Abstract
Purpose This paper aims to provide an experiential exercise for management and leadership educators to use in the course of their teaching duties. Design/methodology/approach The approach of this classroom teaching method uses an experiential exercise to teach Adams’ equity theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory. Findings This experiential exercise has proven useful in teaching two major theories of motivation and is often cited as one of the more memorable classes students experience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an original experiential exercise for teaching the equity and expectancy theories of motivation.
Highlights
This paper aims to provide an experiential exercise for management and leadership educators to use in the course of their teaching duties
Theories of work motivation are central to the field of management and are covered in many introductory management, leadership, human resource management and organizational behavior courses (Benson & Dresdow, 2019; Steers, Mowday, & Shapiro, 2004; Swain, Bogardus, & Lin, 2019)
We use an in-class basketball exercise. This experiential approach provides a common context for students to reference in applying theories of work motivation, and incorporates elements of fun and competition, which have been shown to help engage students more fully (Helms & Haynes, 1990; Azriel, Erthal, & Starr, 2005)
Summary
This paper aims to provide an experiential exercise for management and leadership educators to use in the course of their teaching duties. Findings – This experiential exercise has proven useful in teaching two major theories of motivation and is often cited as one of the more memorable classes students experience. Students tend to evaluate the explanatory power of different motivational theories based on how they relate to their work and life experiences (Anderson, 2007). To provide a common experience through which students can understand theories of work motivation, we developed an experiential activity. This experiential approach provides a common context for students to reference in applying theories of work motivation, and incorporates elements of fun and competition, which have been shown to help engage students more fully (Helms & Haynes, 1990; Azriel, Erthal, & Starr, 2005). We chose to focus on these two theories because they are among the most influential theories of work motivation (Anderson, 2007; Holbrook & Chappell, 2019; Miner, 2003) and among the most frequently included in management and organizational behavior courses and textbooks (Miner, 2003; Miner, 2005)
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