An Islamic Perspective on the Expectancy-Valence Theory

Abstract

The most commonly used classification of motivation theories amongorganizational behavior scholars is the content and process theories (Altman,Valenzi, and Hodgetts 1985). While content theories address what motivatesemployees, process theories speculate about how to motivate them (Bedeian1980).When Muslim scholars have discussed motivation theories, they haveexplained the Islamic perspective on the content approach. For example,Sharafeldin (1988) compared content theories with the socialist approach ofmotivation. He emphasized the extrinsic motives of Islamic values andconcluded that these values are alternative motivators for Muslims to achievebetter performance. Ahmad (1988,3) also reviewed content theories and arguedthat the ritual aspect of the human personality is an intrinsic motive otherthan the “materialistic-orientation”o f the content theories. In addition, Shareef(1988, 11) noted that while certain Islamic actions will fulfill the selfactualizationneeds, “economic incentives are motivators only in life-threateningsituations.”Despite this focus on the content approach of motivation theories, Muslimscholars have given less attention to how to motivate employees. They alsohave not provided sufficient conceptualization for an Islamic process by whichMuslim employees make their motivational choices within an Islamic context.This paper addresses this gap in Islamic organizational behavioml literatureby a) presenting an Islamic model of motivation process dmwn from the @fan;b) discussing the model’s dynamics in relation to both social learning theoryand Vroom’s expectancy theory; and c) introducing an Islamic expectancyand exploring its instrumentalities and implications ...