The Concept of Ideology and Work Motivation

Abstract

Shamir (1991: 405) noted that 'current reviews of work-motivation theories are unanimous in their dissatisfaction with the state-of-the-art'. He concluded that existing theories offer an inadequate account of the impetus of employ ment and should be 'supplemented by a self-concept based theory of work motivation'. This paper suggests that the concept of ideology can provide a foundation for this kind of theory. First, it attempts to elucidate the explanatory power of the concept of ideology in the context of understanding the effective performance of organizational members. Second, it indicates how ideology can be shown to address the issues of organizational dynamism which Shamir found to be problematic. Third, it shows how the nature of ideologic, in con junction with the substance of ideological belief, offers an explanation of the variety to be found in organizational behaviour.