentially, without learned and demonstrated leadership, authority is an empty force with little of the necessary intrinsic motivation impacting team members. It is only in possessing the skill of the former that a leader can hope to credibly assimilate into an organization's strategy such important demands as proper planning and a readied preparedness to contend with change.
From the collective perspective which is of interest to the organization, there is also considerable evidence that where effective methods are applied to understanding and inclining motivation, success is usually experienced organization-wide. Indeed, according to one text used for this investigation, drawn from the Work and Employment Research Centre (WERC) of The University of Bath (2003), there is a many-variabled scenario which translates concretely to the equation that effective motivational tactics produce desirable performance outcomes and, ultimately, productivity and success.
Methodology:
The purpose of the study conducted here is to gather data on the effectiveness of Prime Gold Plus at channeling theories of employee motivation, performance evaluation, organizational management and leadership orientation into a broader success. The research will thus be based on a set of approaches intended to produce a cohesive set of findings regarding the future prospects of Prime Gold Plus.
Therefore, the study first is underscored by a comprehensive literature review which is designed to report upon the theories of motivation, leadership, performance evaluation and organizational management that give academic root to the discussion. Gathering a host of online sources, scholarly journal articles and texts on the subject, the study provides a firm basis for understanding that which works and that which doesn't in terms of organizational management.
Subsequently, the research will be...
Comprised of ten open-ended questions, the questionnaire would be administered to the manager of Prime Gold. The responses yielded here would be used to assess Prime Gold Plus both internally and externally. The Case Study is reported according to the cross-section of the responses provided and supplementary literature for the clarification of analysis. Consequently, these responses would be used to inform a SWOT analysis and an analysis of the company within the context of Porter's Five Forces.
The analysis thereafter would provide an overview of the prospects facing Prime Gold Plus in a changing global context.
Case Study:
As noted in the introduction and referenced throughout the literature review, this study is centered on the conditions and patterns in place at Prime Gold Plus. Prime Gold Plus is a business unit of Prime Credit Ltd., a subsidiary of Standard Chartered PLC Hong Kong, a Financing Industry that conducts money lending for OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers in Hong Kong). It has 3 branches that consist of 20 employees including the supervisors and branch managers. Its main competitors are UA Finance and Public Finance. In order to remain ahead of these competitors in spite of the modesty of its size, it is necessary for Prime Gold Plus to remain highly conscientious of the soundness of its business practice, beginning with such key personnel conditions as the presence of employee motivation, sound managerial practice and the oversight of an effective center of leadership.
The core of leadership at Prime Gold Plus is represented by a manager with a dedicated orientation to training, motivating and communicating with personnel at every level. The manager interviewed for the purposes of the case study would provide an insight that may be seen as reflective of the values of the company as a whole. The interview questionnaire would yield open-ended responses of significant value to the discussion conducted hereafter. Indeed, the responses are particularly useful in deconstructing the differences between management and leadership which drive the data-gathering instrument.
Of the functions and qualities attributed to managerial competency in the theoretical setting, perhaps leadership is an organizational and theoretical term most difficult to discern from the overall roles prescribed by a position in the fold of a company's management core. But in fact, leadership is a concept unto itself, that is necessary for sound management but is not exclusive to the purview of such positions. So is this revealed by the survey process used to underscore this study. By evaluating the position of the manager of Prime Gold Plus on the differences between leadership and management, we are given a number of responses that align with existing research to illustrate the distinctions between these. Indeed, we find in the responses here provided that leadership is a quality which can often mean the difference between effective management or authoritative impotence. So is this difference critically underscored in the response by the manager to the first question in the written survey. This asks the respondent "Can someone be a good leader, but not a good manager? Which is better for the company?"
To this, the respondent would indicate that "leadership is an in born quality of a person which some managers does not posses. Being a manager is a job position which at times may be achieved with the help of politics, thus sacrificing the good qualities needed for the position." This is a perspective which would seem to have been confirmed by the literature encountered during our research. Here, taken apart from a discussion of management roles and corporate hierarchy, leadership is an ability which, either inborn or, developed through hard work and ingenuity, presents the members of the organization with a paragon to forging action toward rational and collective goals. While it is the responsibility of managerial personnel to issue directives, instructions and clarifications on goal-orientation, it is only a leader who can find ways to motivate the members of his organization.
This is to argue that "when we function as leaders, we take on a unique set of ethical challenges in addition to a set of expectations and task. These dilemmas involve issues of power, privilege, deceit consistency, loyalty, and responsibility. How we handle the challenges of leadership will determine if we cause more harm than good." (Johnson, 10) In the absence of proper leadership, it may be difficult to channel these responsibilities toward the fulfillment of organizational expectations.
These difficulties are addressed by the questionnaire, which asks the manager to determine the importance of such management functions as that which provides oversight to the performance of employees. To this point, the…
